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Toy makers: Leave my childhood alone!

11th June 2008

Toy makers: Leave my childhood alone!

posted in Pop Culture |

When Hasbro re-released its new version of My Little Pony last year complete with a thinner, raised rump and steamy bedroom eyes, I held my tongue. After all, it’s a horse and a cartoon one at that. But now manufacturers of my favorite childhood toys have gone and done it again, this time fucking around with two other iconic toys of my childhood: the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake.

Yeah, those cute cuddly bears with the tummy symbols promoting peace, love and happiness? Yep, maker American Greeting Properties has placed ‘em all on a diet so now they feature less belly fat and longer eyelashes. And Strawberry Shortcake - who’s getting a new TV show and computer-animated movie - has also undergone a complete body overhaul in what American Greeting Properties execs call a “fruit-forward” makeover, according to the New York Times:

Strawberry Shortcake, part of a line of scented dolls, now prefers fresh fruit to gumdrops, appears to wear just a dab of lipstick (but no rouge), and spends her time chatting on a cellphone instead of brushing her calico cat, Custard.

Strawberry Shortcake makeover

The new, “improved” Strawberry Shortcake’s adorable chubby cheeks have been noticeably thinned out, her pudgy nose realigned into a perky little point, her signature red kinky hair straightened into hot pink silky tresses, and her frilly bloomers replaced with, well, I don’t even want to speculate on what’s beneath that mid-thigh-high dress — even her cat is thinner. And that’s not all that’s been lost from the original series. Remember Strawberry Shortcake’s delightful array of friends who are all named after fruity desserts? Forget about some of them, too. There’s an epidemic of childhood obesity, haven’t you heard?

Makers of children’s toys hope to appeal to parents’ sense of nostalgia by reinvigorating and reimagining their favorite toys to boost profits and foster a new generation of brand loyalists. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will make their re-debut, this time with more muscles and less attitude. Mickey Mouse and Scooby Doo and Mystery, Inc. will also be re-released with a more modern look soon. And the transformation of popular children’s books character Angelina Ballerina, the chubby white dancing mouse who gets a new animated show this fall on PBS Kids, now looks like a weight-loss before and after success story.

What’s ironic is that toy maker execs tout nostalgia to be such the sales hook because of parents’ concern with an “increasingly violent and hyper-sexualized media landscape.” And yet, aren’t the highly-sexualized and muscle-bound makeovers of these toys only reinforcing those things parents fear most?

All I can say is they better leave Rainbow Brite alone.

**Update**

One website has estimated the cost of SS’s new look. Total cost for the facelift, eyelift, nose job, freckle removal, lip plumping and more? A whopping $23,000.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Pop Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 33 responses to “Toy makers: Leave my childhood alone!”

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  1. 1 On June 11th, 2008, La di DaNo Gravatar said:

    The Bratz “Ponyz” are even worse - http://www.mgae.com/2005_product_pages/Products/BratzBabyz/BratzBabyzPonyz.asp . (Also, WTF is up with the Ponyz noses that are like cow noses?) Though they’re new and not re-releases of previously chubby characters.

    Argh. This society is deeply sick.

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 6:52 pm

  2. 2 On June 11th, 2008, BreeNo Gravatar said:

    Today’s toymakers are obsessed with the over-sexualized anime and manga style of Japan. Big heads, small bodies, and for the most part on the gals, boobs so big that on us real women, we’d be doubled over in pain. Next thing you know, Strawberry Shortcake will sprout 50 DD’s and fighting mutant strawberries in a pink g-string.

    As for Scooby-Doo (one of my faves), they have modernized the gang for the current crop of movies that were released, but they are still true to the originals. And Scooby and Shaggy are still obsessed with food, eating whatever they can—and still thin! I hope that stays the same.

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

  3. 3 On June 11th, 2008, StevieNo Gravatar said:

    I thought they’d already gotten to rainbow bright.
    At least I watched all the reject shows as a kid. I think my favorite was gummy bears.

    I’m getting really tired of this rehashing of old ideas. I know many things at their very core get recycled a lot, but seriously someone needs to put in some more effort for the ideas. Much like movies made from books…not every popular book should be a movie. not every popular toy should be remade to live forever.

    I’m sure glad I’m not in their marketing research I’d throw a wrench into the whole thing. “well all other people like it alright, but this lady here…” has gone on a there hour rant about toys and advertising. I’d probably even attempt to shake sense into whoever I could get a hold of.

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

  4. 4 On June 11th, 2008, DawnDNo Gravatar said:

    Well, if you look at the Wikipedia article, you’ll see that Strawberry had an intermediate form, where she was already slimmed down, and didn’t have bloomers. The current makeover appears to reflect the trend toward bigger and bigger eyes, a la Anime. So while I find this whole thing objectionable, it didn’t all just happen; it’s been in the works for 8 years or so already.

    What does bother me is the following (from the NYT article):

    “It’s also about creating a cohesive line,” Mr. Conrad said. “We’re downplaying characters that were part of Strawberry’s world but who didn’t immediately shout out fruit.”

    Oh really? So exactly what are they planning to do with Ginger Snap, then? Thank goodness they don’t have to “downplay” Orange Blossom, or they might have a serious discrimination lawsuit on their hands!

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 7:56 pm

  5. 5 On June 11th, 2008, RachelNo Gravatar said:

    It looks like they dumped Apple Dumpling… but they’ve kept some of the old familiars. You can see all the characters they kept and their new looks here.

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 8:49 pm

  6. 6 On June 11th, 2008, BigLibertyNo Gravatar said:

    Huh. Looks like I wouldn’t have been allowed to be in her pack of friends, since even as a girl I had big thighs.

