Popcorn & Coffee Review: Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Bake Shop & Sweet Sunshine Adventures

$14.98; 66 Minutes

First introduced as a greeting card character in 1980, Strawberry Shortcake became a huge success. Toys and other merchandise quickly followed, along with several animated specials throughout the 1980s. The character disappeared in the 1990s, but was reintroduced with a new toy line in 2002; followed by an animated feature film and a short-lived television series.

In 2010, a CGI-animated series, titled Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Bitty Adventures debuted on The Hub (now known as Discovery Family). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has recently released two new DVD titles, Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Bake Shop & Strawberry Shortcake: Sweet Sunshine Adventures, featuring episodes from the series. Each title comes with a free Digital HD code.

Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Bake Shop features 3 episodes - "The Berry Biggest, Berry Baddest Bake-off," "The Berry Lucky Day," "A Basket Full of Blueberries." The only Special Feature is the Berry Fun Printable Recipes.

Strawberry and her pals work together in "The Berry Biggest, Berry Baddest Bake-off" to make a cupcake for Berrykin Bloom.

Huckleberry finds a good luck charm in "The Berry Lucky Day," but later learns that the charm belongs to Cherry.

Lemon and Raspberry try to help Blueberry when she becomes sick right before the Masquerade Ball in "A Basket Full of Blueberries."

$14.98; 66 Minutes

Strawberry Shortcake: Sweet Sunshine Adventures features 3 episodes - "The Berry Big Relay Race,"
"The Berry Best Treasure," and "The Berry Scary Fun Adventure." Special Features includes a Printable Coloring Pages, "Anything Is Possible" Music Video and Meet Strawberry Shortcake & Friends.

Apple Dumplin tells the story of "The Berry Big Relay Race," to her friends while they are all gathered around a camp fire.

While searching for "The Berry Best Treasure," Cherry and her pals must spend the day searching for lost puppies.

Strawberry and her pals venture into the forest for a campout in "The Berry Scary Fun Adventure."

Final Thoughts: Overall, I enjoyed watching all the episodes on the Strawberry Shortcake DVD releases. The CGI-animation is done well, the voice-cast is excellent and the plots are cute with a few kid-friendly life lessons.