The Care Bears Movie

# The Care Bears Movie

## Abstract

The Care Bears Movie is a 1985 animated musical fantasy film directed by Arna Selznick from a screenplay by Peter Sauder. It was the second feature film from the Canadian animation studio Nelvana after the 1983 film Rock & Rule, in addition to being one of the first films based directly on a toy line and the first based on Care Bears. It introduced the Care Bears characters and their companions, the Care Bear Cousins. The voice cast includes Mickey Rooney, Georgia Engel, Jackie Burroughs and Cree Summer. In the film, an orphanage owner (Mickey Rooney) tells a story about the Care Bears, who live in a cloud-filled land called Care-a-Lot. While traveling across Earth, the Bears help two lonely children named Kim and Jason, who lost their parents in a car accident, and also save Nicholas, a young magician's apprentice, from an evil spirit's influence. Deep within a place called the Forest of Feelings, Kim, Jason and their friends soon meet another group of creatures known as the Care Bear Cousins.

American Greetings, the owners of the Care Bears characters, began development of a feature film adaptation in 1981. Later on, the card company chose Nelvana to produce it and granted them rights to the characters, in addition to financing the film along with cereal manufacturer General Mills and television syndicator LBS Communications. Nelvana's founders were producers, with fellow employee Arna Selznick directing the film. Production lasted eight months, with a production budget of at least $2 million, and took place in Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea. Carole King and John Sebastian contributed several songs for the film. Though major American film studios passed on the project, newly established independent distributor The Samuel Goldwyn Company acquired the distribution rights to the film and soon spent a record $24 million promoting it.

The Care Bears Movie premiered on March 24, 1985, in Washington, D.C, and was released in North America on March 29, 1985; another Nelvana film, Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins, was released alongside it. It received mixed reviews from critics, who raised concern over its potential as a full-length advertisement for the title characters, among other aspects. It went on to earn $23 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing Canadian film during 1985 (with C$1.845 million), in addition to winning a Golden Reel Award. With over $34 million in worldwide sales, it set a box-office record for Canadian and non- Disney animation and has remained one of Goldwyn's largest-earning releases. The film's success, which saved Nelvana from closing, helped revive films aimed at children in the US market. It has since been cited as inspiring a spate of toy-based animated and live-action features; the film was later followed by two sequels, A New Generation (1986) and Adventure in Wonderland (1987), neither surpassing the original financially or critically.

## Plot

The Cherrywoods are a middle-aged couple who run an orphanage. Mr. Cherrywood tells the orphans a story about the Care Bears and Care-a-Lot, their home in the clouds. In the story, Friend Bear and Secret Bear travel looking for people to cheer up. They meet Kim and Jason, two lonely orphaned children, who lost their parents in a car accident. Friend Bear and Secret Bear introduce themselves and remind the children of their ambitions, but neither of them are interested.

At an amusement park, Tenderheart Bear spots a magician 's apprentice named Nicholas. While unloading a trunk of goods for his master, the "Great Fetuccini", Nicholas finds an old book with a diary-style lock. When he unlocks it, an evil spirit appears as a woman's face, and starts corrupting him. With his help, it lays waste to the park, and begins a quest to remove all caring from the world.

Back at Care-a-Lot, some of the other bears are working on their new invention: the Rainbow Rescue Beam, a portal that can send any bear to Earth and back. The two Care Bear cubs belonging to Grams Bear, Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs, interfere with it and bring forth a group of unexpected visitors: Friend Bear, Secret Bear, Kim, and Jason. The bears introduce themselves to the children, and give them a tour of their home. Tenderheart Bear returns on his now out of control Rainbow Roller just before a "Cloud Quake" caused by the spirit, which ruins Care-a-Lot. He informs the others of Nicholas' troubles on Earth. Using the Rainbow Rescue Beam, he sends Kim and Jason to the park, along with Friend Bear and Secret Bear. They end up in the Forest of Feelings when the portal malfunctions. From a nearby river, the rest of the bears begin searching for them aboard a cloud ship called the Cloud Clipper, leaving behind Good Luck Bear, Grumpy Bear, Grams Bear and the cubs in Care-a-Lot.

Within the Forest, the children and their friends are introduced to Brave Heart Lion and Playful Heart Monkey, two of the Care Bear Cousins. Later on, the other bears discover more of these creatures, among them Cozy Heart Penguin, Lotsa Heart Elephant, Swift Heart Rabbit, and Bright Heart Raccoon. During their stay, the spirit attacks them in several disguises: a pike, tree, and eagle. After the Care Bears and their Cousins defeat it, they venture back to Earth with the remaining cousins Loyal Heart Dog, Proud Heart Cat, Gentle Heart Lamb, and Treat Heart Pig to save Nicholas from its influence.

At the park, Nicholas obtains the ingredients for his spell against the children and the creatures. After he casts it, the Care Bears and company engage in a long battle. The bears shoot beams of bright light on him, forming their "Stare"; the Cousins help with their "Call" – Good Luck Bear and Grumpy Bear arriving in time to help after fixing the Rainbow Rescue Beam. As the creatures' power drains away, Nicholas and the spirit briefly regain control. After Kim and Jason assist him, he finally realizes his misdeeds. With Secret Bear's help, he closes the spirit's face back into the book and saves himself, the park, and the world. He thanks the group and reunites with Fetuccini, while Tenderheart Bear inducts the Care Bear Cousins into the Care Bear Family and gives them their own belly badges, and Kim and Jason find new parents who take them to one of Nicholas' shows.

As Mr. Cherrywood finishes his story, it is revealed that he is actually Nicholas. Tenderheart Bear, who has been listening from outside a window, returns to Care-a-Lot in his Cloudmobile.

## Production

### Development

The Care Bears were created in 1981 by Those Characters from Cleveland (TCFC), a division of the Cleveland greeting card company American Greetings Corporation (AGC). That same year, the title characters made their debut on greeting cards by Elena Kucharik, while American Greetings began to develop a feature-length film using the characters. Kucharik, along with Linda Denham, Linda Edwards, Muriel Fahrion, Dave Polter, Tom Schneider, Ralph Shaffer, and Clark Wiley, created the original characters. Early in their tenure, the Bears appeared as toys from the Kenner company, and starred in two syndicated television specials from a Canadian animation studio, Atkinson Film-Arts of Ottawa: The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings (1983) and The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984).

Production of the first feature took place at another Canadian outlet, Toronto's Nelvana studio. This came in a period in the company's history which Nelvana co-founder Michael Hirsh refers to as its "dark years". At the time, Nelvana had just finished production of its first full-length film, 1983's Rock & Rule, which was produced using almost all of its resources (for around US$8 million), and failed to find proper distribution. The film put them on the verge of closing down. Soon after, the Nelvana team began doing work on television shows like Inspector Gadget (from DIC Entertainment), 20 Minute Workout (from Orion Television), and Mr. Microchip. During this period, they also made syndicated specials based on American Greetings properties: Strawberry Shortcake, The Get Along Gang, and Herself the Elf. "In some instances," noted Harvey Levin, vice-president of marketing and entertainment communications at TCFC, "their capabilities surpassed Disney quality." Various companies vied to produce a Care Bears feature, and Nelvana was the first to do so; Hirsh sought to seize the opportunity after hearing of its development. DIC Entertainment also expressed interest. Thanks to the Strawberry Shortcake specials and their experience on Rock & Rule, Nelvana acquired the rights to the characters and gained a contract from American Greetings to create the script. To convince the production partnership of TCFC and Kenner Toys, Hirsh held a competition inspired by Pepsi-Cola 's " Pepsi Challenge " commercials of the time, in which he tested clips from Nelvana and other vying studios and checked the "animation quality, music, sound effects, and colour" of each. He then asked the producers to decide on the best demo, and Nelvana scored highest. Hirsh later recalled the words of his partners: "We know you've rigged this against everybody else because you've chosen the clips. But we like the approach."

