Care Bears - Vols. 1 And 2 (Animated) (Special Edition) (DVD)

...not in the know, the Care Bears are an 80's icon. There were 2 different series (The Care Bears and the Care Bears Family) starring the cuddly characters, and of course, cuddly toys of the characters available to buy instore. Currently as part of the nostalgia craze, and the reissue and reinvention of classic children's toys and TV continues, the Care Bears are back with the original series on DVD, newer films, and of course, toys in the stores!
...of the original DIC produced Care Bears series.. It does not contain any special features that you would not get otherwise, as these are the shows themself only. The bears live in the clouds in the Kingdom of Care-a-Lot, have varius animal cousins who live in the Forest of Feelings, and they spread happiness and caring throughout the world, carrying out special missions here on earth to help children understand their feelings and to deal with them ... more

For those not in the know, the Care Bears are an 80's icon. There were 2 different series (The Care Bears and the Care Bears Family) starring the cuddly characters, and of course, cuddly toys of the characters available to buy instore. Currently as part of the nostalgia craze, and the reissue and reinvention of classic children's toys and TV continues, the Care Bears are back with the original series on DVD, newer films, and of course, toys in the stores!

This particular special edition is special only in that you get Vol 1 and Vol 2 together of the original DIC produced Care Bears series.. It does not contain any special features that you would not get otherwise, as these are the shows themself only. The bears live in the clouds in the Kingdom of Care-a-Lot, have varius animal cousins who live in the Forest of Feelings, and they spread happiness and caring throughout the world, carrying out special missions here on earth to help children understand their feelings and to deal with them in a positve manner.

The episodes on disc one are:

The Freeze Machine
Actually the second originally aired episode that first was shown as a TV special, which for unknown reasons is placed first, we meet Professor Coldheart who tricks a bullied boy into helping him finish his freeze machine in order to get revenge by hurting anyone who disagrees with him. The Care Bears help the boy deal with his feelings and see that being mean to others not only hurts others, but hurts him too, and together they foil the professor's plot and destroy the machine.

Land without Fear:
The first Care Bear episode ever, originally broadcast as a TV special, this episode discusses the fear of moving. A young boy named Kevin is upset about moving house. he is upset when his best friend tells him she is sure she will see him again,and insits that nobody cares, so he doesn't care, and he will show them all. He runs away and enters a park that has grown dismal and harsh, and ends up at Prof. Coldheart's castle, where he is stripped of the feelings that made him a person, and is now a vaguely froglike slave. The castle is full of them. The Care Bears and Kevin's young friend follow his footsteps and using the Care Bear stare (in which light comes out of the pictures on their stomachs), they turn Kevin and the other children back into themselves, and restore their feelings. Kevin has learned that people do care about him and he looks forward to his friends visiting him at his new house.

The Birthday:
It is Birthday Bear's birthday, but he is so busy doing for everyone else's birthday, he has orgotten his own. The Care Bears and their cousins throw him a surprise party, and much merriment ensues until they a hear a disturbance below. A young boy is upset because his baby sister was just born, and he thinks they have forgotten it was HIS birthday. He is playing with a very selfish and naughty little boy, who encourages him into all sorts of naughtiness when his father asks him to wait while he goes and gets Mom and baby from the hosital. The boys wreck the house out of jealousy, and the Care Bears must help him deal with his feelings. They do, and help him tidy the mess up, just in time for his parents to arrive back home. They have not forgotten his birthday; they have his party stuff with them in the car. They had been merely delayed picking his birthday cake and such up because of the baby being born.

Camp
Two children at summer camp are thrown together as buddies. They are complete opposites and do not seem to fit together, but the Care Bears come along and help them discover that each has strengths and skills that the other lacks, so that they actually complement each other. The children learn to be friends and embrace their differences.

Braces
Young Joey comes out from the dentists' office with new braces, and then must bicycle back to school. He feels very self concious and thinks everyone is being condescending because he has braces. A bully sees he feels this way, so decides to prey on him. Joey gets even more upset, and gets very angry. The Care Bears try to cheer him up and show him his friends do not care that he has braces, but he is too wrapped up in feeling angry and sorry for himself.

