Care Bears

Back in the mid 1980s, there was a mania for Care Bears, and I remember buying a bunch of them for my family in Malta. They were all so excited to see them and connect with a few of them, as they all had a particular theme: brother, sister, lover of nature, doctor, religious, sports, etc. They are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy-bears, which you see in my photo. The characters headlined their own television series called Care Bears from 1985 to 1988. They also made three feature films:  The Care Bears Movie (1985), Care Bears II: A New Generation (1986), and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987). Each Care Bear is a different color and has a special "belly badge" that represents its personality. Adding to the Care Bear family are the "Care Bear Cousins", which feature a lion, rabbit, penguin, raccoon, monkey, elephant, pig, lamb, dog, cat, and horse created in the same style as the Care Bears.  In 1989, Carole Ashkinaze referred to them as the whimsical, late 20th-century descendants of what we used to know as Guardian Angels: furry, friendly, adorable creatures whose mission is to guide small children and protect them from evil people.