Strange the things you search for, the things you miss because you no longer have them, but I searched high and low for a copy of this film for years, and eventually got it on DVD (which suggests that I wasn’t the only loony looking for it).

When I put to playing this film, my brother glanced at it and made one simple comment ‘that’s well animated’ was he making a joke, possibly, possibly not. The surprise I remember in his voice makes me think the former rather than the later. This lead me into thinking about that chestnut about product-advertising and telemarketing of the eighties, how poorly animated the worlds therein were. The strange thing that how that I’m older and wiser and that those original products are long gone, I actually and suddenly find myself liking the care bears. An even bigger surprise is that they don’t feature abysmal animation, just what you might call cut-above-the-standard 80’s TV level animation.

Of course this film ignores the first one completely, which makes a rather confusing ride for anyone who’s seen the first one and expects continuality to occur. This confusion isn’t helped by the film’s start; at first it looks like the two characters are having a nice little cruise on a ship as a collection of baby cubs peacefully sleep below deck. Then without warning, the tranquilly is evaporated as they are shown to be escaping from a dark entity called, appropriately enough, Dark-Heart. They are saved and ascended to Care-a-lot by a rainbow waterfall created by the Great Star, who has apparently selected them to be powers for good and gives them their tummy symbols that will allow them to do so.

The whole of the first quarter of the films centres around the cubs growing up ‘in the blink of an eye’ as the film puts it and the beginnings of Dark-Heart’s master plan to capture them and rid the world of caring. It also sets up the characters of twins John and Don, who are instrumental in looking after the cubs, and Christie, the girl who becomes the unwilling accomplice of Dark-Heart. The result of having the first fourth of the film in this form is that it gets of to a slow start and has to quicken up the pace a bit too much for any film’s own good. I can’t help but think that the bears could have been put to better use if they hadn’t spend this time as cubs, cute as they may be.

One thing is never fully explained, just why was Dark-Heart after the bears and cousins in the first place? I could understand if at one point the film would have mentioned a prophecy or something, but no such thing occurs. I know that kids are less picky about these sort of things, but I've never seen that as a justifiable excuse for such neglect on the plot.

The bears seem to be very interested in the summer camp to the point where one wonders if there isn’t anywhere else in the world that needs their help, though it could be said that the most dangerous foe to their mission of caring is happening to reside there. Much like the fun fair from the first movie, and like the first the most effective part of this movie is the fact that it is darker than a film of this cutesy type has a right to be.

SPOILER - Highlight to read

One major part of the film that truly annoyed me was at the end, when the Care Bears break the forth wall and ask the audience if they care so they may save Christie from a bleak fate that Dark Heart has put on her. This is an device that can be used to great effect on a live theatre production, like the clap-if-you-believe-in-fairies part of Peter Pan. Here it is laboured, boring and breaks up the whole effect of the film so far, but then it’s already a given that the bears had won by that point anyway, in much the same way as they did in the first.

END SPOILER

The main problem is that there isn’t much separately this from the first film and the first is easier to watch. Care Bears II doesn’t quite fall into the realm of absolute terrible, but it's a bit beyond merely below average; however there are a dozen other things I could name that I’d rather not watch. Ultimately it is probably best left to fans of the Care Bears only, who will not just get more out of it then most, but will be more prepared to ignore its problems. otherwise, it best left well alone.

 

 3/10
Bad, watch the first one instead.