Les Bisounours: le film

Yeah, my cool defense is that I was 5 when this went down.

So, Lucky Bear, he has an Irish Accent which, when you think about it and the fact that they all live and grew up and spent their entire lives in the same place, Care-a-Lot, just means that he has a speech impediment doesn't it?

Moving on, this will give you near instant tooth decay. It is way too sweet and even writing that makes me feel guilty because I know I just made the caring meter go down.

But it is brilliant, the concept is such that if you don't like you are instantly sort of a heartless git. A sociopath even.

It holds your humanity hostage

Mention the Care Bears and for some reason everyone starts to cringe or think of nasty things to do to them. I have to say it breaks my heart that so many people are against a cartoon that teaches kids about empathy, friendship, and conflict resolution (and all without fighting).

I recently had the pleasure of acquiring a copy of this movie, and I, for one, am going to treasure it. I'm serious. Watch it with a little kid who takes the Power Rangers too seriously. I guarantee you'll be a little misty eyed by the end, and the kid will discover the revolutionary idea that it's not against the rules to befriend the monster instead of battling it.

I know I won't have a lot of people backing me up here, but I thought I should put my two cents in. And anyhow, Grumpy Bear is too cute.

Let's face it - the world has grown into a rather unpleasant place, and the recent generations of children are more jaded than any I or my mother have ever seen. Toys are over-priced, uninventive and children get bored with them in a matter of days. Children's movies today are much the same, getting shorter and shorter every movie and teaching children nothing.

If anyone with children or younger siblings has ever had to suffer through current children's programming, you'll see what I mean. They're reverse-educational; a young child pointed at the Teletubbies sun and said "Baby," and then pointed at the real sun and said "Baby." Blues Clues teaches children to shout(trust me on this one,) and shows such as 'the Wiggles' remind me far too much of PeeWee Herman (the worst "children's" show of all time.)

So rewind TV - go back to 80's cartoons. Even though Care Bears were originally piloted to advertise the toys, the show evolved into something NICE. The animation was far from spectacular, especially when compared to today's computer animation, and the story lines WERE simple. But it had something to offer children that 99% of new cartoons don't offer - examples of non-violent resolutions to conflicts, sharing thoughts and items with others, being open about your feelings, caring about yourself and others. These 80's cartoons encouraged children to not be jaded, selfish and rotten brats. (And if you don't believe me that today's violence-fed kids are brats, just go to my sister's elementary school - I've NEVER seen so many 5th graders dressed like whores in my life.)

Storyline and morality aside, you should also pay attention to the music. Following the habits of 80's cartoons and movies, there are numerous song and dance numbers randomly inserted into conversation. But they are certainly striking in the boldness of them. And by this I mean the harmonies. Cue up the song "Home Is In Your Heart" on your movie or cd and just listen. The harmonies running through the song feel as though they should clash against each other and explode, but they just miss that clashing point and somehow manage to work very well. You can distinctly hear the SATB lines, and how soprano and tenor carry a lot of the melody and the base and alto are used to interesting harmonies. Just listen. The music was really well written.

Long story short, let your children watch movies like this, and if you feel that they didn't learn anything from it, discuss the movie with them. 6.5/10

The 80's were really the decade to live in! I have to admit, for someone my age, I honestly believe that the Care Bears movie is a very well-made movie. It came out the year I was born, and I'm reasonably sure that it is also the very first movie I ever saw in my entire life.

Now, where should I begin? Ah, yes. It makes me enjoy the movie a lot more now that I know that some famous people were involved in it. The story is narrated by Mickey Rooney, someone with a very kid-friendly voice. There was also Cree Summer, who did voices in various different cartoon series', and of course, Billie Mae Richards (Rudolph).

This is a great children's movie, and some adults can enjoy it too. I don't recommend this movie to the 7 to 18 range. It's pretty enjoyable, but it also has a lot of frightening parts. I was always scared to death of the dark spirit. To help lighten the mood, there are also some catchy songs in this movie as well, which are all done by famous pop artists such as Carol King and John Sebastian. Today, the only thing I really love about this movie is the finale song, "It's Great to Be in the Care Bear Family". For some odd reason, I'm such a sucker for all those "Kids of the Kingdom"-types of songs.

This movie was followed by two sequels. The first of the three was really good and really dark and dramatic, the second one was just as good but seemed more like a comedy than a drama, and the third one was just plain weird. Right now, I just wish I could watch this movie again and see how much stuff I can remember from it. I'm sure it will bring back to me some very fond memories.

Ahhhhhh! This is really cute, especially the cousins. Its message is subtle and not laid too thick. The evil spirit is really scary. Her voice drips with pure poison and you have to admit that the world would be terrible if nobody cared. The good characters have plenty of charm and personality. They're not cloying. You really care about what happens to them and that's what makes a good movie. 8/10