- “Grumpy Bear may be a bit of a grouch but his grumpiness reminds us that it’s okay to be grumpy sometimes – as long as it doesn’t last too long. Grumpy Bear’s tummy symbol — a rain cloud with falling hearts — is a reminder that even when we’re less than cheery, we are still loved by those closest to us.”
- ―Grumpy Bear's bio
Grumpy Bear is a Care Bear who made his first appearance as an illustration on American Greetings cards in 1982. He has since become one of the most prominent and recognizable characters in the franchise and has appeared as the main character in nearly every incarnation of the series. This is due to his gruff and reserved demeanor, which when juxtaposed against the bright and cheerful nature of the other bears creates a notable difference in his character, thus allowing him to stand out.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Grumpy Bear has dark blue fur and his Belly badge depicts the easily identifiable image of a storm cloud with hearts or two replacing some of the raindrops. Grumpy is usually depicted with blue eyes as well.
Personality[]
Cynical, surly, and rarely happy, Grumpy is very much the black sheep of the Care Bear Family. While at first, it may seem like he's in the completely wrong line of work, he occupies a very particular niche among his bubbly bear brethren and is often relegated to helping grumpy kids. His personality is fitting to his horoscope, which is Scorpio.
Grumpy is a practitioner of "tough love", taking a more straight-forward approach to solving problems, and isn't afraid to tell it like it is. His special talent is building and fixing machines and is responsible for many of the fantastic devices that the bears use on a regular basis. Anytime any other Care Bear calls him in the middle of his work, he bumps his head by accident. He also once built a functioning robot, Cubot, with Bright Heart Raccoon.
Despite his antisocial traits, he's not above sharing a smile with his friends on special occasions, even if he pretends not to like it.
Abilities[]
His belly badge gives him the power to create tangible clouds, which can be used to help him solve any problems he may be facing, although this method is generally only used as a last resort.
Main Story[]
The Land Without Feelings[]
Grumpy Bear makes his animated debut in the very first Care Bears 1983 television special. After a boy named Kevin runs away from home, he ends up in the gloomy Land Without Feelings ruled by Professor Coldheart, who turns him into a Green Creature Slave.
Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine[]
In the follow-up to the original TV special, Grumpy is among the bears who must once again stop Coldheart and his new sidekick Frostbite from tricking a boy named Paul into helping him complete his "Careless Ray Contraption" that will freeze everyone's feelings.
The Care Bears Movie[]
Grumpy appears in the very first Care Bears theatrical film trying to complete his latest invention, a teleportation device called the Rainbow Rescue Beam. However, when Baby Hugs and Tugs play with the machine, they cause it to malfunction and accidentally bring two children named Kim and Jason to Care-a-Lot.
After attempting to send the two back, the device once again goes haywire and sends the two kids, along with Friend Bear and Secret Bear to the mysterious Forest of Feelings.
While the rest of the bears go look for them, Grumpy and Good Luck Bear stay behind to try and fix the Rescue Beam as Care-a-Lot crumbles around them due to the action of the Evil Spirit.
After rigging together the device with some odds and ends, the two are able to teleport to Earth and join their comrades in a stand-off against The Spirit and are able to seal her away in the end.
Care Bears (DIC series)[]
Grumpy makes frequent appearances in DIC's Care Bears TV series.
- His first appearance is in the episode "The Last Laugh", where Cheer Bear loses her Cheer as a result of Grumpy being the only Care Bear she can't cheer up. The other Care-a-Lot residents decide to lift both their spirits by throwing them a comedy show but are ultimately unsuccessful. When Swift Heart Rabbit doesn't give up on making Cheer Bear happy, Cheer realizes that she has to be equally determined on perking up Grumpy. After telling him that she'll keep coming back until she makes him smile, he finally does so, telling her that he didn't realize how much she cared.
- In "The Magic Mirror", When Professor Coldheart uses his newest acquisition, the magic mirror, to reverse the personalities of the Care Bears and make them un-caring, the object has a strange effect on Grumpy, who becomes uncharacteristically happy and is eventually able to turn his friends back to normal.
- In The Night the Stars Went Out, Grumpy is part of a team of Care Bears who go up against the villainous Strato Nefarious, who is stealing the stars from the sky. batting his energy blasts back at him.
- In "The Cloud Worm", Grumpy and his friends try to convince the Cloud Worm to stop eating Care-a-Lot, and to go somewhere else
Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation[]
The second Care Bears feature film tells the story of how the Care Bear Family, including Grumpy, who played a major role in getting an important key, first arrived in the Kingdom of Caring, after escaping the nefarious Dark Heart. Sometime later, the villain once again attempts to capture his fuzzy prey with the help of a girl named Christy, who tricks the bears into trying to rescue her while Dark Heart catches and imprisons them.
