Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-Lot

Just for the record, I don't hate the Care Bears. By all means I'm not a huge fan, but I do think some of the hate the franchise and characters garner do verge on unfair. Although I loved the 1980s show and the original movie, and enjoyed New Generation, Wonderland and Nutcracker, I found myself disliking Journey to Joke-a-Lot. It seemed cute on paper and the character of Gig certainly is so. But the jerky character designs and lurid colour schemes make the film visually unappealing, while the score lacks whimsy and apart from a couple of delightful ones the songs are mostly limp with uninspiring lyrics. The script is a very uneven mix of weakly-done silly and sweet moments, Funshine's coronation speech is one of the, perhaps even the, worst single scenes of anything to do with Care Bears. The story is structurally thin, some scenes such as most of the songs and the middle are little more than lazy filler and the messages are handled in a very heavy-handed way. The characters are not the simple and charming ones from especially the 1980s, the villains are completely insipid, Funshine is now a bully and Grumpy is an utter wimp here. The voice work is terrible sadly too, too high in pitch with next to no subtlety and it also sounded as though they had been recorded in a helium balloon. All in all, a poor movie and a bland one. 2/10 Bethany Cox

(OK, sorry I haven't reviewed any movie for a really long time at IMDb--not since "Holes" last Independence season--but, here goes...)

In 2004, audiences were enchanted by one of the best animated sequels of all time, "Shrek 2", and later were wowed by the action-packed power of the superhero family, "The Incredibles"--and both were made in CGI. But in between, and a little after, these two blockbusters, a series of unfortunate events (not the Lemony Snicket kind) became stumbling blocks in the industry: among these mediocre messes came "Pride", "Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy", "The Polar Express", and now this--the most recent, most hilarious, and most horrible attempt at a comeback--"Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot". (A really good thing "The Princess and the Pauper" and "Twice upon a Christmas" managed to escape so far...)

Everyone's favourite bears are back, and at the beginning of this new DTV movie, they are all preparing for their annual fair when, all of a sudden, something goes wrong: as Grumpy Bear's newest carousel invention goes out of control, Funshine Bear's jokes about the mishap are sent the wrong way, and at once he decides to run away from the magical land of Care-a-lot. His travels soon take him to a land where humour is king, and laughter is nonstop: Joke-a-lot. But, upon being crowned King of the land, Funshine soon realises that keeping the title will make him stay here forever...or will he ever have a chance to return to where he really belongs?

Some aspects of the film are really horrible: to ever think of Funshine being a male bear is an embarrassment to true fans of the 80's franchise who grew up enjoying that character as a girl! Too many elements of the original franchise are missing here too: near the film's end, there is a scene in which the bears could have used their Stare on Funnybone, the half-villain of our story; it's too bad you never see it activated. The new faces in Joke-a-lot are so scary and not that familiar to look at, not to mention the small, pink Gig. And, even more shamefully, some of our favourite bears are missing from the adventure: Baby Hugs and Tugs, Proud Heart Cat, Swiftheart Bunny (the cutest one, and personally my favourite), and Grams Bear. There are no human characters anywhere within the plot. To top it all off: no real villains are present, which makes Funnybone the rat ever so close to the likes of Nicholas and Dark Heart...

But, fortunately, the five songs are nothing short of delightful. For those who have seen the trailer at amazon.com and the official Care Bears web site, the Joke-a-lot anthem is a worthy, congratulatory sing-along (when the movie premiered on Disney Channel on December 12th, I had a great time singing along with it). Otherwise, the rest are somehow forgettable.

So, in the end, "Journey to Joke-a-lot" is a somewhat above-average comeback of a well-known toy franchise from well over two decades ago, and only if fans and kids alike can ever survive its creepiness (and honestly I have). Bottom line: it's funnier than the Shrek films, but scarier than the Polar Express.

That being said, and the fact that I still love the Bears as a 18-year-old, gives this fourth instalment my most solid vote of 7 after "Jetsons: The Movie" and "Hocus Pocus". Yet I am still hoping for better to come when another movie is made.

To quote the amazon.com review by A. Wagner: "This movie had great potential - it's too bad they blew it."

ALSO RECOMMENDED: Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, Finding Nemo, the Toy Story and Shrek films, The Incredibles, and (of course) the original Care Bears Movie from 1985.

7\10

I absolutely loved the care bears from the 80's but can't stand these new ones. I hate everything about them. Why can't people leave well enough alone? Hollywood has reached rock bottom so they're remaking everything now but only worse. I'm tires of seeing the classics get ruined. The only comeback that should have been made is the old ones released on DVD. A few people that things are going to change but there's no reason to think so. The Big Wish movie was just as bad. And I'm sure that the new movie coming to the theater will be just as bad. Sorry I've been a bit long winded but I had to draw things out to meet the 10 line minimum for a review.

This movie? This movie?? "Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-Lot" is a cinematic tour de force powered entirely by rainbow giggles, glittery nonsense, and the kind of nostalgia that hits harder than a Care Bear Stare to the face. Is the animation a little wonky? Is the plot completely bananas? YES. AND I WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING.

Watching this felt like being dunked in a cotton candy milkshake of childhood joy and left to float in a pool of pure whimsy. I laughed, I cried, I questioned my reality-but in the best possible way. The songs? Bops. The jokes? HILARIOUS (if you're 7 or just easily amused like me). The vibes? Immaculate.

To anyone who says this movie isn't good: I regret to inform you that you just hate fun. And whimsy. And probably sunshine and unicorn stickers too. Let the bears have their joke kingdom! Let me cry-laugh through the absurdity! LET US ALL EMBRACE THE CHAOS OF JOKE-A-LOT!

Long live Funshine Bear. 10/10. Would journey again.

I enjoyed the original 2d movies for their charm & imagination. My favourite characters were Grumpy Bear (reduced to a whiny toddler in this mess), Hugs & Tugs (baby bears) & the Care Bear Cousins. The babies & cousins were absent, as were any humans. The bears learn a lesson about there's a time to laugh & a time to be serious, but the way they treat Grumpy at the beginning is appalling. The original Grumpy was an able handy bear & he growled about things, but beneath was a heart of gold. You admired him. Here he just comes across as a wimp. The new voice was dreadful. The others were just as bad. In fact the only character I cared about was a sweet pig called Gig. The villains in the original films were scary, but the rat & mosquitoes aren't even vaguely threatening. Care-a-lot had been radically redesigned. 3d computer animation doesn't have the same appeal for me as 2d. It's too hard edged, perfect & unfluffy. Certainly inappropriate for Care Bears. Some bears had been coloured differently. Better to seek out the originals. This newbie lost its way entirely. 3/10