50 Fun Facts About Care Bears

Which of the Care Bears had an ice cream soda with two straws swapped for crossed lollipops over worries about germs?

Share Bear traded the two-straw soda for a pair of crossed lollipops when the toys were relaunched in 2002. The new toy maker suggested the swap, reasoning that passing one drink around could spread germs.

Before the plush toys and cartoons, the Care Bears first appeared in 1981 as artwork for what product?

Greeting cards came first: artist Elena Kucharik painted the bears for a card company, and the plush toys followed in 1983. More than 40 million of those toys had sold by 1987.

The Care Bears' home of Care-a-Lot and their heart-shaped meeting table both pay homage to which legendary ruler?

King Arthur is the model: Care-a-Lot is a play on Camelot, and the heart-shaped table echoes his Round Table. Love-a-Lot Bear's name is a nod to Sir Lancelot.

The Care Bears Movie earned more in 1985 than which Disney animated feature released a few months later?

The Black Cauldron cost Disney far more to make, yet the low-budget bears out-earned it at the box office. The upset left Disney's own animators worried about the future of their studio.

Sophia Bush designed a one-off Care Bears 'Justice Bear' for a 2019 charity auction, basing it on which judge?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg inspired the bear, which the actress created for the humanitarian group CARE. Celebrities each designed a single bear, sold to mark the International Day of the Girl.

Which toy company, maker of the first Star Wars action figures, turned the Care Bears into plush toys in 1983?

Kenner launched the plush bears in spring 1983 behind a multi-million-dollar advertising push. The Cincinnati firm also sponsored the bears' first television special that year.

Which hit singer-songwriter of the 1970s wrote and performed the theme song Care-A-Lot for The Care Bears Movie?

Carole King wrote and sang the film's title song, while John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful wrote several of the others. One of his numbers earned a Genie Award nomination in Canada.

When the Care Bears stand together for their famous Care Bear Stare, the beam of light shines from where?

Their tummies light up: each bear's belly badge fires a beam, and the beams merge into one ray of love. The Cousins' version of the move is known as the Care Cousin Call.

Cozy Heart, who joins a raccoon, a monkey and an elephant among the Care Bear Cousins, is what kind of animal?

A penguin, Cozy Heart made a screen debut in The Care Bears Movie in 1985. Three decades later the character was one of only four Cousins brought back for a new series.

Which of the Care Bears is the team mechanic aboard the Cloudseeker in the series Care Bears: Unlock the Magic?

Grumpy Bear fixes whatever breaks while fretting about everything else. Earlier series had already made him an inventor, forever building gadgets for his neighbors in Care-a-Lot.

Which original leader of the Care Bears welcomes the Cousins into the family in The Care Bears Movie?

Tenderheart Bear inducts the Cousins at the film's end and hands each of them a belly badge. Until then the Cousins had no badges and joined the fight by calling out in their own animal voices.

Which of the Care Bears wears a rainbow belly badge and took over as unofficial leader in the 2007 series?

Cheer Bear took the lead when the 2007 reboot trimmed the main cast to five. The pink optimist doubles as the resident cheerleader, making up encouraging chants on the spot.

Which of the Care Bears runs away after a joke backfires and is crowned king of Joke-a-lot in a 2004 film?

Funshine Bear is hailed as the town's long-lost king, but a scheming rat only wants him crowned to get at the royal sceptre. The film was the first in the franchise made with computer animation.

Which of the Care Bears, introduced in 2007, has no belly badge and draws one on with a crayon?

Oopsy Bear sketches a badge with a special crayon, usually a shooting star, and rubs it out when his mood changes. The accident-prone newcomer was one of the five leads of the 2007 relaunch.

Which young cub created for Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot carries a stuffed toy named Floppy Bunny?

Wonderheart Bear, nicknamed Little Wonder, was the first all-new character made for the 2012 series. She is the niece of the bears' wise elder and spends the show learning what her badge can do.

Which of the Care Bears is the caretaker of baby cubs Hugs and Tugs and wears a rose tied with ribbon?

