Care Power Team: The Giving Festival Movie

Closing out my holiday season, here's Care Bears: The Giving Festival, which has the bears preparing for their Christmas-by-another-name celebration by remembering non-holiday related anecdotes.

This one begins with an abruptly abridged version of the theme song as we pan through the clouds to a very blustery day in Care-a-Lot.  Share struggles to get from her house to Grumpy's garage, even though the wind threatens to blow her very belly badge off, but she gets a little help from Wingnut, and together they make it to Grumpy's.  Seeing Share, Grumpy practically drags her inside, annoyed that she would be out in this kind of weather.  But her desire to see his new snow machine calms his ire, though he does accidentally turn it on while showing it off, creating a flurry inside his garage.  The reason for the snow machine: Princess Starglo is coming for the Giving Festival, and since she's never seen snow before, it's their present to her.  But if the wind keeps up like it is, the festival may have to be cancelled, Grumpy points out.  Share tells him to think positive, and Grumpy promises, for her, though it goes against his nature.  He, Share, and Wingnut go to put the snow machine in position and then head over to the Care Power Station, where Oopsy is manning the searchlight (to help Princess Starglo find her way).

At the station, the other bears worry about Funshine and Cheer, who went to get the decorations for the festival, and still aren't back yet.  This reminds them of when they had to help Grizzle find his home, apparently, and thus begins the flashback....
On an ordinary Care-a-Lot day, the Care Beacon's alarm is going off, so Funshine rushes over to the Care Power Station to see what the trouble is.  But it was just the weekly beacon test, much to Funshine's disappointment.  It seems there hasn't been a caring emergency in quite some time, which is technically a good thing, but for a bear like Funshine, it can get pretty boring.  Grumpy points out that he has plenty to do, even during peaceful times, and the girls escort Funshine out of the building, telling him to just enjoy himself.
Meanwhile, Grizzle, up in his lair and sans suit for some reason, complains about how Care-a-Lot blocks his view, and since they built that huge Care Power Station, I can't say I blame him.  He ponders what to do about the eyesore Care-a-Lot has become, and decides to move it out of the way himself with the bears none the wiser.  Unaware of Grizzle's scheme, the Care Bears play, and Funshine spends the day trying to find a use for his Care Power, but to no avail.  Once the day is done, Grizzle descends and attaches a large hook to Care-a-Lot, then ramps up the power on his lair's rockets.  The force of the towing shakes Care-a-Lot and wakes everyone up, but the cloud doesn't seems to be moving.  Grizzle adjusts one of the rocket boosters to see if that will help, but to his dismay, he sees the cable attached to the hook is starting to break!  Despite his best efforts, the cable snaps, and he ends up on the end still attached to Care-a-Lot, watching as his lair sails off into the night.
Grizzle climbs up the cable, but ducks down again when he sees Funshine and the rest wander by, wondering just what that was all about.  Funshine, of course, is all gung ho to get powered up to handle it, whatever it was, but Grumpy is all "and then what?" and then Bedtime shows up and tells them everything this fine, go back to bed.  The next morning, the rest of the Care Bears make sure Care-a-Lot is okay and take care of any fallout, but there isn't that much to do.  Oopsy and Share spot the cable from the hook, but have no clue what it's doing there.  And then they hear the sound of snoring, but it isn't from Bedtime... Grumpy volunteers Oopsy to check out the noise, and he finds the sleeping Grizzle (though he freaks out at first, not realizing who it is, I guess).  Now awake, Grizzle is surrounded by the other members of the CPT.  Grumpy rightly assumes Grizzle had something to do with the previous night's "cloud quake," but Grizzle spins a story about how the mysterious shaking knocked him out of his lair, and now it's gone.  Grumpy's not buying it, but Cheer points out that his lair isn't in the sky any more, so at the very least he needs their help with that.  Funshine rejoices, finally a reason to power up!  And thus, they all power up their badges and fly off to the care station, promising to pick up Grizzle in just a minute.  While they're gone, Grizzle confides in the audience that his original plan may have gone awry, but once the bears are in his lair, he can spring his new trap on them.  Being without his suit, he needs a boost into the cloud car, and ends up in a compromising position on Grumpy.  What purpose this scene serves, I know not.