Grumpy is one of the few remaining bears who must mount a rescue mission along with two children named John and Dawn. When the team arrives in Dark Heart's lair, they are joined by Christy who laments her actions and helps the rest of the crew to get the evil shape-shifter to care.
The Care Bears Family[]
Grumpy is one of the main Care Bears featured in Nelvana's Care Bears Family television series.
- He first appears in the very first episode - "Care-a-Lot's Birthday", where he and a few other Care Bears must help rescue Baby Hugs and Tugs from No Heart's Castle in time for Care-a-Lot's "birthday" celebration.
- Grumpy is the main character in "Grumpy's Three Wishes", where he travels to Earth on a caring mission to help a grumpy kid named Alvin, who's being picked on for being small, and finds a super-rare eight-leaf clover that grants him three wishes. Using the clover to both get rid of a bully and No Heart, he accidentally uses up his last wish when the villain returns to Care-a-Lot, leaving a powerless Grumpy and Alvin along against the evil wizard until help arrives.
- in Home Sweet Homeless, When the Forest of Feelings becomes flooded, the Care Bear Cousins move into Care-a-Lot, which causes all kinds of problems. An irate Grumpy helps Tenderheart Bear build a submarine to both stop the flood and pump the water back to its source so their new neighbors can go home.
- In Lost at Sea, his new invention, the Caring Compass, which is installed in the bears' ship to help it navigate is stolen by Mr. Beastly, Baby Hugs, Baby Tugs, and Bedtime Bear must get it back and find a way home when they become lost at sea.
- In The Big Star Round-Up, Grumpy is one of the Bears who takes apart in the activity.
- In The Camp Out, he goes on a camping trip where he has to put up with Funshine and Playful Heart Monkey's practical jokes, which they are playing constantly at him and the others.
- In Bravest of the Brave, Grumpy is one of the many Bears who visits a carnival where they meet a villain named Dr. Fright.
- In I, Robot Heart, He and Bright Heart Raccoon help fix up a broken robot named Cubot, who becomes their friend.
The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland[]
When the White Rabbit of Wonderland comes to Care-a-Lot looking for a lost princess, he gives Grumpy a rude awakening by arriving through his mirror. After a search on Earth turns up nothing, they instead find a girl named Alice who looks nearly identical to the missing royalty and decide to take her to Wonderland instead. Grumpy joins a group comprised of Good Luck Bear, Brave Heart Lion, and Swift Heart Rabbit to look for the real princess while the others escort Alice to Wonderland Palace to take her place in the meantime. After saving the princess from Stan the Jabberwocky, he and the rest manage to get her to the palace in time to keep the Wizard of Wonderland from being crowned king.
Care Bears Nutcracker Suite[]
In the final original series television special, Grumpy and Funshine go to Earth to help a girl named Anna feel better after her best friend moves away. However, when a portal to Toy Land opens in her home and releases both a Nutcracker and a horde of rats, he and Funshine call for help and re-group with other Care Bear Family members before entering the other realm. Together with Anna and the Nutcracker, Grumpy and the rest must stop the Vizier from ruling all of Toy Land.
2000s series[]
Journey to Joke-a-lot[]
Grumpy Bear is a major character in the first computer-animated Care Bears film, Journey to Joke-a-lot.
Grumpy is first seen setting up the Rainbow Carousel for the Care Bear Fair. However, his poor fixing skills causes it to go out of control and fall into pieces. All the Care Bears are all dazed, but Funshine Bear enjoys it, and jokes about it. Grumpy is furious and upset about it, and demands Funshine that his humor doesn't belong in Care-a-Lot. After Funshine runs away to Joke-a-Lot, the other Bears are grim with Grumpy for making Funshine leave and demand that he apologises the next time he sees him.
Eventually, Grumpy is made to go with Tenderheart, Cheer, Share and Wish to Joke-a-Lot, and he eventually apologises to Funshine for his actions.
When Sir Funnybone begins to escape Joke-a-Lot in a hot-air balloon, Grumpy fixes up his Carousel, with the Bears and Gig using the spinning feature they used before to pop Funnybone's balloon and defeat him once and for all.
Big Wish Movie[]
In the second CG Care Bears video, Grumpy Bear is among the residents of Care-a-Lot who welcome their new neighbors, Me Bear, Messy Bear, and Too Loud Bear to the community.
In the beginning, he was building a bubble-powered rocket ship, but it doesn't have enough power. Wish makes a wish on Twinkers for the rocket to have plenty of zoom, but the rocket ends up getting too much zoom that it flies out of control.
