The World of Strawberry Shortcake
Encyclopedia
The World of Strawberry Shortcake is a 1980 animated television special written by Romeo Muller
, directed by Charles Swenson, and produced by Swenson, Muller and Fred Wolf
. Starring the voices of Romeo Muller, Russi Taylor
, Julie McWhirter
and Joan Gerber
, it was made by animators from Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in the United States and by Toei Doga in Japan. The music was written and performed by Flo & Eddie
of the rock group, The Turtles
.
The titular character, Strawberry Shortcake, lives in a fictional place called Strawberryland. In the special, narrated by Romeo Muller (as Mr. Sun), she and her friends celebrate her sixth birthday. While preparations for her party are underway, a villain called the Peculiar Purple Pieman plots to steal the berries from Strawberry's home in order to make his pies.
Produced and sponsored by the Kenner
toy company, The World of Strawberry Shortcake was the first special to feature the American Greetings
character, Strawberry Shortcake
. Bypassing network television, it debuted on March 28, 1980 in syndication across more than 90 U.S. cities, and was later released on 16 mm film, VHS, Beta
and DVD. The special received generally favorable reviews in the School Library Journal
, which reviewed it in 1983 and 2007.
. Her friendsHuckleberry Pie, Blueberry Muffin, Raspberry Tart, Plum Puddin' and toddler Apple Dumplin'also live close by. One morning, during their Market Day, Strawberry's friends discuss plans for her sixth birthdayall except for lazy Huckleberry Pie.
Strawberry's villain, the Peculiar Purple Pieman, lives atop the Pie Tin Palace on a black hill called Porcupine Peak. While she is doing chores, the Pieman sends his crows"berry birds"to retrieve some berries for his pies. Strawberry tries shooing the flock away with her broom, but a moving tree helps out as a scarecrow, and she thanks him for helping. In desperation, the Pieman heads down to Strawberryland himself to get his supply, dressed as a kind old peddler.
At noon, Strawberry calls her friends over for lunch, but they leave her behind and go to Lilac Park to prepare for her surprise party. Soon after, the disguised Pieman meets her and offers watering cans for sale. To his chagrin, Strawberry cannot afford to buy a magical one guaranteed to produce strawberries seven feet tall. Assisted by Lucky Bug, Huckleberry's ladybug aide, he goes to the Park, where Huckleberry pays for the equipment.
Strawberry soon arrives at the venue to see her friends, who greet her with "Happy Birthday" and give her a present: the Pieman's watering can. The device fails to grow anything and spills over instead, flooding the Park and much of Strawberryland. The children are dismayed that the Pieman tricked them for his berry-stealing plot, and soon they harvest every bit of that supply over to him.
The group travels to the Pie Tin Palace on rafts made of flotsam. Landing upon a mud field, they find out from Lucky Bug that Apple Dumplin' ended up at the Palace; they now have no way to rescue her. Mr. Sun, the narrator of the story, grants Strawberry a wish. She wishes to defeat the Pieman, and a grove of marching trees help her accomplish this; their stomping causes the Palace to collapse. Afterward, Apple Dumplin' gives him a note demanding that he surrender and do good deeds; he reluctantly does so, giving the toddler and berries back to Strawberry and company. At the end of the special, Strawberry Shortcake offers him a chance to sell his pies at Strawberry Market, and become friends with her.
toy company, The World of Strawberry Shortcake was the first of six television specials to star the titular character. The franchise began in 1977, when American Greetings
staff member Muriel Fahrion
drew the first designs of Strawberry and her pet cat Custard. In 1979, she appeared in greeting cards; dolls, books and games soon followed.
