*Blog post started on March 12, 2021.
The week has not been too hectic after putting together my Stuart Gordon tribute episode of NinetyForChill.com - The Podcast.
In other words, my pleas on Wednesday for a guest for next Tuesday's
episode did not fall upon deaf ears. At this time, the plan is to bring @QuidPro_Joe to discuss TV shows that were adapted into motion pictures.
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It is either he really wanted to return, or my suggestion of dedicating the episode to the fake Irish holiday with a fake Irish actor in Will Ferrell was a bad idea. There was somebody who commented on the response to my original plan implying they would step up for it, but determining how serious it was a challenge thanks to "LOL". The biggest problem with podcasting is needing to be dependent on social media and email.
Wrestling promoters and baby boomers can just avoid that element of modern life it seems. I needed my folks to scan and email a lease they were going to cosign for. That resulted in me getting an earful from two sides. The landlord was not happy that they needed to extend the deadline. My parents were disappointed that I would think they would frequently check their email.
As for wrestling promoters, they still seem to be dependent on phones. Hence, you cannot get a hold of them if you cannot get their phone number. This is probably wise so they do not get bombarded by booking requests. Their email addresses are just a bin for them. If they want you, they will find you.
And if they have to look into their mail boxes, everything must seem like crazy talk to them. If you have a wrestling idea that is a bit timely, do not email it to them. When they get to it three months later, you become a person they will not take too seriously.
When revisiting 1985's "The Care Bears Movie" is part of pursuing your current goals, perhaps they were right.
The Care Bears Movie (1985; 77 minutes)
It turns out that being cute icons on greeting cards was not the sole purpose of the citizens of Care-A-Lot. Care Bears are dedicated to making sure everybody cares about something, and usually the best way to do that is through friendship. If you think that you are your own, be prepared to question your sobriety when colorful, Ewok-sized bears crash their cloud car in front of you. This will be something you can most likely avoid because kids seem to be their primary focus. But if little Jason and his big sister Kim are high, let me have what they are having.
The two siblings' parents have left. Since people are going to leave your life (their folks' exit is not elaborated on), why should you take the time to get invested in anyone else? That is their philosophy and they are not buying what Friend Bear and Secret Bear are selling about friendship. Serendipity steps is as the four end up being Rainbow Rescue Beamed to Care-A-Lot after the machine's inadvertent activation by Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs. Grumpy Bear does not seem pleased to have visitors (more so about the baby bears messing with his machine), but at least his teleportation device works. With so many cute bears so willing to make sure the children know that someone cares about them, Kim and Jason may just come around to the Care Bear way of thinking.
Tender Heart Bear is having a more difficult challenge in restoring young Nicholas's faith in humanity. He has no friends and the only person invested in him is the Great Fettuccine whom he serves as a magician assistant to. Fettuccine is not the most patient person, and with so many demands, it is easy for Nicholas to screw something up. While digging through a crate the magician had purchased, the boy finds a locked book that starts talking to him. If he unlocks it, the spirit says that she will provide him with the magic to obtain anything he could/should desire. Having to hide in the magician's trailer (because who cares about adults), Tender Heart cannot prevent the spirits influence and cannot prevent Nicholas from unlocking the vengeful spirit.
A couple of spells from the book later, Tender Heart is caged and Fettuccine is under a sleeping spell. It does not take much effort for TH to get free, but as he heads back to Care-A-Lot to advise the other bears of the evil on Earth, Nicholas is hosting his first show. After one failed trick, the children comprising the audience start giving him the "Stephen King's Carrie" treatment. In response, the spirit has him read a spell that turns the kids on each other. The aspiring magician asks why he was told to cast a hateful spell, and the spirit tells him that it is more important that the kids know how he has always felt. If they all quit caring, Nicholas can at least have power to make him happy and claim superiority to all of those who mocked him.
With this lack of caring, Care-A-Lot begins to crumble. Their doomsday clock, the Care-A-Meter, has lost two hearts with only three remaining. If there are no hearts, Care-A-Lot will seize being. To ensure this, the spirit tells Nicholas that they must capture Jason and Kim. Because of the Care Bear's presence, they are immune to the lack of caring, so the spirit has Nicholas cast a spell to capture them.
The bears attempt to use the Rescue Beam to send the kids back to earth and the orphanage where two parents wait to adopt the two, but a cloud quake caused by the lack of caring drops them into the Friendship Forrest, home of the Care Bear Cousins. There, Brave Heart Lion, Playful Heart Monkey, and Swift Heart Rabbit find them and decide to escort them back to Earth. In the meantime, the remaining Care Bears have taken their cloud boat down the river to find them. It is destined that it will require at least all the love the bears can offer to restore compassion to the world. Can the kids and them reach Nicholas, or is the entire world to be doomed with spite?
"The Care Bears Movie" is the first film based upon a toy line, and per Wikipedia,
the movie was a concept that American Greetings had started developing
since these greeting card characters were conceived. It seems cynical,
but you need to admire the company in how they approached using a film
to unveil a new toy line (The Care Bear Cousins). When compared to "The
Transformers: The Movie", the original line of characters is not wiped
out in the first act so that their replacements can take over. Prime's
death kind of left a downer mood over the audience for the last two
acts.
As for the film's merits as a feature-length project, it is a solid children's movie. The story is simple enough that no will get lost, just become overly optimistic in the compassion of their fellow man. The latter might be tough for adults to stomach, but I think if you have kids that you love to the point that you will watch the precursor to the Charmin Bears for, you are not as cynical as I. Its protagonists are all cute and fun and none seem to wear out their welcome.
The films animation could be cleaned up and look smoother, but the drawings themselves is near the level of Don Bluth. What else would you expect from the studio, Nelvana, that gave us "Heavy Metal". This film's antagonist design is straight from the R-rated classic. It is also fun to realize that these polite Canucks had more nerve than Walt Disney. My only issue with that is my brain goes for mature humor, and there are so many awkwardly placed bear moments that the snickering is irresistible. Fortunately, the kids will not get that, so it is a pretty wholesome experience.
What
I can complain about is the lengthiness of the songs. They are not
offensive to start, but they are stretched out to ensure the feature
makes the 75-minute mark. It wears on the adults because the film does
seem to do a lot well in the small time frame it has. As an adult,
you fear that this would be so easy to adapt to a school play. Perhaps
that is a good thing because you immediately know this could be a hell
of a lot worse. Just grin and bear the music.
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