The Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland (1987)

I think The Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland may divide families.  Not in a permanent way, mind you.  If parents put the movie on, it is likely that the little ones may be transfixed by the bright colors and the parents will drift off to do something important – like dishes or car maintenance.  It will divide families, yes, but thankfully only for about 78 minutes.

For the child, the movie is colorful and sweet, like an extended cereal commercial.  For the adult, it has limited appeal.  You’re in it because it makes your kid happy.  Nothing wrong with that.  If you want a more immersive experience, go and check out Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which is celebrating and anniversary.  It’s a much better movie.

So, if you are uninitiated and your kid can’t really explain a Care Bear in a language that you can really understand, let me fill you in.  They are a line of colorful teddy bears, each with a different schtick and each is indicated by an emblem on their stomach, nose or for some reason the soles of their feet.  They have superpowers that would make the Lucky Charms leprechaun envious.  They shoot rainbows and four-leaf clovers out of their emblems to help those in need.  Actually, they spend more time sticking their cute little noses in everyone else’s business.

In this case, the everyone is Alice, as in the resident of Wonderland.  The Care Bears have to rescue the Princess of Wonderland from the clutches of an Evil Wizard and his henchmen who are named Dim and Dumb (goblin versions of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum).  To do this, the Care Bears enlist the help of the fabled Alice who takes them through the magical Wonderland in search of the Princess but not before running across various versions of Lewis Caroll’s story including the Jabberwocky and the Cheshire Cat who, for some reason, does a rap.

The rapping Cheshire Cat isn’t quite the face melter that you might imagine.  In fact, it’s probably the best part of the movie.  It’s one of those low-level hippy-dippy raps that it probably better than the movie deserves.  The animation to bring the cat to life is a bit more creative than you might expect.  Thankfully it’s only about 30 seconds.

Much of The Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland is messages about believing in yourself and caring for others.  Not the most overwhelming message for a movie like this, but you could do worse.  You’ll get bored with it long before your kids do.  In fact, the under 5 set may love it.  It’s harmless.