Cloudco Entertainment’s Carlos Villagra talks global growth, successful collabs and compelling creative

Carlos, it’s great to catch up. To kick us off, how has 2026 been so far for Care Bears? What have been some highlights in terms of launches?
It’s been a really rich year creatively and a meaningful one, setting the stage for our 45th anniversary in 2027. There’s a sense of momentum that’s been energizing the whole team, recognizing we’re working on a brand that has helped generations discover the power of caring. That’s not something you take lightly, and it’s shaping how we’re thinking about everything we put into the world right now.

The IP entertainment collaborations have been a real highlight, Wicked and Stranger Things especially. There is so much genuine thought behind every detail: the storytelling, the character logic, the visual system. Which Care Bear becomes which character, and why? Fans have been showing so much love for these products, and the awards recognition we’ve received reflects that. I’m proud of what the team has created.

When it comes to international growth, what have been some important recent milestones?
A big part of what drives global growth is having creative that travels. Style guides that feel locally relevant but globally coherent, which sounds simple but requires serious thought. We’ve been building our style guide output to be more dynamic, with a creative system that partners can move within while the core is unmistakably Care Bears wherever it shows up.

We’ve seen particularly strong momentum in Asia, and collaborations like Pop Mart and Miniso have pushed us to think differently about how characters translate into new formats and collectible packaging. As we move toward 2027, that global creative thinking is only intensifying with the anniversary being a worldwide moment for this brand, and the creative infrastructure we’re developing reflects that.

Does Care Bears ‘travel’ differently depending on the territory? Are certain characters – or creative executions of characters – more suited to certain markets?
The brand travels well because the emotional core is universal, but the expression visually and through character storytelling offers so much richness. We have flexible style worlds, Classic and Unlock the Magic, and imaginative art packs that bring the brand to life across so many different settings.

We also have the characters themselves, such as Cheer Bear, Grumpy Bear, Funshine Bear, and Share Bear, who all carry specific feelings that people connect to differently depending on where they are in the world. Some markets respond to the warmth and softness of the original characters. Others gravitate toward more graphic, stylized, or collectible expressions. Understanding what a market responds to, and which characters speak to that, shapes every creative decision we make so that we can give the fans what they want.

If we were to dive into the DNA of a Care Bear, what are some key aspects that remain important to preserve and convey through licensing?
Every Care Bear has to be emotionally legible at a glance. That’s been true for 45 years and it’s non-negotiable. The belly badge is the storytelling device that makes each character’s superpower visible, so every design decision traces back to it. Color carries emotional weight, and character expression matters enormously, as that’s where the real connection lives: the warmth in the face, the way a bear holds itself.

“The brand travels well because the emotional core is universal.”

All of this is what makes character pairings so intentional. The Sesame Street collaboration is a perfect example: Oscar the Grouch with Grumpy Bear, Big Bird with Funshine, Elmo with Cheer Bear. Those pairings aren’t random, they’re built on emotional logic, matching personalities and complementary energies, which makes the collaboration feel earned rather than just commercial. When the storytelling is right, fans feel it instantly.

The Uniqlo range featured artwork from the brand’s archive. Can you talk about the different creative iterations licensees can engage with?
The Care Bears universe has a deep visual history, and we’ve worked hard to make that accessible to partners rather than just presenting a single prescribed look. We have Classic Care Bears with the heritage expressions people grew up with, alongside Unlock the Magic, which brings a more contemporary energy. We collaborate with partners to develop bespoke creative depending on their audience, category, and market context. What matters is that whichever direction we move in, you can always feel the magic of Care-A-Lot behind it.

What steers decisions around how the brand ‘shows up’ creatively?
We are a brand that is all about care, and so it is our responsibility as the brand stewards to put care at the heart of all decision-making. We always start with how we want someone to feel when they encounter something, whether it’s a product, packaging, a collaboration announcement, or a game skin. If we can’t answer that clearly, the creative isn’t ready. That instinct is what keeps the brand consistent across very different contexts and categories.

Collaborations with IP like Fugglers, Wicked and Stranger Things have seen other brands get the ‘Care Bears’ treatment. Does having this iconic form factor open the brand up to collabs in special ways?
The form factor is a real asset as it’s readable in a way that means we can push the creative interpretation quite far, and it still anchors back to Care Bears. But the silhouette is just the starting point, as the craft is in the character and story logic underneath it. Grumpy Bear and Fuggler works because the irreverence genuinely connects the two worlds. It doesn’t just look right, it feels right. How far we let a partner push it always comes back to that same question: Does the emotional logic hold? If it does, you’ve got something fans will respond to. If it doesn’t, they’ll know.

Are there aspects of the brand’s DNA or history that you feel remain relatively untapped licensing-wise? Where do you see potential?
With 45 years of history, there’s still significant licensing territory to explore. The Care Bear Cousins are a great example as characters with a passionate fanbase that have been relatively dormant from a licensing perspective, returning in 2027 in a way that feels true to the heritage but genuinely new.

Care Bears Baby is an exciting extension of the brand, meeting families at one of life’s most meaningful beginnings. With Caring from the Start as our guiding principle, it’s designed to support early emotional connection, comfort, and trust – values that have always been at the heart of Care Bears. The gaming space is another area with real depth, making sure Care Bears shows up in digital worlds with the same standard we hold everywhere else. Also, with over 120 Care Bear characters, there’s still so much emotional storytelling to deepen and unlock through individual characters.