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Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie

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Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie
DVD cover
Directed byKaren Hyden
Written byCarter Crocker
Based on
Strawberry Shortcake
by
  • Muriel Fahrion
  • American Greetings
StarringSee below[2]
Music byAndy Street (score/songs)
Judy Rothman (lyrics)
Production
companies
Distributed byKidtoon Films
Release date
  • October 7, 2006 (2006-10-07)
[1]
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie is a 2006 American animated family fantasy adventure musical film produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation and released theatrically in select cities on October 7, 2006, by Kidtoon Films.[1] It was the first feature-length film to feature the eponymous American Greetings property, and stars the voices of Sarah Heinke, Rachel Ware, Nils Haaland, and Bridget Robbins.[2] The film also includes the first appearance of the villain, the Peculiar Pie Man, since Nelvana's Strawberry Shortcake specials from more than twenty years earlier.[3]

Plot

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While having a sleepover together, Strawberry and her friends travel to the Land of Dreams on a sea-plane like boat built by Ginger Snap, where they must help stop the Pieman, Sour Grapes and their army of nightmares from ruling the earth.

Cast

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  • Sarah Heinke – Strawberry Shortcake
  • Rachel Ware – Angel Cake
  • Samantha Triba – Ginger Snap
  • DeJare Barfield – Orange Blossom
  • Greer McKain – Raspberry Torte
  • Mary Waltman – Lemon Meringue
  • Anna Jordan – Custard the Cat
  • Nils Haaland – Pupcake the Dog / Sleepbug
  • Cork Ramer – Purple Pieman
  • Bridget Robbins – Sour Grapes
  • Kim Carlson – P.J.
  • John Lee – Sandman

Production

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DiC Entertainment announced the first news of The Sweet Dreams Movie in June 2005, as the Strawberry Shortcake franchise was celebrating its 25th anniversary.[4] The script was written by Carter Crocker, whose previous credits included the Disney sequels Return to Never Land and The Jungle Book 2.[5]

During the film's production, storyboards were drawn by DiC crew members in Los Angeles and shipped to Omaha, Nebraska's Ware House Productions. A line-up of young actors, mostly from Omaha, recorded their lines in four days. Another two were spent on the score, composed by Los Angeles musician Andy Street.[6]

Release

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The Sweet Dreams Movie received its world premiere at Omaha's Rose Theater for the Performing Arts on October 30, 2006. American Greetings, DiC, the local Children's Hospital (where it was also screened) and Radio Disney sponsored the event.[7] Special showings of the film took place at Cleveland's Toonaloo event on October 1,[8] at the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival on October 8,[9] and at the Avalon Theatre in Washington, D.C., on January 27, 2007.[10]

Sweet Dreams was released as part of Kidtoon Films' monthly program on October 6, 2006, during weekend matinees in select venues. The film was only shown digitally, and not printed on traditional 35mm stock; had no major press reviews during its stay in theaters; and was designated as a direct-to-DVD feature in the first place. Hence, as with all of Kidtoon's past films, it is not considered a legitimate theatrical release, according to animation expert Jerry Beck on his Cartoon Research site.[11]

In a January 2007 interview with Animation Magazine, Leslie Nelson, a member of DiC's European unit, said that Sweet Dreams was the biggest success for the Kidtoon program, beating the sales for an undisclosed record holder by 20%.[12] During its October release, over two million tickets were sold.[13]

The Sweet Dreams Movie debuted on DVD in North America on February 6, 2007, courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Although there are no special features on the disc itself,[14] every copy includes a special package of organic strawberry seeds.[13]

The film had its first known international appearance when Disney Channel Asia picked it up for its "The Wonderful World of Disney" movie slot in March 2007. Disney Channel Asia has since repeated screenings of the film several times, but the film was not released onto VideoCDs in the Asian region until December, well over 10 months after the North American DVD release and over a year after its US theatrical début.

