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Strawberry Shortcake: Meets the Berrykins (1985)
The End of 80's Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins is the sixth and final original Strawberry Shortcake TV special, and the final one produced by Nelvana. It's also the only one to get a theatrical release (albeit cut down to 12 minutes in theaters, while being 24 minutes on television) as a short before The Care Bears Movie. I think this one is the weakest of the originals, and I'll state why I think so below. In this one, while planning for a Garden Party, the kids in Strawberryland find their best fruits plopped at their doorstep, and soon meet the 'Berry Princess', who reveals that the 'fruits' are little humanoid baby fruit creatures called "Berrykins". After introducing each Berrykin to the kids in rhyme, they duck for cover when it begins to rain. When they come back out to smell the fruits, they are shocked to find that they all smell like the wrong kinds of foods, like strawberries that smell like pizza, grapes that smell like chocolate, lemons that smell like catnip, etc. It doesn't take too long for Strawberry Shortcake and the Berry Princess to find out who's behind these strange fragrances...
I think the first three Strawberry Shortcake specials by Murakami Wold and Swenson & Toei are the best ones, and that the Nelvana ones are the weaker ones; the songs in this one aren't particularly memorable compared to the previous specials, especially the opening song, which is a rewritten version of a song from the "Housewarming" special. The writing is pretty bare, with this one not having as much plot as the previous ones, the "raincloud" story takes up most of the runtime and some moments feel like filler and like they could've been cut out (which actually happens in the shorter theatrical cut). The voice acting is decent, although Mr Sun sounds the most disinterested he's ever been in these specials, and the voice they got for the Berry Princess is the blandest sounding Strawberry Shortcake character I've ever heard in my life (aside from her singing voice at the end). The animation seems to be on a bigger budget than the previous Nelvana specials, as evident in the designs of the characters, and in the movement being more expressive, and also the fact that they tried to beef this one up a bit in it's look for theaters. Overall, this one is the worst of the 6 Strawberry Shortcake specials, but it's still pretty passable, and if you aren't looking for problems with it, you may like it fine.
Strawberry Shortcake: Housewarming Surprise (1983)
Not as good as the first three, but still good.
Strawberry Shortcake: Housewarming Surprise is the fourth Strawberry Shortcake TV special, and the first one produced by Nelvana. In this one, Strawberry Shortcake is moving out of her original Shortcake house from the previous specials, and into a bigger 2-story dollhouse they had to include to increase toy sales. Her friends plan a big surprise housewarming party for her, and invite all her current friends, and the friends she met on her round-the-world travels. Unfortunately, the Purple Pieman's crow, Captain Cackle and his gang, eavesdrop on the plans being made, and report the news back to the Pieman, who plans to steal the recipes the friends bring to the party, with the help of Sour Grapes. However, Strawberry Shortcake figures out the weakness to this plan, and has a surprise of her own in store for the pieman...
I think the first three Strawberry Shortcake specials by Murakami Wold and Swenson & Toei are the best ones, and that the Nelvana ones are the weaker ones; this one does have catchy songs in it which is a staple of all good Strawberry Shortcake specials, particularly the songs "Pack'em up and Move'em out", "Berry Talk", and "International Party", the writing is pretty alright, although the execution of the dialogue could be a bit faster, as the timing seems to be a bit stretched compared to the original 3, especially from Chris Wiggins as Mr Sun, who talks at a slower, less energetic, less gravelly and more bored-sounding tone. The animation seems to be on a bigger budget than the previous specials, as evident in the designs of the characters, and in the movement being more expressive. As I mentioned before, the pacing is noticably slower with this special, with the characters speaking slower, most noticably Mr Sun, Strawberry's friends and Sour Grapes, and scenes being longer and more drawn out. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your point of view.
Strawberry Shortcake: Pets on Parade (1982)
An entertaining bit of fun in Strawberryland!
Strawberry Shortcake: Pets on Parade is the third Strawberry Shortcake television special, and it's also the last of many things; It's the last one done by Murakami Wolf and Swenson & Toei, and it's also the final one in which Romeo Muller is the writer, and the voice of the sun. Starting with the next special, Chris Wiggins would take over as Mr Sun. In this one, it's time for the Grand Pettable Pet Show and pet parade, and Strawberry Shortcake and her pet cat Custard are to be the judges. They meet the only audience member, Angel Cake, who as her name implies, acts like an Angel, being shy and polite, interjecting "Please" and "Thank You" into every sentence she speaks. Custard also meets the only pet not accompanied with a pet nor a name, who just happens to be a purple skunk. Unfortunately though, the Purple Pieman wants to spoil things again, and this time, he's accompanied by the show's second villain, Sour Grapes and her pet snake. They want to steal away the first prize, and hatch a devious scheme to frame Strawberry Shortcake to make the others think she helped them cheat in order to win.