Later in the film, when the new bears abuse the power of Wish Bear's wishing star Twinkers, their greed eventually becomes too severe and Care-a-Lot begins to fall apart at the seams. It's up to the Care Bears, including Grumpy, to rebuild it in the aftermath.
Oopsy Does It![]
Grumpy Bear appears in the Care Bears: Oopsy Does It! film as one of the citizens of Care-a-Lot whose Belly Badge is stolen by Grizzle after he tricks Oopsy Bear into helping him.
Adventures In Care-A-Lot[]
Grumpy is one of the main five recurring Care Bears in the series. He is an inventor and has invented all sorts of gadgets to make the Care Bears' lives easier. In this series, Grumpy has scruffy, rounded hair and is the shortest Care Bear out of the main five.
Out of the Core Five, Grumpy is the only one to appear in all of the episodes.
Grumpy has a few episodes where he has a starring or a major role:
- In King Grumpy, Wingnut accidentally hurts Grumpy after an accident with a Bubblephonium he invented. This causes Grumpy to lay in bed until his wound got better. During this, Wingnut felt bad for hurting Grumpy and wanted to help him while he rests. He continues to fake his injury and lie to his friends to take advantage of Wingnut's kindness. This occurs up until Wingnut goes to Grizzle's lair to retrieve Grumpy's Q-bolt expander. This leads to Grumpy rescuing Wingnut and Grumpy apologizes for taking advantage of him.
2010s Series[]
Welcome to Care-a-Lot and Care Bears and Cousins[]
Grumpy is one of the main characters in Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot. Grumpy lives in his Care-A-Van at the Moody Mountains. He usually carries a bag called a Care-y All to get everything he needs. He also talks in some sort of western accent in this series.
- In Compassion - NOT, Grumpy goes on a quest to try and find forbidden honey, but ends up getting stuck in a patch of Stick-'Til-You're-Stuck-Sand.
- In More Fun With Grumpy, Grumpy turns out to be a good playmate for Aiden after Funshine is utterly shocked about Aiden being in a wheelchair.
- In Welcome to Grump-a-Lot, Grumpy's Grumpiness gets the better of him when he accidently causes a grumpy storm which causes the main bears save Tenderheart to become the opposite of their usual personalities.
Care Bears: Unlock the Magic[]
Grumpy Bear is the main character in Care Bears: Unlock the Magic. Similar to his previous incarnations, Grumpy is a grouchy worrywart, as well as the team mechanic. He is also responsible for building the Cloudseeker. He's a good-hearted guy, just tone-deaf to his own words. His little Whiffle friend, Dibble, loves him very much.
- The first episode where he is the main focus is the episode Rain Rain Go Away, where his Grumpiness gets the better of him when his cloud comes to life on his belly badge and goes out of control. He decides to try and stay happy in order to prevent this, but when the Bears come across a problem with some Whiffles where the sun is too hot and there's no rain anywhere.
- In If it's Broke, Fix It, Grumpy is trying to create something, but when Dibble keeps acting all cheerful and happy while she's helping him, he decides that Dibble can't work with him anymore, making the little Whiffle sad.
- In The Grumpy Effect, Bluster traps Grumpy in a maze in order to try and use his Grumpiness to create a bad seed, but when Robbie accidently lands in the maze as well, they have to team up in order to escape using their inventing skills.
- In Things That Go Plunk, Grumpy is the only Bear who's suspicious of Plunk's actions, and suspects he's secretly working for Bluster.
- In Power Outage, Grumpy is doubtful that his latest invention will work to spread good vibes.
- In Dibble's Dustup, Grumpy won't let Dibble keep her new Dustbunny friends while he and the other Bears are cleaning the Cloudseeker, and orders to get rid of them.
- In Water, Water Everywhere, when water is being taken in an area of the Silver Lining and Funshine notices the Bad Crowd taking it away, Grumpy believes that Funshine is playing another one of his pranks.
- In Sorry Not Sorry, when he accidently steps on a precious flower and is made to apologise by the Whiffles who planted the flower, it ends up pleasing them a bit too much, as they make Grumpy the leader of the garden.
- In Once Upon a Rainbow, Grumpy is one of the many things in a nearby garden who has lost it's color.
- In Valley of the Shamrocks, Grumpy replaces Good Luck with a Mission Navigator robot who's circuits end up scrambling when they go through some bad vibes, and decides to allow Good Luck to return.
- In Say What?, after Share loses her voice after speaking into a flower, Grumpy also ends up losing his voice as well.
