Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation

The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation is an animated film released in 1986 by Columbia Pictures, and made by Canada's Nelvana Limited. In this commercial sequel/chronological prequel, the Care Bear Family tries to stop an evil villain named Dark Heart from ruining a summer camp, on their first Caring Mission, and save three campers named Christy, Dawn and John from his wrath.

REVIEW BY Slgrandson - 15:50, 17 Jan 2006 (UTC)

Introduction
In reviewing this second instalment of the Care Bear movie trilogy, I must say I am a true fan(atic) of the 80s toys and TV series. Whenever one of their movies comes to TV, I cannot wait to watch, and usually I never change the channel when it is playing.

Back in August, I watched the movie via LimeWire, for the first time in five years, in a surf cafe in Roseau. That very afternoon, I paid $7.50 of my remaining Christmas money to see it.

Without spoiling a lot of the details, let us go on from...

First few minutes
Here, we see one of animation's greatest ironies come into play: the title, Care Bears Movie II, followed by A New Generation, raises hope of a continuation of its predecessor. But it is not the case: afterwards, we see the Care Bear Family, along with True Heart Bear and Noble Heart Horse on a ship, as cubs! Then, it's off to "Our Beginning"...

So things are starting to go wrong plotwise. Then there's the introduction of Dark Heart, as a dragon, but again, I don't have time to go into detail.

Without explanation, the Family is taken up to the sky to start the Kingdom of Caring, assisted by the Great Wishing Star (Chris Wiggins). He's supposed to help True Heart and Noble Heart start the Kingdom, but (for the sake of the youngsters) narrates the rest of the way.

A spunky number, "Flying My Colours", introduces viewers to some of the Care Bears. During that number, the Care Bear Cubs have received their tummy symbols, something that they have yet to do as such at the end of No. 1.

In the words of Miss Clavel, "something is not right"...

At camp
It's cool to see True Heart skydive down to Earth while Noble Heart tries taking care of the Cubs. When she lands at camp, she catches sight of four campers running a sack race. Too bad the winner--the boastful Camp Champ--is the oldest human around in the movie. (At least you know whom the other three are already.)

Escaping from their troubles at camp is not easy, as the three defeated children discover. While Christy is lost in the woods, Dawn and John are welcomed by True Heart, who shows them an example of love and affection for others: when both kids hold Baby Swift Heart in their hands, the rabbit cheers up and giggles along with them. (Kodak Moment, anyone?)

Soon after the group takes off for the Kingdom of Caring, Dark Heart gives out his first warning. (You'll have to see the movie to find out.)

"I Care for You"
Now, the two campers are put in charge to take care of the Cubs while True and Noble are gone away. This nice song by Stephen Bishop (yeah, that guy who gave us songs from Tootsie and the more dreaded Barney's Great Adventure) plays as they do so. A living shame there's no way to improve it any further...neither was it, or the movie, Oscar-nominated. There's still a long way to go before the Bears win that golden statuette....

Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. We move ahead...

Dark Heart
This is the coolest villain the Bears have faced throughout the entire franchise. He dominates much of the film, from the time he introduces himself to Christy till the very ending. In fact, one part when he booms out, "DARK HEARRRRRRRRT!", was so scary enough for me to remember it, I rarely again watch it. Yes, others like me have had a tough time dealing with his influence on the little ones watching. But, for grown-ups, it's only nostalgia...

Oh, yeah. And back to the time when Christy makes the deal of a lifetime with him. That way, she can win even over the Camp Champ himself. Oh, no, a conscious fan of The Phantom of the Opera might say, when he or she compares this part of the plot to what's now the longest-running spectacular in Andrew Lloyd Webber's career. Fans of the original book, or the 2004 movie, might muse likewise...

"Growing Up"
Ah, the sweetest song in A New Generation so far! Bishop strikes again, as viewers take a look at the Cubs literally--you guessed it--growing up into the furry protectors of feelings.

"Wai.......t a minute!" The humans (including Dark Heart) haven't even aged at all.

