| The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (Care Bears III) | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Raymond Jafelice |
| Written by | Peter Sauder |
| Screenplay by | Susan Snooks John de Klein |
| Produced by | Michael Hirsh Patrick Loubert Clive A. Smith |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Evan Landis |
| Music by | Patricia Cullen |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Cineplex Odeon Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Countries |
|
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million[2][nb 1] |
| Box office | $6 million[4] |
The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland[nb 2] is a 1987animatedmusicalfantasy film and the third theatrically released film in theCare Bears franchise. It was released in the United States and Canada on August 7, 1987, byCineplex Odeon Films, and is based onLewis Carroll'sAlice stories. The fourth feature film made at Toronto's studioNelvana Limited, it was directed by staff member Raymond Jafelice and produced by the firm's founders (Michael Hirsh,Patrick Loubert andClive A. Smith). It stars the voices ofKeith Knight,Bob Dermer,Jim Henshaw,Tracey Moore andElizabeth Hanna. In the film, the Care Bears must rescue the Princess of Wonderland from the Evil Wizard and his assistants, Dim and Dumb. After theWhite Rabbit shows them her photo, the Bears and Cousins search around the Earth for her before enlisting an unlikely replacement, an ordinary girl named Alice, to save her true look-alike. Venturing into Wonderland, the group encounters a host of strange characters, among them arappingCheshire Cat and theJabberwocky.
Adventure in Wonderland was co-produced and self-financed byNelvana Limited, after a consortium of American companies helped them with the first two films. Animation was handled byNelvana Limited and Taiwan'sWang Film Productions. The film featured a musical score by Patricia Cullen along with songs by pop musiciansJohn Sebastian andNatalie Cole. Upon its North American release, the film opened weakly to mixed reviews, and ended up with a $2.6 million gross; worldwide, it barely made back its $5 million cost. In the years since it opened, the film has received aVHS andDVD release in various countries outside North America, where distributors refuse to release it due to various complications involving the negative response ofits first sequel,[7] leaving this movie abandoned in the US ever since.
In Care-a-lot, the Care Bears are visited by theWhite Rabbit, the uncle of Swift Heart Rabbit. The White Rabbit gives the Care Bears the task of finding the missing Princess of Heart, who is to be crowned queen inWonderland, otherwise the villainous Wizard of Wonderland will gain the throne.
Tenderheart, Grumpy, Good Luck, Brave Heart, Lotsa Heart, Swift Heart and the White Rabbit search all over the world for the Princess, but to no avail. Grumpy is pointed to a girl who resembles the Princess,Alice, who believes she is not special. The Care Bears decide that Alice could act as the Princess until the real one is found. The group is separated by the power of the Wizard, forcing Grumpy, Swift Heart and the White Rabbit to use a rabbit hole to reach Wonderland.
In Wonderland, Tenderheart's group gain directions to Heart Palace from OfficerCaterpillar. The Wizard sends his minionsDim and Dum (loosely based on Tweedledum and Tweedledee from Alice Through The Looking Glass) to capture Alice using large battle robots, but the Care Bears defeat them with a Care Bear Stare. Grumpy's group reunite with the others as theCheshire Cat appears, portrayed as arapper. The Cheshire Cat splits the group of two, directing Tenderheart, Lotsa Heart, Alice and the White Rabbit to Heart Palace, and Brave Heart, Grumpy, Good Luck and Swift Heart to look for theMad Hatter, who knows where the Princess is. The Wizard captures Alice briefly and explains to her that when he rules he will make Wonderland less insane and more controlled. Alice flees and runs into theQueen of Hearts' throne room, where the Queen accepts Alice as her daughter whilst knowing she is not. Brave Heart's group locate the Mad Hatter who takes them to the lair of theJabberwocky, where the Princess is. Grumpy rescues the princess, but the Jabberwocky gets a thorn in his foot which is removed by the Care Bears. In gratitude, the Jabberwocky (or "Stan" as he prefers to be called) decides to help them back to Heart Palace.
As the Princess' coronation day arrives, the Wizard decides to expose Alice's identity to the court via the Princess Test, to prove that she is not the princess. Alice climbs a mountain to retrieve some water from a spring, aided secretly by Tenderheart and Lotsa Heart; however, Alice gives the water to an injuredunicorn. Angered by this, the Wizard demands that Alice make the flowers in the palace garden bloom magically. The princess secretly steps in and makes the flowers bloom. The Wizard, who had not been anticipating the Princess' return, suddenly exclaims he had her kidnapped, exposing his crime. The Care Bears, Alice, and the Wonderland characters confront the Wizard but the appearance of the Jabberwocky drives the villain insane, and he is arrested. The princess is crowned the new queen, and she helps Alice and the Care Bears return home.