Grams Bear raises the two youngest bears and made her debut alongside them in a 1984 television special. A later series redrew her with glasses, a shawl and a walking cane.

A factory error on the first Care Bears plush toys made Bedtime Bear and Wish Bear swap what?

Their fur colors were switched, so the sleepy bear came out aqua and the wishing bear blue until the mistake was caught. A children's story was later written to explain the mix-up.

Birthday Bear, one of the ten original Care Bears, wears which birthday symbol as a belly badge?

A cupcake topped with one candle sits on the golden-yellow bear, whose whole job is celebrating birthdays. He was among the first bears to reach toy shops and television in 1983.

What is the name of Wish Bear's wishing star companion in The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie?

Twinkers is the star she found as a cub, and his power backs every wish she grants. Her wishes misfire in the film and conjure up three badly behaved new neighbors.

Aboard which craft do the Care Bears sail along a river to search for lost friends in The Care Bears Movie?

The Cloud Clipper carries the search party in the 1985 film. The sequel shows it starting out as an ordinary boat that transforms while sailing up a rainbow into the sky.

Which Care Bear Cousin has an uncle who arrives in Care-a-Lot seeking help to find a missing princess?

Swift Heart Rabbit's uncle is the White Rabbit himself, who needs a stand-in for a lost heir in the 1987 film. The bears recruit an ordinary girl named Alice for the job.

Which Care Bear Cousin sails a ship full of cubs at the start of Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation?

Noble Heart Horse co-founds the bears' realm in the film, a prequel that tells how the family began. The cubs aboard grow up to be the bears and Cousins of the first movie.

Actor Harry Dean Stanton made a guest appearance singing as which Care Bear Cousin in The Care Bears Movie?

Brave Heart Lion borrows Stanton's voice for a single number, Home Is in Your Heart. The same soundtrack also features the bands NRBQ and Tower of Power.

The Care Bears live in Care-a-Lot, but what is the name of the home of the Care Bear Cousins?

The Forest of Feelings is where two orphaned children first stumble on the Cousins in The Care Bears Movie. In a later series, one of the bears keeps a tree house there.

Which winter-loving villain rules the Land Without Feelings in the first Care Bears television special?

Professor Coldheart turns a runaway boy into a green goblin with a fizzy potion before the bears come to the rescue. He stayed on as the main foe when a weekly series began in 1985.

Which evil wizard, uncle of the shrieking Shreeky, is the main villain of the series The Care Bears Family?

No Heart arrived with the 1986 series, and his ill-tempered niece joined him in its second season. The same show let its heroes wrestle with conflict and even depression.

Which bumbling henchman from The Care Bears Family returned as a mischievous king in a 2012 series?

Beastly spent the 1980s botching an evil wizard's schemes. The 2012 reboot gave him a crown and a band of minions called Beasties, recasting him as more frenemy than foe.

Which shape-shifting villain of Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation ends the film as an ordinary human boy?

Dark Heart first attacks as a red sea serpent and later appears as a teenage boy. A dying girl's kindness breaks his magic, and he leaves the film as a human for good.

Which villain in a big metal suit tries to conquer Care-a-Lot in Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot?

Grizzle builds robots and a ride called the CareTaker to steal every belly badge, only to learn the magic works just for those who care. His helper robot ends up siding with the bears.

Which leader of the Bad Crowd tries to turn the Silver Lining into his own land in Care Bears: Unlock the Magic?

Bluster wants to rename the place Blusterland and sends his gang out to plant Bad Seeds across it. One member was thrown out of the gang for being too nice.

Which Hollywood veteran voiced the orphanage owner who tells the story in The Care Bears Movie?

Mickey Rooney plays kindly Mr. Cherrywood, who entertains the orphans with a tale about the bears. He did not come back for the sequel a year later.

Which Lewis Carroll character turns up as a rapper in the 1987 film The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland?

The Cheshire Cat raps his directions to the bears, while the fearsome Jabberwocky proves friendly and asks to be called Stan.

Which classic ballet is the basis of a 1988 Care Bears television film set partly in Toyland?

