Product Details

• Actors: Georgia Engel, Mickey Rooney, Jackie Burroughs, Sunny Besen Thrasher, Eva Almos
• Directors: Arna Selznick
• Writers: Peter Sauder
• Producers: Carole MacGillvray, Clive A. Smith, Harvey Levin, Jack Chojnacki, John Bohach
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: September 5, 2000
• Run Time: 77 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (105 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792846613
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,273 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Care Bears were a line of multicolored teddy bears that racked up more than $200 million in retail sales in 1984. The Care Bears Movie was essentially a 75-minute commercial to introduce the new Care Bear Cousins, disguised as a smarmy story about sharing feelings. The film earned $23 million theatrically and ushered in a spate of cheap animated films created to sell merchandise to children. The plot interweaves the stories of Kim and Jason, two lonely orphans who have given up caring, and of Nicholas, a friendless magician's assistant who's seduced by an evil spirit. The Care Bears resolve everyone's problems. Years later, the Care Bears' popularity has waned and the film stands as a reminder of one of the less admirable uses of animation. The stars, hearts, rainbows, and saccharine songs can't disguise the barefaced commercialism behind the threadbare story. --Charles Solomon

Product Description

The World is in trouble...and it's up to the Care Bears to save it! Starring everyone's favorite animated characters and featuring the voices of Mickey Rooney and Georgia Engel, as well as songs performed by Carole King. The Care Bears Movie will dazzle and delight viewers of all ages. Way up high where the clouds and rainbows live, the Care Bears watch over the Earth and make sure everyone is kind and friendly to one another. So when they see an evil spirit trick a lonely boy into helping make people mean, the huggable heroes jump into action! They come to the rescue with the animals from the Forest of Feelings...but it's going to take an awful lot of love to defeat the spirit's powerful spell.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I beg your pardon!!, November 27, 2002

By 

T. Greer (Santa Rosa, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Care Bears Movie [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Amazon.com review is totally unfair!! I can't believe the sarcasm and vitriol behind it!!

Admittedly, this film WAS designed 90% to sell the toys and greeting cards and other material based on the Care Bears. However, of all the animated series created during the 80s (and now!) this one actually had something good to say. MANY, MANY good things to teach children of the "Material Girl" era: that love, caring, loyalty, and friendship were the best things in life to value, and are the most enduring values in this world. The movie was fun, the characters cute, the story (while slightly thin) was straightforward, and the performances were great.

If someone wanted to find out more about the first Care Bears Movie (there were two more made), they wouldn't get a true feeling of what the movie is about by reading your review. That, to me, is a disservice!

I give this movie 4 stars. Since I'm a total Care Bears fan, I would normally give it 5 stars; but to be fair, it is a "commercial" movie. Thus, 4 stars, but much love to the movie anyway. If you (as a shopper) are looking at purchasing the Care Bears Movie for the first time, I would rent it from your local video/DVD rental store (or from Netflix) first before making any decisions. I think you'll like it, though!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Care Bears...Commercialism, Goodness, or BOTH?, March 24, 2003

By 

"zoomom2000" (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Care Bears Movie (DVD)

Okay, whether you agree or disagree about the commercialism of this movie, most people (with the exception of Amazon's critic, apparently) would tell you that it is just a plain old-fashioned good thing for kids to watch! I watched the Care Bears, including this movie and the cartoon TV show, when I was a kid, and it re-iterated the things that my mom spent so much time trying to teach me...that there is good in the world, that caring and being a friend is more important than always having/doing things 'your own way', and that love is everything. These are values that have unfortunately gone missing in most of the cartoons today. Luckily, this movie is still around for my own children to watch and learn from, so they can still get good wholesome entertainment with a positive message.

Was it commercialism? Yes. But then again, so are 99% of the cartoons out there today. Seriously...who can name one cartoon on TV today, or one big hit movie at the theatres, that doesn't have it's own line of toys, lunchboxes, sleeping bags, sheets, stuffed animals, etc? And yes, those toys do come out, often several months, before the movie.

The point is this: Who cares if there was commercialism involved? There is in most things in life, but at least The Care Bears Movie also sends a loving, positive, caring message to kids!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Child's Classic Animated Movie., September 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Care Bears Movie [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This was made when the Care Bears were popular. Now the only kids animation children watch these days are Pokemon, Dragon Tales, and all those other animated TV shows which just aren't as educational or fun to watch as the Care Bears! The Care Bears were always a favorite of mine, and I grew up watching Care Bears. I don't own this movie (I own the second Care Bears movie, Care Bears' Nutcracker Suite, and Care Bears in Wonderland), but I've seen it at my best friend's house and loved it. This one is about the Care Bears helping a young boy named Nicholas who can't trust anybody and doesn't think anybody loves him. A great message for children and if I had to choose between letting my kids (if I had kids, which I don't) watch either Care Bears or Pokemon, I'd definitely have them watch Care Bears! Plus, the animation is fantastic and very colorful, so it'll definitely attracked the eyes and attention of the children. The humor in Care Bears is light and funny, and I definitely recommend this movie to all Care Bears fans!