History Care Bears

1 history

1.1 development
1.2 1982 launch
1.3 1991 relaunch
1.4 2002 relaunch
1.5 2007 relaunch
1.6 2012 relaunch

history
development

the care bears created in 1981 characters cleveland (tcfc), licensing division of american greetings. jack chojnacki, co-president of tcfc, introduced first care bear, 6 businessmen—three american greeting cards, , 3 toy company kenner—in february 1981. on employees reaction toy, chojnacki recalled in 1985: had high[?] factor.

muriel fahrion, artist helped create strawberry shortcake s look, among franchise s first concept artists. working tcfc creative vp ralph shaffer, muriel designed first 6 bears, creating best-selling greeting card themes belly graphics. susan trentel, muriel s sister , doll designer of strawberry shortcake, designed care bears plush. once out of concept stage children s book illustrator elena kucharik became primary artist care bears creating hundreds of full color illustrations cards, books , myriad of licensed products. tcfc s creative team of artists , writers worked create numerous characters in line, joint development characters cleveland , mad (marketing , design service of toy group of general mills).

as had done strawberry shortcake, once titled project i, american greeting cards called care bears development project ii strove make character program secret until advertising ready. @ start of franchise, care bears established working title.

1982 launch

on september 24, 1982, care bears franchise launched in new york city before members of area s society of security analysts. attending event american greetings president morry weiss, , 2 employees of characters cleveland: jack chojnacki , senior vice-president henry lowenthal. eventually, characters announced toyline production parker brothers , kenner following spring, pre-licensed characters , media stars. @ time, american greetings touted debut biggest character launch in history of retailing . on us$5–6 million advertising budget , wholesale commitment worth us$122.5 million, american greetings introduced characters general public in february 1983, appearance @ new york city s toy fair; 26 licensees involved upon launch. among them general mills, food company owned board game manufacturer parker brothers. in 1983, parker brothers released 6 books featuring care bears part of publishing division s first offerings. on television, original ten bears starred in first syndicated special, atkinson film-arts care bears in land without feelings; kenner produced , sponsored it.

in december 1983, american greetings , cpg products lost lawsuit against easter unlimited, importers of line known message bears . according new york city judge leonard b. sand, toys lacked heart-shaped touché tags used identify care bears.

in 1984, agc introduced spin-off line, care bear cousins; syndicated special, care bears battle freeze machine, came out same year. miniseries based on toys distributed lexington broadcast services company. year later, bears , cousins starred in first film, care bears movie, produced nelvana limited , released samuel goldwyn company. became highest-grossing animated film made outside disney market @ time of release. later autumn, dic entertainment released 11-episode television series in syndication.

in 1986, nelvana returned franchise second movie, care bears movie ii: new generation. released columbia pictures, film featured new villain, dark heart, , introduced more of care bears , care bears cousins: harmony bear, true heart bear, , noble heart horse.

later year, tv series titled care bears family (also nelvana) premiered on u.s. abc network , canada s global. lasting 2 seasons , consisting of on 70 episodes, introduced evil wizard no heart , sidekick beastly. in second season, no heart s niece shreeky introduced.

the care bears third film, care bears adventure in wonderland, debuted in 1987. tv special, care bears nutcracker suite, premiered on disney channel in 1988.

over 40 million care bears sold between 1983 , 1987, , american greetings printed on 70 million of cards during decade. in whole, sales of merchandise reached on $2 billion during 1980s.

1991 relaunch

in 1991, characters cleveland , kenner embarked on relaunch of franchise, involving 7 bears. 1 of care bear cousins, proud heart cat, released bear white fur sported belly symbol of heart-shaped american flag. publishing company random house released 2 tie-in books: care bears , big cleanup (1991) bobbi katz, , care bears , whale tale (1992) peggy kahn.

2002 relaunch

in 1999, rights care bears franchise bought jay foreman, president of fort lauderdale-based play along toys, less $1 million; planned acquire fellow american greeting cards property strawberry shortcake. 3 years later, american greetings relaunched care bear brand part of bears 20th anniversary celebration series of plush toys , movies. artwork , design of bears changed relaunch. also, champ bear s colours changed tan true blue, belly symbol changed winner s cup star, , share bear s belly symbol changed milkshake 2 straws 2 lollipops crossed. change share bear s symbol stems play along toys suggestion of change on grounds sharing milkshake may spread germs. apart that, many other minor changes made designs, involving lightening colors of bears , minor redesigns belly symbols. , tv series call care bears in land of care-a-lot coming in february 2004. sponsors kleenex & delta tech. crayola crayons in december 2004. lipton noodle soup replaces kleenex in march 2005. michaels replaces crayola crayons in november 2005. delta tech drops out in march 2006. lipton noodle soup drops out in may 2007.

