I wouldn’t consider myself an avid Care Bears fan…or even a fair weather one at that.  I never thought I would be watching it without a 3 year old toddler by my side, making the syrupy sweet and simple moral tales bearable.  However, I was pleasantly surprised by my enjoyment of Care Bears: Share-a-Lot in Care-a-Lot.

The eight storylines in Care Bears: Share-a-Lot in Care-a-Lot take place on Care-A-Lot, the floating island inhabited by those adorably colorful Care Bears.  Each has a different “Belly Badge”, allowing them to access their own special power.  Individual episodes are roughly ten minutes long, all with heartwarming messages of sympathy and understanding, perfect for starting to teach young kids the beauty of friendship and treating others the way they’d like to be treated.

"Tempus Fugits": The bears are hard at work, making it very clear that work must come before play (I wonder if that line would have worked on me years ago if cute animated bears told me that instead of my parents).  Anyway, Bumpity and Tweezle, two of the Bears’ dear friends would love to play all day, but the Bears would rather work hard AND play hard.  Frustrated at the time the Bears take to make sure all chores are done, Bumpity and Tweezle speed the town clock forward in order to trick their friends into believing their work is done.  After the Bears figure out this diabolical plan and cleverly make their point, Bumpity and Tweezle realize the value of working hard.

"Share and Share Alike": Share Bear has to wait a whole year to make her famous root beer floats and that time is finally here!  Aside from the fact that this episode teaches children that root beer floats come from tree roots and makes you float through the sky, this was probably the most valuable episode/lesson.  While the rest of the Bears are floating around in a rainbow colored circle of float-induced happiness, Share Bear runs out before she can get any.  After hurt feelings are taken care of, we learn that we have to share with ourselves, too, lest we burn out and not want to help others anymore.  

Possibly my least favorite episode on this DVD is "Here Comes McKenna".  This paints humans as possibly the most selfish, inconsiderate species on the planet.  Bratty punk-haired McKenna comes into town, a girl who neither shares nor cares.  After taking Care Bear’s lunch and Grumpy Bear’s flower, the Bears really attempt to teach her the ways of Care-A-Lot.  After the “evil” Grizzle Bear comes back to conquer Care-A-Lot and steal the bears’ Belly Badges, McKenna wants to help.  Will her desire to help her new friends help her overcome her selfishness?

There’s not a lot of new ideas to delve into with this DVD.  The Care Bears are a universally known product and there probably aren’t many who haven’t at least heard of them.  Care Bears: Share-a-Lot in Care-a-Lot is more of the same – cotton candy colored graphics, loving and friendly animated bears, and stories to teach youngsters about the value of caring and sharing.  It’s a great movie to watch with the kiddos to help teach those lessons.

ComicsOnline gives Care Bears: Share-a-Lot in Care-a-Lot 4 Care Stares out of 5.

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