### Producers and crew

The Care Bears Movie was one of the first films to be based directly on an established toy line. It featured the ten original Bears, along with six additions to the line-up, and marked the media debut of the Care Bear Cousins. Produced for at least US$2 million, the film was financed by American Greetings, the owners of the Care Bears franchise; General Mills, the toys' distributor; and television syndicator LBS Communications. The Kenner company also took part in the production. Brought in under budget, The Care Bears Movie became Nelvana's second feature-length production, and was made over an eight-month period that lasted until February 1985. Michael Hirsh is quoted as saying in Daniel Stoffman's 2002 book, The Nelvana Story: "Nobody had ever made an animated movie for theatrical release for as little money and in as little time." In 2009 his partner, Clive A. Smith, told Canadian Business magazine: "I swear I grimaced at the thought of doing a Care Bears feature. But Michael went out and actually brought that project in." Nelvana was responsible for the script, several special effects, including those for the "Care Bear Stare", and hired musicians and voice actors. With this project, Arna Selznick became the third of only four women ever to direct an animated feature; prior to this, she worked on several Nelvana productions, including Strawberry Shortcake and the Baby Without a Name. Nelvana's founders—Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert, and Clive A. Smith—participated as the main producers. The studio's roster included Charles Bonifacio, the director of animation, and supervising animator D. Brewster, who previously took part in the animation courses at Ontario's Sheridan College. Dale Schott, who served as a storyboard artist, remarked that "Nelvana had a lot to do with reviving the low-budget feature" with its efforts on The Care Bears Movie.

Four employees of the film's financiers served as executive producers: Louis Gioia Jr., president of Kenner's Marketing Services division; Jack Chojnacki, co-president of TCFC; Carole MacGillvray, who became president of General Mills' M.A.D. (Marketing and Design) division in February 1984; and Robert Unkel, LBS' senior vice-president of programming. A fifth producer, American Greetings staffer W. Ray Peterson, went uncredited. Three associate producers worked on the film: Paul Pressler, another employee at Kenner; John Bohach, who later became LBS' executive vice-president; and Harvey Levin. Lenora Hume, the director of photography on Rock & Rule, was the supervising producer.

### Animation

Along with Inspector Gadget, The Care Bears Movie was Nelvana's first foray into animation outsourcing. Production took place at Nelvana's facilities in Toronto, Cuckoo's Nest Studios in Taiwan and the newly established Hanho Heung-Up and Mihahn studios in South Korea. Delaney and Friends, a Vancouver -based outlet, did the uncredited work. Nelvana faced several problems with their Korean contractors, among them the language barrier between the Canadian crew and the overseas staff, and the unwieldy processes through which the film reels were shipped to the West. At one point, Loubert, Smith, and fellow staffer David Altman spent three days trying to persuade several unpaid animators to return important layout sketches. In exchange for the layouts, Nelvana gave them US$20,000 in South Korean won. By then, the production was falling behind schedule, and an opening date was already set; Loubert sent half of the work to Taiwan (where Lenora Hume supervised), while the remainder stayed in South Korea under Loubert's and Smith's watch.

Back in Canada, Hirsh tried to promote the unfinished feature before its deadline; unable to get available footage, he instead managed to show potential marketers some Leica reels and a few moments of completed colour animation. According to him, it was the first time an animated "work in progress" was screened to exhibitors; this ploy has since been used by the Disney company, particularly in the case of Beauty and the Beast (at the 1991 New York Film Festival). "People loved the movie anyway," he said of this experiment. "I was told it was considered great salesmanship. It made feel that they were part of the process because they were seeing unfinished work."

### Music

The music for The Care Bears Movie was composed by Patricia Cullen. The soundtrack album was released in LP and cassette format by Kid Stuff Records in the United States, Six songs were performed by Carole King, John Sebastian, NRBQ, and the Tower of Power, actor Harry Dean Stanton had a guest appearance as Brave Heart Lion for the song "Home is in Your Heart". The songs were produced by Lou Adler and John Sebastian, with additional lyrics and music by Ken Stephenson, Walt Woodward, and David Bird, Nelvana crewmember Peter Hudecki prepared the song sequences.

Before The Care Bears Movie, Sebastian contributed to several other Nelvana specials, including The Devil and Daniel Mouse (1978) and Easter Fever (1980). When asked to compose three tracks for the film, he learned about the characters since he was unfamiliar with the franchise. Despite his misgivings on the marketing aspects, Sebastian said in April 1985, "I think their central theme—being candid about your feelings, sharing your feelings—is a very positive message for children."

Adele Freedman of Toronto's The Globe and Mail wrote positively about the music in the film:

A lot of caring has gone into the soundtrack. It doesn't attack the eardrum in the manner of so much current kids' stuff. It supposes that a child's ear can discriminate between good music and aural pollution as well as anybody else's. Carole King (of Tapestry fame) wrote and performed the theme song, "Care A Lot". The remaining songs, written by John Sebastian, are likewise entertaining and imaginatively arranged. The music does a lot to make the kingdom of Care-a-lot, where the goody-goody bears hang out on clouds monitoring life below on their Caring Meter, a slightly less irritable place.

Other critics tended to differ. The Houston Chronicle ' s Stephen Hunter found that "the film integrates its music into the story very clumsily. It's not merely that the numbers are forgettable—they are—it's that they're shoe-horned so obviously into the story that they don't amplify it, they stop it cold." Likewise, Michael Blowen of The Boston Globe said that "the uninspired songs... add nothing to the banal plot."

## Release

In 1984, before the film's completion, Carole MacGillvray offered The Care Bears Movie for consideration to major studios in the US; since they did not see the financial potential in a picture aimed strictly at children, they declined the offer. MacGillvray told Adweek magazine in April 1985, "I made several trips, and I was really disappointed. They kept telling me things like 'Animated movies won't sell' and 'Maybe we'd consider it if you were Disney,' but most just said, 'You're very nice, good-bye.' " When few takers were left, she took it to the Samuel Goldwyn Company. A newcomer in the independent market, it agreed to release the film. Comparing the title characters' appeal to Hollywood stars like Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, founder Samuel Goldwyn Jr. remarked: "Having my children, I know these bears are stars, too."

According to the 1985 edition of Guinness Film Facts and Feats, the Samuel Goldwyn Company spent up to US$24 million on the publicity budget for The Care Bears Movie, the largest at that time. The film's advertising budget was US$4 million; Variety reported that "the beneficiaries of merchandising tie-ins have earmarked $20,000,000 to promo Care Bear products in step with the film's release". For the film's promotion, Goldwyn's staff partnered with Kenner Toys and the fast food chain Pizza Hut; there were also tie-ins on Trix cereal boxes. Parker Brothers published two tie-in books, Meet the Care Bear Cousins and Keep On Caring, shortly after the film's release; both were reissued in October 1985 by Children's Press.

The Goldwyn staff came up with two advertising strategies, which tested well with the company—one was aimed at the film's target audience of children as young as age five; another targeted grown-ups, parents, and older children. In the words of Cliff Hauser, the distributor's executive director of marketing, "We didn't want parents to think the movie was threatening. So the big debate was—although the formula for success in animated film is the triumph of good over evil—how can you do that in single-image ads?" Jeff Lipsky, vice-president of theatrical at Goldwyn, referred to the first one as "the cheery approach"; ads therein featured the Care Bears on clouds, and carried the tagline "A movie that'll make the whole family care-a-lot". Hauser said, "That's one that a mother can look at and know she can take the 2-year-old to it and not worry." The other campaign, which Lipsky called "more Disney-esque", featured an evil tree whose hands reached out to capture the Bears; its tagline, "What happens when the world stops caring?", was also seen on the official poster. Bingham Ray, Goldwyn's vice-president of distribution, was involved in the promotional efforts.

Around opening time, Hirsh predicted that The Care Bears Movie would be its decade's response to Pinocchio and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, both from Walt Disney Productions. Loubert added, "These characters say something important to children. Our challenge has been to create a very distinct character for each Care Bear. A lot of effort went into bringing out their individuality." Some time afterward, Hirsh conceded that parents had to come to the film, out of respect for the dark content within. "Frightening scenes," he said, "are a necessity for the reality of the hero and villain—just as it works in nursery rhymes. Kids work out their fears this way." TCFC's Jack Chojnacki offered this vindication in The Wall Street Journal: "We consider a film one of the many products we license. When we started the whole Care Bears project we knew the importance of bears in the market but that there was a void. There were no specific bears. In the movie marketplace there was a void for good family-fare films." And, in the words of Carole MacGillvray, "Toy recognition drives this movie."

### North America

"Nelvana has proven that pure, wholesome entertainment for the 2-to-10 age group can be successful."

Edward Hansen, vice-president of animation, administration and production for Disney

"hen watching a movie as sweet and tasty as The Care Bears Movie, a 4-year-old girl needs to have all the luxuries a Saturday matinee brings to stay in the right mood."

Dan Bennett, in a San Diego Union-Tribune report on the film's popularity with young viewers

" The Care Bears Movie has become a word-of-mouth success—out of the mouths of babes, so to speak."

