The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie

The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie is a 2005 computer-animated musical fantasy film, produced by Nelvana Limited and released by Lions Gate Home Entertainment. Directed by Larry Jacobs and Ron Pitts, and written by Jeffrey Alan Schechter, the film is a follow-up to the Care Bears' previous efforts in 2004's Journey to Joke-a-lot. It was the fifth film to feature the Bears, and the second to be computer-animated. The Big Wish Movie centers on Wish Bear, a Care Bear who can make and grant wishes. After some of them do not work, she feels worried that the other bears have overlooked her abilities, and wishes for a few new friends who care more than she does. Those three—Messy Bear, Me Bear and Too Loud Bear—cause further trouble for Wish Bear, her wishing star Twinkers, and all of Care-a-lot. As with Journey to Joke-a-lot, Toronto's Nelvana produced and self-financed the Big Wish Movie; additional work was handled by India's Crest Animation Productions. Production involved various personnel from the previous film, among them Ron Pitts, composer Ian Thomas and various voice actors including Stephanie Beard, Stevie Vallance and Julie Lemieux. The Big Wish Movie was released on DVD by Lions Gate on October 18, 2005; prior to this, it premiered on U.S. and Canadian television, and was accompanied by a tie-in book from Scholastic Press. It subsequently received favourable reviews from Parenting magazine and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This was Nelvana's final production with the Care Bears, before SD Entertainment of California assumed responsibility for future installments in the franchise. Plot This movie starts when, atop the roof of an observatory at their cloud-filled home of Care-a-lot, the Care Bears hear Wish Bear's story of how she (as a cub) found her new friend, a wishing star named Twinkers. The Care Bears are touched by this tale, but are a bit worried when she uses Twinkers' inherent power to wish them all some popcorn. Cheer Bear raises concern that this may be a frivolous use of Twinkers' power. Wish Bear, however, assures everyone that she is a trained professional.