Care Bears in "Journey To Joke-A-Lot" (2004) and "Big Wish Movie" (2005) Double Bill

Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot is a 2004 animated musical adventure film, produced by Nelvana Limited and released by Lions Gate Home Entertainment. It was the first Nelvana Limited co-production featuring the Care Bears in the last 24 years, since the Care Bears Nutcracker Suite television film in 1988. Directed by Mike Fallows and written by Jeffrey Alan Schecter, this was the fourth film to star the Care Bears and their first in 17 years. This was also the first one in the franchise to be computer-animated. The film centres on Funshine Bear, a Care Bear who loves to laugh and tell jokes. After one of his jokes backfires against Grumpy, another of the Bears, Funshine runs away to find a place where others can appreciate his talents better. He discovers a town known as Joke-a-lot, where laughter and humour are the order of the day, and soon becomes the area's "King". Unknown to the Bear, a rat named Sir Funnybone is using him that way in order to possess an important object called the Royal Sceptre. Journey to Joke-a-lot premiered in the United States on October 5, 2004, direct-to-video through Lions Gate Home Entertainment, and was subsequently released in 2005 in international territories through Universal Pictures Video. It received generally positive reviews, although the computer animation was singled out. In the midst of this installment's success, Lions Gate released a 2005 sequel, The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie. A soundtrack album, featuring the film's songs and some original tracks, was released by Madacy Kids on the same day as the film's debut. The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie is a 2005 direct-to-video 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.