Care Bears (TV series)
Care Bears is an animated television series based on the franchise of the same name. The series was produced by DIC Enterprises and aired on syndication a while after the theaterical release of the first movie in the series.
| Care Bears | |
|---|---|
 Original title card for the series | |
| Created by | Linda Denham Elena Kucharik |
| Written by | Sandy Fries Jack Olesker |
| Directed by | James A. Simon |
| Starring | Billie Mae Richards Jayne Eastwood Janet Laine-Green Luba Goy Eva Almos Melleny Brown Dan Hennessey Pauline Rennie Patrice Black Laurie Waller Benson Bob Dermer |
| Country of origin | United States France Canada |
| Original languages | English French |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 11 (22 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Andy Heyward Tetsuo Katayama |
| Producer | Jean Chalopin |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | DIC Enterprises Those Characters From Cleveland |
| Animation services | K.K. DIC Asia Nippon Animation Studio Junio Studio Korumi |
| Distributor | LBS Communications |
| Release | |
| Original network | Syndication |
| Picture format | NTSC |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | September 14 – November 23, 1985 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings (1983) The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984) |
| Followed by | The Care Bears Family (1986) |
In 1986, a successor series produced by Canadian studio Nelvana who produced the movies - The Care Bears Family, aired on Global in Canada and on ABC in the United States.
In 2007, Sabella Dern Entertainment produced a revival, Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot.
Synopsis
The Care Bears live in a faraway place up in the clouds called Care-a-Lot, which constitutes a part of the Kingdom of Caring. With the help of the Cousins and their Buddies, they go all around the world on Missions in Caring whilst they try to thwart the plans of the evil Professor Coldheart.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
| Specials | 2 | April 22, 1983 | April 6, 1984 | N/A | ||
| DIC series | 11 | September 14, 1985 | November 23, 1985 | Syndication | ||
| 1 | 13 | September 13, 1986 | December 6, 1986 | ABC (U.S.) Global (Canada) | ||
| 2 | 6 | September 26, 1987 | October 31, 1987 | |||
| 3 | 30 | September 12, 1988 | November 25, 1988 | Syndication (U.S.) Global (Canada) | ||
Voice cast
- Billie Mae Richards – Tenderheart Bear, David’s Mother, Jill Wayland’s Mother, Keith, Kara's Mother, Matthew Miller
- Jayne Eastwood – Birthday Bear, Tommy, Willis Carter
- Janet Laine-Green – Wish Bear, Mary, Mrs. Miller (Matthew Miller's Mother), Tricia
- Luba Goy – Gentle Heart Lamb, Lotsa Heart Elephant, Susie’s Mother
- Eva Almos – Friend Bear, Swift Heart Rabbit, Cathy, Charlie, Elaine, Jimmy, Kathy, Lisa, Melanie, Millie Jacobs' Mother, Sanford
- Linda Sorenson – Love-a-Lot Bear, Amy, Benny, Jeffrey, Jill Wayland, Kara, Lisa's Mother, Mrs. Peale (Patti Johnson's Teacher), Paula Schaefer, Sandra, Talking Star, Wendy
- Melleny Brown – Cheer Bear, Becky, Chris, Linda, Missy, Millie Jacobs
- Len Carlson – Professor Coldheart, Jim, Strato Nefarious
- Louise Vallance – Proud Heart Cat, Mary
- Dan Hennessey – Good Luck Bear, Brave Heart Lion, Loyal Heart Dog, Captain McDougal, Cloud Worm, Counselor Bob, Dentist, Mr. Miller (Matthew Miller's Father), Mayor of Abbotsville
- Pauline Rennie – Cozy Heart Penguin, Treat Heart Pig, Melanie’s Mother, Timmy
- Patrice Black – Funshine Bear, Share Bear, Eddie, Joey, Joey and Elaine's Mother, Mary’s Mother
- Laurie Waller Benson – Doug, Hal, Jill, Millie Jacob's Teacher, Murphy, Susie, Talking Star
- Theresa Sears – Champ Bear, Amy, Fred, Joshua
- Bob Dermer – Grumpy Bear, Frostbite, Amy’s Husband, Carl, Charlie, David, Eddie, Firefighter, Joey and Elaine's Father, Ken, Mr. Bland (Mayor of Drab City), Mr. Poole, Narrator, Race Flag Man
- Joyce Gordon – Auntie Freeze
Uncredited
- Sean Roberge – Bedtime Bear
- Jim Henshaw – Bright Heart Raccoon, Jeff, Jill Wayland’s Father, Melanie’s Father, Mr. Johnson (Patti Johnson's Father)
- Marla Lukofsky – Playful Heart Monkey, Patti Johnson
- Brennan Thicke – Joey
Home media
United States
The series has seen a few VHS releases from DIC Video and Buena Vista Home Video throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
In March 2003, Sterling Entertainment released three releases on VHS and DVD - "Bedtime Stories", "The Last Laugh" and "To the Rescue". Each release contained six or seven episodes, with a bonus episode on the DVD version, while "To the Rescue" contained a bonus Sylvanian Families episode. An additional DVD - "Daydreams" was released on February 4, 2004, and contained a Strawberry Shortcake short as a bonus on the DVD version.
Sterling would later release all 22 episodes in seven-volume collections in 2004 entitled Celebration, Dreamland, Forever Friends, Land of Enchantment, Starry Skies, Tenderheart Tales and Fun in the Sun.
In 2007, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment acquired the rights to the original DIC series and re-released all the DIC-produced episodes on DVD in five-volume collections entitled Care-A-Lot Adventures, Forest of Feelings, Magical Moments, Carousel of Dreams and Sharing in the Sunshine.
On August 26, 2008, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released Care Bears: Care-A-Lot Collection on DVD in Region 1.[1] The 2-disc set features all 22 episodes of the series (with its original opening and closing titles).
In 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights to the series and subsequently released three-volume collections which contain 6 episodes each, on September 10, 2013.
On October 6, 2015, Mill Creek released The Care Bears – The Complete Original Series on DVD in Region 1.[2] The two-disc set features all 22 episodes of the series.
International
In the United Kingdom, Maximum Entertainment released the whole DIC series on four DVD sets and two VHS releases under license from Jetix Europe (who at the time, owned the pre-1990 DIC library).
Volume 1, released in August 2004 contained the first two episodes (1 on the VHS) alongside the Freeze Machine and Land without Feelings specials. Volume 2, released in October 2004 contained five episodes, and The Magic Shop (released in February 2005) and The Girl who Cried Wolf (released in August 2005) each contained three episodes, with the Freeze Machine special appearing on the latter again for an unknown reason, likely as filler. Both sets were released in two compilations titled "Volumes 1 and 2" (released in January 2005) and "Wedding Bells" (Released in May 2005), each containing two discs with their respective volumes.
The separate volumes were re-released again in 2007, with the former two volumes being released simply as Care Bears. Another compilation titled Happy Birthday, Care Bears was released by Maximum in February 2008, containing 12 episodes set within two discs. Lace DVD re-issued the DVDs again in 2011 as well was releasing the entire series in a four-disc boxset. These versions are identical to Maximum's releases.
In 2016, Platform Entertainment would release 4 DVDs of the series.
