The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine

The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine is the second television special to feature the Care Bears characters. Made by Ottawa's Atkinson Film-Arts studios and the United Artists Cartoon Studios, it premiered in syndication in April 1984.

Plot
Paul, a young boy, wants to get even with his bullies as Professor Coldheart tricks him into fixing his Careless Ray Contraption after Frostbite ruined it by accident. The Care Bears must do all that they can to stop Coldheart's plan of freezing everyone's feelings. Hug and Tugs, two baby Care Bears are kidnapped by Professor Coldheart. The Care Bears have to rescue them.

Overview
The special, a follow-up to the previous installment The Land Without Feelings (from 1983), sees the return of the ten original Bears and the rarely seen Cloud Keeper, as well as the villain Professor Coldheart. In addition, the special introduces Baby Hugs, Baby Tugs, Grams Bear, and Professor Coldheart's sidekick, Frostbite.

Release and reception
The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine aired on over 100 U.S. TV stations in April 1984, and was sponsored by the Kenner company. the special has mixed reviews due to the paint looking like Blood, Perfessor Coldheart saying "Spit", Frostbite's Gay moments, and The Broken Machine. Also it did go so poorly on Broadcasting. this may cause United Artists to cancel the future Dr. Seuss and Pink Panther Specials.

However, That same year, it won an award for Best Children's Program at the 13th National ACTRA Awards. A tie-in book based on the special (ISBN 0-910313-15-6) was written by Arthur S. Rosenblatt, illustrated by Joe Ewers and published by Parker Brothers as a part of the Tales from the Care Bears series.

The special was released on VHS and Beta by Family Home Entertainment in May 1984. This, and The Land Without Feelings, were among the ten best-selling children's videos on the U.S. market in 1985. It was released for the first time on DVD, as a special feature, on MGM Home Enteratainment's 2007 re-issue of The Care Bears Movie. The print featured on the disc is the syndicated edit, not the original broadcast version.

in 2022, Hartnett Home Entertainment released the Care Bears special in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Care Bears. At Least, it was in the Hartnett Cult Classics.

In 1987, Don R. Le Duc referred to Freeze Machine as a "shallow merchandising marvel".