Betsy Sharkey

The Care Bears Movie premiered in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 1985, as part of a Special Olympics benefit; Georgia Engel, the voice of Love-a-lot Bear, attended this event. The film opened on March 29, 1985, in the United States and Canada, as Nelvana's first widely released feature. It became surprisingly successful at the North American box office, playing primarily at matinees and early evening showings. At the time, the North American film industry was bereft of children's and family fare; with The Care Bears Movie, Hirsh said, "There's such a large audience for a film that appeals primarily to 6-year-olds." He remarked later on, "What we've done is tailor the film to a pre-literate audience, the very young. It's interesting to see the audience. The kids are fixated on the screen. awesome to them." Clive A. Smith observed that some children came to showings with their Bears; long line-ups held back its audience in several cities. Among those attending the matinee screenings was John Waters, a filmmaker known for controversial and cult classics Pink Flamingos (1972) and Polyester (1981). The film made an appearance at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, Texas, during its release.

When shown in theatres, the feature was immediately followed by Nelvana's TV special, Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins. It was directed by Laura Shepherd and produced by Nelvana's founders along with Lenora Hume. The story involves Strawberry Shortcake and a tiny group of creatures called the Berrykins as they work to clear their home of Strawberryland of the "world's favourite perfume", a pungent odour which was unleashed from a purple cloud. LBS Communications syndicated it on US television around the time of The Care Bears Movie ' s theatrical tenure; a video release from Family Home Entertainment soon followed.

The Care Bears Movie ranked fourth at the North American box office on its first two weekends, grossing US$3.7 million and US$3.2 million respectively. It was screened in 1,003 venues during its first four weeks. After three months, it grossed about US$23 million in the United States, and placed 40th among 1985's major films; it brought in US$9,435,000 in rentals for the Goldwyn company. In Canada, the film was released by Astral Films and Criterion Pictures Corporation, and made C$ 1,845,000 by the end of 1985. It was the year's highest-grossing release in that market, followed by Disney's One Magic Christmas and a Quebec production called The Alley Cat (Le Matou).

Several months after The Care Bears Movie, Walt Disney Pictures released its animated feature The Black Cauldron. Costing US$25 million, it was the most expensive animated film of its time, but grossed less than Nelvana's production (US$21.3 million). As a result, The Care Bears Movie ' s performance alarmed animators at the Disney Studios; Don Bluth, a former recruit, dismissed the "public taste" factor that it demonstrated. Another animator, Ron Clements, later reflected on this: "Everyone was kind of scared about the future of Disney animation. It wasn't a good time. It was really a terrible time." This sentiment was echoed in Waking Sleeping Beauty, Disney's 2010 documentary on the revival of its animation unit. While comparing The Black Cauldron with The Care Bears Movie, Eleanor Ringel of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution singled out the "putrid pastels " of Nelvana's production and commented that they "don't even deserve to be mentioned in the same review." Months afterward, a re-issue of Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians surpassed both The Care Bears Movie and The Black Cauldron, with over US$30 million in sales.

Sometime after the film's release, Children's Video Library (a division of Vestron Video) picked up the video rights to The Care Bears Movie for US$1.8 million. It was released in the United States on July 10, 1985, in VHS and Betamax formats. On August 10, 1985, it debuted in 26th place on Billboard 's Top Videocassette Rentals chart. It ranked fourth on the first edition of the magazine's Top Kid Video chart (on October 5). It was tracked by Video Insider ' s children's chart (on August 30, 1985), as one of five toy-related titles on tape (along with two compilations of Hasbro 's Transformers series; another with Hallmark Cards ' Rainbow Brite; and the last with Strawberry Shortcake). By 1988, Vestron's edition sold over 140,000 copies. In 1990, Video Treasures reissued it on videocassette; on October 10, 1995, Hallmark Home Entertainment published another VHS edition as part of a six-title package from Goldwyn and Britain's Rank Organisation.

On September 5, 2000, MGM Home Entertainment re-released the film on VHS under the MGM Family Entertainment label; the DVD edition premiered on August 6, 2002, and was packaged with the 1978 British family film The Water Babies. In 2003, the film was inducted into the MGM Kids line. In honour of the Care Bears' 25th anniversary, another DVD edition of the film was released on March 20, 2007, with restored picture quality; it contained the franchise's second Atkinson Film-Arts special, The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine, as an extra. American Greetings launched an official anniversary website and a Dodge Grand Caravan giveaway as part of the proceedings. By 2007, home video sales of The Care Bears Movie totaled over five million units. It was later re-released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on DVD on March 5, 2013. To date, this is the only theatrical Care Bears movie from the 1980s to be known for being successfully reissued, outselling A New Generation, which had not been reissued after the 2003 DVD release.

The Care Bears Movie was scheduled to premiere on the US premium television network, Disney Channel, on June 28, 1986, but did so one month in advance. In September 1987, the film made its terrestrial broadcast premiere on the ABC network 's Saturday morning schedule. It also aired on American Movie Classics on July 7, 1991, and on Showtime and The Movie Channel in the 2000s. The film aired on Starz Entertainment 's Encore channel in September 2007, as part of its "Big '80s" Labour Day marathon, chronicling various releases from that decade. It was among the first films shown on Canada's Moviepix channel in October 1994.

### International

Amid the US and Canadian success of The Care Bears Movie, Goldwyn took the film to the 38th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, where it was highly received; a group of costumed Care Bears strolled along the Croisette to promote the picture. Among its international distributors was Germany's Filmwelt, which released it on March 20, 1986, under the title Der Glücksbärchi Film. It sold 538,487 tickets in that territory, placing 47th among new releases, and grossed over DM 4,013,000 (€ 2,051,600; US$2,868,000). The film was released on VHS in October 1986 by the local division of CBS/Fox Video, and aired on national broadcaster ARD during the 1988 Christmas season.

The Care Bears Movie was released in the United Kingdom by Miracle Films in August 1985, and did well in matinee-only engagements; a video edition from Vestron's local branch came out some months later. It was also released in Australia on December 12, 1985. In February 1986, the film was released by France's Artédis under the franchise name Les Bisounours; publishing rights were held by Hachette Livre. It opened on March 20, 1986, in the Netherlands as De Troetelbeertjes. On July 21, 1986, the Bermudez de Castro company opened the film in Madrid, Spain, as Los osos amorosos; it grossed over 23,728,000 Pts (€ 142,606; US$199,500) from 93,294 admissions. Among that country's Catalan speakers, it is known as Els Óssos Amorosos. The film was released in Czechoslovakia by Ústřední půjčovna filmů on December 1, 1988, as Starostliví medvídci. It was advertised in Italy as Orsetti del cuore, and in Poland as Opowieść o Troskliwych Misiach.

In Mexico, The Care Bears Movie was released on April 24, 1986, as Los ositos cariñositos. In Brazil, the film was promoted as As novas aventuras dos ursinhos carinhosos. Television airings occurred on Australia's Nine Network in 1987, and Malaysia's TV2 (in August 1993) and Disney Channel in April 2002.

### Aftermath

As opposed to Rock & Rule (which Nelvana owned outright), the characters in The Care Bears Movie were the property of American Greetings, who paid Nelvana a service fee to work on the film. Nelvana, however, hardly received any profits from the production; this caused its founders to express regret about the situation. In The Nelvana Story, Patrick Loubert explained the catch-22 that they would face numerous times in the years to come: "We could have waived our fee and taken a big piece of the film. We were offered that deal. But if we had waived the fee, we couldn't have made the payroll. Once the picture was hugely successful, we thought we should have waived the fee. But we couldn't have." At the time of production, Nelvana had begun embarking on service work that other companies provided them, not only to help ease the debts the studio incurred after Rock & Rule, but also because it proved profitable in due time.

By 1989, The Care Bears Movie made over US$34 million worldwide, according to Maclean's magazine; this made it the highest-grossing animated feature film to come from Canada, and the highest grossing animated film of 1985. It also became the highest-grossing animated film not produced by the Disney company, surpassing the US$11 million of Atlantic Entertainment Group 's 1983 release The Smurfs and the Magic Flute; Don Bluth's An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988) later took over this position. As of 2023, that title is held by Illumination Entertainment and Nintendo 's The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), with US$1.288 billion. The film virtually saved a fledgling Nelvana from going out of business, and was the company's highest-grossing venture. It is also among the highest-grossing releases from either incarnation of Samuel Goldwyn.

## Reception and legacy

### Critical analysis

"Movies for 6-year-old girls are as scarce these days as hot fudge sundaes in the Sahara and, if The Care Bears Movie satisfies a first-grader's craving for diversion, then I am satisfied."

Scott Cain, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"No one but a grinch would point out that The Care Bears Movie has a strange similarity to a 75-minute commercial for the snuggly little greeting card varmints on which it is based.

"No one but a craven wretch would stoop to pointing out that the animation in this theatrical release is no better than the goshawful techniques used to grind out those despicable Saturday morning TV cartoons. After all, even the Disney people aren't making them like the Disney people used to do."

