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Thursday, August 14, 2014

No Heart - Stealing Feelings Since 1986

This blog entry is going to be a short one.  I've done this before, where I ask myself the question "can I write a blog entry in less than two hours?" 

This is one of those times.

And usually, in order for me to do a blog entry in just a couple of hours, I'm forced to talk about a subject that I really know both inside and out, to save time.  After all...it's much easier to write a blog when you know your subject inside and out, right?



That said, I have to admit that I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that today's subject is all about the Care Bears!  Not exactly the most masculine subject that I have dealt with...but it is a subject that I admit that I have a lot of knowledge on.

After all..."The Care Bears Movie" was the very first movie that I ever saw in movie theatres.  Looking back on it now though, that was the same year that "The Goonies", "Teen Wolf", and "Back to the Future" all came out.  Certainly 1985 had its share of cool movies to choose from.  It's just a shame my family insisted that my first movie be G-rated.

But you know what?  I own that fact.  And for what it's worth, "The Care Bears Movie" was very good.  I'd probably watch it today if I had it in my collection.  It certainly was good enough for me to watch the cartoon series produced by Nelvana.  That series ran for three seasons between 1986 and 1989 (or in Matthew years, kindergarten through Grade 2).  It was simply a case of being born at the right time, because Care Bears certainly was catered to my demographic.

And, confession time.  I did own a stuffed Care Bear doll.  I had the green one with the clover Care Bear Stare...his name was Good Luck Bear.  I actually wanted Care Bear Cousin Braveheart Lion, but I think he was sold out at the toy store.  But, Good Luck Bear was my favourite Care BEAR, so it worked out for the best.

But, if the Care Bears only stayed on top of Care-A-Lot sliding down rainbow slides, resting in their cloud beds, and playing with star buddies floating through the sky, it would make a very boring show.  The Care Bears needed an antagonist of some sort.  They needed someone who would come in and cause all sorts of havoc and mischief either in Care-A-Lot, or on the Earth below.  They needed someone who was determined to take all of the caring out of the Care Bears.



Thing is, I can't talk about all of the bad guys.  I can only choose one.  So, which one would be considered the most evil of all?

Well, certainly not Beastly.  The bumbling ball of fluff ends up causing more good than harm.  His zany schemes usually unintentionally help the Care Bears instead of hurt them, and in a few occasions, he's actually found himself on the same side as the Bears.  For someone named Beastly, he certainly isn't very scary.

Professor Cold Heart, Sour Sam and Dark Heart are certainly formidable villains by themselves...but they only made appearances in the movies, or had only one episode appearance.

And, don't even get me started on that shrieking harpy shrew named Shreeky.  Every time that girl let out a huge scream, it hurt my little ears.  I wanted to grab the magic mirror out of her hand and smash it over her head every time she screamed!

No, this enemy of the Care Bears is enough to make even the strongest Care Bear Cousin quiver in fear.  With his dark purple cloak, bright red eyes, and scarlet amulet which could grant him the power to transform into anything he desired, his main mission was to rid the world of all feelings, emotions, and caring in hopes of achieving full control.  Damn, that's cold.

Why, your heart would have to be invisible in order to be that cold and calculating.



Oh, what a coincidence.  This character's name is "No Heart".

Yes, No Heart has been considered the most evil being to ever tangle with the Care Bears.  He lives in a dark purple and black castle that seemingly is perched on top of the biggest, blackest, cumulonimbus cloud that you have ever seen.  Interestingly enough, it never rains in No Heart Land, but you can always hear thunder and see bolts of lightning streak across the sky.

It's certainly a huge contrast to the big white fluffy clouds, rainbows, hearts, and stars that make up the world of Care-A-Lot.

Of course, No Heart has often made uninvited appearances in Care-A-Lot during the show's three-year-run.  Usually he only comes to Care-A-Lot to kidnap and torture the Care Bears and their cousins, or to establish some scheme in order to take infiltrate and destroy Care-A-Lot from the inside out.

Or sometimes, No Heart will cause tension below the clouds and cause the good people of the world to turn bad.  Whether he sends down mist that makes people not care, or manufactures rain clouds that take away all of the feelings that people have, if anyone on Earth is in a bad mood, or feels indifferent, you could count on No Heart being around in some capacity.

But as it is in the Care Bears cartoon, No Heart's schemes usually backfire on him.  Whenever he and Beastly think they have the upper hand, an army of cloud cars from Care-A-Lot come descending down upon No Heart's castle, and with their combined Care Bear Stare power, they have enough energy and caring to defeat No Heart each and every time.

Of course, every time the Care Bears win, No Heart gets angrier, and more hate-filled.  By the time the series was wrapping up, I could swear that No Heart was about ready to have a coronary.  But I suppose that could be contributed to the wonderful voice talent of Chris Wiggins, who voiced No Heart during the entire run of the series.

TRIVIA:  Chris Wiggins also voiced Mysterio in the 1960s Spider-Man cartoon series.  The man's been around a long time and at age 83, he's still going strong!

So, that's all that I have to say about the cartoon series.  However, I do have something that I want to add here.

In life, we deal with a lot of different situations.  Sometimes, we feel as though we're living life as the Care Bears do in Care-A-Lot.  Where people are always smiling and happy, and where people rely on co-operation, teamwork, and appreciation to get the jobs done that are needed to get done.  And, sometimes we find ourselves in situations that are kind of like No Heart's Castle of Gloom.  Where people are either in such a bad mood that they take out their anger and frustration on other people, or even worse than that...when people just simply stop caring about anything and everything.  Trust me, I've been in that situation before where you feel like you're the only one who seems to care, and it's frustrating to see so many people who don't.

But the way I see it, you have a choice.  You can either accept it for what it is, and begin to stop caring yourself, or you can try to fight it by keeping a positive attitude and doing what you can do to spread the joy of caring to others.

I know what side I would want to be on.  And I don't even have a Care Bear Stare to show off!  I do have a wicked scar though.

Yeah...that could be my Care Bear Name. 
Scar Chest Bear.  Has a nice ring to it, huh?

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