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The Care Bears Story
A brief history of the Care Bears
Care Bears date back to 1982 when they were first invented by American Greetings as characters to use on greetings cards. American Greetings employee Elena Kucharik was approached to develop the idea and came up with hundreds of possible designs and it wasn't long before the Care Bears were appearing on greetings cards in the USA.
Previous success with Strawberry Shortcake gave American Greetings the experience it needed to launch a massively successful marketing campaign. By 1983 the popularity of the Care Bears had rocketed and now the Care Bears were available as a range of plush, poseable and miniature toys manufactured by Kenner. Appearances in books, comics and games boosted their popularity and in 1985 the Care Bears own TV show aired to an audience of over 20 million viewers.
The TV show was directed by Jim Simon (previously a Smurf animator) and ran in the USA for three years during which time 85 half hour episodes were shown.
At some point in the 80's the Care Bears Cousins were lauched as spin off of the original Care Bears. Whilst all the Care Bears were supposed to be bears, the Care Bear cousins were various types of animals presented in a similar style.
The 90's were a quiet time for the Care Bears except for the launch of the Environmental Care Bears which coincided with a large US recycling campaign but in the early 00's the Care Bears underwent something of a revival with a new marketing campaign.
Care Bears characters
- America Cares Bear
- Baby Hugs Bear
- Baby Tugs Bear
- Bedtime Bear
- Birthday Bear
- Champ Bear
- Cheer Bear
- Do-Your-Best Bear
- Day Dream Bear.
- Forest Friend Bear
- Friend Bear
- Funshine Bear
- Good Luck Bear
- Grams Bear
- Grumpy Bear
- Harmony Bear
- Laugh-A-Lot Bear
- Love-A-Lot Bear
- Perfect & Polite Panda
- Sea Friend Bear
- Secret Bear
- Share Bear
- Surprise Bear
- Take Care Bear
- Tenderheart Bear
- Thanks-A-Lot Bear
- True Heart Bear
- Wish Bear
Care Bears Movies
The Care Bears have appeared in several movies as well as in their own TV show. Their appearances on the silver screen include:
- The Care Bears Movie (1985)
- The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986)
- The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987)
- Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-Lot (2004)
- Care Bears: Big Wish Movie (2005)
Care Bears trivia
A mistake was made at one point causing Bedtime Bear (blue) and Wish Bear (aqua) to swap colours but the problem was spotted and the problem was rectified. The two bears returned to their correct colours and later a story was written explaining why.
The term 'carebear' is used in MMORPG as a derogatory name for a player that does not like Player vs Player (PvP) conflict.
The licensing division of American Greetings, TCFC, holds the rights to the Care Bears
Sources
Wikipedia
Care-Bears.com
DoYouRemember
IMDB
About Care Bears | Buy Care Bears and accessories | Care Bear links | Contact us