The special was made by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, which previously worked on The Point!
and Frank Zappa
's 200 Motels
, both from 1971; RLR Associates of New York City was another production partner. Animation work was also handled by Japan's Toei Doga. At the time of production, the producers called it a "morality play for tots". One of the crewmembers was Romeo Muller
, writer for several Rankin/Bass
television specials. Muller served as writer, co-producer and lyricist
of the Strawberry Shortcake special; he also voiced Mr. Sun, the narrator. After he proposed the idea to Kenner, the company and American Greetings agreed to do it. According to Jack Chojnacki
, co-president of Those Characters from Cleveland, a subidiary of American Greetings, the card manufacturer considered new additions to the script, and reminded the writer that every character should be marketable. With those suggestions in mind, Muller came up with a villain called the Peculiar Purple Pieman. The Toy Group division of General Mills
, which owned Kenner at the time, spent US$400,000 on the special.
in April 1981: "I suppose the show is a commercial, in the largest sense of the word." Some time after the titular character's debut at the 1980 American International Toy Fair
, major television networks in the U.S. were offered a chance to air the special. They also deemed it an advertisement for the toy line, and rejected it. On March 28, 1980, the special debuted on independent stations in over 90 U.S. cities; it aired on WNEW
(now WNYW) in the New York City market, and on KTLA
in Los Angeles. Kenner launched a collection of dolls and toys based on the special, concurrently with the original broadcast. This led John J. O'Connor of The New York Times
to proclaim, "Onward and upward with the art of marketing!"
In 1981, the Lexington Broadcast Services Company
acquired syndication rights to The World of Strawberry Shortcake, along with its follow-up, Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City
. By 1986, the Television Program Source took over the rights for the first special. It was released on 16 mm film by the Coronet
company in 1982, and on VHS and Beta
in October 1985 by Family Home Entertainment
. A Region 1 DVD from Allumination FilmWorks
, featuring this special and Big Apple City, was released on March 6, 2007. In Germany, the original special premiered on ZDF
on April 4, 1983 as Emily im Erdbeerland. A soundtrack album, with contributions by Flo & Eddie
of The Turtles
, was released by Kid Stuff Records
the same year as the original airing. The track list featured the "Strawberry Shortcake Theme", along with "Smile a Sunny Morning", "Sunflower Market", "Monster Trees" and "Berry Talk".
. In the December 1983 issue, Margaret Bush said that the "Story, characters, dialogue and bits of stage business are busy, bright, contrived, and will appeal of young children." She added, however, that "Some of the lyrics and dialogue are not easily understoodit sounds as if adult voices may be attempting to simulate the voices of small children." In August of 2007, Kirsten Martindale gave the DVD set a positive review. She wrote that "Fans [...] will be thoroughly engaged by these two episodes", and recommended it "For nostalgic moms and their young daughters." She however singled out the audio and video quality: "[F]or those who haven't experienced the charm and simplicity of older cartoons, this may be annoying, but the nostalgic effect of the original presentation is relaxed and welcome." In 1987, Kathleen Pulcini of The Video Directory called it "Delightful fun for children."
Romeo Muller
Romeo Muller, Jr. was an American screenwriter and actor most remembered for his screenplays such as for the 1964 TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.-Early years:...
, directed by Charles Swenson, and produced by Swenson, Muller and Fred Wolf
Fred Wolf
Fred Wolf is an American animator. His works include the 1967 short subject The Box, for which he won an Academy Award; television specials such as The Point! and Free to Be... You and Me, and television series such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, James Bond Jr., and Sarah Ferguson's Budgie the...
. Starring the voices of Romeo Muller, Russi Taylor
Russi Taylor
Russi Taylor is an American voice actress. She is the current voice actress of Disney's Minnie Mouse character. She has held this role since 1986, longer than any other voice actress...
, Julie McWhirter
Julie McWhirter
Julie McWhirter is an Indiana-born voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Kanga in "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore". Her voice acting also includes numerous Hanna-Barbera cartoons, such as Jeannie, Jabberjaw, Casper and the Angels, Drak Pack and The Smurfs...
and Joan Gerber
Joan Gerber
Joan Gerber is an American voice actress for a variety of cartoons.- Filmography :* 1959: Matty's Funday Funnies : Additional Voices...