The Nutcracker gave the bears a wooden soldier to protect and an army of rats to fight. The film doubled as the finale of their 1980s television series.

In France the Care Bears go by which name, a blend of the French words for kiss and teddy bear?

Les Bisounours joins bisou, a kiss, to nounours, a teddy. French-speaking Canada chose a different name, built from the words for cuddle and bear.

Which streaming service commissioned Care Bears & Cousins, a 2015 series that revived four of the Cousins?

Netflix picked the bears up after a cable channel dropped their previous series. The new show ran for two six-episode seasons and stayed on the service for exactly ten years.

In Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation, the bears' very first Caring Mission takes them where?

A summer camp is where they meet Christy, a girl so keen to beat the camp's show-off that she strikes a bargain with the villain. Reviewers compared the plot to the legend of Faust.

Muriel Fahrion designed the first six Care Bears after helping create the look of which 1980s doll?

Strawberry Shortcake came from the same company a few years earlier, and the designer's sister sewed the first plush prototype for both lines.

Champ Bear, the sports star among the Care Bears, wears which prize as a belly badge?

A trophy marks the athletic bear, though the details shifted in 2002, when a heart on the cup gave way to a star. The bear himself went from golden yellow to blue.

Good Luck Bear, the mission navigator in Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, wears which charm as a belly badge?

A four-leaf clover sits on the green bear, who has been voiced with an Irish accent in more than one series. Despite the badge, he prefers to succeed with no luck involved.

Hugs and Tugs, the baby cubs of the Care Bears family, are traditionally drawn wearing which item?

Diapers were the cubs' signature look until a 2012 redesign dropped them. Hugs is pale pink and Tugs pale blue.

In The Care Bears Movie, storyteller Mr. Cherrywood is finally revealed to be which character, grown up?

Nicholas is the magician's apprentice the bears rescue in the tale, so the narrator has been recounting his own childhood all along. The twist lands in the film's closing scene.

In The Care Bears Movie, a magician's young apprentice releases an evil spirit by unlocking what?

An old book with a diary-style lock holds the spirit, which appears as a woman's face and turns the boy against the world. One of the quietest bears helps shut it back inside.

What is the name of the place that takes in both Care-a-Lot and the home of the Care Bear Cousins?

The Kingdom of Caring was founded, in the second film's telling, by the two guardians who raised the first cubs. A device there called the Caring Meter tracks kindness on Earth.

Billie Mae Richards, a lead voice in The Care Bears Movie, earlier voiced which star of a 1964 Christmas special?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer spoke with her voice from 1964 to 1979. She played the bears' leader in their first two films, and a later series cast her as a raccoon Cousin.

The Care Bears were developed by a toy-licensing studio named Those Characters From which American city?

Cleveland lent its name to the studio, set up by the bears' parent company to license its characters. The same team launched the Popples a few years later.

Which publisher ran a 20-issue Care Bears comic series from 1985 under its child-friendly Star imprint?

Marvel Comics launched the Star line in 1984 for young readers and filled it with toy and cartoon tie-ins. One Care Bears issue crossed over with the gross-out Madballs.

A Care Bears video game was developed for which console in 1983 but cancelled before testing could begin?

The Atari 2600 game stalled at the prototype stage, sunk by dull gameplay and the video game crash of 1983. The bears had to wait until 2004 for a first official game.

Which Toronto animation studio, close to shutting down at the time, made The Care Bears Movie?

Nelvana was near collapse after its costly first feature, Rock & Rule, failed to find proper distribution. The bears' box-office success kept the Canadian studio alive.

Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, who wrote and performed the first Care Bears albums, came from which 1960s band?

The Turtles, the group behind Happy Together, supplied the duo better known as Flo & Eddie. Their Care Bears records for Kid Stuff were bestsellers in children's music.

Which board game company launched its book-publishing arm in 1983 with six Care Bears titles?

Parker Brothers, the maker of Monopoly, shared a parent company with the bears' toy maker, so storybooks were a natural next step. Over 45 million Care Bears books sold in the 1980s.