The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings

The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings is the first animated television special to feature the Care Bears characters. Made by Ottawa's Atkinson Film-Arts studio, it was premiered in syndication on April 22, 1983. The special features the ten original Bears, along with the Cloud-Keeper and a villain called Professor Coldheart; they would be seen again in 1984's The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine.

The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings
Written byKen Sobol
Directed byPino Van Lamsweerde
StarringRick Jones (as Tenderheart Bear, Good Luck Bear & Birthday Bear)
Les Lye (as Professor Coldheart & Tree)
Anna MacCormack
Abby Hagyard (as Friend Bear, Wish Bear & Love-A-Lot Bear)
Theme music composerRobert Chimbel
Merry Loomis
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersW.H. Stevens
Hugh Campbell
CinematographyRon Haines
Jan Topper
EditorsJennifer Irwin
Norman LeBlanc
Gerald Tripp
Running time23 minutes
Production companyAtkinson Film-Arts[1]
DistributorUnited States:
LBS Communications (TV, 1983)[1]
Family Home Entertainment (video, 1983)[1]
Release
Original networkSyndication[1]
Picture formatColor
Audio formatMono
Original releaseApril 22, 1983 (1983-04-22)[1]
Chronology
Followed byThe Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984)

Plot

Kevin, a boy on Earth, is upset because he has to move away from his younger friend Donna. Declaring that he doesn't care, he decides to run away and ends up in The Land Without Feelings, which is ruled by a misanthropic and winter-centric mad scientist named Professor Coldheart. He turns Kevin into a green amphibian-like goblin via a soda-like potion and declares him a slave. The Care Bears, along with Donna, go into the Land Without Feelings to save Kevin along with the other children who were turned into Coldheart's goblin slaves. Tenderheart Bear makes an attempt to climb up to Coldheart's castle, but is caught in a trap by Coldheart himself on the way up. Wish Bear makes an immediately granted wish to be teleported to Coldheart's castle with Grumpy Bear and Donna (and all the other Care Bears too, including Tenderheart), after several times being interrupted when attempting to make a wish and seeing if it would actually come true. The Care Bears use their magic 'Care Bear Stare' to change Kevin and the other children back to human, and Coldheart makes a break for it.

Songs
  • The Care Bears Care About You
  • Professor Coldheart
  • Everyone Has Feelings

Release

The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings won a Silver Medal at the 1983 International Film & TV Festival of New York.[2] It was followed by another syndicated special, The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine, in 1984. Author Ward Johnson loosely adapted The Land Without Feelings into a book in the Tales from the Care Bears series, entitled Caring is What Counts (ISBN 0-910313-05-9), with illustrations by Tom Cooke.

Family Home Entertainment released the special on VHS through MGM/UA Home Video after its initial broadcast.[3] Original prints featured vintage cartoons from the 1930s after the main presentation; a later re-issue replaced those with several other Care Bear stories.[3]

In honour of the Care Bears' 25th anniversary, it received its DVD premiere in fall 2007.[4] Additionally, the version featured on this DVD is not the rare original version, but the more common one seen as part of the later syndicated run of the regular DIC and Nelvana series (which was also seen on the Disney Channel and, later, Toon Disney).

This was released on the UK Volume 1, along with The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine, and the 3 episodes The Birthday/Camp, Braces/Split Decision, and The Last Laugh by Maximum Entertainment.

In May 1985, Ralph Novak of People Weekly wrote that the special "is a charming way for children waiting for the video version of The Care Bears Movie to pass the time".[3]

References
  1. Woolery, George W. (1989). "The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings". Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962–1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 58–60. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2.
  2. "Awards List". Crawley Films. Archived from the original on October 18, 2003. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  3. Novak, Ralph (May 13, 1985). "The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings". People Weekly. Time Inc. (23): 14.
  4. "25 Years and 70 Million Bears Later - Care Bears Are Still Going Strong". Deerfield Beach, Florida: Play Along Toys. February 9, 2007. Archived from the original (Press release) on February 20, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2010. To celebrate the silver anniversary of these much-loved characters, the new limited edition Commemorative 25th Anniversary Care Bear will be released in the fall of 2007. Each Anniversary Bear will be accompanied by a special DVD containing the very first Care Bears episode ever, called The Land Without Feelings.
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