, it was made by animators from Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in the United States and by Toei Doga in Japan. The music was written and performed by Flo & Eddie
Flo & Eddie
Flo & Eddie are a comedic musical duo.The two were the original founding members of the Top 40 rock group the Turtles. After the Turtles dissolved, Volman and Kaylan first joined the Mothers of Invention as "Phlorescent Leech & Eddie"...
of the rock group, The Turtles
The Turtles
The Turtles are an American rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965...
.
The titular character, Strawberry Shortcake, lives in a fictional place called Strawberryland. In the special, narrated by Romeo Muller (as Mr. Sun), she and her friends celebrate her sixth birthday. While preparations for her party are underway, a villain called the Peculiar Purple Pieman plots to steal the berries from Strawberry's home in order to make his pies.
Produced and sponsored by the Kenner
Kenner
Kenner Products was a toy company founded in 1947 by three brothers, Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, which is just north of Cincinnati's Union Terminal.Kenner introduced its...
toy company, The World of Strawberry Shortcake was the first special to feature the American Greetings
American Greetings
American Greetings Corporation, Inc. is the world's largest publicly-traded greeting card company. It is based in Brooklyn, Ohio and sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, party products , and electronic expressive content...
character, Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake is a licensed character owned by American Greetings, originally used in greeting cards and expanded to include dolls, posters, and other products...
. Bypassing network television, it debuted on March 28, 1980 in syndication across more than 90 U.S. cities, and was later released on 16 mm film, VHS, Beta
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
and DVD. The special received generally favorable reviews in the School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
, which reviewed it in 1983 and 2007.
Plot
Strawberry Shortcake lives in a place called Strawberryland, with her calico cat Custard; her house resembles a shortcakeShortcake
Shortcake is a sweet biscuit .Shortcake is typically made with flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, salt, butter, milk or cream, and sometimes eggs. The dry ingredients are blended, and then the butter is cut in and mixed until the mixture resembles cornmeal...
. Her friendsHuckleberry Pie, Blueberry Muffin, Raspberry Tart, Plum Puddin' and toddler Apple Dumplin'also live close by. One morning, during their Market Day, Strawberry's friends discuss plans for her sixth birthdayall except for lazy Huckleberry Pie.
Strawberry's villain, the Peculiar Purple Pieman, lives atop the Pie Tin Palace on a black hill called Porcupine Peak. While she is doing chores, the Pieman sends his crows"berry birds"to retrieve some berries for his pies. Strawberry tries shooing the flock away with her broom, but a moving tree helps out as a scarecrow, and she thanks him for helping. In desperation, the Pieman heads down to Strawberryland himself to get his supply, dressed as a kind old peddler.
At noon, Strawberry calls her friends over for lunch, but they leave her behind and go to Lilac Park to prepare for her surprise party. Soon after, the disguised Pieman meets her and offers watering cans for sale. To his chagrin, Strawberry cannot afford to buy a magical one guaranteed to produce strawberries seven feet tall. Assisted by Lucky Bug, Huckleberry's ladybug aide, he goes to the Park, where Huckleberry pays for the equipment.
Strawberry soon arrives at the venue to see her friends, who greet her with "Happy Birthday" and give her a present: the Pieman's watering can. The device fails to grow anything and spills over instead, flooding the Park and much of Strawberryland. The children are dismayed that the Pieman tricked them for his berry-stealing plot, and soon they harvest every bit of that supply over to him.
The group travels to the Pie Tin Palace on rafts made of flotsam. Landing upon a mud field, they find out from Lucky Bug that Apple Dumplin' ended up at the Palace; they now have no way to rescue her. Mr. Sun, the narrator of the story, grants Strawberry a wish. She wishes to defeat the Pieman, and a grove of marching trees help her accomplish this; their stomping causes the Palace to collapse. Afterward, Apple Dumplin' gives him a note demanding that he surrender and do good deeds; he reluctantly does so, giving the toddler and berries back to Strawberry and company. At the end of the special, Strawberry Shortcake offers him a chance to sell his pies at Strawberry Market, and become friends with her.