in midst of revival, play along released brand new toys based on newly redesigned bears, sold @ stores such wal-mart, kmart, toys r us, target, kb toys, , mervyns. new merchandise included bears doing aerobics; tenderheart bear patient (casting child playing toy doctor); champ bear fireman; , care bears cubs. on 70 million 13-inch (330 mm) plush bears have been sold since re-launch. in addition, lionsgate home entertainment , subsidiary fhe pictures, in association nelvana, have made 2 direct-to-dvd computer-animated films, care bears: journey joke-a-lot in 2004 , care bears big wish movie in 2005. various other music cds featuring bears , video games produced.

new versions of various cousins produced (with proud heart being changed cat, in different color , same symbol had in 1980s franchise). 2 of cousins, treat heart pig , noble heart horse, never produced 13 inch plushes in 2000s, , cousins not relaunched in 2007 relaunch of franchise.

2007 relaunch

in 2007, american greetings relaunched care bears again, first series of dolls, new movie, care bears: oopsy it! , before new tv series care bears: adventures in care-a-lot. animation , artwork different originals giving care bears have smaller body structures , redesigned belly symbols, called belly badges. also, instead of nelvana, film , animated series produced sd entertainment.

as part of franchise s 25th anniversary celebrations, bears redesigned american greetings properties illustration team, logo of franchise. line consists of fifteen of thirty-nine bears (as seen in care bears: oopsy it!). 5 of bears chosen focus of franchise: oopsy bear, cheer bear, funshine bear, grumpy bear , share bear. other bears include wish bear, true heart bear, bedtime bear, tenderheart bear, love-a-lot bear, harmony bear, amigo bear, surprise bear, superstar bear, best bear, best friend bear, play-a-lot bear, heartsong bear, luck bear , hopeful heart bear, although remaining 24 bears stated have release in near future according play along toys.

their new theme song performed former letters cleo member, kay hanley, , music video premiered on fox , nickelodeon. in august 2007, appeared in film care bears: oopsy it!. followed television series sd entertainment, adventures in care-a-lot. series premiered on cbs kewlopolis block on september 15, 2007.

the care bears franchise rebooted upon 2007 relaunch. prior plot devices cloudmobiles, caring meter, cloud keeper, , care-a-lot castle not referred or mentioned of new series. in place gathering tree, care bears gather meet or hold festivities. also, care bears have, until point of first direct-to-dvd release new franchise (grizzle-ly adventures), never had humans visit care-a-lot, , new villain named grizzle (who seeks conquer care-a-lot , nothing else) introduced. february 2007 article in wall street journal states in new version, live in village, centered on big tree; no castle in sight .

however, caring meter made return in grizzle-y adventures, , second direct-to-dvd release of franchise, ups , downs, included passing remark regarding forest of feelings. in addition, care-a-lot castle reappeared in scenes in new game v.smile baby infant development system, play day.

on july 23, 2008, american greetings announced care bears (along strawberry shortcake) sold cookie jar entertainment in acquisition due take place on september 30, 2008. april 2009, announced cookie jar entertainment had problems in financing acquisition , french company called moonscoop has expressed interest in franchise. deadline cookie jar s acquisition april 30, , moonscoop s attempt june 7. in mid-august 2009, moonscoop sued american greetings, claiming latter backed out of planned us$95 million deal; agc , cookie jar sued each other in process well. in late april 2010, cleveland company won summary judgment on moonscoop sas contract , promissory estoppel claims in case; moonscoop filed appeal following month. @ end of november 2012, district court in cleveland ruled in favor of american greetings on moonscoop.

in late 2009, american greetings announced care bears re-imagined launch of new series, care power team . re-imagining re-used adventures in care-a-lot designs, has bears sport enhanced belly badges, , sees bears taking on emergencies. after, trio of new films appeared: care bears: share bear shines, care bears: giving festival , care bears: rescue. in same year, announced master rights toys care bears have changed hands play along toys hasbro, in deal involved strawberry shortcake. however, in mid-2013 first care bear toys hasbro appeared. there has been no word on caused delay.

2012 relaunch

in july 2011, card company announced new television series, franchise s first in cgi, in development. entitled care bears: welcome care-a-lot, premiered on hub on june 2, 2012.

in december 2013, ag properties , mindworks entertainment announced collaborate sanrio co-branding character franchise little twin stars. expanded rollout expected in march 2014.

in july 2014, announced hasbro has lost rights making toys toy company called play. thought reason change due american greetings being unhappy how long took hasbro release toyline time acquired rights make toys.

in october 2014, when hub changed on discovery family, revealed welcome care-a-lot has been cancelled , there won t further work on show.

in january 15, 2015, revealed netflix had commissioned new series called care bears , cousins after hub cancelled welcome care-a-lot. show expected premiere sometime in 2016, release pushed november 2015 , premiered 6 episodes.