Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot is a 2004 computer-animated musical adventure film, produced by Nelvana and released by Lions Gate Home Entertainment. It was the first Nelvana production featuring the Care Bears in the last 24 years, since the Care Bears Nutcracker Suite television film in 1988. Directed by Mike Fallows and written by Jeffrey Alan Schecter, this was the fourth film to star the Care Bears and their first in 17 years. This was also the first one in the franchise to be computer-animated. The film centres on Funshine Bear, a Care Bear who loves to laugh and tell jokes. After one of his jokes backfires against Grumpy, another of the Bears, Funshine runs away to find a place where others can appreciate his talents better. He discovers a town known as Joke-a-lot, where laughter and humour are the order of the day, and soon becomes the area's "King". Unknown to the Bear, a rat named Sir Funnybone is using him that way in order to possess an important object called the Royal Sceptre. Journey to Joke-a-lot premiered in the United States on October 5, 2004, through Lions Gate, and was subsequently released overseas through Universal Pictures Video. It received generally positive reviews, although the computer animation was singled out. In the midst of this installment's success, Lions Gate released a 2005 sequel, The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie. A soundtrack album, featuring the film's songs and some original tracks, was released by Madacy Kids on the same day as the film's debut. Plot The Care Bears live in a cloud-filled land known as Care-a-lot ("With All Your Heart"). One of the Bears, Grumpy, is working on a rainbow carousel for the upcoming Care Bear Fair. His fellow Care Bears come by for a look; one of them, Funshine, loves telling jokes and making the other Care Bears laugh. After they reluctantly agree to try the carousel, it goes out of control and sends them into the sky before crashing down. Grumpy feels even worse after Funshine tries to cheer him up with a joke on height restrictions, which the other Bears find funny. Grumpy is not amused and even goes so far as to tell Funshine that if he doesn't understand that cheering up isn't making fun of, then maybe Funshine doesn't belong in Care-A-Lot. As a result, the Bears force him to make up with Funshine by