Toronto & Cleveland – October 16, 2024 – WildBrain and Cloudco Entertainment are bringing together two of the world's most popular 1980s kids’ brands for an all-new, strawberry-sweet, caring and sharing adventure. For generations, WildBrain’s Strawberry Shortcake and Cloudco’s Care Bears have delighted fans of all ages across the globe. Now, for the first time ever, work is underway to bring their worlds together on screen in a new, “retro-forward” 44-minute animated preschool special called The Care Berry Switch (working title), being co-developed by the talented creative teams at both companies, with WildBrain Studios poised to lead animation production.
Beloved characters Strawberry Shortcake and Cheer Bear have never met, but in The Care Berry Switch, when they each wish upon the same star for a new adventure, they open a magical portal that allows them to switch places and explore one another’s worlds. As “fish out of water,” with Strawberry in Care-A-Lot and Cheer Bear with The Berries in Strawberryland, tons of humor, magic, fun and new friendships ensue. But trouble looms as the iconic Strawberry foe, Purple Pie Man, and the Care Bears’ long-time nemesis, No Heart, conspire to cause chaos, compelling the Care Bears and The Berries to team up to save the worlds they love and preserve the wonderful new friendships they’ve made.
More than just the first time that The Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake meet on screen, the special is also a loving homage to the full, 40+ year history of each brand. Chock full of fan-favorite villains, 1980s-inspired character designs and iconic memes such as “The Care Bear Stare,” this unique Strawberry Shortcake x Care Bears content collaboration will integrate the nostalgic “best ofs” for both brands in a completely contemporary production, filled with beautiful animation, humor for all age groups, unexpected plot surprises and genuine multi-generational appeal.
Steph Betts, EVP Content Creation at WildBrain, said: “Bringing these two much-loved and instantly recognizable brands together for the first time was an opportunity too good to miss, with their shared ethos of sweetness and friendship perfect for crossover adventures and fun. It’s exciting to collaborate with our colleagues at Cloudco to bring this shared vision to life and deliver something extra special to the millions of Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears fans around the world.”
Ian Lambur, EVP Content Strategy at Cloudco, added: “It’s not often when one can deliver something that is unprecedented, fun and surprising, so it’s particularly satisfying to be able to do that here with two iconic brands at once. Both brands are inherently magical and charming in their own right, so we cannot wait to show off all the exponential wonder and fun that results when these two worlds crossover.”
WildBrain and Cloudco will be bringing the new Strawberry Shortcake x Care Bears project to MIPCOM, the world’s leading content market held in Cannes October 18-24. Visit WildBrain’s stand # R8.C18 to learn more.
For more information, please contact:
Aimée Norman at Liberi Consulting, external PR for WildBrain
+44 (0) 7957 564 050
Leilani Ching, Cloudco Entertainment Media Contact
About Strawberry Shortcake
WildBrain’s Strawberry Shortcake is one of the world’s most-adored brands. Since her creation in 1973, with the release of a simple Valentine’s Day greeting card, Strawberry Shortcake has grown and evolved with new content, toys and experiences for each new generation of kids. Parents who loved her when they were young can now share a fresh new Strawberry Shortcake with their children through the all-new original WildBrain series Berry in the Big City and new CG-animated seasonal specials on Netflix as well as through new toys, books, games, apparel, events – and of course, dolls, which still boast their iconic scent. Previous Strawberry Shortcake content in WildBrain’s library, including the series Strawberry Shortcake and Berry Bitty Adventures, and the animated movies Sky’s the Limit and The Sweet Dreams Movie, continues to delight young audiences on streaming and broadcast platforms worldwide. With an international presence that has generated over US 4$ billion in retail sales since its first launch, Strawberry Shortcake is a true character-brand phenomenon that is cherished by kids and families worldwide. Visit her at: strawberryshortcake.com. Strawberry Shortcake is owned by WildBrain, a global leader in kids’ and family entertainment.
About Care Bears™
Introduced in 1982 through consumer products, greeting cards, and later a series of animated television shows and feature films, Care Bears is one of the most popular and endearing children’s properties in the world. Fans of all ages are drawn to the lovable, huggable bears from Care-a-Lot who inspire all to have fun, share, and care. The Care Bears first appeared in their own television specials in 1983 and 1984, followed by a long-running animated TV series and the leap to the big screen in 1985-87 with The Care Bears Movie trilogy. Care Bears & Cousins, a Netflix original CGI- animated series, launched in fall 2015. In 2019, a brand-new look and mission for the Care Bears was introduced in Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, a 48 episode, 2D animated series currently airing in the US on Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and HBO Max via its Cartoonito preschool block. In 2022, the Care Bears celebrated 40 years of sharing and caring through the launch of new consumer products with key retail partners and a range of new toys with Basic Fun.
Website: CareBears.com
YouTube: YouTube.com/CareBears
Facebook: Facebook.com/CareBears
Twitter: Twitter.com/CareBears
Instagram: Instagram.com/CareBears
TikTok: Tiktok.com/@carebearsofficial
About WildBrain
At WildBrain we inspire imaginations through the wonder of storytelling. As a leader in 360° franchise management, we are experts in content creation, audience engagement and global licensing, cultivating and growing love for our own and partner brands around the world. With approximately 14,000 half-hours of kids’ and family content in our library—one of the world’s most extensive—we are home to such treasured franchises as Peanuts, Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Inspector Gadget and Degrassi. WildBrain’s mission is to create exceptional entertainment experiences that captivate and delight fans both young and young at heart.
Our studios produce such award-winning series as The Snoopy Show; Snoopy in Space; Camp Snoopy; Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City; Sonic Prime; Chip and Potato; Teletubbies Let’s Go! and many more. Enjoyed in more than 150 countries on over 500 platforms, our content is everywhere kids and families view entertainment, including YouTube, where our network has garnered approximately 1.5 trillion minutes of watch time. Our television group owns and operates some of Canada’s most loved family entertainment channels. WildBrain CPLG, our leading consumer-products and location-based entertainment agency, represents our owned and partner properties in every major territory worldwide.
WildBrain is headquartered in Canada with offices worldwide and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: WILD). Visit us at wildbrain.com.
About Cloudco Entertainment
Cloudco Entertainment (formerly American Greetings Entertainment) is a children’s entertainment company and the owner of iconic entertainment brands such as Care Bears™, Holly Hobbie™, Madballs™, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese™, Twisted Whiskers™, Buddy Thunderstruck™, Tinpo™ and its newest IP, Overlord & The Underwoods™. Cloudco Entertainment develops multi-platform entertainment franchises across all media channels and creates a wide range of consumer merchandising programs and experiences that immerse children and adults in the brands they love.