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

"Understand that Care Bears: The Movie simply and logically in the merchandisers' minds follows Care Bears: The Pyjamas, Care Bears: The Lunchboxes, Care Bears: The Pillow Cases and, of course, Care Bears: The Bears, the stuffed toys that started it all."

Joe Fox, The Windsor Star

"These multi-coloured ursine cartoon characters, with names like Funshine Bear, Love-a-lot Bear, Baby Hugs Bear—I won't go on—are about as nourishing for children as sugar is for their teeth. Why even the Americans should bother to create this syrupy bear garden called Care-a-lot, dripping with singing quadrupeds who want to save the world from evil, is a mystery to anyone who has seen the fun and fibre that can be obtained from infinitely better children's stories, especially the droll moral fables in Winnie the Pooh."

Lain Johnstone, The Times

"While the practice usually has been for the movie to come first and the products second, this time around an audience has been created in advance by the products. It must work, judging from the number of very tiny tots who are crowding the matinee performances of this program. There is a temptation to hark back to the early Disney films in reviewing a movie such as this. There is a similarity in spirit, certainly, but not in execution. The animation is certainly good, but beyond that there is less concern for character delineation, for continuous action, for straightforward storytelling."

Tony Mastroianni, Akron Beacon Journal

The Care Bears Movie received mixed reviews. During its original release, The Care Bears Movie had varying degrees of success with critics. The New York Times ' Richard Grenier wrote, " recalls vintage Walt Disney, both in substance and in the style of hand animation." Rick Lyman of Knight Ridder News Services said in his review: "Any movie—even an animated one—that has characters with names such as Funshine Bear, Love-a-lot Bear, and Lotsa Heart Elephant is obviously going to rank quite high on the cute meter. And this one sends the needle right off the chart. You've never seen such cuteness." Adele Freedman also gave it a positive review, commenting: " has a lot going for it if you can tolerate the Bears." Edward Jones of Virginia's The Free Lance-Star praised it, but stated that "More comedy would have helped broaden appeal to older youngsters." The Deseret News of Utah gave it three stars out of four (a "Good" grade) with this comment: "Sticky sweet, but a nice message."

Michael Blowen began his review of the film by stating that " satisfies the primary obligation of a bedtime story—before it's half over the children will be fast asleep." He added that "this sugar-coated trifle could only satisfy the most ardent Care Bears fan", and that "the characters themselves lack definition". The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said, "Who except a callous scrooge would carp about the fact that The Care Bears Movie espouses a psychopop philosophy of 'sharing our feelings' that seems drawn straight from the pages on one of those insufferable self-motivation tomes? No one, that's who." Paul Attanasio of The Washington Post wrote, "The best cartoons recognize the dark side of kids, their penchant for violence, their fearful fantasies. just patronizes them. It even has a child chortling, 'Aren't parents great!' Well, they are and they aren't, and kids know that."

The animation in the film received mixed reviews as well. Adele Freedman praised the style and backgrounds, and called the special effects "stunning". Likewise, John Stanley wrote that "The style is cartoonish and cute" in his 1988 film guide, Revenge of the Creature Features. While complimenting it as "a harmless film diversion", Stephen Hunter said that "the movie has the lustrous, glossy look of the very best in children's book illustrations". "On the other hand," he added, "the producers obviously couldn't afford an expensive camera, the staple of the Disney product, and so the scenes have a depressing flatness to them. And the backgrounds, so brilliantly developed in Disney, tend to be blurry and hastily done." Jim Moorhead of Florida's The Evening Independent said, " animation is not the best. Far from it. Everything's in pastels, fine details are largely missing, mouth movements are minimal and the motions of the figures are scarcely better than some of those awful Saturday morning cartoons on TV." The staff at Variety magazine stated that the "style... tends towards a primer reading level." Halliwell's Film Guide called it "sluggishly animated and narrated". As with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The New York Times ' Janet Maslin found that the quality paled in comparison to Disney features (in this case, 1940's Pinocchio).

The Los Angeles Times ' Charles Solomon (in his 1989 book Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation), and Michael Janusonis of Rhode Island's Providence Journal, faulted the plot. The Evening Independent ' s Moorhead and Jim Davidson of the Pittsburgh Press noticed at least two parallel storylines in the film, one of which involved the magician Nicholas. The National Coalition on Television Violence counted at least 20 acts of violence throughout the picture.

Critics questioned its purpose as a feature-length advertisement for Care Bears merchandise; among them were Charles Solomon, Paul Attanasio, The Morning Call of Pennsylvania, and Bill Cosford of The Miami Herald. The Boca Raton News ' Skip Sheffield commented, "I couldn't help being bothered by the blatant commercialism of this whole venture." The British magazine Films and Filming remarked: "The purpose of the film is presumably to sell more toys as it unashamedly pushes the message that without at least one Care Bear around life can be very lonely." Stoffman observed, "one of the youngest target audiences of any animated movie", as did the Halliwell's staff; film critic Leonard Maltin (in his Movie Guide); and Henry Herx (in his Family Guide to Movies on Video).

The 1986 International Film Guide called it "an elementary piece of animation lacking colour and character, with not much humour, quite lacking in charm, and indifferently scored". Maltin gave it two stars out of four in his Movie Guide; similarly, the Gale Group publication, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever, gave it two bones out of four in its 1997 edition. According to Derek Owen of Time Out ' s Film Guide, "Adults forced to accompany three-year-olds to the movie would have had a little moment of satisfaction when the time came to shovel the Care Bears toys out of the house into landfill sites."

The mixed reception carried on in the years ahead: in her 1995 book Inside Kidvid, Loretta MacAlpine said of the film and its subsequent follow-ups, "If you can hack the sugarcoated attitudes of this group of cuddly bears, more power to you! There's nothing insidious about the Care Bears, but their overbearing sweetness may not appeal to all viewers." She cautioned parents of the merchandising aspect behind the tapes. Dave Gathman of Illinois' Courier-News wrote in 1998, "One Care Bears Movie... can give all G-rated entertainment a bad name." In 2003 the Erie Times-News acknowledged its financial success, but commented on its "lack of a creative title". Animation expert Jerry Beck wrote in his 2005 book, The Animated Movie Guide, "It's a simple, serviceable adventure with several standout sequences.... There's no doubt about it, this is a children's film aimed at the under-seven crowd. But it's one of the better animated children's films produced during this period."

Common Sense Media gave this movie some average reviews, as the group stated " The Care Bears Movie was made for young kids, but this movie's plot has some dark scenes and parents will want to be close at hand to comfort young viewers."

The Care Bears Movie holds a 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 7 reviews.

In the words of Jerry Beck, " box-office gross signalled to Hollywood a renewed interest in animated features, albeit for children. This is something The Secret of NIMH tried to accomplish but failed to do." A plethora of children's and family film entertainment followed in its wake, such as Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird from Warner Bros., and a re-issue of Universal Studios ' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Atlantic Releasing joined this movement by establishing Clubhouse Pictures, which showed G-rated films during 1986. Nelvana's film helped to bring back matinee engagements to prominence across North America.

Mentioning The Care Bears Movie as "the most recent example", Charles Solomon brought up the subject of feature-length toy adaptations in an April 1985 interview on Los Angeles' KUSC-FM. He spoke to Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones, who replied: "I feel that it's proper—after all, that's the way Alice in Wonderland was written: the dolls were all made first, then they made the picture about the dolls, right?" In July 1985, Sarah Stiansen of United Press International (UPI) called The Care Bears Movie "another licensing innovation for TCFC", following the department's previous endeavours. UPI's Vernon Scott (in 1985), and Bruce A. Austin (in his 1989 book Immediate Seating), observed how the merchandising arrived in advance of the film's release. In forthcoming years, several media adaptations based on established toy lines would follow a similar marketing tactic. Examples included films based on Hasbro's Transformers (in 1986 and 2007) and My Little Pony (in 1986, 2017, and A New Generation); features with Tonka 's GoBots (Battle of the Rock Lords) and Pound Puppies (Legend of Big Paw); and a television series and feature with Hallmark's Rainbow Brite.

### In popular culture

The Care Bears Movie was parodied in " At the Movies ", a 1991 episode of Nickelodeon and Klasky Csupo 's animated series Rugrats. In that episode, the Pickles family goes to see The Land Without Smiles, starring the Dummi Bears.

