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.
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.
