Care Bears (TV series)


The Care Bears is an animated television series based on the Care Bears franchise. The first season, Care Bears, was produced by DIC Entertainment in 1985 and distributed in syndication. This was followed by The Care Bear Family, which was produced by Nelvana and shown on the ABC network from September 13, 1986 to January 23, 1988. When ABC dropped the show, Nelvana produced some more episodes for syndication, interspersing both new and old episodes.
During its televesion run 3 Care Bears films were theatrically released.
In 2007, Sabella Dern Entertainment produced a revival, .

Synopsis

The Care Bears live in a faraway place up in the clouds called Care-a-Lot, which constitutes a part of the Kingdom of Caring. With the help of the Cousins and their Buddies, they go all around the world on Missions in Caring whilst Evil villains such as Professor Coldheart, and Lord No Heart, try to thwart their plans.

Episodes

Voice cast

DIC version

DIC series

United States

The DIC series of Care Bears has seen a few VHS releases from DIC Video and Buena Vista Home Video throughout the 80's and 90's.
In March 2003, Sterling Entertainment released 3 releases on VHS and DVD - "Bedtime Stories", "The Last Laugh" and "To the Rescue". Each release contained 6 or 7 episodes, with a bonus episode on the DVD version, while "To the Rescue" contained a bonus Sylvanian Families episode. An additional DVD - "Daydreams" was released in mid 2003, and contained a Strawberry Shortcake short as a bonus on the DVD version.
Sterling would later release all 22 episodes in 7 volume collections in 2004 entitled Celebration, Dreamland, Forever Friends, Land of Enchantment, Starry Skies, Tenderheart Tales and Fun in the Sun.
In 2007, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment acquired the rights to the original DIC series and re-released all the DIC-produced episodes on DVD in 5 volume collections entitled Care-A-Lot Adventures, Forest of Feelings, Magical Moments, * Carousel of Dreams and Sharing in the Sunshine.
On August 26, 2008, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released Care Bears: Care-A-Lot Collection on DVD in Region 1. The 2-disc set features all 22 episodes of the series.
In 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights to the series and subsequently released three volume collections which contain 6 episodes each, on September 10, 2013.
On October 6, 2015, Mill Creek released The Care Bears – The Complete Original Series on DVD in Region 1. The 2-disc set features all 22 episodes of the series.

International

In the United Kingdom, Maximum Entertainment released the whole DIC series on 4 DVD sets and 2 VHS releases under license from Jetix Europe.
Volume 1, released in August 2004 contained the first 2 episodes alongside the Freeze Machine and Land without Feelings specials. Volume 2, released in October 2004 contained 5 episodes, and The Magic Shop and The Girl who Cried Wolf each contained 3 episodes, with the Freeze Machine special appearing on the latter again for an unknown reason, likely as filler. Both sets were released in 2 compilations titled "Volumes 1 and 2" and "Wedding Bells", each containing 2 discs with their respective volumes.
The separate volumes were re-released again in 2007, with the former 2 volumes being released simply as Care Bears. Another compilation titled Happy Birthday, Care Bears was released by Maximum in February 2008, containing 12 episodes set within 2 discs. Lace DVD re-issued the DVDs again in 2011 as well was releasing the entire series in a 4-disc boxset. These versions are identical to Maximum's releases.
In 2016, Platform Entertainment would release 4 DVDs of the series.

Nelvana series

In Region 1, Lions Gate Home Entertainment has released many episodes on DVD in various single disc collections from 2004 to 2008. In total, 12 collections have been released, each featuring random episodes from the series.
On October 9, 2012, Lionsgate released Care Bears: The Original Series Collection on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The 6-disc set features the majority of episodes from the series as well as the bonus feature Care Bears Nutcracker Suite.
In Region 4, Magna Entertainment released all 52 episodes on DVD in Australia in 2004 in 12 separate volumes.