Descriptions[]
2002-2006: Grumpy Bear frowns a lot - that's his way to show us how silly we look when we frown too much. He also shows that it's okay to be grumpy sometimes. But even when we're grumpy, we're still loved, and we're reminded of that by Grumpy Bear's symbol - a rain cloud with heart-shaped raindrops.
2002 Website Profile:
- Caring Mission: He helps others see how silly it is to let our grumpiness go too far.
- Symbol: His rain cloud with heart-shaped raindrops means a little grumpiness is okay when it's tempered with love.
- Personality: Grouchy, but perseverant
- Character Quirk: He's accident-prone and things never seem to go his way.
- Color: Indigo Blue
- Best Friend: Funshine Bear
- Relationship Challenge: Good Luck Bear—Grumpy can't stand the way things always go right for Good Luck.
- Motto: I'm not mad, I'm Grumpy!
20th Anniversary: Grumpy Bear is a bit of a grouch. But his grumpiness reminds us that an occasional grouchy mood is all right - as long as it doesn't last too long. Grumpy Bear's tummy symbol, a rain cloud with falling hearts, is a reminder that even when we are grouchy, we are still loved by those closest to us.
2007-2011: If Grumpy Bear likes anything, it's tinkering with his new inventions and using all his tools. Grouchy and often complaining, Grumpy likes to makeup 'grumbly' nonsense words to express his moody blues. But don't be fooled. Beneath his frown and gloomy rain cloud, he has a heart of gold.
2012-2018, HeadStart UTM products: Grumpy Bear frowns a lot - that's his way of showing us how silly we look when we frown too much. He also proves that it's okay to be grumpy sometimes. But even when we're grumpy, we're still loved, and Grumpy Bear's belly badge is a reminder of that - a rain cloud with heart-shaped raindrops!
2020-present: Grumpy Bear may be a bit of a grouch but his grumpiness reminds us that it’s okay to be grumpy sometimes – as long as it doesn’t last too long. Grumpy Bear’s tummy symbol — a rain cloud with falling hearts — is a reminder that even when we’re less than cheery, we are still loved by those closest to us.
The Bears Are Back in Town - The Ultimate Guidebook: When he isn't tinkering with his latest inventions, Grumpy Bear can be found cooking or spending time with his newest pal, Dibble, a tiny Whiffle the team found while they were looking for Funshine. Grumpy is always making improvements to his invention, the Cloudseeker, which is the main vehicle for the Care Bears on their mission in the Silver Lining. He is sometimes a tad overprotective of the Cloudseeker, but he has come to terms with sharing it with the team and that it may even get a scratch every now and again. At times he can come off as a bit grumpy on the outside, but this loveable bear has a good heart on the inside.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- He is a good engineer. With his bag, he has everything when needed.
- In The Care Bears Family series, he is often depicted as clumsy. His most-used catchphrase is "Why do these things always happen to me?".
- His catchphrase in the TV series Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot is some variation of "Jumping Bitlbots!" usually changed up to fit a situation.
- Ironically, he doesn't seem to be as grumpy as his name implies, as his behavior involves mere moping and angst rather than just raining on other peoples' parades. He also seems to be positive and well-meaning in most situations, only turning cynical when things don't go his way. He also is surprisingly considerate and never says a word of malicious intent to anyone. He also tries to help scared or angry kids feel better about themselves.
- The Adventures in Care-a-Lot episode "Stand Up and Cheer" reveals Grumpy is good at ventriloquism.
- It is hinted in the Welcome to Care-A-Lot series in the episodes: "Untruths and Consequences" and "Cheering You Grump" that he might have a crush on Surprise Bear.
In various languages:[]
- Croatian: Mrki ("Grumpy")
- Dutch: Brombeertje ("Grumble Bear")
- French: Grognon/Touronchon ("Grumpy"/"All Grumpy")
- French (Canadian): Grognours
- German: Brummbärchi ("Brumm Bear", with Brumm being the sound of humming or grumbling)
- Hebrew: דוב קוטר
- Italian: Brontolorso ("Grumpy Bear")
- Japanese: グランピーベア
- Mandarin: 多雲熊 /Duōyún xióng ("Cloudy Bear")
- Polish: Miś Nastroju ("Moody Bear")
- Portuguese: Zangadinho ("Angry")
- Russian: Ворчун ("Grumbler")
- Spanish (Latin America): Gruñosito ("Growly Bear")
- Spanish (Spain): Quejoso
- Swedish (Cartoon): Butternalle
- Swedish (Comic): Moln-Nalle ("Cloud Bear")
- Arabic: سحاب (“cloud bear”)