As they fly through space, Grumpy shows off his fancy locator, but Grizzle doesn't trust it, so he tries to take control from Grumpy.  Predictably, this ends with the locator in two pieces, but it doesn't much matter, as they've already come across Grizzle's lair, which is just floating out in space, having run out of fuel.  They land and dismount, but Grumpy is suspicious, so much so that his belly badge turns into a fish.  Share declares their duties over, but Grizzle implores them to stay so he can give them some lemonade to thank them.  The other bears are hesitant, wondering if they should trust any "lemonade" that Grizzle would serve.  Grizzle tries to get them to let bygones be bygones, but Grumpy points out that most of those "bygones" are attempts to take over Care-a-Lot.  Grizzle blames this on a bad mood, and wants to be friends, though he can't quite say the word.  He goes off to get the lemonade, with the Care Bears asserting their assumption that he's up to something as he goes.
While Grizzle works on a trap, Grumpy finds the other end of the cable and he and the others put two and two together, figuring out Grizzle's whole plan.  Grizzle calls them over, then pulls the lever for his hanging cages trap.  Only Cheer was in his line of capture, but Funshine gets her out of the way just in time.  Grumpy's all "Aha!" and the Care Bears confound Grizzle's cages by running all over the place, then politely stopping on an X.  Grizzle pulls the lever again, but that cage falls a few feet over from its target.  They then stop on another X, but this time Grizzle double checks its trajectory and pushes the bears into position himself.  As he goes back to throw the lever, Share puts a couple of lollipops into the pulley and Grumpy sends a cloud to one of the rockets at the edge of the lair, so that when Grizzle does throw the lever and then goes to see why nothing happened, the cloud zaps the rocket to life, tilting the lair and setting the cage onto Grizzle, which is when Share removes the lollipops.  Long story short, Grizzle ends up in the cage, and the Care Bears laugh at him.
Despite Grizzle's actions, Share still wants to help him bring his lair back to its usual position.  Grumpy and Funshine are incredulous, citing the facts that Grizzle just tried to capture them and never gave them any lemonade, but Cheer reminds them that's it's the right thing to do.  They inform Grizzle of their decision, but bind him up with a rainbow regardless.  As they pilot Grizzle's lair back home, Cheer asks Funshine if the finally got the excitement he was craving.  And he did, plus the knowledge that with Grizzle around, something exciting is always bound to happen if he just waits long enough.  That's pretty much the end of the flashback, but in the present Share adds that Grizzle roomed with Grumpy until his lair was back in working order.
The control panel starts beeping, and the screen shows the wind is getting stronger, putting the beacon at risk.  So Share and Grumpy activate their Care Power and take Wingnut with them to secure it.  Share uses her lollipops to steady it, and Grumpy zaps each one to make it take hold.  While they're up there, Wingnut spots Cheer and Funshine returning at last, so they hurry back inside.  Unfortunately, the wind blew away all the snacks and decorations, making Share despair for the Giving Festival's future.  Funshine reminds her that they've faced rougher times than this, which reminds Wingnut of the time Share wanted to pick rainbow buds...