The cast of the film:[6]
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Bob Dermer | Grumpy Bear |
| Eva Almos | Swift Heart Rabbit |
| Dan Hennessey | Brave Heart Lion / Dum |
| Jim Henshaw | Tender Heart Bear |
| Marla Lukofsky | Good Luck Bear |
| Luba Goy | Lotsa Heart Elephant |
| Keith Knight | White Rabbit |
| Tracey Moore | Alice |
| Colin Fox | Wizard |
| John Stocker | Dim / Cheshire Cat |
| Don McManus | Caterpillar |
| Elizabeth Hanna | Queen of Wonderland |
| Alan Fawcett | Flamingo |
| Keith Hampshire | Mad Hatter / Jabberwocky ("Stan") |
| Alyson Court | Princess of Wonderland |
A third feature film based onAmerican Greetings'Care Bears characters was under development at Toronto'sNelvana studio as early as June 1986, a few months after the release of the second installment,Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation.[8] Nelvana had also begun production ofaCare Bears television series set to air on theABC network in the U.S., andGlobal in Canada.[8] Whereas the other two were co-financed with U.S. companies, Nelvana raised its own money (US$5 million)[2] for the new instalment,[4] with assistance from Middlefield Entertainment Group.[6] Production ofAdventure in Wonderland, Nelvana's fourth animated feature,[9] took place at the Toronto company's facilities;[10] overseas work was handled by Taiwan'sWang Film Productions.[11] Raymond Jafelice, the director, was previously involved in the originalCare Bears Movie as a storyboard artist.[12][nb 3] Nelvana's founders—Michael Hirsh,Patrick Loubert andClive A. Smith—were once again producers.[6]Jack Chojnacki, the co-president of American Greetings' licensing division Those Characters from Cleveland,[13] served as a creative consultant on this instalment;[6] for the previous ones, he was an executive producer.[12][14] In December 1986, Toronto actor Colin Fox recorded his lines for the film at the Nelvana studios.[15]
Cineplex Odeon Films, the distribution branch of Canadian cinema chainCineplex Odeon Corporation, acquired the North American rights toThe Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland in February 1987.[3] According to the Long Island newspaperNewsday, Cineplex Odeon chairmanGarth Drabinsky "shrugged off [this film] as 'a favour to the Canadian producer.'"[16] Tie-ins appeared at department stores as part of the film's promotion; also, costumed Care Bears spread the word at daycare centres, hospitals and parades, and through radio.[17][18]Universal Pictures was named sub-distributor of the film, which handled the physical release of the animated feature, but the relations are strictly one of the major contracted as subdistributor for theCineplex Odeon Films.[19] Opening on August 7, 1987,Wonderland only grossed US$2,608,000 in the U.S. and Canadian domestic market,[20][nb 4] with US$1,000,000 in rentals;[22] on its opening weekend, it grossed little more than US$1 million in 20th place on 1,094 screens.[23] It was Cineplex Odeon's second-highest-grossing release as a distributor, alongsideSign o' the Times (which made only US$3 million).[24] The film premiered on videocassette in December 1987, thanks toMCA Home Video,[25] and reissued byGoodTimes Home Video in 1996;[26] a U.S.LaserDisc release occurred on May 16, 1991.[27] The film aired on premium cable'sDisney Channel in August 1988;[28] in Canada, television rights were held by theFamily Channel.[29] Although the first two Care Bears films have received DVD releases,[30][7] a Region 1 DVD for the third one has yet to be scheduled due to suffering complications from its first sequel,[7] although it did receive a DVD release in Australia.