I think the first three Strawberry Shortcake specials by Murakami Wolf and Swenson & Toei are the best ones, and that the Nelvana ones are the weaker ones; this one has catchy songs in it, although not quite as memorable as the ones in The World of and Big Apple City. The writing by Rankin/Bass veteran Romeo Muller is well done, even for being his last Strawberry Shortcake special, the voice acting from everyone involved is great, and the animation, while not on a big budget, is still charming and pleasing to the eyes, even a little more smooth and polished than the previous two. The special also runs at an even pace too, which I can't say about the Nelvana specials, which seem quite a bit slower.
Strawberry Shortcake: Big Apple City (1981)
Just as good as the first!
Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City is a fun half-hour special which may be the first and only time Strawberry leaves her hometown, as all the rest of the specials are firmly rooted in Strawberryland. In this one, Strawberry Shortcake gets a snail mail telegram that she is one of two contestants in the big bakeoff TV show. Unfortunately, the other one is the Purple Pieman, and he does everything in his power to sabotage her plans, even while the show is going on. Strawberry also meets some new friends in the city, such as the show's first African American character, Orange Blossom, famous model Lemon Merengue, a Mexican Mole, and even the man running the bakeoff, Mr. Coco-Nutwork, the One-Man TV Network.
I think the first three Strawberry Shortcake specials by Murakami Wolf and Swenson & Toei are the best ones, and that the Nelvana ones are the weaker ones; this one, like the previous, has memorable songs, in particular "Let's Be Friends" and the ending song, "Strawberryland is a Dream". The writing by Rankin/Bass veteran Romeo Muller is well done, the voice acting from everyone involved is great, even though the new characters would have distinctly different voices afterwards, and the animation, while not on a big budget, is still charming and pleasing to the eyes. The special also runs at an even pace too, which I can't say about the Nelvana specials, which seem quite a bit slower.
Strawberry Shortcake: The World of Strawberry Shortcake (1980)
Great introduction to iconic franchise
The World of Strawberry Shortcake is a light, fun, bouncy, simple-but-not-too-simple introduction to the her world. In this one, it's Strawberry Shortcake's birthday, but the party is almost ruined by the Purple Pieman, who gives Strawberry Shortcake a "magic" watering can, which quickly reveals it's water pouring to be uncontrollable, flooding Strawberryland, all for the sole purpose of the pieman getting the entire berry supply of Strawberryland.
I think the first three Strawberry Shortcake specials by Murakami Wold and Swenson & Toei are the best ones, and that the Nelvana ones are the weaker ones; this one has catchy songs in it, the writing by Rankin/Bass veteran Romeo Muller is well done, the voice acting from everyone involved is great, and the animation, while not on a big budget, is still charming and pleasing to the eyes. The special also runs at an even pace too, which I can't say about the Nelvana specials, which seem quite a bit slower.
Joshua Jones (1991)
Sadly underrated, deserves a lot more attention!
If anybody here has watched the early episodes of Fireman Sam (Series 1-4), then they should immediately see a similarity in the looks of the characters. The very same studio that produced those early Fireman Sam episodes, Bumper Films, also produced this show.
However, this one seemingly did not enjoy the same success and longevity as the other one, in a similar way to how TUGS didn't last in the way Thomas the Tank Engine did, even though the following it built up is just as big as Thomas's fan following nowadays. Anyways, back to this show, I think it should've gotten more episodes. I've seen 6 of the 12 that were released, and I think that it's just as good as, if not better, than classic Fireman Sam.
This show has many things in common with classic Fireman Sam, the title character himself having a very similar personality to Sam. He goes around the village with his dog, helping out whenever they're needed. The calm, chill, relaxing, but also charming vibes from Fireman Sam are present here, with a lot of the humor and warmth that made OG Sam such a fun time. The characters are really well-done as well, just like with Fireman Sam, you relate to everybody in the show, either because you knew people in your life who were similar, or because they remind you of yourself. One of the characters, Spanner, is like an older, but slightly more mature/responsible version of Norman Price, with a little bit of the air-headedness of Elvis Cridlington mixed in.
I really recommend giving this program a watch, it really is worth your time. It's like a lot of vintage British children's programming, in that while the primary audience is children, anybody can get something out of it. This is something programs like this, Fireman Sam, Thomas the Tank Engine, The Trap Door, The Wind in the Willows, Noddy's Toyland Adventures, and many others I can think of do so well. If you want to find the episodes, they are all available on YouTube from the user "Johnson and Noddy". Give this program some love, share it with your friends, it really is one of the underrated gems of children's programming.