Nicholle

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In 1982, Care Bears made their first appearance in greeting cards, created by American Greetings (a well-known Card & Gift Supply company located in Cleveland) and they weren't sold as toys and other products until 1983. The original artwork was painted by artist Elena Kucharik. This famous Company has created many popular characters as Ziggy, Holly Hobbie, and Strawberry Shortcake. According the The Care Bear's official fan site www.care-bears.com, 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 created—the first being the well-known and hugely successful Strawberry Shortcake characters. American Greetings sold over 70 million Care Bears cards in the 80s.The Bears are evolved into a plush toy line from Kenner Company, the original manufacturer of the plush dolls, in the mid-1980’s. In 1983, they really burst onto the scene, in the forms of plush, miniatures, and poseables, there were plastic Bears and special ceramic and porcelain Bears and they eventually made appearances in puzzles, books (over 45 million books were published), comics, games, other kid items and even on records. These toys were extremely popular in the 1980s, over 40 million units were sold between 1983 and 1987. In the beginning there were only ten Care Bears: Bedtime, Birthday, Cheer, Friend, Funshine, Good Luck, Grumpy, Love-a-Lot, Tenderheart, and Wish. Kenner soon released more Care Bear characters, and all the Bears were issued in more sizes, there were six-, thirteen-, eighteen- and thirty-six-inchers. In 1991, Kenner, introduced the Environmental Care Bears. Five of the Care Bears were re-released (Bedtime, Cheer, Love-A-Lot, Share, and Tenderheart) with a completely new look. In the same year was created America Cares/Proud Heart Bear, with a tummy symbol of a heart-shaped American flag, showing her pride for the U.S. during Desert Storm. The toys are stuffed teddy bears which were sold in various colours. Each bear had a name such as Friend Bear, Birthday Bear, Grumpy Bear and so on. Each bear's name determines its colour and the symbol in its tummy -- Cheer Bear is pink and she wears a symbol of hope and happiness: a rainbow. There were also some non-bear characters, called Care Bear Cousins that live in The Forest of Feelings, such as Brave Heart Lion, Cozy Heart Penguin, Proud Heart Cat and more. In 2002, Play Along Toys, previously made popular by the Britney Spears doll line was the new producer of toys. Every season, New members of the Care Bear family are being introduced, such as Bashful Heart, America Cares, Thanks-A-Lot, Best Friend Bear, Do-Your-Best, Laugh-a-Lot, and and so on. There have also been changes in some of the classic 80's bears, including symbol, gender, and color changes - like Harmony Bear and Champ Bear.The Care Bears live in the clouds, in a place called Care-a-lot, maintained by a portly gentleman, The Cloud Keeper (he only appeared in some of the franchise's early publications and on the DiC-produced TV episodes.). Care-a-lot is the special place where the Care Bears live, and the softest, coziest place anyone can imagine. High up in the clouds, it floats above all air traffic, and, with a nice comfy cloud floating above it, stays away from all satellite photographs too. In the heart of Care-a-lot is Care-a-lot Castle, where the Care Bears gather to help others. It's home to the "Hall of the Heart", a beautiful gallery where the Care Bears meet around a heart-shaped table. Thus protected, the Bears protect caring on Earth.The Care Bears had their own animated TV series, ran from 1985 to 1988, (first aired 1985 with over 20 million viewers and 85 episodes in all), and starred in five of their own movies (the first three movies have grossed over 33 million dollars to date) - The Care Bears Movie (1985 - featuring the voice of Mickey Rooney and songs by Carole King and John Sebastian), The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986), and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987) followed. The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings (1983) and The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984) were released on TV. As of 2004, The Bears' straight-to-DVD CGI debut, Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot, was released on October 5, 2004 to less than critical acclaim. In 2005, a new CGI-Animated Movie produced by Nelvana Limited was released: Care Bears: Big Wish Movie, It was 3D, colorful and fun to watch. In 2003 and 2004, the original movies and TV episodes from the 1980s were released on DVD, giving the new Care Bears generations a way to watch the Care Bears in action, and giving the original Care Bears generation a way to re-live their childhood.More Infos... The Bears in other languages Czech: Starostliví medvídci Dutch: Troetelbeertjes French: Les Bisounours German: Glücksbärchis Italian: Gli Orsetti del Cuore Polish: Troskliwe Misie Portuguese: Ursinhos Carinhosos Serbo-Croatian: Mede medenjaci Spanish: Ositos Cariñositos Swedish: KrambjörnarnaMiscellaneous: - In French-speaking countries, the Care Bears are referred to as Bisounours, roughly translating as kiss bears, from bisou (kiss) and nounours (teddy bear). However, French-speaking Quebec knows them as Les Calinours. - When the franchise was introduced in the 1980's, a mistake was made causing Bedtime Bear (blue) and Wish Bear (aqua) to swap colours. As soon as the mistake was discovered, the two bears returned into their appropriate hues, and later on a children's story was written explaining why. - The term Care Bears was used as a fan base name for Carrie Underwood (the winner of 2005's American Idol). Coincidentally, she comes from Sigma Sigma Sigma, the same group where the cartoon's founder came from. - The Care Bears' ultimate "weapon" is the Care Bear Stare, in which the collected bears stand together and radiate light from their respective chest symbols, combining to form a ray of love and good cheer which could bring care and joy into the target's heart. - During the movies, especially the sequel, the Care Bear Cousins call their weapon "Care Bear Cousins Call". In the second movie, the Call looks like a musical score, and the cousins, excluding Swift Heart Rabbit, use whatever animal noises is common to that animal. However, during the cartoon series, both the Care Bears and the Care Bear Cousins use the "Care Bear Stare." - In MMORPG games the term carebear normally refers to a player that does not like Player vs Player (PvP) conflict in the game. It is generally a derogatory term in this instance. - In 2005, "Care Bears" placed 7th among AOL's top ten searches for toys site & layout © simona. We are not affiliated with Care Bears in any way. Care Bears are © American Greetings Corporation, and all other respective owners. We are just fans, showing our appreciation by running this non-profit fansite. No copyright infringement intended. more?