Probably the weakest The Hub has to offer but still a decent kids show
Story
Each episode follows a series of different formulas. Where one episode involves the bears trying to help a visiting kid get through a problem they are facing in the human world, another will have the bears personalities clashing. For the most part the episodes get the job done, but the episodes with the bears arguing with each other are far more entertaining that the ones with the visiting kids
Characters:
Share-Bear:
Share is the motherly figure of the group. She loves to cook tasty treats for all her friends in Care-A-Lot. Acting as the voice of reason, she tries her best to diffuse a lot of arguments. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have her own share of confrontations. She doesn't have many conflicts but when she does, she is shown to be passive aggressive. Her most memorable conflict was with Grumpy. Since she is the go-to person for sweets an treats, she doesn't really appreciate being outdone. She went as far as to frame someone for destroying Grumpy's stove to get back in the spotlight. Overall, not the most interesting of the bunch most of the time.
Funshine-Bear:
Probably my second favorite Bear. Funshine lives up to his name. He is all about sports and loves to stay active. Sometimes his love of fun gets in the way of his duties and can sometimes cloud his judgement. It would come to no surprise that most of his fights are with Grumpy considering that they are polar opposites. He is also shown to somewhat ignorant to people who are physically handicapped since he assumes that they can't reach his level of fun. At the end of the day, he will admit when he is wrong and how he could have acted differently.
Tender-Heart and Wonder-Heart:
Meh.. Tender Heart is the seemingly the oldest and wisest of all the bears and he seems to be in charge of Care-A-Lot. Wonder Heart is basically a clone of Apple Bloom. She is more interesting when she isn't the focus of the episode. Like her name suggests, she spends a lot of time Wondering about things. For the most part she wonders what her belly badge does.
Cheer-Bear
My least favorite Bear. She spends all her time cheering. She tries her best to help people and cheer them up but has problems asking for help herself. As should be expected, she has issues with Grumpy, but Harmony won't hesitate to start confrontations with her from time to time.
Harmony-Bear
Harmony is the bossy boots of the group. She is very theatrical and loves to sing. Since she is in charge of the many organizations of Care-A-Lot, she constantly hassles the other bears on their duties. She gets into conflict with every bear due to her stern no foolishness personality. Like her name she wants everyone to work together and do the best they can.
Grumpy-Bear
My favorite Bear. Somehow he is more fleshed out than the other bears and I don't think that it was intentional. Grumpy is very irritable and likes to be alone. He's not necessarily mean, but he has a short fuse and doesn't know the best way to tell others to leave him alone. He has conflict with everybear but it is more common with Funshine, Harmony and Cheer. At the end of the day he does care about his friends well being and will occasionally share his food (which he loves) out of the goodness of his heart.Animation
The series is animated by Moonscope (Popular from Code Lyoko). The backgrounds and character models are bright and colorful, but somehow dry. The characters are all very expressive and lively. My only gripe is that each character looks exactly the same aside from different color pallets and belly badges.
Music
The music gets the job done. Harmony sings most of the songs and sounds good. It isn't until the whole cast joins in that it falls apart.
What Kids Can Learn:
Kids can learn how to deal with people of varying personalities other than just writing that person off as weird. It could also teach them to learn things from each other, or see things from different perspectives.
Overall
Care Bears Welcome To Care-A-Lot is a decent kids show that shows a group of friends with different personalities facing everyday challenges. Most episodes are just decent, but some episodes are well written and executed.
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