The Care Bears Movie

"Care Bears Movie" redirects here. For other films in the Care Bears series, see List of Care Bears films.

The Care Bears Movie
Various Care Bears, alongside the Care Bear cousins are sailing aboard a ship made of clouds. On its sails are a star and the film's title logo; two young bears named Baby Hugs and Tugs, are swinging upon ropes attached to them. Above, an eagle swoops above the menagerie; a green face within a book, and several of the film's scenes (in different tints), dominate the lower portion of the artwork.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byArna Selznick
Screenplay byPeter Sauder
Produced byMichael Hirsh
Patrick Loubert
Clive A. Smith
StarringMickey Rooney
Edited by
  • Jim Erickson
  • Tom Joerin
  • Gordon Kidd
  • Stephen Mitchell
  • Sheila Murray
  • Steve Weslak
  • Michael O'Farrell
Music byPatricia Cullen
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • March 24, 1985 (1985-03-24) (Washington, D.C.[4])
  • March 29, 1985 (1985-03-29) (North America)
Running time
75 minutes
Countries
  • Canada
  • United States[5]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million[nb 1]
Box office$34 million[6]

The Care Bears Movie is a 1985 animated musical fantasy film directed by Arna Selznick from a screenplay by Peter Sauder. It was the second feature film from the Canadian animation studio Nelvana after the 1983 film Rock & Rule, in addition to being one of the first films based directly on a toy line and the first based on Care Bears. It introduced the Care Bears characters and their companions, the Care Bear Cousins.[nb 2] The voice cast includes Mickey Rooney, Georgia Engel, Jackie Burroughs and Cree Summer. In the film, an orphanage owner (Mickey Rooney) tells a story about the Care Bears, who live in a cloud-filled land called Care-a-Lot. While traveling across Earth, the Bears help two lonely children named Kim and Jason, who lost their parents in a car accident, and also save Nicholas, a young magician's apprentice, from an evil spirit's influence. Deep within a place called the Forest of Feelings, Kim, Jason and their friends soon meet another group of creatures known as the Care Bear Cousins.

American Greetings, the owners of the Care Bears characters, began development of a feature film adaptation in 1981. Later on, the card company chose Nelvana to produce it and granted them rights to the characters, in addition to financing the film along with cereal manufacturer General Mills and television syndicator LBS Communications. Nelvana's founders were producers, with fellow employee Arna Selznick directing the film. Production lasted eight months, with a production budget of at least $2 million, and took place in Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea. Carole King and John Sebastian contributed several songs for the film. Though major American film studios passed on the project, newly established independent distributor The Samuel Goldwyn Company acquired the distribution rights to the film and soon spent a record $24 million promoting it.

The Care Bears Movie premiered on March 24, 1985, in Washington, D.C, and was released in North America on March 29, 1985;[nb 3] another Nelvana film, Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins, was released alongside it. It received mixed reviews from critics, who raised concern over its potential as a full-length advertisement for the title characters, among other aspects. It went on to earn $23 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing Canadian film during 1985 (with C$1.845 million), in addition to winning a Golden Reel Award. With over $34 million in worldwide sales, it set a box-office record for Canadian and non-Disney animation and has remained one of Goldwyn's largest-earning releases. The film's success, which saved Nelvana from closing, helped revive films aimed at children in the US market. It has since been cited as inspiring a spate of toy-based animated and live-action features; the film was later followed by two sequels, A New Generation (1986) and Adventure in Wonderland (1987), neither surpassing the original financially or critically.

  1. ^ Engelhardt, Tom (1986). "Children's Television: The Shortcake Strategy". In Gitlin, Todd (ed.). Watching Television: A Pantheon Guide to Popular Culture. Pantheon Books (Random House). pp. 82–83. ISBN 0-394-74651-1.
  2. ^ Kearney, Mark; Ray, Randy (1998). "What is the highest-grossing Canadian movie ever?". The Great Canadian Trivia Book: A Collection of Compelling Curiosities from Alouette to Zed. Vol. 2. Dundurn Press. p. 80. ISBN 0-88882-197-2. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  3. ^ National Film Board of Canada; National Library of Canada; Moving Image and Sound Archives (Canada); Cinémathèque québécoise (1986). "Film/Vidéo Canadiana, 1985–1986". Film/Video Canadiana - Film/Vidéo Canadiana. National Film Board of Canada: 43. ISSN 0836-1002. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  4. ^ Staff (March 17, 1985). "Miscellaneous". The Washington Post. p. C2. The District of Columbia Special Olympics will have a benefit screening of The Care Bears Movie at noon, March 24, at the Circle Avalon [theatre].
  5. ^ "The Care Bears Movie". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  6. ^ Hayden, Gene (August 7, 1989). "Babar's triumphs". Maclean's: 48. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  7. ^ Pecora, Norma Odom (2002). "The Industries: Television and Toy". The Business of Children's Entertainment. Guilford Press. pp. 52–55. ISBN 1-57230-774-9. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  8. ^ a b McLane, Mike (March 28, 1986). "The Care Bears don't disappoint". Gainesville Sun Scene Magazine. p. 20. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2010 – via Google News Archive.
  9. ^ "About Movie Box Office Tracking and Terms". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2010.


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