The Care Bears Movie Meets Alvin and the Chipmunks

The Care Bears Movie is a 1985 animated adventure film, the second feature production from the Toronto animation studio Nelvana. One of the first films based directly on a toy line, it introduced the Care Bears characters and their companions, the Care Bear Cousins. In the film, orphanage owners tell a story about the Care Bears, who live in a cloud-filled land called Care-a-lot. Travelling across Earth, the Bears help two lonely children named Kim and Jason find new parents, and also save a young magician's apprentice named Nicholas from an evil spirit's influence. Deep within a place called the Forest of Feelings, Kim, Jason, and their friends soon meet another group of creatures, the Care Bear Cousins.

American Greetings Corporation, the owners of the Care Bears characters, began development of a feature film in 1981. Later on, the card company chose Toronto's Nelvana to produce it, granted them rights to the Care Bears characters, and financed the film along with cereal manufacturer General Mills and television syndicator LBS Communications. Nelvana's founders were on hand as producers, while fellow employee Arna Selznick directed. Production lasted eight months, cost no less than US$2 million, and took place in Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea. The voice cast included Mickey Rooney, Georgia Engel, Jackie Burroughs, Billie Mae Richards, and Cree Summer. Two pop music stars, Carole King and John Sebastian, contributed several songs.

Although major U.S. studios passed on the project, newly-established independent distributor The Samuel Goldwyn Company acquired it and soon spent a record US$24 million promoting it. The film premiered on March 24, 1985, in Washington, D.C. and entered wide release in around 1,000 North American theatres five days later. Another Nelvana work, Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins, played alongside the feature in theatres. The Care Bears Movie received mixed reviews from the outset; critics raised concern over its potential as a full-length advertisement for the title characters, among many other aspects. It went on to earn US$23 million domestically; as Canada's highest-grossing film during 1985 (with C$1.845 million), it won a Golden Reel Award. Nelvana's surprise hit also played in Europe, Australia, and Latin America. With over US$34 million in worldwide sales, it set a box-office record for Canadian and non-Disney animation, and has remained one of U.S. distributor Goldwyn's largest releases.

 The movie's success saved Nelvana from closing, helped revive films aimed at children in the U.S. market, and has been cited as inspiring a spate of toy-based animated and live-action features. Nelvana produced two sequels in the next two years, A New Generation (1986) and Adventure in Wonderland (1987); neither surpassed the original financially or critically. The Care Bears franchise continues, and has included television series and specials, videos, and films, and Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 comedy film directed by Tim Hill. Based on the characters of the same name created by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Bagdasarian,_Sr. Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.], the film stars Jason Lee , David Cross , and Cameron Richardson with the voices of Justin Long , Matthew Gray Gubler , and Jesse McCartney. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and produced by Regency Enterprises and Bagdasarian Productions. The film received mainly negative reviews, but was a major financial success; it made $217 million in North America and $361 million at the box office worldwide on a budget of $60 million and was the seventh-best-selling DVD of 2008, earning over $101 million.

Plot
The tree that the chipmunks Alvin ( Justin Long ), Simon ( Matthew Gray Gubler ), and Theodore ( Jesse McCartney ) live in is cut down and driven to Los Angeles. Once in L.A., the Chipmunks meet struggling songwriter David Seville ( Jason Lee ) who had his latest song rejected by JETT Records executive Ian Hawke ( David Cross ), his old college roommate. Dave also once had a relationship with his next door neighbor, Claire Wilson ( Cameron Richardson ). Mr. and Mrs. Cherrywood are a middle-aged couple who run an orphanage. Mr. Cherrywood tells the orphans a story about the Care Bears and Care-a-lot, their home in the clouds. In the story, Care Bears Friend Bear and Secret Bear travel looking for people to cheer up. They meet Kim and Jason, two lonely orphaned children. Friend and Secret introduce themselves and remind the children of their ambitions; neither of them takes interest. After winding up at Dave's interview, the Chipmunks hop into his basket and follow him home. Once at home, Dave discovers the Chipmunks, and is accidentally knocked unconscious. Upon waking, he kicks them out until hearing them sing " Only You (And You Alone) ". Dave then makes a deal with them; they sing the songs he writes, and in exchange he provides food and shelter for them. However, all does not go well, as Dave's job presentation is ruined by their coloring on it, and when Alvin tries to set the mood for his dinner with Claire, things become weird and she rejects him after he tells her, "My life is being sabotaged by talking chipmunks." To make it up to Dave, the boys go to Ian in an attempt to record a song and get a record deal. At an amusement park, another Care Bear, Tenderheart, spots a magician's apprentice named Nicholas. While unloading a trunk of goods for his master, the "Great Fettucini", Nicholas finds an old book with a diary-style lock. When he unlocks the book, an evil spirit appears as a woman's face, and starts corrupting him. With Nicholas' help, the spirit lays waste to the amusement park, and begins a quest to remove all caring from the world. Back at Care-a-lot, some of the other bears are working on their new invention: the Rainbow Rescue Beam, a portal that can send any Bear to Earth and back. The two youngest bears, Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs, interfere with the machine and bring forth a group of unexpected visitors—Friend Bear, Secret Bear, Kim, and Jason. The Bears introduce themselves to the children, and give them a tour of their home. Tenderheart returns before a "Cloud Quake", caused by the spirit, ruins Care-a-lot; he informs the others of Nicholas' troubles on Earth. Using the Rescue Beam, he sends Kim and Jason to the park, along with Friend Bear and Secret Bear; the four of them end up in the Forest of Feelings when the portal malfunctions. From a nearby river, the rest of the Care Bears begin searching for the group aboard a cloud ship.

