Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot

Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot
Title card
Directed by	Mike Fallows
Produced by	Cynthia Taylor
Written by	Jeffrey Alan Schechter
Starring	Julie Lemieux Allie Cannito Adrian Truss Susan Roman Katie Griffin
Music by	Ian Thomas
Edited by	Annellie Samuel
Production company	Nelvana Limited Sparx Animation Studios American Greetings
Distributed by	United States: Lions Gate Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment Overseas: Universal Studios
Release date	October 2004
Running time	83 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom Canada
Language	English
Budget	US$3–5 million

Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot is a 2004 children's animated feature film, produced by Nelvana Limited and released by Lions Gate Home Entertainment. Directed by Mike Fallows and written by Jeffrey Alan Schecter, this was the fourth film to star the Care Bears, and their first in over 15 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, through Lions Gate, and was subsequently released overseas through Universal Studios. 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 live in a cloud-filled land known as Care-a-lot ("With All Your Heart"). One of the Bears, Grumpy, is working on a rainbow carousel for the upcoming Care Bear Fair. His fellow Care Bears come by for a look; one of them, Funshine, loves telling jokes and making the other Care Bears laugh. After they reluctantly agree to try the carousel, it goes out of control and sends them into the sky before crashing down. Grumpy feels even worse after Funshine tries to cheer him up with a joke on height restrictions, which the other Bears find funny. Grumpy is not amused, and even goes so far as to tell Funshine that if he doesn't understand that cheering up isn't making fun of, then maybe Funshine doesn't belong in Care-A-Lot. As a result, the Bears force Grumpy to apologize to the ursine comedian. Reading from a note, Tenderheart Bear realizes that Funshine has felt sorry for Grumpy and has gone in search of a place where his talents can be better appreciated. The other Bears are worried about his fate; as they cannot hold their Fair without him, they decide to look for him regardless and bring him back to Care-a-lot. Five of them— Tenderheart, Grumpy, Wish, Cheer and Share volunteer, while Laugh-a-Lot, Love-a-Lot, Friend, Good Luck, Bedtime and Champ stay home to get ready for the fair.