Care Bears Nutcracker Suite (1988)

 Spoiler Warning!!

Facts

Care Bears Nutcracker Suite was first released on December 10th, 1988, across North America. In 2006, it was released in France to a small audience and was finally released 2006 by Lions Gate Home Entertainment (2000–2006) under the new name Care Bears: The Nutcracker.

The story follows Anna, Peter, The Nutcracker, Grumpy Bear, Funshine Bear, Baby Hugs, Baby Tugs, Brave Heart Lion, Lotsa Heart Elephant, and Tenderheart Bear as they travel through Toyland in an attempt to defeat the Evil Vizier and his army of rats led by the Rat King, as told by the director of a play. Opening on Baby Tugs and Baby Hugs searching for their special ornament, and Grumpy Bear and Funshine Bear going to Earth to help Anna, a lonely girl wishing for friends. 

The Nutcracker and the Rat Army appear, fighting the Care Bears and humans. Grumpy and Funshine send a distress signal that brings Baby Hugs, Baby Tugs, Brave Heart Lion, Lotsa Heart Elephant, and Tenderheart bear to Anna and Peter's house. Baby Tugs, Baby Hugs, and Peter follow the Care Bears, plus Anna and The Nutcracker, to Toyland without them noticing. The Evil Vizier has taken hold of Toyland, trapping the Sugar Plum Fairy and trying to find the magic ring that gives someone power over Toyland. The Prince of Toyland has gone missing, and the land has fallen into bondage as the Vizier's army rules over the toys in Toyland. 

As the story continues, The Nutcracker slowly begins to remember parts of his character and past as a friendship with Anna blooms. The Care Bears have to fight the rat army and its king as they head toward the Toyland Castle. On a train heading toward Toyland, they make friends with local toys and learn that Baby Tugs, Baby Hugs, and Peter are following them. In the end, Baby Tugs, Baby Hugs, and Peter are kidnapped by the rat army and taken to Toyland Castle as their prisoners. The Care Bears reach Toyland Castle and search it for the Sugar Plum Fairy to save her. Shenanigans ensue and finally lead them to the throne room, where they find out that the ring is hidden in a walnut on the top of a Christmas tree. 

The Evil Vizier captures them, and each is turned to wood until the Nutcracker agrees to crack the nut open. Baby Hugs, Baby Tugs, and Peter trick the Rat King to escape their cell. They steal the walnut without knowing about the ring and have to fight the rats to keep it out of the Evil Vizier's hands. Their work is in vain, as the Vizier gets the ring and tells the Nutcracker to open the nut, or he will destroy all of his friends. The Sugar Plum Fairy escapes and puts the magic ring on the Nutcracker before the Vizier can put it on. The Nutcracker remembers that he is the lost Prince of Toyland and uses his powers to defeat the Vizier and change Toyland back to its former glory. With the Vizier defeated, the Prince sends the Care Bears, Anna, and Peter back to the real world.

Anna wakes up in the real world, thinking it was all a dream. However, Peter introduces her to their new neighbor, Allen Prince, who looks just like the Prince from Toyland. As the story comes to a close in real life, the play's director tells the children that Allen and Anna became the best of friends. We learn that Anna is the director, all grown up, and that Allen appears to take her home. The Care Bears also appear in the rafters of the stage, letting the children in the play know that it was all true. 

The Care Bears were first introduced in 1981 by Elena Kucharik as unnamed characters created for greeting cards by the American Greetings company. The co-president of Those Characters From Cleveland, Jack Chojnacki, saw the original drawings and saw potential. Chojnacki had already helped develop Strawberry Shortcake, making toys and books featuring the popular brand's characters. After seeing Kucharik's illustrations, Chojnacki brought the first Care Bear to higher-ups in American Greetings and representatives of the toy company Kenner. 

Muriel Fahrion, the creator of Strawberry Shortcake, was brought in to design the original Care Bears. Toys, stationery, and more were made by TCFC throughout 1981, but production of the line was kept quiet. Kucharik was given the creative lead to create illustrated books about the characters, and her art was used on merchandise made by TCFC. Kenner designed toys based on Kucharik's work, creating a line ready for the Care Bears' introduction in September 1982. 

Nelvana, a Canadian production company, was tasked with creating Care Bears Nutcracker Suite, loosely based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1816) and the Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1892). Directing fell to Laura Shepherd and Joseph Sherman, both of whom were already working on Care Bears Family (1986-1988). Kucharik, who had written for other Care Bear media, was tasked with writing the story for this movie and serving as a creative consultant with Chojnacki. 

