Dr. Donna's Review


About the Film

Those who remember the Care Bears television shows will be pleased to find those lovable creatures back with a new look and new characters.  This month’s feature introduces Oopsy whose very name explains what makes him special.  Oopsy just can’t keep himself from stumbling, falling, bumbling and causing all sorts of unintended things to happen at which he always proclaims, “That was an oopsy!”  Oopsy is young, he is green and he does not have a belly-badge like the other Care Bears.  He is always trying to earn a belly-badge.

The story opens with the Care Bears preparing WooHoo World, a new amusement park, for the grand opening.  Everyone has a job and Oopsy’s job is to paint one of the slides. Of course, he slips, falls and begins a rocketing trip down one of the slides that ruins the paint and some of the track along the way.  The other Care Bears watch and acknowledge that now more work needs to be done but they will all help. They decide to try out the exciting new Thunderbolt ride.  At the end of the ride, Oopsy feels dizzy, stumbles about, falls and sets off a chain reaction of disaster that leaves the Bears wondering if they can get everything repaired in time for the grand opening.  Oopsy feels terrible and wants to help.  Funshine Bear recommends that Oopsy take the job of placing the signs all over Care-a-Lot – it’s an important job and besides, it will keep Oopsy out of trouble. Cheer gives Oopsy a whistle to use in case he needs her help.

In the meantime, Grizzle is watching Care-a-Lot from his dark, mysterious “lair” out in space.  Grizzle, who can’t stand the Care Bears and all that “caring stuff,” has a new plan to take over Care-a-Lot.  He has designed a machine called the CareTaker that will steal the belly badges from the Care Bears.  But, he needs three more things to make the CareTaker work: sunshine to give it light, storm clouds to give it power, and a rainbow to give it color.  He sends Wingnut on a mission to Care-a-Lot to get the three ingredients.
Wingnut meets up with Oopsy and the two find that they both have problems to solve. They develop a common bond and a friendship is born. 

Wingnut takes Oopsy to Grizzle’s lair.  Grizzle learns that Oopsy is worried about the rides being finished in time to open the park.  He tells Oopsy that he has just invented a most wonderful ride that Oopsy can borrow for the park opening but in return, Oopsy will need to help gather the three missing ingredients.  Oopsy is tricked into believing that he can be a hero to the other Care Bears and agrees to bring back the sunshine, storm clouds and a rainbow.  Oopsy and Wingnut go back to Care-a-Lot and soon return to Grizzle with sunshine and storm clouds but Grizzle is not satisfied with the rainbow that is painted on Oopsy’s backside and tells them they need to get him a “real rainbow.”  Oopsy uses the whistle to call Cheer.  When Cheer comes sliding in to Grizzle’s lair on a rainbow, she knows immediately that she doesn’t like this place and when she gets sucked through the CareTaker machine, it steals her belly-badge.  Grizzle locks Oopsy and Cheer into a cage, tells them about his plan to get all the belly-badges and take over Care-a-Lot, and he leaves.  Oopsy feels bad knowing that he is responsible for their situation, but Cheer encourages him to help figure out a solution.  When Oopsy sees one of his tools lying within reach of the cage, he gets hold of it and manages to pry open the bars. Oopsy and Cheer return to Care-a-Lot, to find that Grizzle has already managed to steal all of the belly-badges and store them inside of a big translucent ball.  He announces his intention to use belly-badge magic to take over but when he tries, the magic doesn’t work.  It is Oopsy who points out that the magic only works for those who show caring.  He urges all the Care Bears to hold onto each other and remember who they are and how much they care.  Sure enough the magic comes back!  Wingnut decides to stay with the Care Bears and he helps them put Grizzle on a cart and send him back to his lair.  When WooHoo World opens the next day, Grumpy has a surprise to share, the Thunderbolt ride has been renamed, it is now the “Oopsy Loopsy” ride.

About the Kids
“Oopsy Does It ” will appeal to all children and even to grown-ups who love the Care Bears.  While the principle appeal of the story is to younger children, all children in the Kidtoon audience will enjoy the characters, the songs, and the humor.  Grizzle is one of the most interesting new characters. While he is clearly the villain of the story, he is more humorous than threatening. The story is accessible to younger children and clever enough to appeal to older children.

Film content and features
“Oopsy Does It” features animation in a soft color palette and a soft setting with rounded edges on everything that is consistent with the Care Bear characters.  Oopsy is a loveable character with whom young children will easily identify because of his clumsiness and the way he is always trying to prove himself.  Grizzle is one of the most interesting new characters. While he is clearly the villain of the story, he is more humorous than threatening.  The film features several songs that underscore important character and story points.  One of the most intriguing songs is the one that Grizzle sings about how mean he is! 

Things to talk about
There are many opportunities for follow-up conversations with young children. Here are some suggestions:

  • Ask children to talk about how Oopsy felt when he messed up the paint on the slide, when he caused wreckage to all of the attractions at WooHoo World, when his behavior led to Cheer losing her belly-badge, when his behavior led to he and Cheer getting locked up by Grizzle.  Did Oopsy do anything deliberately or accidentally?  Help children understand the difference between deliberately causing problems and accidentally causing problems. 
  • Talk about how Grizzle tricked Oopsy into helping him get the three things he needed to make the CareTaker work. 
  • Why was Grizzle’s machine called a “CareTaker?”  Help children understand the irony of the name – that it sounds like it’s about taking care but it’s really about Grizzle’s desire to take away the caring quality of the Care Bears.
  • Ask children to talk about the immediate friendship between Oopsy and Wingnut.  What did they have in common that made them become good friends so quickly?
  • Discuss Wingnut’s decision to help the Care Bears instead of going back with his boss, Grizzle.  Why did he choose to stay in Care-a-Lot.  Was he brave to do that?
  • Discuss what happened when Grizzle tried to use the belly-badge magic.  Why didn’t it work for him?  Help children understand how important it is that Oopsy was the one to point out what needed to be done to get the magic back.  Help children understand that Oopsy, the youngest bear and the one without the belly-badge was the one to have this understanding.
  • Talk with children about Grizzle. Was he scary?  What did they think of Grizzle when he fell out of his big suit and it was clear that he was just a little guy?
  • Have children draw pictures of their favorite Care Bear character and tell you why they chose the one they did.