Care Bears - A rainbow of love and joy
The Care Bears were created in 1981 when they were a set of characters used by American Greetings. In 1983, Elena Kucharik (the original artist) took the characters and made the first line of teddy bears based on the Care Bears. 1983 and 1984 brought them their very first television specials and in 1985, they starred in their first movie.
The franchise of Care Bears consists mainly of them themselves, as well as later additions such as the Care Bears Cousins. They both lived in the Kingdom of Caring which is comprised of Carealot (home of the Care Bears) and the Forest of Feelings (home of their cousins).
The ten original Care Bears were Bedtime Bear, Birthday Bear, Cheer Bear, Friend Bear, Funshine Bear, Good Luck Bear, Grumpy Bear, Love-A-Lot Bear, Tenderheart Bear and Wish Bear.
In their family movies and series, there have been villains who have tried to stop the Care Bears and their Cousins on their missions. They’ve battled Professor Coldheart and they’ve faced Wizard No Heart along with his apprentice Beastly and his niece Shreeky. In their movies, they’ve gone up against the villains Nicholas and the Evil Spirit, Dark Heart and the Wizard, Dim and Dumb.
Ultimately, their biggest weapon is the Care Bears stare, with which they stand together, not in privacy, and radiate light from their symbols on their chest (each of which is respective of what kind of bear they are), which when combined, form a ray of free light of love and big cheer which in the end brings joy into their target’s heart. This stare takes on a few different forms. One is where the beam comes from their tummies and makes several different images of the tummy symbol, another is when they join together with their cousins and form a rainbow, and another is a yellow color beam with hearts.
Some popular children’s books that have been based on the Care Bears are: The Trouble with Timothy, Sweet Dreams for Sally, The Witch Down the Street, A Sister for Sam, A Friend for Frances, Caring Is What Counts, Ben’s New Buddy, The Magic Words, Being Brave Is Best, A Walk To Grow On, and The Best Prize of All. More recent books that have been published are: Caring Contest, The Day Nobody Shared, Lucky Day, Catch the Christmas Spirit!, How Does Your Garden Grow?, Special Delivery, Nighty Night, Winter Wonderland, Easter Egg Hunt, Wish Upon a Star, Giving Thanks and Love Is All Around.