Animation was spread over the world. Nelvana in Canada, Hanho Heung-Up in South Korea, and Wang Film Productions in Taiwan worked together to animate different aspects of the movie. Little information is known about the animators who worked on this movie, as their work was either uncredited or their other work could not be found using online sources. 

Initially, the movie was meant to be released in theaters. However, it was decided to release it on television and through VHS sales. In December 1988, it was released in the US on The Disney Channel, and later that month, in Canada, on the Global network. The following year, it would be released on TV3 in Malaysia. VHS and Betamax editions were sold by Kids Klassics, a division of GoodTimes Entertainment (1984-2005), in 1988. The movie would be rereleased a few times before being renamed Care Bears: The Nutcracker by Lions Gate Home Entertainment (2000–2006) in 2006.

Notable voice actors involved with this production include Michael Beattie as The Nutcracker (Care Bear Family, Beverly Hills Teens, and Conan the Adventurer), Don Francks (1932-2016) as the Evil Vizier (My Bloody Valentine, X-Men Series 1992-1997, and Johnny Mnemonic), and Tara Strong as young Anna (Chowder, DC Girls, The Powerpuff Girls, and The Fairly Oddparents). 

Reviews of this movie paint a disappointing picture. Character designs were reused from the 1980s Care Bears films, and the lack of creativity put viewers off. The story has been criticized as only vaguely based on the source material, making the fact that it is a Nutcracker movie strange. Music from the ballet is used randomly without context, the animation is shoddy, and the story is too simple for the twist at the end to be enjoyable. 

My Opinion

My Mawmaw owned the VHS of this movie, so my first interaction with the material is colored by nostalgia. Every December, I would pull the VHS out of her collection and sit down to watch it on my own. Her VHS player was in her and my Pawpaw's bedroom, so I would wrap myself up in their quilt and turn off all the lights in their bedroom. My Mawmaw would bring me ice cream or cookies and then leave me alone to watch the movie. 

Care Bears were a significant part of my early years, even becoming a family nickname that later got ruined by bullies. Nursery blankets had Care Bears printed on them, a huge Care Bear-themed windchime hung in my room, and Care Bear movies were rented from our local movie rental place. These early years are blurry to me, but Care Bears stand out as one of my first loves. 

The VHS I saw this movie on was old, and I think she had bought it for my Dad and his siblings in the late 80s or early 90s. But once I was born, it became mine in a way. It always stayed at her house, but I knew it was mine. Years later, she got rid of it, but still, it was mine for a while. 

Rewatching this movie as an adult was surreal. Issues that feel blatant now must have been missed by a younger me. However, I could still feel the inkling of that magic that pulled me in as a child. The voice acting holds up pretty well, not to mention the art, which was hand-animated rather than produced through online programs or 3D software, as in later Care Bear movies.  

But I cannot disagree with the issues other viewers found in the movie. Looking back at films from the 80s, I see that the Care Bears franchise reused designs from earlier movies. There is also the reuse of voice lines, either revoiced each time or blatantly reused from the same voice take. Animation continuity is also an issue, such as the Care Bears cloud car disappearing and reappearing between shots after Grumpy and Funshine crash into Anna's chimney. 

Another moment that I have seen little talk of is that they blatantly change how the train in Toyland works. An earlier scene in the movie said the train needed strawberry soda to run (which is thick and looks like a milkshake), and later in the film, it is run by gold and jewels. Is this how trains work, needing fuel and acceleration? Feel free to explain below!

The phrase "When there is a will, there is a way!" is repeated by various characters throughout the movie. This is what they want children to learn. However, it did start grating on my nerves as they hammered it in. The story should have been able to express that without them saying it every ten minutes. But the story is cheesy and bare-bones, with similar scenes of fighting and promises of help throughout that only vary slightly by location. 

The first fight between the Care Bears gang and the Rat army takes up a disproportionate amount of time when looking at the adventure they had to take to reach Toyland Castle. The fight is long and does nothing other than show the Care Bears using their powers and Anna screaming. 

Anna and the Nutcracker were my first ship ever. Throughout the movie, they keep saying they are friends. The last scene with Anna and Allen was supposed to be a nod toward their dating. Maybe they did not want people to be confused between Allen Prince and the Prince of Toyland, who are technically two different characters. In the original Nutcracker, there was a similar ending, so that concept may always be vague. 

When taking an all-inclusive look, I can see why the movie stuck with me. The thing it wanted to teach was the importance of will and never giving up, and the film takes steps to drill that in. While heavy-handed, the movie has moments that show character and heart. 

I hope you can relate

-Dorin