ToysCare Bears became "America's Teddy Bear" with
over 40 Million Care Bears toys sold between 1983 and 1987
alone.
MoviesThe Care Bears Movie was a huge box office
hit. Three successful sequels followed it.
TelevisionThe Care Bears starred for two seasons
on an ABC television network series. They also starred in their own
syndicated series and two specials.
PublishingCare Bears appeared in children's
books, comic books, coloring and activity books. Over 45 million
books were published.
AudioCare Bears collections of children's songs
were best-sellers in their category.
Greeting CardsAmerican Greetings sold over 70
million Care Bears cards in the 80s.
Code name: Care Bears
The Care Bears characters were created in 1981 at American
Greetings, but weren't sold as toys and other products until 1983.
To keep the character program secret until it was ready to be
advertised, it was called Project II by American Greetings and the
company's partners. They were called this because Care Bears was
the second group of characters American Greetings and these
partners createdthe first being the well-known and hugely
successful Strawberry Shortcake characters.
Care Bears Name Game
It's never easy to get a group of people to agree on what something
should be called. Before the final name is selected, most products
or characters have numerous names called working names. What was
the working name for Care Bears? Well, actually, it was
drum roll
please
Care Bears! Everybody seemed to love this name right from
the start!
A Colorful Care Bears Switcheroo
If you really, really know your Care Bears, you might be able to
answer this question: what two Care Bears characters actually
swapped their colors? When the first Care Bears teddy bears were
being made, someone made a goof and Bedtime Bear, who is blue, got
his color switched with Wish Bear, who is aqua. The mistake was
discovered and the bears were switched back to their appropriate
hues. No one thought anyone would notice, but the kids did. A
special Care Bears story was written to explain how, on an
important caring mission, Wish Bear needed to change to Bedtime
Bear's blue to get into the land of dreams. If you know someone
with an aqua Bedtime Bear or a Blue Wish Bear, you should let them
know they have a very magical bear indeed!
Care Bears and the Stars
The Care Bears Movie, the characters' first feature length animated
film, was a box office hit in 1985. The voices behind the bears and
the human characters in the film included the famous actor, Mickey
Rooney, who played the part of Nicholas, the story's narrator and a
key character. The actress behind one Care Bear's voice in the film
was Georgia Engels, who played Georgette on The Mary Tyler Moore
Show. The movie's theme song, Care-a-lot was penned and performed
by singer/songwriter Carole King. One of the favorite songs from
the flick was Nobody Cares Like a Bear, written and sung by John
Sebastian, formerly of the 60s pop group The Loving Spoonful, which
produced such hits as Summer in the City and Did You Ever Have to
Make Up Your Mind. Sebastian also wrote and performed the theme
song for the 70s sitcom, Welcome Back Kotter.
It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That
Heart
Each Care Bear has a special mark of authenticity on it. Do you
know what it is? It's a heart button labeled "Care Bears" that only
appears on the bear's right hip. So that's the simple testa
true-blue Care Bear has its heart in the right place. But if yours
has a heartless right hip, then you've got a bogus bear on your
hands.
Care-a-lot/Camelot?
One point of inspiration in the Care Bears story was the legend of
King Arthur. The name Care-a-lot was a play on Camelot, King
Arthur's wonderful castle. The Bears all met in Care-a-lot castle
aroundnot a round table as in the Arthur legendsbut a
heart-shaped table. Like the Knights of the Round Table, the Care
Bears set off from their castle into the world on missions of
caring representing the powers of good. Even Love-a-lot Bear owes a
lot about her name to the old tales. Her name is based on Sir
Lancelot'sone of the Knights of the Round Table.