Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Growlyted I enjoyed the original 2d movies for their charm & imagination. My favourite characters were Grumpy Bear (reduced to a whiny toddler in this mess), Hugs & Tugs (baby bears) & the Care Bear Cousins. The babies & cousins were absent, as were any humans. The bears learn a lesson about there's a time to laugh & a time to be serious, but the way they treat Grumpy at the beginning is appalling. The original Grumpy was an able handy bear & he growled about things, but beneath was a heart of gold. You admired him. Here he just comes across as a wimp. The new voice was dreadful. The others were just as bad. In fact the only character I cared about was a sweet pig called Gig. The villains in the original films were scary, but the rat & mosquitoes aren't even vaguely threatening. Care-a-lot had been radically redesigned. 3d computer animation doesn't have the same appeal for me as 2d. It's too hard edged, perfect & unfluffy. Certainly inappropriate for Care Bears. Some bears had been coloured differently. Better to seek out the originals. This newbie lost its way entirely. 3/10

EarthwormJimFan Fine enough for very VERY young children, but these are not the lovable little bears we knew and loved. The storytelling was OK with enjoyable songs and the animation was colorful but the jerky movement of the characters could be quite creepy and grotesque.But the biggest problem was the bears! Instead of having voices full of endearing charm and warmth, they sounded like 6-year olds with Down's Syndrome high on helium. Funshine Bear isn't even likable. He's more of a big bully than a Care Bear. What he did to poor Grumpy Bear in the beginning was cruel and he never seemed to be sorry.Your'e much better off showing your kids the vintage sweet simple Care Bear films. They aren't painful to watch and actually have good morals.BOTTOM LINE: You could care less about this bland charmless bastardization

imamommy "Journey to Joke-a-lot" is a thoroughly enjoyable family film, with catchy music, witty jokes, and a good lesson at it's core. It deviates somewhat from the parameters of the original Care Bears world, but it very enjoyable nonetheless.This movie helps kids examine the balance between being responsible and having fun. The story centers on Funshine Bear, who leaves Care-a-Lot after some of his jokes provoke Grumpy Bear to get hurt and, well, grumpy. After leaving his home, Funshine stumbles upon the Land of Joke-a-lot, where he is declared king based on the word of the steward of the kingdom, Sir Funnybone. When his friends come to find him, Fushine has to decide between his friends and Care-a-Lot, or being king of a people who live to have fun. Meanwhile, Sir Funnybone the rat is hatching his plan to steal the royal jewels of Joke-a-lot.While fans of the old-school Care Bears will miss certain elements, such as the Care Bear Stare, the Cousins, and really creepy bad guys, this movie has a lot of heart, and deals with learning to have a good time, but not at the expense of other people's feelings.The music is a lot of fun. Had some of these songs been written with different lyrics, they certainly would get air time. We own the soundtrack as well, which has the five songs from the movie plus eight new tracks,and the music always gets our family up and dancing.The CG animation is good, and helps add a really cute roundness to the Bears (it's pretty funny to watch their tummies move as they breathe). The gags, jokes, and one-liners are pretty funny (until King Funshine's coronation speech; I think these jokes are purposely written to be old hat, and therefore are not funny, but the Joke-a-Lotters laugh anyway. Also, adults may note the in-jokes: references to "2001: A Space Odyssey" and Bill Gates, for example.If you enjoyed the Care Bears the first time, I think you will really like this new incarnation, and if you didn't like them before, give this a try. The movie blends a lot of the best of the old with some great new stuff.

Dylan Cuffy (dcjc) (OK, sorry I haven't reviewed any movie for a really long time at IMDb--not since "Holes" last Independence season--but, here goes...)In 2004, audiences were enchanted by one of the best animated sequels of all time, "Shrek 2", and later were wowed by the action-packed power of the superhero family, "The Incredibles"--and both were made in CGI. But in between, and a little after, these two blockbusters, a series of unfortunate events (not the Lemony Snicket kind) became stumbling blocks in the industry: among these mediocre messes came "Pride", "Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy", "The Polar Express", and now this--the most recent, most hilarious, and most horrible attempt at a comeback--"Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot". (A really good thing "The Princess and the Pauper" and "Twice upon a Christmas" managed to escape so far...)Everyone's favourite bears are back, and at the beginning of this new DTV movie, they are all preparing for their annual fair when, all of a sudden, something goes wrong: as Grumpy Bear's newest carousel invention goes out of control, Funshine Bear's jokes about the mishap are sent the wrong way, and at once he decides to run away from the magical land of Care-a-lot. His travels soon take him to a land where humour is king, and laughter is nonstop: Joke-a-lot. But, upon being crowned King of the land, Funshine soon realises that keeping the title will make him stay here forever...or will he ever have a chance to return to where he really belongs?Some aspects of the film are really horrible: to ever think of Funshine being a male bear is an embarrassment to true fans of the 80's franchise who grew up enjoying that character as a girl! Too many elements of the original franchise are missing here too: near the film's end, there is a scene in which the bears could have used their Stare on Funnybone, the half-villain of our story; it's too bad you never see it activated. The new faces in Joke-a-lot are so scary and not that familiar to look at, not to mention the small, pink Gig. And, even more shamefully, some of our favourite bears are missing from the adventure: Baby Hugs and Tugs, Proud Heart Cat, Swiftheart Bunny (the cutest one, and personally my favourite), and Grams Bear. There are no human characters anywhere within the plot. To top it all off: no real villains are present, which makes Funnybone the rat ever so close to the likes of Nicholas and Dark Heart...But, fortunately, the five songs are nothing short of delightful. For those who have seen the trailer at amazon.com and the official Care Bears web site, the Joke-a-lot anthem is a worthy, congratulatory sing-along (when the movie premiered on Disney Channel on December 12th, I had a great time singing along with it). Otherwise, the rest are somehow forgettable.So, in the end, "Journey to Joke-a-lot" is a somewhat above-average comeback of a well-known toy franchise from well over two decades ago, and only if fans and kids alike can ever survive its creepiness (and honestly I have). Bottom line: it's funnier than the Shrek films, but scarier than the Polar Express.That being said, and the fact that I still love the Bears as a 18-year-old, gives this fourth instalment my most solid vote of 7 after "Jetsons: The Movie" and "Hocus Pocus". Yet I am still hoping for better to come when another movie is made.To quote the amazon.com review by A. Wagner: "This movie had great potential - it's too bad they blew it."ALSO RECOMMENDED: Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, Finding Nemo, the Toy Story and Shrek films, The Incredibles, and (of course) the original Care Bears Movie from 1985.7\10