Adventure in Wonderland only managed to break even with worldwide earnings of US$6,000,000,[4][nb 5] which led Nelvana co-founder Michael Hirsh to say, "It was just one sequel too many."[2] The Bears would return for a television special,Care Bears Nutcracker Suite, which premiered on video and television in December 1988.[31][32] They would no longer appear in animated features until 2004'sJourney to Joke-a-lot.[33] Their next theatrically released film,Oopsy Does It!, was screened in the U.S. in August 2007.[34]
As with the originalCare Bears Movie,[35][36][37]Adventure in Wonderland made an appearance at 1987'sCannes Film Festival.[38] The film was released in Germany byCineVox throughWarner Bros.[39] on November 27, 1987[40] asBärchis Abenteuer im Wunderland.[39][40] It sold 104,478 tickets and ranked 96th place among the year's releases in that market (excluding re-issues),[39] and grossed approximately€403,000 (the equivalent ofDM788,750, or US$570,000).[39][41][nb 6] The film was released on video byVCL/Virgin on March 22, 1988.[40]
Adventure in Wonderland was released in the Netherlands on December 17, 1987, asTroetelbeertjes in Wonderland.[43] Starting in March 1988, it was screened in matinees across the United Kingdom[44] byVirgin Films,[45] as part of an agreement with the local branch of20th Century Fox.[46] As late as 1992, distribution rights in France were held by NDP, who released it asLes Bisounours au pays des merveilles.[47] In Spain, the film is entitledLos Osos Amorosos en el País de las Maravillas (among Castillan speakers)[48] andEls Óssos Amorosos al país de les meravelles (among Catalan speakers).[49] Elsewhere in Europe, it is known asAs Aventuras dos Ursinhos Carinhosos (in Portugal),[50]Krambjörnarna i Underlandet (in Sweden),[51] andTroskliwe Misie w Krainie Czarów (in Poland).[52]
In Australia, the film was released theatrically in December 1988,[53] and on video in July 1989 by Virgin;[54] it was airing on that country'sNine Network by February 1996.[55] South African video rights were held bySter Kinekor in 1989.[56] On February 23 that same year, it was released in Mexico asAventuras de Alicia en el país de las maravillas y los ositos cariñositos.[57] As of 2010, the film has been sold on DVD in several European countries.[49][50][58] The Australian edition treats it as an episode rather than a feature-length film.[59]
"It's always been hard to care for these bears. These adventures do not change them for the better."
Like the firstCare Bears Movie,[61]Adventure in Wonderland received mixed reviews from critics. Henry Herx inThe Family Guide to Movies and Videos deemed it a "vastly superior sequel" to the "failed original": "[It is] a lively, colourful, complexly designed and orchestrated travelolgue through Wonderland ... Director Raymond Jafelice holds even adult interest with his fast cuts and engaging fantasy characters",[62] while theBantam Books guideMovies on TV and Video Cassette gave it two and a half stars out of four and called it "Enjoyable [...] for the tyke set."[63] The 1988–1989 edition of theFilm Review called it "the best of the trio", adding that it "may well please the youngsters" with its "non-stop entertainment";[64] this view was also shared by Carole Kass of theRichmond Times-Dispatch.[65] John Teerds of Brisbane, Australia'sSunday Mail wrote of the film positively,[66] while another Australian critic, Rob Lowing of Sydney'sThe Sun-Herald, gave it two and a half stars out of four and noted that there was "nothing original here, although that also means nothing to shock".[54] Similarly, theChristian Science Monitor wrote that "The animated action holds few surprises for grown-ups, but the cute characters and fetching designs should enthrall young children."[67]
In herNew York Times review, Caryn James said, "[The] movie is paced so it won't strain the attention span of a 6-month-old, but there is nothing to spark a child's imagination."[68] As noted Hal Hinson ofThe Washington Post, "Watching [this movie] is like being pelted mercilessly for 75 minutes withLucky Charms. It's nonfatal (unless you have a sugar problem, in which case you're likely to lapse into a coma), but it's not exactly my idea of fun either."[69] Rick Groen of Toronto'sThe Globe and Mail expressed disappointment over the way the villain was handled.[70]
Comparing this installment to its predecessors,Newsday's Joseph Gemlis declared thatWonderland "aspires to be more than a merchandising gimmick. It has a story to tell". However, he criticized the plot and treatment of the fictional land's denizens.[71] Film criticLeonard Maltin called it a "typically bland kiddie outing", awarding it two stars out of four.[72]Halliwell's Film Guide called it "Undemanding and uninteresting whimsy for the under-sixes",[5] while London'sTime Out referred to it as "Hemlock to Lewis Carroll fans."[73] In a 1988 issue, theVideo Librarian labelled it a "dud".[74]
Adventure in Wonderland was nominated for Best Music Score (by Patricia Cullen) and Best Original Song ("Rise and Shine" by Maribeth Soloman) at the1987 Genie Awards in Canada.[75] At theYoung Artist Awards, it was also nominated for Best Motion Picture in the Animated category.[76]
The film is based onLewis Carroll'sAlice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel,Through the Looking-Glass.[77] "Basically", said Michael Hirsh, "we borrowed from [these two works] because we thought it would be interesting for the Care Bears to go into a classic adventure and get involved with classic characters."[78] Likewise, Patrick Loubert said, "By combining Alice and those wonderful Lewis Carroll characters from Wonderland with the Care Bears, the new film will now introduce all these magnificent characters to a whole new generation."[71] Parts of this film are inspired by the literary worksThe Prisoner of Zenda[79] andAndrocles and the Lion,[79][80] and their cinematic counterparts from1937 and1952 respectively.[79] According to Johanna Steinmetz of theChicago Tribune,Wonderland borrowed some elements fromThe Wizard of Oz.[80]
"First we hear the song 'Everything Is Wonderful in Wonderland.' That contrasts with the villain's song, when he tells how he's going to bring 'order' to Wonderland by taking the color out and turning everything right side up. I don't think he is really scary. Just mean."
