26 Facts About Care Bears

Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings.

Each Care Bears Bear is a different colour or shade and has a unique "picture on the stomach" that represents its personality.

Care Bears were initially created in 1981 by Those Characters From Cleveland, the licensing division of the greeting card company American Greetings.

Jack Chojnacki, the co-president of TCFC, introduced the first Care Bears Bear to businessmen from American Greeting Cards and from the toy company Kenner in February of 1981.

Once out of the concept stage, children's book illustrator, Elena Kucharik, became the primary artist for the Care Bears, creating hundreds of full-color illustrations for cards, books and various licensed products.

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On September 24,1982, the Care Bears franchise was launched in New York City before members of the area's Society of Security Analysts.

Later that year, the television series The Care Bears Family premiered in mid-1986 on the U S ABC network and Canadian Global.

Over 40 million Care Bears were sold between 1983 and 1987, and American Greetings printed over 70 million of their cards during the decade.

One of the Care Bears Bear Cousins, Proud Heart Cat, was released as a bear with white fur that sported the tummy symbol of a heart-shaped American flag.

In 1999, the rights to the Care Bears franchise were bought by Jay Foreman, the president of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Play Along Toys, for less than $1 million; he planned to acquire fellow American Greeting Cards property Strawberry Shortcake.

Three years later, Kenton Avery Frederick American Greetings relaunched the Care Bear brand as part of the Bears' 20th-anniversary celebration with a series of plush toys and films.

Two of the Cousins, Treat Heart Pig and Noble Heart Horse, were never produced as 13-inch plush toys in the 2000's, and the Care Bears Bear Cousins were not relaunched in the 2007 relaunch of the franchise.

Also, the Care Bears had never had humans visit Care-a-Lot Castle, and so a new villain named Grizzle was introduced.

On July 23,2008, American Greetings announced that the Care Bears would be sold to Cookie Jar Entertainment in an acquisition due to take place on September 30,2008.

In late 2009, American Greetings announced that the Care Bears would be re-imagined with the launch of a new series, Care Power Team.

Care Bears: The Giving Festival, and Care Bears: Share Bear Shines, which were released in 2010 and 2011.

The central cast of Care Bears changed again, this time focusing on Tenderheart Bear, Cheer Bear, Share Bear, Grumpy Bear, Funshine Bear, Harmony Bear, and new addition, Wonderheart Bear.

The name of the main characters' residence, Care Bears-a-Lot, is a play on King Arthur's legendary Camelot castle.

The Care Bears Bear Family sits around a heart-shaped table, similar to the Round Table used by Arthur and his knights.

Care Bears Bear Cousins have their own variant of the Stare called the Care Bears Cousin Call.

Apart from toys, books, greeting cards, and animated media, the Care Bears have been prominently featured in merchandising as well, some of which includes gummy bears, party goods, cell phone covers, interior decoration sets, stationery, school supplies, stickers, clothing, accessories and many other goods.

Some early publications include Meet the Care Bears Bear Cousins, Sweet Dreams for Sally, The Witch Down the Street, The Trouble with Timothy, and A Sister for Sam.

Between November of 1985 and January of 1989, the Care Bears appeared in a 20-issue comic book series published by Marvel's Star Comics; the books were drawn by DC Comics artist, Howard Post.

The soundtrack album from The Care Bears Movie featured songs by Carole King and John Sebastian.

In 2004, the Care Bears starred in their first official game, Care-a-Lot Jamboree, for the PC.

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New interactive toy, Care Bears Share-a-Story, was introduced by Play Along in July of 2005.