Cast
| Name | Character | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Russi Taylor Russi Taylor Russi Taylor is an American voice actress. She is the current voice actress of Disney's Minnie Mouse character. She has held this role since 1986, longer than any other voice actress... |
Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry Shortcake is a licensed character owned by American Greetings, originally used in greeting cards and expanded to include dolls, posters, and other products... |
|
| Robert Ridgely Robert Ridgely Robert Ridgely was an American actor and vocal artist, known for both on-camera roles and extensive voice-over work.-Career:... |
Peculiar Purple Pieman | |
| Romeo Muller Romeo Muller Romeo Muller, Jr. was an American screenwriter and actor most remembered for his screenplays such as for the 1964 TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.-Early years:... |
Mr. Sun / Narrator | |
| Julie McWhirter Julie McWhirter Julie McWhirter is an Indiana-born voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Kanga in "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore". Her voice acting also includes numerous Hanna-Barbera cartoons, such as Jeannie, Jabberjaw, Casper and the Angels, Drak Pack and The Smurfs... |
Huckleberry Pie | |
| Joan Gerber Joan Gerber Joan Gerber is an American voice actress for a variety of cartoons.- Filmography :* 1959: Matty's Funday Funnies : Additional Voices... |
Blueberry Muffin / Apple Dumplin' | |
| Pamela Anderson | Raspberry Tart | |
| Bob Holt | Ben Bean / Escargot | |
Production
Produced and sponsored by the KennerKenner
Kenner Products was a toy company founded in 1947 by three brothers, Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, which is just north of Cincinnati's Union Terminal.Kenner introduced its...
toy company, The World of Strawberry Shortcake was the first of six television specials to star the titular character. The franchise began in 1977, when American Greetings
American Greetings
American Greetings Corporation, Inc. is the world's largest publicly-traded greeting card company. It is based in Brooklyn, Ohio and sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, party products , and electronic expressive content...
staff member Muriel Fahrion
Muriel Fahrion
Muriel Fahrion is an American illustrator, who is well known for being the original designer of the famous girl's toy Strawberry Shortcake. She is married to Michael Fahrion and has two adult children.- Career history :...
drew the first designs of Strawberry and her pet cat Custard. In 1979, she appeared in greeting cards; dolls, books and games soon followed.
The special was made by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, which previously worked on The Point!
The Point!
- Musical play :In 1975, Esquire Jauchem, Artistic Director of the Boston Repertory Theater, approached Harry Nilsson about creating a stage musical of "The Point!" Although Nilsson said he had been asked many times and had always turned down the request, this time he granted his permission...
and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
's 200 Motels
200 Motels
200 Motels is a 1971 American-British musical surrealist film cowritten and directed by Frank Zappa and Tony Palmer and starring The Mothers of Invention, Theodore Bikel and Ringo Starr. The film covers a loose storyline about The Mothers of Invention going crazy in the small town Centerville...
, both from 1971; RLR Associates of New York City was another production partner. Animation work was also handled by Japan's Toei Doga. At the time of production, the producers called it a "morality play for tots". One of the crewmembers was Romeo Muller
Romeo Muller
Romeo Muller, Jr. was an American screenwriter and actor most remembered for his screenplays such as for the 1964 TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.-Early years:...
, writer for several Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
television specials. Muller served as writer, co-producer and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
of the Strawberry Shortcake special; he also voiced Mr. Sun, the narrator. After he proposed the idea to Kenner, the company and American Greetings agreed to do it. According to Jack Chojnacki
Jack Chojnacki
Jack Chojnacki served as the co-president of Those Characters from Cleveland Inc., a division of U.S. greeting card company American Greetings , in the 1980s...
, co-president of Those Characters from Cleveland, a subidiary of American Greetings, the card manufacturer considered new additions to the script, and reminded the writer that every character should be marketable. With those suggestions in mind, Muller came up with a villain called the Peculiar Purple Pieman. The Toy Group division of General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
, which owned Kenner at the time, spent US$400,000 on the special.