### Allusions

In his Christian Science Monitor review, David Sterritt observed that The Care Bears Movie was mostly influenced by The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a 1797 poem by German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, along with "a trace of H. P. Lovecraft "that probably wasn't intended". He went on to say, "I also noticed a subtle sexism at work. Why must it be the little girl who dreams of being a nurse and the little boy of being a jet pilot—and not the other way around, to stimulate young imaginations instead of echoing past patterns?" Blowen wrote that the two children both get turned "from cynics to idealists ". Joe Fox of Ontario's The Windsor Star, and Stephen Hunter, compared the Bears' home of Care-a-lot to King Arthur 's mythical castle of Camelot; Blowen commented that in this place, " altruism is king". Hunter noted that "the celestial physics are left vague", concerning Kim and Jason's trip from Care-a-lot to the Forest of Feelings. Critics compared at least two aspects of the film to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: the Spirit received similarities to the Magic Mirror and the Wicked Queen, but Charles Solomon felt that the Bears lacked the individual qualities of the Dwarfs. Solomon noted that in animated features of that era, villains such as the Spirit "lacked motivation—if the viewer accepts their evil intentions, it's only because he's been told to". According to Tom Ogden (in his 1997 book Wizards and Sorcerers: From Abracabadra to Zoroaster), the Bears' Stare against the Spirit serves as a kind of white magic. "Such a non-violent solution," wrote Bruce Bailey in The Montreal Gazette, "should sit well with peace lobbyists ". According to a 2005 article in The Times of London, an Internet reviewer called The Care Bears Movie "a fine example of Christian socialism ".

### Accolades

At the 1985 Genie Awards in its native Canada, The Care Bears Movie won the Golden Reel Award for being the country's highest-grossing film of the year. Ron Cohen, president of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, presented the award to producers Hirsh, Loubert, and Smith. John Sebastian's "Nobody Cares Like a Bear" received a Genie nomination for Best Original Song; his performance was part of CBC 's live telecast of the ceremony on March 20, 1986. The film received a Young Artist Award nomination for "Best Family Animation Series or Special", but lost to the CBS series The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. During its 21st annual award ceremony on October 17, 1985, Nashville's performance rights organization SESAC honoured Woodward and Bird for their songwriting efforts.

## Follow-ups

After the release of The Care Bears Movie, DIC Entertainment produced a syndicated 11-episode television series featuring the title characters. Another series, Nelvana's The Care Bears Family, premiered on ABC in the US and Canada's Global in September 1986, and was subsequently broadcast in 140 countries. Nelvana followed the first film with another two theatrical installments, Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986) and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987); neither made as much of a critical or commercial impact. A New Generation, released by Columbia Pictures, made over US$8.5 million in North America and US$12 million worldwide Adventure in Wonderland was self-financed by Nelvana and released by Cineplex Odeon Films, and grossed US$2.608 million domestically, with worldwide earnings of US$6 million; it barely recovered its costs. Because of this, Michael Hirsh later declared, "It was just one sequel too many." The Bears returned for one more animated production, Care Bears Nutcracker Suite, which debuted on video and television in December 1988. The franchise's next feature film, 2004's Journey to Joke-a-lot, also premiered on video (via Lionsgate and Family Home Entertainment).


Video game developer

# Video game developer

## Abstract

A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with employee responsibilities split between individual disciplines, such as programmers, designers, artists, etc. Most game development companies have video game publisher financial and usually marketing support. Self-funded developers are known as independent or indie developers and usually make indie games.

A developer may specialize in specific game engines or specific video game consoles, or may develop for several systems (including personal computers and mobile devices). Some focus on porting games from one system to another, or translating games from one language to another. Less commonly, some do software development work in addition to games.

Most video game publishers maintain development studios (such as Electronic Arts 's EA Canada, Square Enix 's studios, Activision 's Radical Entertainment, Nintendo EPD and Sony's Polyphony Digital and Naughty Dog). However, since publishing is still their primary activity they are generally described as "publishers" rather than "developers". Developers may be private as well.

## Types

### First-party developers

In the video game industry, a first-party developer is part of a company that manufactures a video game console and develops mainly for it. First-party developers may use the name of the company itself (such as Nintendo), have a specific division name (such as Sony's Polyphony Digital) or have been an independent studio before being acquired by the console manufacturer (such as Rare or Naughty Dog). Whether by purchasing an independent studio or by founding a new team, the acquisition of a first-party developer involves a huge financial investment on the part of the console manufacturer, which is wasted if the developer fails to produce a hit game on time. However, using first-party developers saves the cost of having to make royalty payments on a game's profits. Current examples of first-party studios include PlayStation Studios for Sony, and Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Gaming.

### Second-party developers

Second-party developer is a colloquial term often used by gaming enthusiasts and media to describe game studios that take development contracts from platform holders and develop games exclusive to that platform, i.e. a non-owned developer making games for a first-party company. As a balance to not being able to release their game for other platforms, second-party developers are usually offered higher royalty rates than third-party developers. These studios may have exclusive publishing agreements (or other business relationships) with the platform holder, but maintain independence so that upon completion or termination of their contracts, they are able to continue developing games for other publishers if they choose to. For example, while HAL Laboratory initially began developing games on personal computers like the MSX, they became one of the earliest second-party developers for Nintendo, developing exclusively for Nintendo's consoles starting with the Famicom, though they would self-publish their mobile games.

### Third-party developers

A third-party developer may also publish games, or work for a video game publisher to develop a title. Both publisher and developer have considerable input in the game's design and content. However, the publisher's wishes generally override those of the developer. Work for hire studios solely execute the publishers vision.

The business arrangement between the developer and publisher is governed by a contract, which specifies a list of milestones intended to be delivered over a period of time. By updating its milestones, the publisher verifies that work is progressing quickly enough to meet its deadline and can direct the developer if the game is not meeting expectations. When each milestone is completed (and accepted), the publisher pays the developer an advance on royalties. Successful developers may maintain several teams working on different games for different publishers. Generally, however, third-party developers tend to be small, close-knit teams. Third-party game development is a volatile sector, since small developers may depend on income from a single publisher; one canceled game may devastate a small developer. Because of this, many small development companies are short-lived.

A common exit strategy for a successful video game developer is to sell the company to a publisher, becoming an in-house developer. In-house development teams tend to have more freedom in game design and content than third-party developers. One reason is that since the developers are the publisher's employees, their interests align with those of the publisher; the publisher may spend less effort ensuring that the developer's decisions do not enrich the developer at the publisher's expense.

Activision in 1979 became the first third-party video game developer. When four Atari, Inc. programmers left the company following its sale to Warner Communications, partially over the lack of respect that the new management gave to programmers, they used their knowledge of how Atari VCS game cartridges were programmed to create their own games for the system, founding Activision in 1979 to sell these. Atari took legal action to try to block the sale of these games, but the companies ultimately settled, with Activision agreeing to pay a portion of their sales as a license fee to Atari for developing for the console. This established the use of licensing fees as a model for third-party development that persists into the present. The licensing fee approach was further enforced by Nintendo when it decided to allow other third-party developers to make games for the Famicom console, setting a 30% licensing fee that covered game cartridge manufacturing costs and development fees. The 30% licensing fee for third-party developers has also persisted to the present, being a de facto rate used for most digital storefronts for third-party developers to offer their games on the platform.

In recent years, larger publishers have acquired several third-party developers. While these development teams are now technically "in-house", they often continue to operate in an autonomous manner (with their own culture and work practices). For example, Activision acquired Raven (1997); Neversoft (1999), which merged with Infinity Ward in 2014; Z-Axis (2001); Treyarch (2001); Luxoflux (2002); Shaba (2002); Infinity Ward (2003) and Vicarious Visions (2005). All these developers continue operating much as they did before acquisition, the primary differences being exclusivity and financial details. Publishers tend to be more forgiving of their own development teams going over budget (or missing deadlines) than third-party developers.

A developer may not be the primary entity creating a piece of software, usually providing an external software tool which helps organize (or use) information for the primary software product. Such tools may be a database, Voice over IP, or add-in interface software; this is also known as middleware. Examples of this include SpeedTree and Havoc.

#### Indie game developers

Independents are software developers which are not owned by (or dependent on) a single publisher. Some of these developers self-publish their games, relying on the Internet and word of mouth for publicity. Without the large marketing budgets of mainstream publishers, their products may receive less recognition than those of larger publishers such as Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. With the advent of digital distribution of inexpensive games on game consoles, it is now possible for indie game developers to forge agreements with console manufacturers for broad distribution of their games.

Other indie game developers create game software for a number of video-game publishers on several gaming platforms. In recent years this model has been in decline; larger publishers, such as Electronic Arts and Activision, increasingly turn to internal studios (usually former independent developers acquired for their development needs).

