Cloudco Entertainment, owner of the heritage brand Care Bears, has announced a wave of new licensing deals for the brand’s 40th anniversary.
New consumer product licensing deals will start launching at the start of 2022 and throughout the year. Collaborations will span across multiple categories including fashion, accessories, homeware, cosmetics, games, crafts, seasonal, travel, and the metaverse.
“The Care Bears resonate with fans of all ages and we love hearing that fans that grew up with the brand in the 80s are now introducing their own families and children to the Care Bears,” said Robert Prinzo, Head of Global Licensing for Cloudco Entertainment. “Our wide-ranging consumer product deals allow us to create fun, new products that all of our fans will collect, and enjoy, for years to come.”
The Care Bears franchise will be partnering with Alaska Airlines next month, followed by the brands’ partnership with RECUR, and the launch of the first Care Bears NFT. A design competition with Threadless will be launching this spring.
New partnerships in the apparel category include H&M, I Scream, Chinti & Parker, Dolls Kill, FYE, and Bandy Button. In the accessories category, Cloudco has signed deals with Olympia Le Tan, Melissa, Knockarounds, and Dannijo. Additional licensee’s products hitting retail this year include Igloo for homeware and PEZ for collectibles.
In 2020, Cloudco relaunched Care Bears toys with their new toy partner, Basic Fun!. The new toy line features the Unlock the Magic look and was released at Walmart, Target, Amazon, and a number of other online and brick-and-mortar retailers across the US, UK, and Canada.
Care Bears will also be introducing three brand-new characters to the Basic Fun! toy line. These will include a special-edition anniversary character called Care-a-Lot Bear. This new character will also be included in the Headstart line in Australia and featured in a number of limited-edition capsule collections.
“With our core group of key characters such as Cheer Bear, Grumpy Bear, and Funshine Bear, and the introduction of newer characters like Togetherness Bear and Care-a-Lot Bear, the Care Bears continue to share their universal message of sharing and caring and explore relevant themes and topics with their fans,” said Kristeen Tibbits, Head of Marketing at Cloudco Entertainment. “Without a doubt, the world is a better place thanks to Care Bears and their messages of love, hope, and happiness, and we look forward to seeing what new adventures the next forty years bring!”
Care Bears was first introduced in 1982 through consumer products and greeting cards. The brand first appeared in their own television specials in 1983 and 1984, followed by a long-running animated TV series and The Care Bears Movie trilogy in 1985-87.
In 2019, a brand-new look and mission for the Care Bears was introduced in Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, a 2D animated series currently airing in the US on Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Cartoonito.
The series is also being aired on Tiny Pop in the UK, Nickelodeon and Noggin in Latin America, Tiji and Gulli in France, CCTV14 Children’s Channel in China, and many other broadcasters worldwide. Care Bears: Unlock the Music, is heading into its second season with 20 new episodes and will be available to view on the Care Bears’ YouTube channel this year.
Cloudco Entertainment is a children’s entertainment company that develops multi-platform franchises across all media channels, and is the owner and manager of the Care Bears brand.