The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Care Bears' Big Wish Movie
Promotional poster
Directed by	Larry Jacobs Ron Pitts
Produced by	Cynthia Taylor
Written by	Jeffrey Alan Schechter
Starring	Sugar Lyn Beard Robert Tinkler Julie Lemieux Linda Ballantyne Stephen Ouimette Tracey Hoyt Ron Rubin Elizabeth Hanna
Music by	Ian Thomas
Editing by	Jason Cohen
Studio	Nelvana Limited American Greetings
Distributed by	Lions Gate Home Entertainment
Release date(s)	October 18, 2005
Running time	75 minutes
Country	Canada United States
Language	English
Budget	US$3–5 million

The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie is a fun computer-animated movie from 2005. It's a musical fantasy film, meaning it has songs and magical elements! Nelvana Limited made the movie, and Lions Gate Home Entertainment released it. Larry Jacobs and Ron Pitts directed it, and Jeffrey Alan Schechter wrote the story. This movie is a sequel to Journey to Joke-a-lot from 2004. It's the fifth Care Bears movie ever made, and the second one to use computer animation.

The main character in Big Wish Movie is Wish Bear. She's a special Care Bear who can make wishes come true! But when some of her wishes don't work out, she starts to worry. She feels like the other Care Bears don't really see how special her wishing power is. So, she wishes for new friends who love wishing as much as she does. This wish brings three new bears to Care-a-lot: Messy Bear, Me Bear, and Too Loud Bear. These new friends accidentally cause a lot of trouble for Wish Bear, her wishing star Twinkers, and everyone in Care-a-lot!

Just like Journey to Joke-a-lot, the company Nelvana in Toronto, Canada, made and paid for The Big Wish Movie. Another company in India, Crest Animation Productions, helped with some of the animation. Many of the people who worked on the previous movie also worked on this one. This includes director Ron Pitts, music composer Ian Thomas, and several voice actors. The movie came out on DVD on October 18, 2005. Before that, it was shown on TV in the U.S. and Canada. A book about the movie was also released by Scholastic Press. The movie got good reviews from Parenting magazine and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper. This was the last Care Bears movie made by Nelvana. After this, SD Entertainment took over making new Care Bears stories.

The Story of the Big Wish Movie

This movie begins high up in the clouds, at the Care Bears' home called Care-a-lot. The Care Bears are listening to Wish Bear tell a story. She explains how she found her special friend, a wishing star named Twinkers, when she was just a cub. Everyone loves her story! But they get a little worried when she uses Twinkers' power to wish for popcorn. Cheer Bear points out that this might be a silly way to use such a powerful wish. Wish Bear promises everyone that she knows what she's doing.

The next day, Wish Bear tries to help her friends with wishes. She wishes for lots of rainbow sap for Share Bear. She also wishes for Grumpy Bear's rocket to have "zoom." But her wishes don't go as planned! The sap overflows everywhere, and Grumpy Bear's rocket spins out of control.

Trouble in Care-a-lot

During a monthly meeting, the Care Bears check their Caring Meter. This machine shows how much caring there is in Care-a-lot. Everyone is worried because the meter has moved towards the "rain-cloud" side, meaning there's less caring. Wish Bear suggests using her wishes to fix things. But the other bears say no because her wishes haven't been working well. They sing a song called "I Wish" about their disappointment. Feeling sad, Wish Bear decides to wish for new friends. She wants friends who love wishing as much as she does.

This wish makes three new bears appear in Care-a-lot: Too Loud Bear, Me Bear, and Messy Bear. At first, everyone is happy to welcome them! But soon, things get messy and out of control. The new bears accidentally create huge problems. For example, the giant mansion they wished for causes pollution.

Wishes Go Wrong

Later, at a picnic, Wish Bear has an argument with the new bears. She accidentally wishes Twinkers away to them! The new bears then start using Twinkers' power for their own selfish wishes. Too Loud Bear gets a noisy motorcycle. Me Bear gets an amusement park all about himself. Messy Bear wishes for a giant mud pie.

Finally, the new bears realize they've caused a lot of trouble. They try to fix things with more wishes, but it just makes things worse! Care-a-lot turns into a blank white space. Then, the bears start glowing with too much color. Grumpy Bear even turns black and white! Messy Bear accidentally turns himself back into a cub. When they try to wish Twinkers back to Wish Bear, the little star loses his power. He's just too tired from all the wishes!

Learning a Lesson

Wish Bear uses Grumpy Bear's rocket to take Twinkers to the Big Wish. The Big Wish is a wise grandmother star in the sky. Big Wish helps Twinkers get his power back. But first, Wish Bear promises that she has learned an important lesson. She realizes that wishing is fun, but it's even more important to work hard to make your dreams come true.

Wish Bear tells everyone that wishes aren't the best solution anymore. So, all the Care Bears work together to make their home beautiful again. They sing a song called "It Takes You and Me." In the end, Me Bear, Messy Bear, and Too Loud Bear are very sorry for what they did. They ask if they can still live in Care-a-lot. The other bears agree, and they all decide to go on a fun road trip together!

Meet the Characters

Here are some of the main characters and the voice actors who brought them to life:

• Sugar Lyn Beard as Wish Bear
• Stephen Ouimette as Too Loud Bear
• Tracey Hoyt as Me Bear
• Ron Rubin as Messy Bear
• Scott McCord as Bedtime Bear
• Linda Ballantyne as Champ Bear
• Sunday Muse as Cheer Bear
• Catherine Disher as Friend Bear
• Julie Lemieux as Funshine Bear
• Susan Roman as Good Luck Bear
• Rob Tinkler as Grumpy Bear
• Athena Karkanis as Harmony Bear
• Angela Maiorano as Love-a-lot Bear
• Stevie Vallance as Share Bear
• Andrew Sabiston as Tenderheart Bear
• Elizabeth Hanna as Big Wish
• Richard Binsley as Twinkers
• Katie Griffin as Laugh A Lot Bear

Music in the Movie

The music for The Big Wish Movie was created by Ian Thomas. He also worked on the music for Journey to Joke-a-lot. Peter Cardinali helped arrange and conduct the music. Ian Thomas worked with the Hamilton Children's Choir to record the movie's opening song. In February 2005, Stephanie Beard, who sings the song "I Wish," said it was her favorite cartoon song ever!