## Quality of life

Video game development is usually conducted in a casual business environment, with t-shirts and sandals as common work attire. Many workers find this type of environment rewarding and pleasant professionally and personally. However, the industry also requires long working hours from its employees (sometimes to an extent seen as unsustainable). Employee burnout is not uncommon.

An entry-level programmer can make, on average, over $66,000 annually only if they are successful in obtaining a position in a medium to large video game company. An experienced game-development employee, depending on their expertise and experience, averaged roughly $73,000 in 2007. Indie game developers may only earn between $10,000 and $50,000 a year depending on how financially successful their titles are.

In addition to being part of the software industry, game development is also within the entertainment industry; most sectors of the entertainment industry (such as films and television) require long working hours and dedication from their employees, such as willingness to relocate and/or required to develop games that do not appeal to their personal taste. The creative rewards of work in the entertainment business attracts labor to the industry, creating a competitive labor market that demands a high level of commitment and performance from employees. Industry communities, such as the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), are conducting increasing discussions about the problem; they are concerned that working conditions in the industry cause a significant deterioration in employees' quality of life.

### Crunch

Some video game developers and publishers have been accused of the excessive invocation of "crunch time". "Crunch time" is the point at which the team is thought to be failing to achieve milestones needed to launch a game on schedule. The complexity of workflow, reliance on third-party deliverables, and the intangibles of artistic and aesthetic demands in video game creation create difficulty in predicting milestones. The use of crunch time is also seen to be exploitative of the younger male-dominated workforce in video games, who have not had the time to establish a family and who were eager to advance within the industry by working long hours. Because crunch time tends to come from a combination of corporate practices as well as peer influence, the term "crunch culture" is often used to discuss video game development settings where crunch time may be seen as the norm rather than the exception.

The use of crunch time as a workplace standard gained attention first in 2004, when Erin Hoffman exposed the use of crunch time at Electronic Arts, a situation known as the "EA Spouses" case. A similar "Rockstar Spouses" case gained further attention in 2010 over working conditions at Rockstar San Diego. Since then, there has generally been negative perception of crunch time from most of the industry as well as from its consumers and other media.

### Discrimination and harassment

#### Gender

Game development had generally been a predominately male workforce. In 1989, according to Variety, women constituted only 3% of the gaming industry, while a 2017 IGDA survey found that the female demographic in game development had risen to about 20%. Taking into account that a 2017 ESA survey found 41% of video game players were female, this represented a significant gender gap in game development.

The male-dominated industry, most who have grown up playing video games and are part of the video game culture, can create a culture of "toxic geek masculinity" within the workplace. In addition, the conditions behind crunch time are far more discriminating towards women as this requires them to commit time exclusively to the company or to more personal activities like raising a family. These factors established conditions within some larger development studios where female developers have found themselves discriminated in workplace hiring and promotion, as well as the target of sexual harassment. This can be coupled from similar harassment from external groups, such as during the 2014 Gamergate controversy. Major investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct that went unchecked by management, as well as discrimination by employers, have been brought up against Riot Games, Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard in the late 2010s and early 2020s, alongside smaller studios and individual developers. However, while other entertainment industries have had similar exposure through the Me Too movement and have tried to address the symptoms of these problems industry-wide, the video game industry has yet to have its Me Too-moment, even as late as 2021.

There also tends to be pay-related discrimination against women in the industry. According to Gamasutra 's Game Developer Salary Survey 2014, women in the United States made 86 cents for every dollar men made. Game designing women had the closest equity, making 96 cents for every dollar men made in the same job, while audio professional women had the largest gap, making 68% of what men in the same position made.

Increasing the representation of women in the video game industry required breaking a feedback loop of the apparent lack of female representation in the production of video games and in the content of video games. Efforts have been made to provide a strong STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) background for women at the secondary education level, but there are issues with tertiary education such as at colleges and universities, where game development programs tend to reflect the male-dominated demographics of the industry, a factor that may lead women with strong STEM backgrounds to choose other career goals.

#### Racial

There is also a significant gap in racial minorities within the video game industry; a 2019 IGDA survey found only 2% of developers considered themselves to be of African descent and 7% Hispanic, while 81% were Caucasian; in contrast, 2018 estimates from the United States Census estimate the U.S. population to be 13% of African descent and 18% Hispanic. In a 2014 and 2015 survey of job positions and salaries, the IGDA found that people of color were both underrepresented in senior management roles as well as underpaid in comparison to white developers. Further, because video game developers typically draw from personal experiences in building game characters, this diversity gap has led to few characters of racial minority to be featured as main characters within video games. Minority developers have also been harassed from external groups due to the toxic nature of the video game culture.

This racial diversity issue has similar ties to the gender one, and similar methods to result both have been suggested, such as improving grade school education, developing games that appeal beyond the white, male gamer stereotype, and identifying toxic behavior in both video game workplaces and online communities that perpetuate discrimination against gender and race.

#### LGBT

In regards to LGBT and other gender or sexual orientations, the video game industry typically shares the same demographics as with the larger population based on a 2005 IGDA survey. Those in the LGBT community do not find workplace issues with their identity, though work to improve the representation of LGBT themes within video games in the same manner as with racial minorities. However, LGBT developers have also come under the same type of harassment from external groups like women and racial minorities due to the nature of the video game culture.

#### Age

The industry also is recognized to have an ageism issue, discriminating against the hiring and retention of older developers. A 2016 IGDA survey found only 3% of developers were over 50 years old, while at least two-thirds were between 20 and 34; these numbers show a far lower average age compared to the U.S. national average of about 41.9 that same year. While discrimination by age in hiring practices is generally illegal, companies often target their oldest workers first during layoffs or other periods of reduction. Older developers with experience may find themselves too qualified for the types of positions that other game development companies seek given the salaries and compensations offered.

### Contract workers

Some of the larger video game developers and publishers have also engaged contract workers through agencies to help add manpower in game development in part to alleviate crunch time from employees. Contractors are brought on for a fixed period and generally work similar hours as full-time staff members, assisting across all areas of video game development, but as contractors, do not get any benefits such as paid time-off or health care from the employer; they also are typically not credited on games that they work on for this reason. The practice itself is legal and common in other engineering and technology areas, and generally it is expected that this is meant to lead into a full-time position, or otherwise the end of the contract. But more recently, its use in the video game industry has been compared to Microsoft 's past use of " permatemp ", contract workers that were continually renewed and treated for all purposes as employees but received no benefits. While Microsoft has waned from the practice, the video game industry has adapted it more frequently. Around 10% of the workforce in video games is estimated to be from contract labor.

### Unionization

Similar to other tech industries, video game developers are typically not unionized. This is a result of the industry being driven more by creativity and innovation rather than production, the lack of distinction between management and employees in the white-collar area, and the pace at which the industry moves that makes union actions difficult to plan out. However, when situations related to crunch time become prevalent in the news, there have typically been followup discussions towards the potential to form a union. A survey performed by the International Game Developers Association in 2014 found that more than half of the 2,200 developers surveyed favored unionization. A similar survey of over 4,000 game developers run by the Game Developers Conference in early 2019 found that 47% of respondents felt the video game industry should unionize.

In 2016, voice actors in the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union doing work for video games struck several major publishers, demanding better royalty payments and provisions related to the safety of their vocal performances, when their union's standard contract was up for renewal. The voice actor strike lasted for over 300 days into 2017 before a new deal was made between SAG-AFTRA and the publishers. While this had some effects on a few games within the industry, it brought to the forefront the question of whether video game developers should unionize.

A grassroots movement, Game Workers Unite, was established around 2017 to discuss and debate issues related to unionization of game developers. The group came to the forefront during the March 2018 Game Developers Conference by holding a roundtable discussion with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), the professional association for developers. Statements made by the IGDA's current executive director Jen MacLean relating to IGDA's activities had been seen by as anti-union, and Game Workers Unite desired to start a conversation to lay out the need for developers to unionize. In the wake of the sudden near-closure of Telltale Games in September 2018, the movement again called out for the industry to unionize. The movement argued that Telltale had not given any warning to its 250 employees let go, having hired additional staff as recently as a week prior, and left them without pensions or health-care options; it was further argued that the studio considered this a closure rather than layoffs, as to get around failure to notify required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 preceding layoffs. The situation was argued to be "exploitive", as Telltale had been known to force its employees to frequently work under "crunch time" to deliver its games. By the end of 2018, a United Kingdom trade union, Game Workers Unite UK, an affiliate of the Game Workers Unite movement, had been legally established.

Following Activision Blizzard 's financial report for the previous quarter in February 2019, the company said that they would be laying off around 775 employees (about 8% of their workforce) despite having record profits for that quarter. Further calls for unionization came from this news, including the AFL–CIO writing an open letter to video game developers encouraging them to unionize.

