The Care Bears Movie

Voices of: Georgia Engel, Mickey Rooney, Jackie Burroughs, Sunny Besen Thrasher, Melleny Melody, Bob Dermer, Cree Summer, Brian George, Janet-Laine Green, Harry Dean Stanton (uncredited), Jonathan Winters (uncredited)
Directed by: Arna Selznick
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
1985

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: An evil spirit begins influencing a lonely boy and his spreading of uncaring threatens to destroy Care-a-Lot. The Care Bears must join with new friends to save their home and the world.

Review:

Tim: I remember really enjoying The Care Bears Movie in my youth. It felt like such a great adventure and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I revisited the movie at 40 years old, this time with my 4 year-old daughter. I have to say, the movie holds up much better than many children's movies from the 1980s. I saw more of the cracks than I did as a child, but it's still a fun adventure movie. I enjoyed it as an adult, and as a chance to share something of my childhood with my daughter.

I must have seen the television series prior to seeing this movie, so I undoubtedly knew many of the bears depicted here. I couldn't remember any before the film, but they quickly came back to me. This was one of the appeals of the Care Bears- each one is different, helpfully shown with a different symbol on their tummies. This helps a lot with differentiation, and it's hard not to find your own favorites among the different characters. The unique thing about this film is the introduction of the Care Cousins, a diverse group of different animals who eventually become part of the Care Bear family. This was actually a brilliant move for the film- it made it feel unique, to see a lion or elephant instead of just bears. It undoubtedly helped them sell more merchandise, too. However, it's not just an economic decision- as a kid, it was great fun accompanying the Care Bears on this journey and discovering along with them numerous other animals who have their own strengths and powers. Seeing all these animals unite to battle the evil spirit was a ton of fun as a kid and I enjoyed it fairly thoroughly as an adult, too.

The movie itself is compelling. It moves at a quick pace, and it's a short 1 hour, 17 minutes. The animation is a bit hit-or-miss. There's some great rendering- one example is the super cool star/cloud ship with the star sail that changes its facial expressions depending on what's happening. That is such a cool visual. Then, there's some obvious animation mistakes along the way- the most apparent is when the Lion mysteriously gets a symbol on their belly long before they're granted official "Care" status. It's just a silly mistake, but surprising that no one caught it or cared enough to fix it. As a kid, none of this bothered me, though. The animation was strong enough to allow me to totally focus on the story at hand. My daughter didn't seem to mind any of it, as she was engrossed in the story, too.

The soundtrack was decent. It helped having Carole King involved as a writer and singer. There's not really a standout song that I loved, but they are generally all solid and entertaining. They definitely add to the overall experience of the film.

A lot of kids' movies in the 1980s felt unnecessarily frightening and intense (The Last Unicorn, for example). Fortunately, that's not the case here. There's a few scary moments with the evil spirit in the book, but these are generally fairly mild. My 4 year-old daughter said she was scared a few times, but she never looked away and the moments passed quickly. This is definitely a more accessible 80s film for younger viewers. If she wasn't almost 5, I probably would have waited. As is, she was a big fan of the movie- the day after we watched it, she suggested we watch it again! (we didn't, though). This is definitely a movie that will connect with kids.

The Care Bears Movie is a good film, I firmly believe that. At the time, it was one of the most successful non-Disney animated films ever made. It's an entertaining, fun adventure that appeals to audiences of all ages. It's definitely got the 80s vibes and feels, for good or bad, but understanding it in that context is fairly easy. This movie has its flaws, but it's still a worthwhile movie and a definite success.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Land Before Time, The Brave Little Toaster