Care Bears: Journey To Joke-a-lot - Reception

Reception

A writer for the Video Business magazine said of Journey to Joke-a-lot: "While ain't no Shrek—the gold standard—the movie is still amusing enough to charm the target demographic of ages 2–5 and should do well with parents looking for harmless kiddie fare." Bruce Kluger of Parenting commented likewise: "The computer animation might not be as quaint as the pen-and-ink of the 1980s version, but the new songs and brisk pace make this one a keeper for a new generation." In July 2005, Rob Lowing of Sydney, Australia's The Sun-Herald gave it three stars out of five, and wrote: "Adults will find this computer-generated cartoon as sickly sweet as fairy floss but tiny tots will love the colourful blobs—oops, we mean the Care Bears. Support characters that look like toys, four bright songs and lots of giggling will score with the under-fives." Saskatchewan's The Star Phoenix also praised the film and its soundtrack, adding that "Even the movie is "bear"-able for grown-ups with subtle adult humour woven into the silliness." But MaryAnn Johanson of the Flick Filosopher called it a "horryifying attempt at children's entertainment", adding that "The cold CGI animation removes any vestige of coziness that might have been found in what is essentially a giant advertisement for itself." She referred to the title setting, Joke-a-lot, as "a sort of Oz-meets-Candyland with just a soupcon of pastel near-oddity Tim Burton might have pondered in a moment of sentimental weakness".