He remarked later on, "What we've done [at Nelvana] 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. [It's] 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 Movies 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 Movies 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."