History Franchise / CareBears

The bears first appeared on American Greetings cards in [[TheEighties 1981]] (contemporary with ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake''). These little guys and gals were a hit right out of the gate when Creator/{{Kenner}} launched a toy line two years later. They had a lot of animated screentime for the rest of the decade: two specials, a TV series, and three theatrical films over 1985-87. The franchise died back through the 90's after a very brief and [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks unsuccessful redesign]]; compare ''Franchise/MyLittlePony''. The franchise returned after the turn of the millenium.

* BearsAreBadNews: Well, at least from the villains' point of view.
* BearyFriendly: These bears are safe to cuddle. In fact, they want to spread good feelings!

* CareBearStare: Trope Namer. Taste the rainbow, biatch!

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: The Care Bears Cousins haven't shown up as often as they we're back in the 80's. While the Cousins do show up rarely in the '00s revival, they haven't show up as often as they did back in the 80's. They didn't even get mentioned or acknowledged in the official Care Bears website.

* AdaptationalWimp: In the books, the Care Bears can fly and teleport under their own power. When adapted to animation, they used marketable toys--er, that is Cloud Cars and Rainbow Rollers.

* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife
* ArtEvolution: The designs for the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins looked a bit different in there book appearances (Pre DIC and Nelvana) and there eyes were much smaller.

* DemotedToExtra

* DetectEvil / HolyHandGrenade: Care Bears are essentially radar paladins.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the earlier days of the franchise (Mainly in the books made before the animated special and TV series were created) the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins used to fly away back from a person's home and enter by a rainbow through a window before Cloud Cars were ever though of. This concept wasn't introduced to the franchise until the DIC animated series. The Care Bear Stare also wasn't used by the characters until the first animated special which introduced Professor Cold Heart.
* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: In an episode ''Adventures in Care A Lot'', Gobblebug aliens invade Care A Lot. They only eat plants that aren't yellow. The Bears take advantage of it by turning every flower yellow, so the Gobblebugs leave.

* AdaptationalWimp: In the books, the Care Bears can fly under their own power. When adapted to animation, they used marketable toys--er, that is Cloud Cars and Rainbow Rollers.

* AdaptationalWimp: In the books, the Care Bears can fly under their own power. When adapted to animation, they used marketable toys-er, Cloud Cars and Rainbow Rollers.

* IntercontinuityCrossover: [[HelloKitty Sanrio]] and the Care Bears once teamed up with their characters Kiki and Lala from Little Twin Stars in early 2014 called [[http://kao-ani.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/kiki-lala-care-bears-twinstars.gif "Kiki and Lala X Care Bears"]] . [[http://kao-ani.com/little-twin-stars-x-care-bears/ Both got their own exhibit as well as exclusive merchandise from both of them]]. Which is fitting [[https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/616695.jpg unlike the last time they did a crossover back in 1985]] [[NoExportForYou Unfortunately it's only in Japan.]]

On June 2, 2012, Creator/TheHub premiered a new series called ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsWelcomeToCareALot'', which unfortunately [[ScrewedByTheNetwork ended up on the chopping board]] when The Hub changed hands to Discovery Family in October 2014. This possibly occurred because Hasbro neglected the franchise and ended up losing the master license rights to a company called ''Just Play.''[[note]]Hasbro obtained the license in late 2007 along with WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake, but it wasn't until 2012 that the show started airing, and it wasn't until mid-2013 that toys started appearing, which probably displeased American Greetings.[[/note]] However, [[NetworkToTheRescue Netflix commissioned a new show]], ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAndCousins''. Initially announced for 2016, the show was rushed to production and premiered with six episodes in November 2015 instead. The series is in many ways a continuation of ''Welcome to Care-a-Lot''. It features the same visual style and is clearly set in the same continuity, but adds the Care Bear Cousins and features a much larger role for the young cub character of Wonderheart Bear that was introduced in ''Welcome to Care-a-Lot''. [[https://twitter.com/ToonBarnTweets/status/999141838022938624/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%23999141838022938624 A new]] [[https://deadline.com/2018/09/care-bears-unlock-the-magic-boomerang-1202457860/ series]] subtitled ''[[WesternAnimation/CareBearsUnlockTheMagic Unlock the Magic]]'' is announced, confirmed to air on Creator/CartoonNetwork and Creator/{{Boomerang}} in the United States and Pop in the UK, with the characters having an {{Animesque}} feel.

* ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsUnlockTheMagic'' (2018-)

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Take a good guess on which side this show lies on.

* ''WesternAnimation/CareBears1980s''

** Taken UpToEleven in ''[[WesternAnimation/CareBearsWelcomeToCareALot Welcome to Care-a-Lot]]'' where the Care Bears don't even bother to hide when they're annoyed with one another. In on particular episode, Share Bear messed up a special drink, causing the other bears' fur to change colours and patterns. the resident Diva, Harmony Bear, instantly throws "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" at her. Wonderheart, within the same series, is brutally honest with her feelings. this is actually a very useful aesop for young children.

