Strawberry Shortcake is an American children's musical preschool animated series produced by DIC Entertainment and American Greetings based on the franchise of the same name that premiered on March 11, 2003. The series consists of 45 episodes, plus one short and one feature film based on this incarnation. The series was broadcast on television by CBS, HBO, HBO Family, and in broadcast syndication. The entire cast is replaced with younger and lesser known voice actors compared to the 1980s Strawberry Shortcake animated specials.
Following the series' reboot in 2009, the 2003 series was succeeded by Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures in 2010.
Contents
Characters
Main
Strawberry Shortcake (voiced by Sarah Heinke): The main protagonist of the series, she is a kind and sweet redhead who is always there for her friends and who often takes up a leader role.
Angel Cake (voiced by Rachel Ware): A persnickety, blonde girl who can sometimes be a little bit perfectionist, wanting everything to be how she wants it, but still shows a good side.
Ginger Snap (voiced by Samantha Triba): A talkative, clever inventor and baker (of unknown ethnicity), she can be quite quick and timid when her mood hits.
Orange Blossom (voiced by Dejare Barfield): A happy and cheerful girl (of African-American ethnicity) who lives up to her name, although she can get a little shy and sensitive at times.
Huckleberry Pie (voiced by Daniel Canfield (season 1) and James Street (seasons 2-4): An adventurous boy who enjoys skateboarding, but still makes sure his friends come first. By seasons 3-4, he switches to a recurring character. He wears a blue hat worn backward (seasons 1-3), and a red hat worn forward (season 4).
Pupcake (vocal effects by Nils Haaland): Strawberry's pet dog, he is often very excited and playful, and can sometimes annoy Custard.
Custard (voiced by Sarah Koslosky (season 1) and Anna Jordan (seasons 2-4): Strawberry's pet cat who has a snarky, sarcastic character. Unlike in past incarnations, she can speak and is able to translate Pupcake's barks into human language.
Recurring
Apple Dumpling (voiced by Katie Labosky): Strawberry's younger sister who wishes to be like her big sister, and hopes that she can do anything the older children do. By season 4, she ages up to a preteen.
Blueberry Muffin (voiced by Bianca Heyward; Caroline lliff (in one episode of season 4)): A smart and creative girl who enjoys reading books and making up plays.
Peppermint Fizz (voiced by Rebecca Noddle): A stubborn and highly-tempered girl who will do anything to get her way, but through it all, can still have a good heart and even feel remorseful for her accidents. By season 4, she becomes more light-hearted to Strawberry, wanting to be part of her group of friends.
Seaberry Delight (voiced by Abby Leib): A shy ocean girl who lives in Seaberry Shore with Coco Calypso.
Coco Calypso (voiced by Melissa Deni): A distant West Indian friend of Strawberry Shortcake who lives on Seaberry Island and likes to perform.
Rainbow Sherbet (voiced by Laura Grimm): An adventurer and sailor who lives in a colorful boat dubbed the Rainbow Float, she earns a habit of speaking in a "sailor term" accent.
Crepes Suzette (voiced by Caroline Iliff): Strawberry's friend from Pearis (fictional city in Europe) who is a fashion designer and is sometimes prone to being dramatic.
Cherry Cuddler: Crepes' younger sister who only appeared in illustrations.
Tea Blossom (voiced by Marissa Maliani): A quiet and reserved girl (of Asian ethnicity) from Plum Blossom Province who comes to visit Strawberryland, although she finds it difficult to adjust to their aesthetic.
Tangerina Torta (voiced by Caroline lliff (season 3) and Dana Donlan (season 4)): An orange-haired Latin-American girl with a passion for nature. In season 4, she was redesigned and has a new accent.
Episodes
Game Boy Advance Video
Majesco has also released Strawberry Shortcake episodes as a Game Boy Advance Video cartridge:
Strawberry Shortcake Volume 1
Meet Strawberry Shortcake
Spring for Strawberry Shortcake
Note: The episodes released on Game Boy Advance Video are the 22-minute edited broadcast version of the episodes (some markets show these episodes as a two-part series without cutting off scenes instead), unlike the video versions which are 45 minutes in length each. Presumably this decision was made to keep the costs of producing the cartridges down (as the need for higher density memory chips would drive the cost of the cartridge up). As a result, two songs and a significant number of scenes from "Meet Strawberry Shortcake", as well as two songs and half of the scenes from "Spring for Strawberry Shortcake" were missing from the GBA Video release if compared to the other videos. Also notable is that the song Friendship Grows Like a Flower was shortened.
Broadcast
United States
In the United States, although promoted as a direct-to-video series, the series did air on television as well.
In 2003, Season 1 gained one-off airings on HBO and its HBO Family.
In January 2006, shortened Season 1-2 episodes aired on Mondays within the Program B slot (which mainly aired on The CW affiliates) of the DIC Kids Network syndicated block. The series ran on the block until 2007, when it moved to KEWLopolis on CBS, with Season 3 episodes added in September 2008. In September 2009, it was removed from the block following its rebranding as Cookie Jar TV, but returned in April 2010 until September that year. Season 4 has never aired on television in the United States and remains exclusively on DVD and digital download.
Internationally
In international markets, DIC pre-sold the series to GMTV in the United Kingdom and Fox Kids Europe in some European territories in 2004. In 2008, DIC pre-sold the series to more broadcasters including M6, Canal J and TiJi in France, Tiny Pop in the United Kingdom, K-T.V. in South Africa, KiKa in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and German-speaking Switzerland, Alter Channel in Greece and Mediaset in Italy. Season 1 episodes are broadcast as two parts instead of being shortened, doubling the episode count to eight. In Canada, the series aired on Treehouse TV.
From Season 2 onwards, the episodes are presented individually on the TV broadcasts rather than being compilations, although this depended on the broadcaster (e.g., Disney Channel Asia aired the first four episodes as two-parters).
Some networks, like GMTV and Minimax in CEE aired Season 1 uninterrupted as one, full-length part akin to the DVD releases, while Season 2 onwards are broadcast exactly like on the DVDs with the compilation format.
Home media
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment began releasing the series direct-to-video in the United States starting in March 2003. The first few episodes were released on both VHS and DVD, and bundled with certain toys; later episodes were only released on DVD. They are also available on Video CD through various fourth-party licensees in Southeast Asia and in certain other markets. The first four videos contain only one story but run for twice the length of subsequent episodes.
From Season 2 onwards, the videotapes and DVDs are presented as "compilations" in which Strawberry recounts the featured adventures using her "remembering book" or for Season 4, showcases the featured stories as simple flashbacks.
22 Volumes (1 including the film) have been released for the series overall.
Other media
A five-minute Strawberry Shortcake short, "Growing Better All the Time", is available exclusively in the Care Bears: Daydreams DVD (released on October 14, 2003) as a bonus feature. Numerous scenes from the short were used in the 2000s (decade) series' second opening sequence, and the song from the short was released on the "Strawberry Jams" CD. Additionally, a public service announcement for the ASPCA was produced and aired in the US. The PSA features Strawberry Shortcake talking about the basics of pet ownership.