Care Bears

The Care Bears are a set of characters created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards. The original artwork for the cards was painted by artist Elena Kucharik. In 1983, Kenner took the characters and made the first in a line of very succesful teddy bears based of the Care Bears. Over 40 million units were sold between 1983 and

Legacy in the media

Over the years, the Care Bear characters have been seen in, or influenced, several other films and TV shows:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Movies

• ' (1987): During a party scene in the film, a Wish Bear raft can be seen inside a swimming pool.
• Checking Out (1989) (unconfirmed): As Jeff Daniels steps outside in desert conditions towards the film's end, one of the onlookers whom his character encounters is holding a Swift Heart Rabbit doll in his hands.
• South of Wawa (1991): Footage from the Care Bears' Wonderland adventure are shown. (Alyson Court appeared in that sequel as well as this independent gem.)
• Snow Day (2000): One of the characters (played by Emmanuelle Chriqui) is nicknamed "Claire-bear" by her boyfriend.
• The Hot Chick (2002): Rob Schneider's friend has a Cheer Bear on her keyring, seen during the scene at the race track early in the film.
• Blade Trinity: Hannibal King says we wanted to use the name Care Bears but that was taken.

Television shows

• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: On one of the early episodes, a young girl tells Will Smith that her father only supports Care Bear music to prevent her from listening to inappropiate songs.
• Rugrats: The Dummi Bears spoof heavily on the Care Bear franchise, especially with their Sing a Happy, Happpy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Song theme.
• ': The Rainbow Monkeys, who appear in many episodes, are yet another Care Bear spoof.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: In the Gary Takes a Bath episode, the beloved title sponge calls his pet snail "Gare-bear".
• Dr. Phil: An obsessed Care Bear fan—the administrator of The Memories Board—appeared as a guest star on the syndicated show in April 2005.
• The O.C.: In Season 1, Episode 24, "The Proposal" Merissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) has a Share Bear.