After school, the bully falls into a hole, and Joey happens by, and refuses to help him out of spite for how the other boy treated him earlier. The Care Bears help the bully, explaining that they help everyone in need, and that everyone should be shown a little caring. The bully feels ashamed of his actions, and makes amends, and Joey comes to undersand that he too has treated his friends badly when they were doing nothing wrong, and that two wrongs do not make a right, so makes up with everyone.

Split Decision
A child lacking in confidence faces a group of taunting neighbourhood children and plays a game of football with the Care bears as teammates. Winning not only nets self confidence, but the admiraton of the displayed skills gains respect from the other children, and friends.

The Last Laugh
Cheer Bear is determined to get Grumpy Bear to smile. A comedy show is organised in Care-a-Lot, and the Care Bears end up learning a lot about each other and deepening their friendships.

The Show Must Go On
Little Patty does not want to go on stage for her part inin the ballet recitial because she cannot see her father in the audience. Without her, the show will be spoiled. The Care Bears encourage her to think of the other children and the Care Bear Cousins go looking for her father. He is still stuck at his desk because his boss is refusing to let him leave on time. The Care Bear Cousins must get the boss to care about his employees, and get Patty's father to the recital in time.

Contents of disc two

The Lucky Charm
A little girl known as "Jinx Jacobs" lacks in self confidence and really believes she is a worthless piece of bad luck. Unable to merely convince her otherwise with words, Good Luck Bear gives her a "lucky charm" to help her overcome her feelings of low self worth. It works, and she discovers that you make your own luck.

Soap Box Derby
Two little girls are having trouble with the racer they built for the soap box derby, so the Care Bears help them out. Watching the race, they realise that two bullies are cheating and sabotaging the race, so they teach them a lesson about honesty and good sportsmanship.

The Forest of Misfortune
Prof. Coldheart is back, and this time he is out to turn the Forest of Feelings into a frozen wasteland. First he builds a fortune telling machine that he uses to trick the Care Bears into going off on missions that are wild goose chases. Then he begins his destruction. But Bedtime Bear has been asleep all this time, and awakes to discover his infamy, and runs after the others to get them back so they can stop Prof Coldheart from completing his mission.

The Magic Mirror
Coldheart discovers a magic mirror that when looked into, changes a person's personality to the opposite of what they were. He gleefully uses it on the Care Bears. His joy at turning them uncaring is short lived however, as he gets some unexpected results!

Daydreams
This episode features the Care bear Cousins in the starring roles. A little girl daydreams whenever she encounters a problem. The Cousins try to help her learn to face her problems and solve them instead. In the meantime, Prof Coldheart is at it again, trapping the cousins into an invisible cage. Swiftheart Rabbit evades him and manages to inform the others who are on the mission with the little girl, who learns to overcome her daydreaming in order to help her new friends.

Runaway
The nasty Prof Coldheart decides to build a monster vacuum to suck away the feelings of children, and traps them to accomplish his goal. The Care Bears race to the rescue and save the day despite the professor trying to use the children as shields.

The discs themselves

As stated, there are no extras.With single English language release without subtitles, original 4:3 aspect ratio (not widescreen), and as originally aired without any enhancements, this is a basic dvd.. These are all of the original episodes commisioned by DIC, and like other DIC productions, the animaton and sound is good, but not terrific. The later series The Care Bears Family, by Nelvana, did a much better job in this area. To gain an idea of the quality of animation and sound, I point you to other DIC productions you may be familiar from:
Action Man
MASK
Inspector Gadget
The Adventures of He Man

The writers of the show also did badly with the songs featured on afew of the episodes, they are simply dire, but thankfully quite brief and very few, but appear to appeal to my 3 and 5 year olds, who are part of the target age range, so I guess I should not complain too terribly.

Rated U, this set is really most suited for ages 3-7 and makes an excellent springboard to talk to young children about feelings and consideration for others. The empathy gained by associating themselves with the Bears and Cousins has helped my own young children look beyod themselves and understand how others may feel. It is also excellent value, available from places such as Virgin megastores for £5.99. Just be prepared to have your children ask for a Care Bear as this set has spawned a growing collection of the cuddly bears in my son's and daughter's rooms.

 

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