On June 2, 2012, Creator/TheHub premiered a new series called ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsWelcomeToCareALot'', which unfortunately [[ScrewedByTheNetwork ended up on the chopping board]] when The Hub changed hands to Discovery Family in October 2014. This possibly occurred because Hasbro neglected the franchise and ended up losing the master license rights to a company called ''Just Play.''[[note]]Hasbro obtained the license in late 2007 along with WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake, but it wasn't until 2012 that the show started airing, and it wasn't until mid-2013 that toys started appearing, which probably displeased American Greetings.[[/note]] However, [[NetworkToTheRescue Netflix commissioned a new show]], ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAndCousins''. Initially announced for 2016, the show was rushed to production and premiered with six episodes in November 2015 instead. The series is in many ways a continuation of ''Welcome to Care-a-Lot''. It features the same visual style and is clearly set in the same continuity, but adds the Care Bear Cousins and features a much larger role for the young cub character of Wonderheart Bear that was introduced in ''Welcome to Care-a-Lot''. [[https://twitter.com/ToonBarnTweets/status/999141838022938624/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%23999141838022938624 A new series]] subtitled ''Unlock the Magic'' is announced, confirmed to air on Creator/CartoonNetwork and Creator/{{Boomerang}} in the United States and Pop in the UK, with the characters having an {{Animesque}} feel.

* ''Care Bears: Unlock The Magic'' (2018-)

* ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsUnlockTheMagic''

Teddy bears taken to the next level of cute, with pastel colors and symbols on their chest (known as "tummy symbols" or more recently "belly badges"). They live up in the cloud-city of Care-a-Lot and frequently visit Earth to help out kids who are feeling down, although they seem to overlook those who are starving in the Horn of Africa, or dying of cancer. The Bears have names relating to their speciality -- Good Luck Bear, Friend Bear, and so forth. Later, "Care Bear Cousins" representing other animals were introduced (Brave Heart Lion, Cozy Heart Penguin, and more); they live in the Forest of Feelings about halfway between Earth and Care-a-Lot.

* ''The Care Bears Big Wish Movie'' (2005)

Teddy bears taken to the next level of cute, with pastel colors and symbols on their chest (known as "tummy symbols" or more recently "belly badges"). They live up in the cloud-city of Care-a-Lot and frequently visit Earth to help out kids who are feeling down. The Bears have names relating to their specialty -- Good Luck Bear, Friend Bear, and so forth. Later, "Care Bear Cousins" representing other animals were introduced (Brave Heart Lion, Cozy Heart Penguin, and more); they live in the Forest of Feelings about halfway between Earth and Care-a-Lot.

* ''Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot'' (2004), first CGI film

On June 2, 2012, Creator/TheHub premiered a new series called ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsWelcomeToCareALot'', which unfortunately [[ScrewedByTheNetwork ended up on the chopping board]] when The Hub changed hands to Discovery Family in October 2014. This possibly occurred because Hasbro neglected the franchise and ended up losing the master license rights to a company called ''Just Play.''[[note]]Hasbro obtained the license in late 2007 along with WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake, but it wasn't until 2012 that the show started airing, and it wasn't until mid-2013 that toys started appearing, which probably displeased American Greetings.[[/note]] However, [[NetworkToTheRescue Netflix commissioned a new show]], ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAndCousins''. Initially announced for 2016, the show was rushed to production and premiered with six episodes in November 2015 instead. The series is in many ways a continuation of ''Welcome to Care-a-Lot''. It features the same visual style and is clearly set in the same continuity, but adds the Care Bear Cousins and features a much larger role for the young cub character of Wonderheart Bear that was introduced in ''Welcome to Care-a-Lot''.

* TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the earlier days of the franchise (Mainly in the books made before the animated special and TV series were created) the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins used to fly away back from a person's home and enter by a rainbow through a window before Cloud Cars were ever though of. This concept wasn't introduced to the franchise until the DIC animated series. The Care Bear Stare also wasn't used by the characters until the first animated special which introduced Professor Cold Heart.

On June 2, 2012, TheHub premiered a new series called ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsWelcomeToCareALot'', which unfortunately [[ScrewedByTheNetwork ended up on the chopping board]] when The Hub changed hands to Discovery Family in October 2014. This possibly occurred because Hasbro neglected the franchise and ended up losing the master license rights to a company called ''Just Play.''[[note]]Hasbro obtained the license in late 2007 along with WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake, but it wasn't until 2012 that the show started airing, and it wasn't until mid-2013 that toys started appearing, which probably displeased American Greetings.[[/note]] However, [[NetworkToTheRescue Netflix commissioned a new show]], ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAndCousins''. Initially announced for 2016, the show was rushed to production and premiered with six episodes in November 2015 instead. The series is in many ways a continuation of ''Welcome to Care-a-Lot''. It features the same visual style and is clearly set in the same continuity, but adds the Care Bear Cousins and features a much larger role for the young cub character of Wonderheart Bear that was introduced in ''Welcome to Care-a-Lot''.

* GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul: The Care Bear Stare had this effect in the DiC, to somewhat disturbing results. It was toned back into an all purpose weapon against evil in the Nelvana series before returning to its roots in ''Adventures In Care-A-Lot''.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: The DiC and Nelvana TV series and movies are these.

* DrunkOnMilk: One episode had Love-A-Lot drown her sorrows in hot chocolate after she [[ForgottonBirthday thought Cheer forgot her birthday.]]

* BeautyEqualsGoodness