In the flashback, Wingnut carries Oopsy to that part of Care-a-Lot that's slightly above it, where Grumpy is unveiling his latest invention, an automatic bumbleberry delivery system.  Why Care-a-Lot needs this, I don't really know, but we do know that Grumpy really enjoys his bumbleberries, so hey, why not?  Attach it to a bush and it harvests the berries (somehow), setting aside the best ones in a basket.  One of the berries falls out, so Oopsy goes to replace it, despite Grumpy's objections.  As per usual, he trips on nothing, spilling all the berries, which makes Grumpy slip and bump into his machine, which sets it loose to shoot berries at him and start boring into the ground until Wingnut shuts it off.  Before Grumpy can express his layers of displeasure at this, the beacon on the Care Power Station starts going off, so the CPT power up with an awesome starry background behind them.  As they fly off to handle some kind of emergency, Oopsy and True Heart decide to do something nice for them, and come to the conclusion that the team could use a day off.  So they plan to give the CPT a day at WooHoo World, and go to get the other non-CPTers in on it.
On the appointed day, Surprise "informs" the CPT of an emergency at the theme park, then joins the others who are waiting to surprise the team.  And they are very surprised indeed.  Oopsy promises to take care of any emergencies that may arise while they're spending the day at the park, which should be minimal, since all the other bears are spending the day at the park, too.  All except True Heart.  Oopsy pushes her to join the fun, but this only drives her away in tears.  He spends the day chasing after her, but with no luck.  As he searches, the CPT thank him for holding down the fort, and Share invites him along on their rainbow bud-picking excursion the next day.
Wingnut finally finds True Heart crying behind the bushes, and calls over Oopsy.  True Heart initially sends him away again, but opens up to him when he asks what's wrong: she wants to ride the Funderbolt, but is too afraid.  Oopsy sees this as his chance to handle a real caring emergency, and declares his vow to help True Heart overcome her fears.  True Heart is down with this, fortunately, so Oopsy and Wingnut imitate the CPT's Care Power On poses.  Being Oopsy, this ends with them both in the lake, and True Heart laughs at them.  Later that night, they sneak into WooHoo World, and Oopsy tries to figure out just what about the Funderbolt frightens True Heart.  The individual elements (being up high, spinning, sudden drops, going fast, etc.) aren't usually a problem, but the combination is what gets to her.  So Oopsy hypothesizes that if they can get her used to each element on its own, then she'll be able to take riding the Funderbolt.

A bench covers the element of height, and Oopsy and Wingnut can spin her just fine, but the rest is a little harder.  Oopsy has her ride the ferris wheel to combine heights and spinning, which is all well and good, until Wingnut accidentally hits the speed lever, setting it to Fastest.  Oopsy and Wingnut struggle to get it back down to Slow, but hearing True Heart's screams, Wingnut simply goes for the Emergency Stop.  Luckily for both of them, True Heart had a blast and is now ready to face the Funderbolt, as long as they're both with her.  Of course, it is the middle of the night, and Bedtime shows up to bust them for not being in bed.  So they all go home with plans to meet up in the morning.
Their morning meet up is interrupted by Share and some other Care Bears on their way to pick rainbow buds.  Oopsy turns down her invitation, and True Heart thanks Oopsy for staying with her.  Then it's off to the Funderbolt!  Oopsy assures True Heart that she can still back out, but she's determined to go through with it.  Meanwhile, the bud-pickers head into a cave where rainbow buds grow (?), and Harmony has some fun with her echo before they get down to business.  The picking is relatively easy, but when Grumpy finds one that refuses to come loose, it attracts the attention of the others and they gather around him, making an unfortunate landing for him once he finally wrenches the bud loose.  The impact creates a cave-in, trapping the bears inside.  So the CPT turns on their power, and Grumpy tries using some thunder to break up the rocks blocking the entrance, but it just bounces back at them.  Cheer's rainbow beam suffers a similar fate, which puts a kibosh on anyone else trying something.  Figuring that Oopsy and True Heart could do something, they have to figure out how to get their message out.  Funshine spots a crack in the cave's ceiling, and so all the bears, CPT and non-CPT alike, combine their badges' power and manage to set off the Care Alarm, just as Oopsy and True Heart are about to ride the Funderbolt.
Hearing the alarm, and seeing no CPT members answering the call, True Heart and Oopsy put aside their ride and rush to the Care Power Station with Wingnut in tow to see what's going on.  Finding the station empty, Oopsy pushes the button to find out the nature of the emergency, and sees the cave-in.  He starts to panic, calling for them to get help, until True Heart points out that they're the help.  Which is all the excuse Oopsy needs to put on his costume again.  The three of them brainstorm a way to get everyone out that's quick, and Wingnut remembers Grumpy's machine from the other day boring into the ground, and hypothesizes that it will bore through rock just as easily.  With no better ideas, they take off to implement Wingnut's plan.  But first they have to figure out how to get the heavy machine to the cave, which is also on the cloud just above Care-a-Lot.  The fastest solution is to use the Funderbolt to catapult it up there, especially since they just spent all that time getting True Heart ready to ride.  And so True Heart and Oopsy head off, and with Wingnut adjusting the track at the appropriate time, they make it up there and have an awesome time doing it.