In January 2020, Game Workers Unite and the Communications Workers of America established a new campaign to push for unionization of video game developers, the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE), in January 2020. Initial efforts for CODE were aimed to determine what approach to unionization would be best suited for the video game industry. Whereas some video game employees believe they should follow the craft-based model used by SAG-AFTRA which would unionize based on job function, others feel an industry-wide union, regardless of job position, would be better.

Starting in 2021, several smaller game studios in the United States began efforts to unionize. These mostly involved teams doing quality assurance rather than developers. These studios included three QA studios under Blizzard Entertainment: Raven Software, Blizzard Albany, and Proletariat; and Zenimax Media 's QA team. Microsoft, which had previously acquired Zenimax and announced plans to acquire Blizzard via the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, stated it supported these unionization efforts. After this acquisition, the employees of Bethesda Game Studios, part of Zenimax under Microsoft, unionized under the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in July 2024. Over 500 employees within Blizzard Entertainment 's World of Warcraft division also unionized with CWA that same month.

Sweden presents a unique case where nearly all parts of its labor force, including white-collar jobs such as video game development, may engage with labor unions under the Employment Protection Act often through collective bargaining agreements. Developer DICE had reached its union agreements in 2004. Paradox Interactive became one of the first major publishers to support unionization efforts in June 2020 with its own agreements to cover its Swedish employees within two labor unions Unionen and SACO. In Australia, video game developers could join other unions, but the first video game-specific union, Game Workers Unite Australia, was formed in December 2021 under Professionals Australia to become active in 2022. In Canada, in a historic move, video game workers in Edmonton unanimously voted to unionize for the first time in June 2022.

In January 2023, after not being credited in The Last of Us HBO adaptation, Bruce Straley called for unionization of the video game industry. He told the Los Angeles Times: "Someone who was part of the co-creation of that world and those characters isn't getting a credit or a nickel for the work they put into it. Maybe we need unions in the video game industry to be able to protect creators."


2024–25 FC Porto season

# 2024–25 FC Porto season

## Abstract

The 2024–25 season is the 132nd season in the history of FC Porto, and the club's 90th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. In addition to the domestic league, the club is participating in the Taça de Portugal, the Taça da Liga, the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, the UEFA Europa League, and the newly-expanded FIFA Club World Cup.

This is Porto's first full season since 2017–18 without veteran defender Pepe, who departed the club after his contract expired.

## Players

### Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

## Technical staff

## Transfers

## Competitions

### Overall record

Last updated: 31 August 2024 Source: Soccerway

### Primeira Liga

#### League table

#### Results summary

Source: Liga Portugal

#### Results by round

#### Matches

### Taça da Liga

### Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

### UEFA Europa League

#### League phase

##### League table

##### Results by round

## Statistics


LGBT rights in Africa

# LGBT rights in Africa

## Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Africa are generally poor in comparison to the Americas, Western Europe and Oceania.

As of June 2024, homosexuality is outlawed in 30 out of the 54 African states recognised by the United Nations or African Union. Human Rights Watch notes that another two countries, Benin and the Central African Republic, do not outlaw homosexuality, but have some laws which discriminate against homosexual individuals. Many of the laws that criminalize homosexuality are colonial-era laws. Most states which have legalised homosexuality do not have legislation specifically protecting homosexuals from discrimination in areas of life such as employment.

Homosexuality has never been criminalised in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Djibouti, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, and Rwanda, and was decriminalised in Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Seychelles and South Africa. However, in six of these countries (Benin, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Congo, Niger and Madagascar), the age of consent is higher for same-sex sexual relations than for opposite-sex ones. Namibia was the most recent country in Africa to decriminalize homosexuality.

In November 2006, South Africa became the first country in Africa and the fifth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. In May 2023, the Supreme Court of Namibia ruled foreign same-sex marriages must be recognized equally to heterosexual marriages. LGBT anti-discrimination laws exist in ten African countries: Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, and South Africa.

In some of the countries with criminal punishments for homosexuality, governments have recently been enforcing the law more harshly, and many legislators have recently proposed stricter sentences for same-sex activity. Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, which allows the death sentence for certain types of consensual same-sex activities, has attracted international attention.

Since 2011, some developed countries have been considering or implementing laws that limit or prohibit general budget support to countries that restrict the rights of LGBT people. In spite of this, many African countries have refused to consider increasing LGBT rights, and in some cases have drafted laws to increase sanctions against LGBT people. Past African leaders such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni claimed that LGBT behaviour was brought into the continent from other parts of the world. Nevertheless, most scholarship and research demonstrates that homosexuality has long been a part of various African cultures.

## Overview

In a 2011 UN General Assembly declaration for LGBT rights, state parties were given a chance to express their support, opposition or abstention on the topic. Only Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, and South Africa expressed their support. A majority of African countries expressed their opposition. State parties that expressed abstention were Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.

In southern Somalia, Somaliland, Mauritania, northern Nigeria, and Uganda, homosexuality results in death penalty. In Sudan, Gambia, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone, offenders can receive life imprisonment for homosexual acts, although the law is not enforced in Sierra Leone. In addition to criminalizing homosexuality, Nigeria has enacted legislation that would make it illegal for heterosexual family members, allies and friends of LGBT people to be supportive. According to Nigerian law, a heterosexual ally "who administers, witnesses, abets or aids" any form of gender non-conforming and homosexual activity could receive a 10-year jail sentence.

The Republic of South Africa has the most liberal attitudes toward gays and lesbians, as the country has legalized same-sex marriage and its Constitution guarantees gay and lesbian rights and protections. South Africa is the only country in Africa where any form of discrimination against the LGBT community is constitutionally forbidden. In 2006, South Africa became the first country in Africa and the fifth in the world to enact same-sex marriage. Discrimination is, however, far rarer in bigger cities, and there are large LGBT communities in cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, East London, Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Pietermaritzburg, Kimberley and George. South Africa's three largest cities, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, are considered fairly accepting of the LGBT community and are promoted as tourist destinations for LGBT people. However, despite legal recognition, social discrimination against South African LGBT people does still occur, particularly in rural areas, where it is fueled by a number of religious figures and traditions. Spanish, Portuguese, British and French territories legalised same-sex marriages.

Travel advisories encourage gay and lesbian travelers to use discretion whilst in Africa to ensure their personal safety, including by avoiding public displays of affection (advice which applies to both homosexual and heterosexual couples). South Africa is generally considered to be the most gay-friendly African country in respect of the legal status of LGBT rights, although other nations such as Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Seychelles, Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and Rwanda are also frequently regarded as being very socially tolerant and accepting of LGBT rights.

## History of male homosexuality in Africa

### Ancient history

#### Egypt

It remains unclear what view the ancient Egyptians fostered about homosexuality. Any document and literature that actually contains sexually oriented stories never names the nature of the sexual deeds but instead uses stilted and flowery paraphrases. Ancient Egyptian documents never clearly say that same-sex relationships were seen as reprehensible or despicable. No ancient Egyptian document mentions that homosexual acts were set under penalty. Thus, a straight evaluation remains problematic.

The best-known case of possible homosexuality in ancient Egypt is that of the two high officials Nyankh-Khnum and Khnum-hotep. Both men lived and served under pharaoh Niuserre during the 5th Dynasty (c. 2494–2345 BC). Nyankh-Khnum and Khnum-hotep each had families of their own with children and wives, but when they died their families apparently decided to bury them together in one and the same mastaba tomb. In this mastaba, several paintings depict both men embracing each other and touching their faces nose-on-nose. These depictions leave plenty of room for speculation, because in ancient Egypt the nose-on-nose touching normally represented a kiss.

Egyptologists and historians disagree about how to interpret the paintings of Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep. Some scholars believe that the paintings reflect an example of homosexuality between two married men and prove that the ancient Egyptians accepted same-sex relationships. Other scholars disagree and interpret the scenes as an evidence that Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep were twins, even possibly conjoined twins. No matter what interpretation is correct, the paintings show at the very least that Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep must have been very close to each other in life as in death.

The Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD is said to have exterminated a large number of "effeminate priests" based in Alexandria.

### Modern history

#### North Africa

North Africa contained some of the most visible and well-documented traditions of homosexuality in the world – particularly during the period of Mamluk rule. Arabic poetry emerging from cosmopolitan and literate societies frequently described the pleasures of pederastic relationships. There are accounts of Christian boys being sent from Europe to become sex workers in Egypt. In Cairo, cross-dressing men called " khawal " would entertain audiences with song and dance (potentially of pre-Islamic origin).

