The Care Bears face their mission
It calls for our Belly Badge power!
Getting help from back home, through the Caring Tower..."
Best friends Funshine, Good Luck, Grumpy, Share, and their new leader Cheer Bear, are sent away from their home on a mission to protect a mysterious place called the Silver Lining, which is inhabited by the Whiffles — innocently happy creatures who plant seeds to keep the magical land of Care-a-Lot and the neighboring Silver Lining growing — all while spreading caring and sharing throughout this newfound land. The quintet also retrieve help back home through the Caring Tower from their friends Bedtime, Tenderheart, and Wish Bear, while Dibble the Whiffle accompanies the Five-Man Band along the way.
It's not Care Bears without the Big Bad though, and this time it's Bluster; the annoying and egocentric leader of the Bad Crowd who once made a deal with the elder Care Bears to stay out of the Silver Lining in exchange for the Bears leaving him alone. He has since broken the agreement, and his goal is to turn the Silver Lining into Blusterland. His Beleaguered Assistant Robbie and Malcom help him carry out his schemes too, yet they always backfire.
Starting off a new generation of the Care Bears franchise, and following the cancellation of Care Bears & Cousins, Care Bears: Unlock the Magic is a 2019 TV series produced by the Cloudco Entertainment division of American Greetings. The first season consists of 52 episodes (though with how Boomerang has released them, it's 49). 10 episodes of the show were released on the Boomerang SVOD streaming service on February 1, 2019, including the Valentine's Day Episode, however the first episode was released on the app as a "sneak peek" on January 28. The series premiered on the main network in March, and premiered on Cartoon Network in April. In the UK, the show airs on Tiny Pop, and in Canada, the show airs on Family Jr. in English, both of which have aired a high amount of episodes before Boomerang has.
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to see the trailer, and click here to see the theme song.
The show now has a character sheet.
Troping is the key...
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Most overview scenes are in cel-shaded CGI.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the original series, the Care Bears are aware of No Heart and Beastly as they had antagonized them for years. However in the show, they aren't aware of the two until much later.
- Animesque: New character designs give this show a more chibi feel.
- Back for the Finale: The final of the six half-hour specials sees the return of none other than No Heart, and he’s brought Beastly back with him, too.
- Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: Bluster and the Bad Crowd feel this way, taking being called "nice" and "caring" as insults.
- In "Things That Go Plunk," one member of the Bad Crowd named Plunk is kicked out for being too nice.
- Cute Little Fang: Robbie.
- Earth Drift: While earlier series had the Care Bears help with problems on Earth while stopping villains, this series solely focuses on the fantasy world they live in. Somewhat averted in "An Almost Eggless Easter" which establishes that Earth is part of the universe and even re-introduces the Caring Meter to measure the kids' happiness.
- Evil Duo: Bluster and Robbie.
- Funny Background Event: In "Mixed Signals," during Bluster's video message to the Care Bears, the Bad Crowd are loading up the car in the background, with a tiny member carrying a huge pile of luggage and casually tossing it in while a much larger member carefully carries a tiny bag that he tucks in-between the other pieces of luggage.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Grumpy.
- Mission Control: Bedtime Bear, Tenderheart, and Wish Bear help the gang this way through the Caring Tower while they're on missions.
- Mythology Gag: In "The No Heart Games", No Heart undergoing a supernatural Heel–Face Turn that turns him into a kind human with blue eyes instead of red is taken from what befell Dark Heart in Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation.
- Oddball in the Series: The Whiffles, the Silver Lining, and the Bad Crowd are completely new to the series, and the series takes place solely in a fantasy land without any human contact.
- She's a Man in Japan: Robbie in the Latin American Spanish dub is a man, voiced by a male actor to boot.
- Sour Supporter: Grumpy Bear is a Jerkass who doesn't put up with the other bears' antics but often comes up with clever solutions.
- Tagline: Caring is the key.
- Those Two Guys: Funshine and Good Luck Bear.
- Tomboyish Name: Robbie, in both design and voice, seems clearly female. You'd not be able to tell that by her name.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In "Neon Beach Party", when Robbie begins to act like she's on the Care Bears' side, Bluster fires her. She gets rehired at the end of the episode, however.
