Care Bears Nutcracker Suite is the third and final television special to feature the Care Bears characters. It was originally planned for a theatrical release, but, owing to the financial shortcomings of The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, it premiered on November 5, 1988 on the Disney Channel instead, and was later released on VHS. In Canada, subsequent airings of the special divided it into three parts.

This is the only Nelvana production of a Care Bears special. The first two, The Land Without Feelings and The Freeze Machine, were produced by Atkinson Film-Arts in the early half of the 1980s. Nelvana originally intended to produce the special as a full-length feature film, but changed their minds when they the Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland didn't perform well at the box office.

In this special, based loosely on the Nutcracker ballet, the Care Bears find themselves in Toyland where they meet a little princess and a Nutcracker. Through the movie they have to protect themselves from the evil Rat King and a magical Vizier who plans to destroy Toyland.

On November 7, 2006, Lions Gate Home Entertainment released the special on DVD, under the title Care Bears: The Nutcracker, for the first time in North America. It was previously released on that format in France under the title Les Calinours au pays de casse-noisette. The original VHS was released in 1989 by Kids Klassics Inc., which was subsequently acquired by Lions Gate.

This special was originally planned as a theatrical release, but due to the financial failure of Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, The (1987), it premiered on the Disney Channel instead.