Reception

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The day before its DVD premiere, R.J. Carter of the home entertainment site, The Trades, gave The Sweet Dreams Movie a B− grade. He commented on the storyline: "It's not exactly [compelling]. It's silly, and simple, and syrupy sweet—which is all that's called for in a Strawberry Shortcake adventure". On the computer animation, he went on to say: "It is not done so with an attempt to go for realism, however, as the finished product looks more like a cast of plastic moulded [dolls from the franchise] than little girls. Think of any of the Barbie DVD animated adventures of late, and you'll be in the right ballpark".[14]

Some days later, Mike Long of DVD Talk expressed disappointment over the film's story, design and ending, as well as its songs, and rated it one star out of five.[15]

Merchandise

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20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released The Sweet Dreams Movie on DVD on February 6, 2007.[1]

Grosset & Dunlap has published at least three books based on the film, all of which contain actual stills from the production. They are The Sweet Dreams Movie Storybook by Megan E. Bryant (ISBN 0-448-44423-2), Dream Big! by Sierra Harimann (ISBN 0-448-44425-9), and a sticker book entitled A Berry Big Adventure, edited by Molly Kempf (ISBN 0-448-44424-0).

Koch Records released a soundtrack album of the film on August 30, 2006.[16] Nine songs were featured on the album, including "Sweet Dreams" and "All It Takes". Additionally, two songs unrelated to the film, "You're my Berry Best Friend" (from the regular episode Peppermint's Pet Peeve) and "Tell Me A Story" (a bonus music video from the Adventures in Ice-cream Island DVD), were included.[17]

Majesco Entertainment released the video game Strawberry Shortcake: Sweet Dreams for the Game Boy Advance on August 24, 2006. It was developed by Gorilla Systems, and incorporated stills of actual scenes from the film.[18] IGN reviewer Ed Lewis gave it a rating of 5.1/10.[19] Another game based on the film, Adventures in the Land of Dreams, was released by Game Factory for the PlayStation 2 console on January 10, 2007.[20] A port of the game for Microsoft Windows was also released in 2007.[21]

Both Strawberry Shortcake: Sweet Dreams for the GBA and Strawberry Shortcake: Adventure in the Land of Dreams for the PS2 and Windows were launched with the title Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Game in the North American market.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "RottenTomatoes - Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  2. ^ a b Rose Theater: Cast Bios for Sweet Dreams - Voice Talent Hails from Omaha, Many Children
  3. ^ Ball, Ryan (2006-06-15). Strawberry Shortcake Ripe for Big Screen. Archived 2006-12-06 at the Wayback Machine Animation Magazine.
  4. ^ DiC Entertainment: Strawberry Shortcake Celebrates 25th Anniversary this Year Archived 2006-05-11 at the Wayback Machine (June 1, 2005).
  5. ^ DiC Entertainment: A Berry Sweet Dream Comes True on the Big Screen Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (September 29, 2006).
  6. ^ Rose Theater: DiC Entertainment Features Omaha Talent in Many TV and DVD Animations; Omaha's Ware Hose Production [sic] Provides Recording Services[permanent dead link‍].
  7. ^ Rose Theater: The Rose Will Roll Out the Red Carpet for a World Premiere Showing of DiC Entertainment's New Made-for-Cinema "Strawberry Shortcake" Movie[permanent dead link‍].
  8. ^ Washington, Julie E. (2006, September 27). An American Greetings birthday party Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine. The Plain Dealer. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
  9. ^ Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival listing for the film
  10. ^ Child's Play Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (2007, January 21). The Washington Post, p. M08. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  11. ^ NOTE #2 (List of 2005 animated films) at Cartoon Research Archived 2006-11-30 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ Zahed, Ramin (2007, January 15). "News from NATPE: Words from the Wise" Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
  13. ^ a b STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: THE SWEET DREAMS MOVIE - The Berry Biggest Adventure Yet Bursts Onto DVD Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. Press release at saWorship.com. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  14. ^ a b Review of Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie Archived 2013-05-25 at the Wayback Machine by R.J. Carter at The Trades. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  15. ^ Review of Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie[permanent dead link‍] by Mike Long (2007, February 19). DVD Talk. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
  16. ^ SoundtrackCollector: Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ^ Amazon.com page for the soundtrack
  18. ^ "Strawberry Shortcake Sweet Dreams" announced Archived 2006-12-09 at the Wayback Machine (July 10, 2006). gamewinners.com.
  19. ^ Review for Strawberry Shortcake: Sweet Dreams Archived 2007-02-18 at the Wayback Machine at IGN.
  20. ^ Adventures in the Land of Dreams Archived 2010-06-20 at the Wayback Machine at Gamespot.com. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  21. ^ "Strawberry Shortcake - The Sweet Dreams Game - ESRB". ESRB Ratings. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
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