Care Bears Nutcracker Suite

Care Bears Nutcracker Suite
Original 1988 VHS cover
Genre	Animated special Christmas
Written by	John de Klein (story editor)
Directed by	Joseph Sherman Laura Shepherd
Theme music composer	Tom Szczesniak Ray Parker Jim Morgan Acrobat Music Patricia Cullen
Country of origin	Canada United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Michael Hirsh Patrick Loubert Clive A. Smith
Running time	62 minutes
Production company(s)	Nelvana Limited in association with the Global Television Network With the participation of Telefilm Canada
Distributor	United States: Kids Klassics (VHS, 1988) Lionsgate (DVD, 2006)
Release
Original network	United States: The Disney Channel Canada: Global
Original release	United States: December 10, 1988 Canada: December 25, 1988

Care Bears Nutcracker Suite is the third and final television film to feature the Care Bears characters. Produced by the Canadian animation studio Nelvana, it is loosely based on the Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (adapted in turn from E. T. A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King). It was directed by Joseph Sherman and Laura Shepherd, and produced by Nelvana's founders: Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith.

In this special, a schoolteacher tells some children a version of the Nutcracker story which features the Care Bear Family. While helping a sad girl named Anna, the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins meet a wooden soldier and a group of malicious rats from a place called Toyland. Entering this place, Anna and the Family learn that an evil Vizier is planning to destroy it with the help of his rodent army, and has his sights on a powerful ring that has been long hidden from the denizens.

Care Bears Nutcracker Suite premiered on video and television in December 1988 across North America, and was met with indifferent reception. The special premiered on DVD in France in 2004, and then in November 2006 by Lions Gate Home Entertainment under a new English title, Care Bears: The Nutcracker. This was Nelvana's last Care Bears production until Journey to Joke-a-lot in 2004.

At a school called P.S. 5, a teacher named Miss Walker tells some children a version of E. T. A. Hoffmann's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, involving the Care Bear Family. As the story begins, the Care Bears and their Cousins prepare for Christmas in their home of Care-a-lot; the two youngest bears, Hugs and Tugs, are searching for an ornament. While the others spend time in the Hall of Hearts decorating a tree, another bear called Funshine suddenly alerts them of an unhappy girl named Anna. Enlisting Grumpy Bear to go along, she takes a Cloud Mobile down to Earth.