Within the Forest, the children and their friends are introduced to Brave Heart Lion and Playful Heart Monkey, two of the Care Bear Cousins. Later on, the other Bears discover more of these creatures, among them Cozy Heart Penguin, Lotsa Heart Elephant, Swift Heart Rabbit, and Bright Heart Raccoon. During their stay, the spirit attacks them in several guises—as a spearfish, a tree, and an eagle. After the Care Bears and their Cousins defeat the spirit, the friends venture back to Earth to save Nicholas from its influence.

Once the Chipmunks sing Dave's song to Ian, Ian signs them to the label and rehires Dave the next day. After a few singles, the Chipmunks become wildly popular. When Dave expresses concern for their well-being and insists that the Chipmunks are "kids" who don't need so much craziness in their lives, Ian convinces the Chipmunks that Dave is holding them back. After a misunderstanding with Dave, they go live with "Uncle Ian". They become enchanted with Ian at first, but once they set off on a coast-to-coast tour, Ian takes advantage of their naivete, changing their image and working them constantly. Meanwhile, Dave misses the chipmunks and he wishes they would come back home. He calls Ian to see if he can talk to them but Ian refuses, and then conceals Dave's motives from the boys. Later, the Chipmunks are wearing out, and it is all over the news. Dave, infuriated by what Ian has done to the three, decides to take matters into his own hands by infiltrating their concert.

At the park, Nicholas obtains the ingredients for his spell against the children and the creatures. After he casts it, the Care Bears and company engage in a long battle. The bears shoot beams of bright light on him, forming their "Stare"; the Cousins help with their "Call". As the creatures' power drains away, Nicholas and the spirit briefly regain control. After Kim and Jason assist him, the apprentice finally realises his misdeeds; with Secret Bear's help, he closes the spirit's face back into the book and saves himself, the park, and the world. Nicholas thanks the group and reunites with Fettucini, while Tenderheart Bear inducts the Care Bear Cousins into the Care Bear Family, and Kim and Jason find new parents at one of Nicholas' shows.

Just before the big concert, a doctor says that the Chipmunks are unable to sing due to exhaustion. Ian refuses to hand out refunds and advises the Chipmunks to lip sync. With Claire's help, Dave sneaks into the concert, but is grabbed by the security guards. When the Chipmunks see Dave being taken away, they realize that they've been tricked, decide that they have had enough of Ian, revealing that they were lip-syncing and ruin the concert. Ian catches them just when Dave is about to rescue them. He locks them up in a cage and prepares to take them to Paris. Dave tries to convince Ian to let the boys go but Ian refuses. Ian then leaves in his limo with the boys and Dave chases them but the boys have already escaped to Dave's car. Dave immediately pulls over and admits that he loves them like his own family. Meanwhile, Ian looks in the cage and is shocked to see the boys have replaced themselves with merchandising dolls.

As Mr. Cherrywood finishes his story, his wife reveals his first name: Nicholas. Tenderheart Bear, who has been listening from outside a window, returns to Care-a-lot in his Cloud Mobile. The film ends with every member of the Care Bear Family waving good-bye.

Sometime later, when the boys are fully accepted as part of the family, they invite Claire over for dinner again. Alvin accidentally creates a short circuit while having difficulty opening a bottle of champagne. Dave is trying not to say it, but the short circuit causes a blackout in the kitchen. Dave can hold it in no longer and says it, letting out his trademark yell "ALLLLVINNN!!", to which Alvin responds with "Okay!".

In the film's epilogue, Ian (now unemployed) tries to make three squirrels sing, but fails.

Cast

 * Jason Lee as David "Dave" Seville
 * David Cross as Ian Hawke
 * Cameron Richardson as Claire Wilson
 * Jane Lynch as Gail

Voices

 * Justin Long (Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., singing) as Alvin
 * Matthew Gray Gubler (Steve Vining, singing) as Simon
 * Jesse McCartney (Janice Karman, singing) as Theodore
 * Mickey Rooney Mr. Nicholas Cherrywood / Narrator
 * Jackie Burroughs The Spirit
 * Georgia Engel Love-a-lot Bear
 * Sunny Besen Thrasher Jason
 * Eva Almos Friend Bear / Swift Heart Rabbit
 * Patricia Black Share Bear / Funshine Bear
 * Melleny Brown Birthday Bear
 * Bob Dermer Grumpy Bear
 * Jayne Eastwood Additional voices
 * Anni Evans Additional voices
 * Gloria Figura Additional voices
 * Cree Summer Kim
 * Brian George Additional voices
 * Janet-Laine Green Wish Bear
 * Luba Goy Lotsa Heart Elephant / Gentle Heart Lamb Terri Hawkes Baby Hugs Bear
 * Dan Hennessey Brave Heart Lion
 * Jim Henshaw Bright Heart Raccoon
 * Hadley Kay Young Nicholas
 * Marla Lukofsky Good Luck Bear / Playful Heart Monkey
 * Pauline Rennie Grams Bear / Cozy Heart Penguin / Treat Heart Pig
 * Billie Mae Richards Tenderheart Bear
 * Brent Titcomb Additional voices
 * Harry Dean Stanton Brave Heart Lion (singing voice)