Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

TheLittleSongbird Just for the record, I don't hate the Care Bears. By all means I'm not a huge fan, but I do think some of the hate the franchise and characters garner do verge on unfair. Although I loved the 1980s show and the original movie, and enjoyed New Generation, Wonderland and Nutcracker, I found myself disliking Journey to Joke-a-Lot. It seemed cute on paper and the character of Gig certainly is so. But the jerky character designs and lurid colour schemes make the film visually unappealing, while the score lacks whimsy and apart from a couple of delightful ones the songs are mostly limp with uninspiring lyrics. The script is a very uneven mix of weakly-done silly and sweet moments, Funshine's coronation speech is one of the, perhaps even the, worst single scenes of anything to do with Care Bears. The story is structurally thin, some scenes such as most of the songs and the middle are little more than lazy filler and the messages are handled in a very heavy-handed way. The characters are not the simple and charming ones from especially the 1980s, the villains are completely insipid, Funshine is now a bully and Grumpy is an utter wimp here. The voice work is terrible sadly too, too high in pitch with next to no subtlety and it also sounded as though they had been recorded in a helium balloon. All in all, a poor movie and a bland one. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Marty Houser As a parent forced to endure a fair amount of kids entertainment, it is always a relief to find something that is at least tolerable to an adult. When my son became infatuated with the Care Bears, I had sit through the painful Care Bears Movie (1985) a number of times, and then through some excruciating videos of episodes from the mid-80s TV show.But then we got the DVD of Journey to Joke-a-lot, and the opening song by Jane Siberry immediately caught my attention. Then the story turned out to be engaging, and not too cloying, with enjoyable songs. And there's even a parody of scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey! So I can say it greatly exceeded my expectations and I can recommend it as something at least passably entertaining to adults as well as children.

gurgitoy2 Well, I'm a child of the 80's, and LOVED the Care Bears back then, and watch the TV show, saw the movies...owned a few myself. So, when I saw that there was a new movie, in CGI, I was a bit skeptical. First, I know just how many awful CGI movies there have been, and I wasn't sure anybody could be trusted with the Care Bears. So, I saw Journey to Joke-a-Lot come and go, and wasn't that interested in seeing it.So, last night I happened to stumble on it on the Disney Channel, and decided to finally watch it. I was very surprised at how good it actually was. Yes, some of the classic things like the Care Bear Stare and the Cousins were not around, but that didn't really bother me at all. I found the animation to be very good for a direct-to-video affair, and much, much better than those awful Barbie movies.The bears looked so cute, furry, and round in CGI, and the other characters were interesting. Even the rat had computerized fur. The songs were surprisingly good too, and seemed like something from a feature film, or a Disney film. I also liked some of the references to other movies like 2001: A Space Odessey. That happened when Funnybone would try to get into the vault where the treasure was hidden and the computer was much like Hal from 2001. It even called Funnybone "Dave" every time.I really enjoyed this movie much more than I thought I would, and would highly recommend it to anyone. I have to say that even though I grew up watching the original Care Bears cartoons and movies, I would rate this one above those due to it's not pandering to kids and dumbing everything down. This movie had a nice balance, and would be easy for parents to watch with the kids.

Dylan Cuffy (dcjc) (OK, sorry I haven't reviewed any movie for a really long time at IMDb--not since "Holes" last Independence season--but, here goes...)In 2004, audiences were enchanted by one of the best animated sequels of all time, "Shrek 2", and later were wowed by the action-packed power of the superhero family, "The Incredibles"--and both were made in CGI. But in between, and a little after, these two blockbusters, a series of unfortunate events (not the Lemony Snicket kind) became stumbling blocks in the industry: among these mediocre messes came "Pride", "Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy", "The Polar Express", and now this--the most recent, most hilarious, and most horrible attempt at a comeback--"Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot". (A really good thing "The Princess and the Pauper" and "Twice upon a Christmas" managed to escape so far...)Everyone's favourite bears are back, and at the beginning of this new DTV movie, they are all preparing for their annual fair when, all of a sudden, something goes wrong: as Grumpy Bear's newest carousel invention goes out of control, Funshine Bear's jokes about the mishap are sent the wrong way, and at once he decides to run away from the magical land of Care-a-lot. His travels soon take him to a land where humour is king, and laughter is nonstop: Joke-a-lot. But, upon being crowned King of the land, Funshine soon realises that keeping the title will make him stay here forever...or will he ever have a chance to return to where he really belongs?Some aspects of the film are really horrible: to ever think of Funshine being a male bear is an embarrassment to true fans of the 80's franchise who grew up enjoying that character as a girl! Too many elements of the original franchise are missing here too: near the film's end, there is a scene in which the bears could have used their Stare on Funnybone, the half-villain of our story; it's too bad you never see it activated. The new faces in Joke-a-lot are so scary and not that familiar to look at, not to mention the small, pink Gig. And, even more shamefully, some of our favourite bears are missing from the adventure: Baby Hugs and Tugs, Proud Heart Cat, Swiftheart Bunny (the cutest one, and personally my favourite), and Grams Bear. There are no human characters anywhere within the plot. To top it all off: no real villains are present, which makes Funnybone the rat ever so close to the likes of Nicholas and Dark Heart...But, fortunately, the five songs are nothing short of delightful. For those who have seen the trailer at amazon.com and the official Care Bears web site, the Joke-a-lot anthem is a worthy, congratulatory sing-along (when the movie premiered on Disney Channel on December 12th, I had a great time singing along with it). Otherwise, the rest are somehow forgettable.So, in the end, "Journey to Joke-a-lot" is a somewhat above-average comeback of a well-known toy franchise from well over two decades ago, and only if fans and kids alike can ever survive its creepiness (and honestly I have). Bottom line: it's funnier than the Shrek films, but scarier than the Polar Express.That being said, and the fact that I still love the Bears as a 18-year-old, gives this fourth instalment my most solid vote of 7 after "Jetsons: The Movie" and "Hocus Pocus". Yet I am still hoping for better to come when another movie is made.To quote the amazon.com review by A. Wagner: "This movie had great potential - it's too bad they blew it."ALSO RECOMMENDED: Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, Finding Nemo, the Toy Story and Shrek films, The Incredibles, and (of course) the original Care Bears Movie from 1985.7\10