RAMChYLD

Well, I was dragged into this by a friend from an online club. I tried resisting putting my foot into this pool for some time, but decided to give in last month. And I must say, I'm glad I did.

The storyline was a complex multiple plot story that neatly ties up all lose ends in the end. Pretty cool for a show targeted at younger audiences. Also, I certainly like the character designs and personalities. It's clear that Nickelodeon Studios put a lot of work into the special- as the special features both a full set of characters from both the city and the countryside where Holly is visiting. Animation-wise, it was pretty well done. Animation was fluid and clean. What I liked most about the special, however, was the songs. LeAnn Rhymes performed the main theme song which was pretty good, but the two songs Holly sings in the special? Beautiful and memorable. I hope they eventually put the songs out on CD.

In short, I really loved the special and am looking forward to view the second one soon.

Well, let's start with the songs. In particular, the one titled "Have anybody seen this girl?". This song is by far one of the most gosh-darn addictive and memorable song I've ever heard. For some odd reason, though I no longer have the videocassette with me (my mom actually borrowed it from a friend, and have since returned it. We did get a copy of the video for our own, but it went missing shortly after too), and I've not seen the movie for around ages now, I still remember the tune to the song. I also rather remember the other songs on the movie - the one that goes "I'm mad about hats", the opening "Rise and Shine" song, and I do vaguely remember the Grumpy bear rapping end sequence.

SPOILER FOLLOWS: Overall story is kinda okay. Story starts with one of the bear's cousin's cousins or something or other appearing - it seems that the princess of Wonderland is lost. So they go search around and somehow ends up with a girl that looks just like the princess, except that the girl's name is Alice. They take her through the mirror, and we learn that the wizard is somewhat of a cog and plans to turn Wonderland into a dull gray place. Also, in a weird twist of plot,the queen turns out to be not nasty at all. She has found out that the evil wizard has kidnapped the real princess and locked her up somewhere, but without proof, she cannot take action against the wizard. So she needs to use Alice as a decoy while the Care Bears go look for the real princess. They managed to find the princess thanks to the Mad Hatter, and on another weird twist, it turns out that the Jabberwocky(think his name was Stan or something alike) was also a good guy - he was just being mean because he has a splinter stuck to his foot(cliché stuff, that). They managed to switch the princess with Alice in time for the most impossible trial of all, and upon completion of the task, the wizard, in a rage of absentmindedness, blurts out his plans for all to hear, and thus ends up getting locked up. Then they go back to Care-a-lot, and Grumpy busts a rap about food or something as the credits start to roll.

Verdict: memorable movie, and if I find the DVD or VideoCD or even videocassette on a shelf at a store, I'll no doubt snap it up. The plot itself is just mediocre, but the way the plot was written and executed - brilliant. Lots of humor, the music is darn memorable, and the characters - pleasant voice, captivating and not annoying at all. I didn't really think much of the Care Bear's TV show back in the 80s, but this movie is good stuff. Okay, maybe it's happy-sappy delusion syndrome, but remembering the songs has got to mean something positive, right?