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From left to right: 1980, 2003, 2009
Strawberry Shortcake started life as a greeting card character in the early 1980s, but soon spawned a line of popular dolls and other merchandise, accompanied by six TV specials. In these specials she and her friends lived in a berry patch called Strawberryland, raising berries and taking care of the occasional villiany concocted by The Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak.
In 2003, she came back again, this time with a series of Direct To Video specials, a few of which were split up into a TV series. In this incarnation, she still lived in Strawberryland, but her friends lived in their own lands, and for a while there were no villains, just life lessons to be learned. The franchise got another reboot in 2009, with Strawberry living in Berry Bitty City, and no villains in sight (at least not at this time...).
Tropes Found in Two or More Versions:
- Alternate Continuity
- An Aesop
- Beauty Equals Goodness - Subverted in the '80s series and in the early seasons of the 2003 series, but started appearing as of episodes created after the 2007 redesign, and played straight in the 2009 series.
- Boring Invincible Hero - Most of the time. Few episodes actually show Strawberry upset at one point. Of course, things became all better again by the time the story comes to a close.
- Bragging Theme Tune - 2003 and 2009.
- Character Title
- Continuity Reboot - Once in 2002 and again in 2009.
- Edible Theme Naming
- Egopolis - Strawberry and all her friends live in Strawberryland.
- Everything's Better With Princesses - The Berry Princess in the 80's, the constant FableRemakes in the 2003 series, and Princess Berrykin in the 2009 version.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: It had and has a strong following in Mexico, among both first-generation fans and girls who watch the remake. It may have even contributed to the slang "fresa" [strawberry] being synonymous with posh and over cute, or "Valley Girl."
- It also has a berry, berry strong following in South East Asia...
- Girliness Upgrade
- Harmless Villain - The Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak.
- Your Mileage May Vary - Some people find the things the villain does, such as flooding Strawberryland and locking people up in cages, disturbing.
- I Dye Grass - In Strawberry Shortcake Meets The Berrykins, The Berry Princess and her Berrykins are in charge of giving the berries of Strawberryland their scent.
- In Spring For Strawberry Shortcake, Old Man Winter and the young girl Spring are responsible for bringing their respective seasons to Strawberryland.
- "When The Berry Fairy Came to Stay" reveals that the Berry Fairies are responsible for giving the Strawberryland berries their size and color.
- The Ingenue - Strawberry Shortcake.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover - Strawberry's usual pet is Custard the cat.
- Lilliputians - The 1980s and 2009 Strawberry and friends are tiny people living in a berry patch.
- Merchandise Driven - Yes—all this is to sell scented dolls!
- The One Guy - Huckleberry Pie.
- Pimped Out Dress - Much of The Merch recently.
- Planet Of Hats
- The Power Of Friendship
- Red Headed Hero
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent - Sour Grapes' pet is a snake named Dregs; the turtle exception applies to the good guys.
- Season Fluidity
- Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism - It's idealist.
- Species Surname
- Spring Is Late: In a book from the 1980s, Strawberry Shortcake and the Winter That Would Not End, and the 2003 DVD Spring For Strawberry Shortcake.
- Strawberry Shorthand - Do we even have to explain it?
- Sugar Bowl - Only Rainbow Brite and the Care Bears are as known for this, at least in the U.S. (The U.K. theatrical release of The Care Bears Movie ran Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins as a pre-movie bonus; both were Nelvana productions.)
- Supreme Chef - Strawberry Shortcake.
- Talking Animal
- Tastes Like Diabetes
- Team Mom - Strawberry Shortcake.
- That Reminds Me Of A Song
- They Changed It Now It Sucks - This Troper has been told that when the 2003 version started, this was how some (and I stress some) of the older fans felt about it. Further, those same fans (including those only familiar with the 2003 version) may or may not feel the same way about the more recent (2009) rendition.
- This troper thought the change from the 80s version to the 2003 version was awesome. But then they have to bring back the Pie Man, turn them into teen, and now, the 2009 relaunch- this troper can't stand the 2009 relaunch.
- Title Theme Tune - 2003 and 2009 version.
- Turn The Other Cheek - Strawberry, especially in the 2003 series.
- Vague Age
- Verbal Tic - Berry Talk. Especially strong in the 1980's version, but shows up to some degree in all three versions.
- When the Pie Man mentions himself, he always says it as dramatically as possible, then follows with a quick song and dance. According to the movie he even includes this in his signature.
Tropes Found in the 1980s Version:
- Big Applesauce - The eponymous city in the second special, Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City, is a transparent N.Y.C. analogue, complete with
Greenwich Spinach Village. Moreover, on the album Strawberry Shortcake Live, she sings a cover version of "New York, New York". (As David Letterman joked years later in a "Dave's Record Collection" segment, "I think this is the real reason the city can't sleep.")
- Character Name And The Noun Phrase - "Strawberry Shortcake and the Baby Without a Name."
- Cloudcuckoolander - Blueberry Muffin, especially in the first special.
- Cool And Unusual Punishment - Strawberry occasionally threatens the Peculiar Purple Pieman with "berry talk," which he can't stand. In fact, in Housewarming Surprise, Strawberry teaches his pet birds a song full of berry talk, knowing it would annoy him enough to make him return a bunch of recipes he stole from her.
- Disney Acid Sequence - The "Berry Talk" song in The World of Strawberry Shortcake.
- The Face Of The Sun - Mr. Sun, who serves as the Narrator and interacts with Strawberry and the others. This is especially pronounced in the first special The World of Strawberry Shortcake, in which he provides a Deus Ex Machina "magic wish" when the kids need to rescue Apple Dumplin' from the Pieman's palace. It's worth noting that in the first three specials he was voiced by the scriptwriter, Romeo Muller (best known for his work with Rankin Bass Productions).
- Half Identical Twins - Lem and Ada.
- Heel Face Turn - The Pieman did this at the end of The World of Strawberry Shortcake, but by the following year's Big Apple City, he reverted to his old ways due to his "evil conscience", as he explains to the frustrated Strawberry.
- Hello Nurse - The Berry Princess has this effect on The Peculiar Purple Pieman.
- Hey Its That Voice - Russi Taylor, best known now as Minnie Mouse, as Strawberry Shortcake. This is actually her earliest listed voiceover credit at IMDb.
- Lethal Chef - The Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak. This is a big plot point in Big Apple City, in which he and Strawberry are pitted against each other in a Bake-Off — since he knows he can't honestly win, he comes up with plan after plan to keep things from getting to that point.
- Loners Are Evil
- No Name Given - Baby Needs-a-Name.
- Recycled Premise - Strawberry's toy company Kenner swapped out fruit/food for flowers to create the characters and setting of the similar (and scented) toy line Rose-Petal Place in 1984, which spun off two animated specials.
- Twin Banter - Lem and Ada to a small extent.
Tropes Found in the 2003 Version:
Tropes Found in the 2009 Version:
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