The songs inThe Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland were composed and performed by John Sebastian,[6] who performed "Nobody Cares like a Bear" in the firstCare Bears Movie.[6] For this instalment, Sebastian sang "Have You Seen This Girl?" and the "Wonderland" song, while singer and songwriterNatalie Cole performed the film's opening song, "Rise and Shine".[6] The score was written by Patricia Cullen[6] (who had previously scored the first two films),[12][14] and orchestrated and conducted by Milton Barnes.[6] Todd Sussman ofThe Miami News said, "A musical score of seven forgettable songs is ornamental and does little to advance the plot. Even the opening number is unmemorable. It's hookless, and it never fails to surprise."
| Song | Writer | Performer(s) | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Rise and Shine" | Maribeth Solomon Arr.Micky Erbe | Natalie Cole | David Greene |
| "Have You Seen This Girl?" | John Sebastian | John Sebastian | John Sebastian David Greene |
| "Wonderland" | John Sebastian | John Sebastian | John Sebastian David Greene |
| "Mad About Hats" | John Sebastian | Keith Hampshire | John Sebastian David Greene |
| "The King of Wonderland" | John Sebastian | Colin Fox | John Sebastian David Greene |
Founded in 1972, [sic] the [Nelvana Limited] company earned an international reputation in 1984, after American directorGeorge Lucas—best known for theStar Wars movie series—hired the studio to create two animated TV spin-off series,Ewoks andDroids. A year later, Ohio's American Greetings Corp. and Kenner Parker Toys Inc. commissioned Nelvana Limited to produce the animatedCare Bears Movie. Earning $34 million in 1985, it became at the time the world's most profitable non-Disney animated movie. Buoyed by that success, Nelvana Limited made two sequels. But the last of the trilogy, the 1987Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, which Nelvana Limited co-produced for just under $5 million, only broke even. Conceded Hirsh: 'It was just one [sequel] too many.'
Cineplex Odeon distributes third Care Bears movie: Canada's Cineplex Odeon will distribute the third Care Bears animated movie,The Care Bears Adventure In Wonderland, that is currently being filmed by Nelvana in Toronto. Cineplex Odeon has rights for the U.S. and Canada for theatres and video cassette. ¶ The first two Care Bears movies grossed about $40 million. The third movie is budgeted for between $5 million and $7 million.
The first [Care Bears] movie, released in 1985, grossed $25 million at the box office. Its $3.5-million budget was financed by American Greetings in partnership with Kenner-Parker Toys Inc. of Beverly, Massachusetts The Americans also funded the sequel, which brought in $12 million. Nelvana financed the third movie itself and it has so far grossed $6 million.
The animation here is slapdash and crude, only occasionally reaching Saturday-morning-TV level. I don't know whether the Care Bears television program was put together as poorly, but if so, I can't envision how the producers sold three movies (there was a second sequel after this, which will never see daylight on DVD if there's any justice in the cosmos) based on it.
In planning stages [at Nelvana] is yet another Care Bears movie, an original animated feature movie and two TV movies (with actors) for American pay-TV.
Jack Chojnacki, copresident of Those Characters from Cleveland, a subsidiary of American Greetings set up just to handle licensing, told a recent meeting ...
For a change of pace, [Colin Fox] returns to Toronto this weekend to be the voice of the Wizard forThe Care Bears Movie III, being shot by the city's Nelvana Films, which made the first two features and the current weekly ABC-TV Saturday morning Care Bears series that also airs on Global.
A trio of people dressed as giant Care Bears stroll the Croisette handing out ...
For the younger and less demanding, there is Raymond Jafelice'sThe Care Bears' Adventure in Wonderland (matinees around the country), which recklessly borrows characters from Lewis Carroll and graphic styles and Disney.
Fox has already handledCare Bears in Wonderland andA Man in Love for Virgin, and will releasePascali's Island for the company in January.
There are also a number of duds:Friday the 13th: Ad Infinitum,Avenging Angel,Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,Gimme an 'F',Care Bears in Wonderland, etc.
Likewise, the recent animated television movie [sic] for children,The Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland, is an adaptation of bothAlice's Adventures in Wonderland andThrough the Looking-Glass, in a reductive or trivializing fashion ...
