Care Bears

The Care Bears are characters created by American Greetings who were launched in 1982. They were specifically created by their licensing subdivision, Those Characters from Cleveland, which also created Strawberry Shortcake, MadBalls, and other franchises.
Originally used for greeting cards, the bears were turned into plush animals by Kenner in 1983, appearing in television specials, feature films and their own series. Each bear is identified by an ensignia on their belly, reflecting their personality and duties. Most of the 1980s animated projects were produced by Nelvana. 
The Care Bears came to signify the particular type of overly cutesy, feelings and lesson-learned oriented characters that proliferated in the 1980s, alongside the more violent action figure types like Transformers, and were frequent subjects of parody.
==Appearances==
* Various Care Bears appeared with either Baby Piggy or Baby Kermit from Muppet Babies on covers of the reprint digest Star Comics Magazine, along with Heathcliff, MadBalls, and others.
==References==
*Eliot Shag finds himself forced to animate a loose parody, The Huggy Bunch, in the first season Dog City episode "Ya Gotta Have Hart." The characters are a father and son pair of dogs, Papa Hugs and Barry, but like the Care Bears, they live in a saccharine land of smiling flowers and sun (much like Care-a-Lot) and talk about their feelings. The episode was scripted by Care Bears writer J. D. Smith and produced by Nelvana.
Huggybunch1.jpg|Eliot Shag working on The Huggy Bunch, with title card and model sheet in back
Huggybunch2.jpg|The cast of The Huggy Bunch
==Notes==
* Commonplace for the stereotypical second-rate type of traveling carnival depicted as the Sleaze Brothers Funfair seen in Follow That Bird, knock-off versions of Care Bear plush are among the prizes hanging in one of the game booths.
==Connections==
*Tom Cooke illustrated over half a dozen books
*Alyson Court voiced Dawn in Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986) and the princess in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987)
*Colin Fox voiced the wizard in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987)
*Don Francks voiced villains and others on the TV series and the vizier in Care Bears Nutcracker Suite (1988 special)
*Joyce Gordon voiced Auntie Freeze in the TV episodes "Magic Mirror" and "Wedding Bells" (1985)
*Luba Goy voiced Lots-A Heart Elephant in The Care Bears Movie (1985), the TV series, and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987)
*Elizabeth Hanna voiced the Queen of Hearts in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987)
*Janet-Laine Green voiced Wish Bear on the TV series
*Mickey Rooney voiced Mr. Cherrywood in The Care Bears Movie (1985)
*Peter Sauder wrote or co-wrote The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984 special), the 1980s series, and three theatrical movies
*Dale Schott directed Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986)
*Jim Simon directed the first season of the TV series (1985-1986)
*J. D. Smith was an animation supervisor on The Care Bears Movie (1985), animation director on Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986), and wrote for the TV series
*Harry Dean Stanton provided the singing voice of Brave Heart Lion on the soundtrack album for The Care Bears Movie (1985)
*John Stocker voiced Mr. Beastly on the TV series, Dim and Cheshire Cat in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987), and the Rat King in Care Bears Nutcracker Suite (1988 special)
*Tara Strong voiced child characters on the TV series
*Cree Summer voiced Kim in The Care Bears Movie (1985) and Christy in Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986)
*Alan Swayze wrote the Care Bears episode "The Showdown" (1988)
*Noreen Young voiced Baby Hugs Bear in The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984 special)
==External links==
* Official site
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Category:Cartoon References