Release
Upon completion, Muller was satisfied with how The World of Strawberry Shortcake turned out. Although he pointed out the lack of such influences in the special, he told The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in April 1981: "I suppose the show is a commercial, in the largest sense of the word." Some time after the titular character's debut at the 1980 American International Toy Fair
American International Toy Fair
The American International Toy Fair is one of a few major toy industry trade shows held around the world. It is held annually in mid February in New York City's Toy Center, located at 23rd Street at the crossover of Fifth Avenue and Broadway and at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and is...
, major television networks in the U.S. were offered a chance to air the special. They also deemed it an advertisement for the toy line, and rejected it. On March 28, 1980, the special debuted on independent stations in over 90 U.S. cities; it aired on WNEW
WNYW
WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
(now WNYW) in the New York City market, and on KTLA
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
in Los Angeles. Kenner launched a collection of dolls and toys based on the special, concurrently with the original broadcast. This led John J. O'Connor of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
to proclaim, "Onward and upward with the art of marketing!"
In 1981, the Lexington Broadcast Services Company
Lexington Broadcast Services Company
Lexington Broadcast Services Company was a television production and syndication company founded in 1976 by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel...
acquired syndication rights to The World of Strawberry Shortcake, along with its follow-up, Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City
Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City
Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City is a 1981 animated television special written by Romeo Muller, produced by Muller and Buzz Potamkin, and directed by Hal Silvermintz...
. By 1986, the Television Program Source took over the rights for the first special. It was released on 16 mm film by the Coronet
Coronet Films
Coronet Films was a producer and distributor of American educational films from 1946 to the early 1970s founded by David A. Smart...
company in 1982, and on VHS and Beta
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
in October 1985 by Family Home Entertainment
Family Home Entertainment
Family Home Entertainment was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California.-General information:...
. A Region 1 DVD from Allumination FilmWorks
Allumination FilmWorks
Allumination FilmWorks is a distributor of home entertainment products. It was founded in 2002 as Ardustry Entertainment but renamed to Allumination FilmWorks sometime in late 2005/early 2006. Allumination is headquartered in Woodland Hills, CA, and also has a facility in Fort Mill, SC...
, featuring this special and Big Apple City, was released on March 6, 2007. In Germany, the original special premiered on ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
on April 4, 1983 as Emily im Erdbeerland. A soundtrack album, with contributions by Flo & Eddie
Flo & Eddie
Flo & Eddie are a comedic musical duo.The two were the original founding members of the Top 40 rock group the Turtles. After the Turtles dissolved, Volman and Kaylan first joined the Mothers of Invention as "Phlorescent Leech & Eddie"...
of The Turtles
The Turtles
The Turtles are an American rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965...
, was released by Kid Stuff Records
Kid Stuff Records
Kid Stuff Records was a record label of the 1980s devoted to children's music. The label's albums were mostly tie-ins for franchises such as Care Bears, The Pink Panther Show, Strawberry Shortcake, Fat Albert, Garfield, E.T...
the same year as the original airing. The track list featured the "Strawberry Shortcake Theme", along with "Smile a Sunny Morning", "Sunflower Market", "Monster Trees" and "Berry Talk".
Reception
The World of Strawberry Shortcake was reviewed twice by the School Library JournalSchool Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
. In the December 1983 issue, Margaret Bush said that the "Story, characters, dialogue and bits of stage business are busy, bright, contrived, and will appeal of young children." She added, however, that "Some of the lyrics and dialogue are not easily understoodit sounds as if adult voices may be attempting to simulate the voices of small children." In August of 2007, Kirsten Martindale gave the DVD set a positive review. She wrote that "Fans [...] will be thoroughly engaged by these two episodes", and recommended it "For nostalgic moms and their young daughters." She however singled out the audio and video quality: "[F]or those who haven't experienced the charm and simplicity of older cartoons, this may be annoying, but the nostalgic effect of the original presentation is relaxed and welcome." In 1987, Kathleen Pulcini of The Video Directory called it "Delightful fun for children."