As Cobra Bubbles would say, "things have indeed gone wrong."

From there until the Bears defeat Dark Heart, the red cloud, after planning True and Noble's surprise party, I will not comment. You should find out by checking the movie out.

Okay, okay, except for the part where Christy says, "That's why I'm Camp Champ...and you're not!" Seeing her so-called rival sweat mindlessly made me laugh every time I saw it! (The only funny part in the entire movie...seriously.) Surprisingly, he no longer appears for the rest of the film. Whatever happened to him after that?!

Trouble is brewing
At this point, we hear one of the movie's most famous lines:
 * Good or bad, you're still a person...or whatever you are.

Christy says it after she saves her partner, Dark Heart, from drowning in the lake she is in.

(So the Phantom strikes again...)

Until the conference inside the Hall of Hearts (which is coming up), I am at a loss of words for whatever happens next. Go figure it out yourself.

"The Fight Song"
Well, there it is--a feel-good song sung by none other than Debbie Allen (she's basketballer Norm Nixon's wife, and it shows), sung when the Bears and the campers go back to Earth to defeat their villain.

Well...
A climatic battle scene ensues between the campers and the Family combined, and a shape-shifting Dark Heart. Again, go see it to find out the aftermath.

Two hints, however:
 * 1) Remember Peter Pan? Well, when you've got True Heart and the rest of the gang telling you to bring back Christy to life by chanting, "We care!"...ah, you get the idea already.
 * 2) "I'm a boy! A real boy!" Dark Heart says after he looks at a mirror and...Wait! I'm not supposed to give out this part of the affair.

Epilogue
This is where we are charmed endlessly by one of the most enduring and cutest animated ditties of all time: Forever Young. If you're watching as an 80s child, it will really take you back to a time when children's entertainment wasn't full of much junk compared to now. Aw, the memories...

So, we'll attempt to conclude:

Summary
It may be no Incredibles, NIMH or Lion King, but A New Generation is a treat for all Care Bear fans, and (sad to say) no one else. Throw out what you will about the subpar quality of the animation and story, but still it's just another movie altogether.

As you should expect in any of their TV or big-screen efforts, characters appear on and off amid the course of the story. Affected most deeply by this are poor Grams Bear and her grandchildren, Hugs and Tugs. (She was supposed to mother the whole of the Family in the franchise!) And you don't see Champ Bear and Treat Heart Pig in the thick of this (they only got more attention on the TV show).

There are so many problems in the plot, only Nelvana should be more concerned about remaking it rather than let it alone in favour of their DTV efforts, Joke-a-lot and the Big Wish Movie. (Everyone already knows how badly off they're doing in comparison...)

The origins of the Care Bears have been addressed more sincerely in the world of fanfiction than in A New Generation. Even some reference is made to this aspect in the TV episode "Care-a-lot's Birthday". Peter Sauder, have you heard?

To see Dark Heart take Jimmy Cliff's place in a cartoon rehash of the Jamaican cult classic The Harder They Come would be better than this 76-minute...whatever, I hate to differ, but I was imagining him in that sense after Encore played it the following night...I couldn't stop laughing about it for hours on end!

Not to mention that it was LBS Communications' only movie ever. Alas, it has been fed (from its 1992 bankruptcy) to various companies ever since, the most recent being FremantleMedia.

Yet, I've been watching it as a helping hand when it comes to working on the Wikipedia article (see below), and the Wikiquote list. Somehow, I can never get tired of it...

In conclusion
So, to end things off: Care Bears Movie II is nothing more than a trip back in time for nostalgic bounty hunters (like me), and a treat for the more-than-average Care Bears lover. Other than that, the rest of us just won't get, or buy into, it.

To Columbia Pictures (now Sony): You still have a long way to go before you can really get another good family film to stand the test of time. Like The Karate Kid, parts 1 and 2?

And to Nelvana: Will you ever match the success of the 1985 movie with something else to match its prowess? (I doubt for some time to come that will ever happen.)

Rating
My rating for The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation: 8/10 stars.