The Siwa Oasis in Egypt was described by several early twentieth century travellers as a place where same-sex sexual relationships were quite common. A group of warriors in this area were known for paying reverse dowries to younger men; a practice that was outlawed in the 1940s.

Siegfried Frederick Nadel wrote about the Nuba tribes in Sudan the late 1930s. He noted that among the Otoro, a special transvestitic role existed whereby men dressed and lived as women. Transvestitic homosexuality also existed amongst the Moru, Nyima, and Tira people, and reported marriages of Korongo londo and Mesakin tubele for the bride price of one goat. In the Korongo and Mesakin tribes, Nadel reported a common reluctance among men to abandon the pleasure of all-male camp life for the fetters of permanent settlement.

#### East Africa

Gender-nonconforming and homosexuality has been reported in a number of East African societies. In pre-colonial East Africa there have been examples of male priests in traditional religions dressing as women. British social anthropologist Rodney Needham has described such a religious leadership role called "mugawe" among the Meru people and of Kenya, which included wearing women's clothes and hairstyle. Mugawe are frequently homosexual, and sometimes are formally married to a man.

A similar role is played by some men within the Swahili-speaking Mashoga —who often take on women's names and cook and clean for their husbands.

##### Ethiopia

In Ethiopian history, the recognition of same-sex activity is generally obscure, which means little evidence left for scholarly research. However, The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Wälättä P̣eṭros (1672) is the first reference of homosexuality between nuns in Ethiopian literature. In the country’s Constitution's Article 629, same-sex activity is criminalized with up to 15 years to life imprisonment.

According to the Pew Research Center in 2007, 97% of Ethiopians said that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, marking the highest level of rejection after Mali. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church plays a significant role in maintaining society’s opinion against homosexuality, and some members form anti-gay movements. One of them is "Zim Anlem" founded by Dereje Negash, who is strongly affiliated with the Church.

Among the Maale people of southern Ethiopia, historian Donald Donham documented "a small minority crossed over to feminine roles. Called "ashtime", these (biological) males dressed like women, performed female tasks, cared for their own houses, and apparently had sexual relations with men". They were also protected by the king.

##### Uganda

Similarly to neighbouring Kenya,male homosexual relations were acknowledged and tolerated in precolonial Ugandan society. Among the Baganda, Uganda's largest ethnic group, homosexuality was usually treated with indifference. The Luganda term abasiyazi refers to homosexuals, though usage nowadays is commonly pejorative. Among the Lango people, mudoko dako individuals were believed to form a " third gender " alongside male and female. The mudoko dako were effeminate men, mostly treated by Langi society as women and could marry other men without social sanctions. Homosexuality was also acknowledged among the Teso, Bahima, Banyoro, and Karamojong peoples. Societal acceptance eroded after the arrival of the British and the creation of the Protectorate of Uganda.

##### Kenya

Swedish anthropologist Felix Bryk reported active (i.e., insertive), and also mentioned "homo-erotic bachelors" among the pastoralist Nandi and Maragoli (Wanga). The Nandi as well as the Maasai would sometimes cross-dress as women during initiation ceremonies.

#### West Africa

The Dagaaba people, who lived in Burkina Faso, believed that homosexual men were able to mediate between the spirit and human worlds. They also believed that gender was based on the energy of a person rather than that of anatomy.

#### Southern Africa

Writing in the 19th century about the area of today's southwestern Zimbabwe, David Livingstone asserted that the monopolization of women by elderly chiefs was essentially responsible for the "immorality" practised by younger men. Edwin W. Smith and A. Murray Dale mention one Ila-speaking man who dressed as a woman, did women's work, lived and slept among, but not with, women. The Ila label "mwaami" they translated as "prophet". They also mentioned that pederasty was not rare, "but was considered dangerous because of the risk that the boy will become pregnant".

Marc Epprecht's review of 250 court cases from 1892 to 1923 found cases from the beginnings of the records. The five 1892 cases all involved black Africans. A defense offered was that "sodomy" was part of local "custom". In one case a chief was summoned to testify about customary penalties and reported that the penalty was a fine of one cow, which was less than the penalty for adultery. Over the entire period, Epprecht found the balance of black and white defendants proportional to that in the population. He notes, however, only what came to the attention of the courts—most consensual relations in private did not necessarily provoke notice. Some cases were brought by partners who had been dropped or who had not received promised compensation from their former sexual partner. And although the norm was for the younger male to lie supine and not show any enjoyment, let alone expect any sexual mutuality, Epprecht found a case in which a pair of black males had stopped their sexual relationship out of fear of pregnancy, but one wanted to resume taking turns penetrating each other.

#### Malawi

Demone talks about how Malawi culture does not value homosexuality as something acceptable in their culture. British Colonial rule included laws against homosexuality, which influenced later government policies. Although Malawi gained its independence from Britain in 1964, Malawi officials kept their anti-homosexuality laws enforced.

In 2010, there was a case in Malawi about a man named Steven Monjeza Soko and a transgender woman, named Tiwonge Chimbalanga Kachepa, who had an engagement ceremony, were caught by the Malawi Police and charged. The court denied bail and sentenced both Soko and Kachepa to prison. The court did not have evidence of sexual activity and based the sentence on the grounds that Soko and Kachepa had the ceremony.

In Malawi prisons, there is documented homosexual behavior. During 1980s and early 1990s, President Hasting Kamuzu Banda ignored the massive rise in of HIV/AIDS. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Malawians became increasingly educated on HIV/AIDS, but they associated it with homosexual behavior.

#### Morocco

Nicholas Hersh reports how in Morocco, LGBTQ asylum-seekers and refugees fear for their lives due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Queer Moroccan Refugees experience social discrimination, violence including rape and imprisonment. Queer Moroccan Refugees who have been outed in their communities may experience poverty and may resort to sex in exchange for housing.

## Public opinion

### Views of African leaders on homosexuality

The former president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, was uncompromising in his opposition to LGBT rights in Zimbabwe. In September 1995, Zimbabwe's parliament introduced legislation banning homosexual acts. In 1997, a court found Canaan Banana, Mugabe's predecessor and the first President of Zimbabwe, guilty of 11 counts of sodomy and indecent assault. Mugabe has previously referred to LGBT people as being "worse than dogs and pigs".

In the Gambia, former President Yahya Jammeh led the call for legislation that would set laws against homosexuals that would be "stricter than those in Iran ", and that he would "cut off the head" of any gay or lesbian person discovered in the country. News reports indicated his government intended to execute all homosexuals in the country. In the speech given in Tallinding, Jammeh gave a "final ultimatum" to any gays or lesbians in the Gambia to leave the country. In a speech to the United Nations on 27 September 2013, Jammeh said that "omosexuality in all its forms and manifestations which, though very evil, antihuman as well as anti-Allah, is being promoted as a human right by some powers", and that those who do so "want to put an end to human existence". In 2014, Jammeh called homosexuals "vermins" by saying that "We will fight these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively". He also went on to disparage LGBT people by saying that "As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only stand for Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Bacteria and Tuberculosis; all of which are detrimental to human existence". In 2015, in defiance of western criticism Jammeh intensified his anti-gay rhetoric, telling a crowd during an agricultural tour: "If you do it I will slit your throat—if you are a man and want to marry another man in this country and we catch you, no one will ever set eyes on you again, and no white person can do anything about it."

In Uganda there were recent efforts to institute the death penalty for homosexuality until March 22, 2023, where gay sex is punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment. British newspaper The Guardian reported that President Yoweri Museveni "appeared to add his backing" to the legislative effort by, among other things, claiming "European homosexuals are recruiting in Africa", and saying gay relationships were against God's will. In a 2014 interview with CNN, Museveni described homosexuals as "disgusting", saying that their acts are "unnatural" and that he would be able to ignore them if it was proven that " is born that way". He also said that he had appointed a group of scientists in Uganda to determine if homosexuality was a learned orientation. This led to widespread criticism from the scientific community, with an academic of the National Institutes of Health calling on his Ugandan counterparts to reconsider their findings. And as of March 22, 2023, Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 to make it illegal to identify as LGBT and made it punishable with life imprisonment, and imposes the death penalty for aggravated gay sex.

Abune Paulos, the late Patriarch of the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which has a very strong influence in Christian Ethiopia, stated homosexuality is an animal-like behavior that must be punished.

Chad in 2017 passed a law criminalizing sodomy. Previously, the country never had any laws against consensual same-sex activity. Conversely, some African states like Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles have abolished sodomy laws in the 21st century. Legalization is proposed in some African states like Eswatini, Liberia, Kenya, Malawi, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Gabon passed a law criminalizing sodomy in 2019 and reversed its decision by once again decriminalizing homosexuality a year later in 2020.

### Marriage

### Adoption