With the machine in place, it's just a matter of seconds before the rocks break and fall away, freeing the captive bears.  But the strain was too much for Grumpy's machine, and it falls to pieces.  Grumpy is quick to point this out, but is glad that it was for a good cause at least.  He gives Oopsy and True Heart rainbow buds for their trouble, and then they all go home for a celebratory Funderbolt ride.  Several, in fact, leaving the other bears woozy, but True Heart is still raring to go!  Fortunately, Wingnut is ready and willing to be her ride buddy, while Oopsy worries that he's created a monster...
Share completely misses the point of the story and thinks it's an attack on her poor planning of their rainbow bud-picking excursion, but before they can debate this, the wind picks up again, making the cancellation of the Giving Festival a real possibility.  Oopsy comments that they'll just have to stay inside, giving the others an idea!  They'll just hold the Giving Festival inside the Care Power Station, using Grumpy's stash for snacks.  The bears and Wingnut leap into action getting the station ready: cleaning, multiplying the berries, and putting up decorations.  But just as they're about the get the word out about the festival's new location, the Care Alarm goes off: Princess Starglo has been captured!  So it's Care Power On time (minus Bedtime--where is he, anyway?), and the CPT use their badges to fly off into the night.  But the wind is still too strong and threatens to blow them off track.  Share spots Princess Starglo, who tries to warn them, but the wind blows even harder and knocks them back.  Not ones to give up, the bears just fly in with more determination, but soon they reach a standstill, despite their best efforts to keep moving.
Suddenly, they hear evil laughter, and Princess Starglo's captor shows himself.  Some kind of wind creature named Windle, he claims the bears are trespassing on his part of the sky, but the CPT just want Starglo back.  Windle refuses, and with a mighty breath he nearly blows them right out of the sky.  But they rebound and realize they need to take action.  Windle tries to blow them away again, but this time they're ready, and Cheer uses a rainbow to capture him.  But before it can grab him, he teleports away, turning up right behind her and blowing both her and Grumpy out of the way.  This leaves him off-guard, however, and Funshine manages to clock him with a light ball.  With Windle out of the way, Share uses her badge to make a key to open Starglo's cage, but he blows it right out of her hand.  Having had enough of his attitude, Share outright asks him why he captured Starglo.  It turns out he has some beef with the Giving Festival, which of course just earns him a big fat Care Bear Stare.  His mood lifted by the stare, he lets Starglo go and apologizes.  She forgives him and goes to join the Care Bears, leaving Windle all alone.

Seeing this, Share invites him to the Giving Festival, but he turns her down, since he doesn't have anything to give.  Grumpy guesses this is his real beef with the festival, and the others assure him that his very presence is a kind of gift.  So Windle joins them in Care-a-Lot.  With the source of the wind taken care of, the festival is back outside, and Grumpy is all set to get his snow machine started, much to Princess Starglo's delight.  Unfortunately for both of them, all the wind caused a branch to fall and damage Grumpy's snow machine, with no time to fix it.  On top of that, there isn't any time to decorate, either.  Windle feels guilty, since he was the cause of the wind, but Cheer points out they can still have the festival in the station.  Which, of course, is Oopsy's cue to show up with a decorations-related disaster.  Looks like the festival is off after all, until Starglo reminds them that the festival is about giving, not having.  And so she gives them her gift: a sparkly, twinkly Care-a-Lot.  With the festival spirit back, the bears start sharing what they plan to give, which just reminds Windle of how little he has to give, being a wind creature.  Cheer tries to cheer him up by telling him that he's probably good at different kinds of wind, with Grumpy snidely adding "cold winter gales."  Which inspires Share: Windle can cool down the clouds!  Windle catches her drift, and goes to create some snow clouds.  As the flakes drift down, Starglo flips out over seeing real snow and declares the start of the Giving Festival.
And so, there's a song and a montage to close out the show, with trains and dancing, and a present sent to Grizzle.  Aw.

Now, when I first saw the trailer for this movie, I had it in mind that the Giving Festival was the Care Bear equivalent of Thanksgiving, so I was kind of surprised that it turned out to be their Christmas instead.  I'm not really sure why I thought that, other than the "giving" part of Thanksgiving, or maybe because of the wind, and November being a windy month.  At any rate, the movie was pretty cute, though not particularly Christmas-y except for the very, very end.  And it was actually out on DVD, which is a definite plus in my book.

Misc. Screenshots:
Around the campfire
Funshine winks
Oopsy has an idea