| The Care Bears Family | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Slapstick Fantasy |
| Created by | Linda Denham Elena Kucharik |
| Based on | Care Bears franchise byAmerican Greetings |
| Written by | John de Klein |
| Directed by | David Marshall Jim Craig Joseph Sherman Lawrence Z. Jacobs Laura Shepherd |
| Starring | Jim Henshaw Chris Wiggins John Stocker Terri Hawkes Sunny Besen Thrasher Noam Zylberman Tracey Moore |
| Theme music composer | John Sebastian |
| Opening theme | "Care Bears Countdown"[1] performed by John Sebastian |
| Ending theme | "Care Bears Countdown" (instrumental) |
| Composer | Patricia Cullen |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 49 (78 segments +1 three-part special)(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Lenora Hume |
| Producers | Michael Hirsh Patrick Loubert Clive A. Smith |
| Animator | Wang Film Productions |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production companies | Nelvana C.B.I.S. Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Global Television Network |
| Release | September 13, 1986 (1986-09-13) – November 25, 1988 (1988-11-25) |
| Related | |
| Care Bears Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-lot | |
The Care Bears Family is a Canadiananimated television series produced byNelvana and C.B.I.S. Productions based on the Americanfranchise of the same name, and is the successor series to the Americananimated series produced byDIC Entertainment. It was originally broadcast from September 13, 1986 to November 25, 1988[2] on theGlobal Television Network in Canada. 49 episodes were produced.
The first two seasons were exported to the United States viaABC.[3] However, ABC decided not to air the third season; network officials said they "got killed" in the second season since thepeople meter was too difficult for preschoolers to operate. ABC ran a number of preschool-oriented cartoons that season, all of which suffered in the ratings.[4] Season 3 instead aired insyndication in the U.S.
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The Care Bears live in a faraway place up in the clouds called Care-a-Lot, which constitutes a part of the Kingdom of Caring. With the help of the Cousins and their Buddies, they go all around the world on Missions in Caring thwarting the evil plans of Lord No Heart.[5][6]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | |||
| Specials | 2 | April 22, 1983 (1983-04-22) | April 6, 1984 (1984-04-06) | N/A | |
| DIC series | 11 | September 14, 1985 (1985-09-14) | November 23, 1985 (1985-11-23) | Syndication | |
| 1 | 13 | September 13, 1986 (1986-09-13) | December 6, 1986 (1986-12-06) | ABC (U.S.) | |
| 2 | 6 | September 26, 1987 (1987-09-26) | October 31, 1987 (1987-10-31) | ||
| 3 | 30 | September 12, 1988 (1988-09-12) | November 25, 1988 (1988-11-25) | Syndication (U.S.) Global (Canada) | |
Season 1
Additional voices
Season 2
Season 3
Select episodes of the Nelvana series were released on VHS in the late 1980s by Kideo Video (distributed by Lorimar Home Video) and Fries Home Video in the United States.
In 2002, theCare Bears toy line was reintroduced byPlay Along Toys and featured plush toys that came with a VHS featuring either one or two episodes from the series.
In Region 1,Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released many episodes on DVD in various single-disc collections from 2004 to 2008. In total, 12 collections have been released, each featuring random episodes from the series.
On October 9, 2012, Lionsgate releasedCare Bears: The Original Series Collection on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.[8] The 6-disc set features the majority of episodes from the series (from the previously released discs excludingKing of the Moon andGive Thanks) as well as the bonus featureCare Bears Nutcracker Suite.
In Region 4,Magna Entertainment released all 52 episodes (in chronological order) on DVD in Australia in 2004 in 12 separate volumes.