    Nice to know that diversity stops at weight, eh? Can’t let kids think that fat kids can make friends, have interesting personalities, or be active contributors in a community. In Shortcakeland, the fat kids are probably all in the ICU. Cuz yanno, they’re going to drop dead from heart-attacks ANY MINUTE NOW.

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 9:04 pm

  7. 7 On June 11th, 2008, Godless HeathenNo Gravatar said:

    Not to mention, Strawberry Shortcake didn’t spend all her time chatting on her cell phone, she used to spend all her time fighting that evil baker guy. But, you know, girls actually doing things might lead to self confidence, we couldn’t have that.

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 9:29 pm

  8. 8 On June 11th, 2008, RavyngurlNo Gravatar said:

    Nice to know they completely removed the one possibly lesbian character as well: Bye, bye, Plum Puddin’!

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 10:07 pm

  9. 9 On June 11th, 2008, BaconsmomNo Gravatar said:

    And this is why Bacon gets dinosaurs.

    posted on June 11th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

  10. 10 On June 12th, 2008, LizaNo Gravatar said:

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

    STRAWBERRY!!! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!

    Ah. Needed to get that out of my system. I thought they already remade her a few years ago. She wore overalls and looked like a farmer.

    Please stop fzucking with my childhood!!

    (and why is it mostly “girl” toys getting make-overs? Optimus Prime wasn’t really all that different in the Michael Bay movie - just live action instead of cartoon)

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 12:57 am

  11. 11 On June 12th, 2008, elizabethNo Gravatar said:

    fuck that. seriously. this makes me soo angry. I am beyond sick of the over-sexing of everything child related. It makes me so sick. I am terrified of having children in this world.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 2:20 am

  12. 12 On June 12th, 2008, MercyNo Gravatar said:

    *sob* I’d like to second everything that Liza said.

    I loved Strawberry Shortcake when I was little. Especially because of the hair, I think.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 2:25 am

  13. 13 On June 12th, 2008, vicky smithNo Gravatar said:

    NOOOOOO LEAVE THE CARE BEARS ALONE!!!!!!!!!!

    I feel sad when I see the things that enhanced my childhood changing, I understand buisnesses want to make more money, need to keep up with trends but shrinking the care bear’s tummy? It made them cuddly!

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 6:32 am

  14. 14 On June 12th, 2008, RachelNo Gravatar said:

    Yeah, shrinking the Care Bears’ tummies is kind of like shrinking the belly of the laughing Buddha. How can they be so jolly if their tummies are empty?

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 8:56 am

  15. 15 On June 12th, 2008, GammazonNo Gravatar said:

    I can’t believe they have done that to my beloved Strawberry!! I hope that my other beloved Holly Hobbie is not tainted with todays “idea” of beauty!

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 9:15 am

  16. 16 On June 12th, 2008, BigLibertyNo Gravatar said:

    New Care Bears: http://www.shotgunreviews.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/care-bears.jpg

    Old Care Bears: http://www.123posters.com/images/kids/k-carebears1.jpg

    Everyone’s thinner.

    The female bears now look distinctively female — sexualized/demure poses, thinner/more delicate frame than the males.

    Sickening. I used to watch this as a little kid. I had a girl care bear (which I bought because she had a rainbow on her belly) and my brother had “Lucky,” the green one.

    I know anime has the tendency to “lollipop-ize” people, making the women have 6 feet long legs and 1 foot high bodies with massive heads and breasts, but godz. You get the impression this is way less stylistic and more indicative of what children are being programmed is attractive, these days. With more and more fat stigma in schools, I’m sure the study groups from the toy companies polling small children realized the aversion to fat. This is less about social engineering, and more a sign that our children are already socially engineered.

    Yikes.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 9:16 am

  17. 17 On June 12th, 2008, Fat AngieNo Gravatar said:

    I thought that the “revised” Strawberry Shortcake looked more like Ariel from The Little Mermaid to tell you the truth (and since Anime is a bastardization of Walt Disney’s drawing style, that shouldn’t be all that surprising if they wanted to give her a more “Anime” look).

    And Bree, if she had 50DDs, it would be more body-positive, since she’d measure 50 around her ribcage. :)

    The new Care Bears look weird, and I was never into My Little Pony, so I don’t have any opinion on that.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 9:20 am

  18. 18 On June 12th, 2008, JenNo Gravatar said:

    Yeah, Rainbow Brite was like my childhood Tank Girl. Damn straight they better leave her alone. Yikes.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 10:26 am

  19. 19 On June 12th, 2008, LizaNo Gravatar said:

    BigLiberty, the new Care Bears kind of creep me out. Why are we sexualizing stuffed aninmals? I mean come one, don’t fuck with Funshine Bear!

    Same goes with the ponies. Why do we need sexy horses? Now we’re promoting bestiality?

    And a side note…it was unwise on my part to google “bestiality” to look for the correct spelling. *shudder*

    I know I commented already, but I always have more to say.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 11:05 am

  20. 20 On June 12th, 2008, MaryNo Gravatar said:

    Wow, I had no idea about any of this, but should have seen it coming. My big problem with it is that the name “Strawberry Shortcake” still promotes dessert consumption. They should really change it to “Strawberry Nonfat Yogurt”.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 11:58 am

  21. 21 On June 12th, 2008, RachelNo Gravatar said:

    Or better yet, we can get some commercial promotion in there by changing it to Strawberry SlimFast.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 12:01 pm

  22. 22 On June 12th, 2008, QuiwiNo Gravatar said:

    You’re right about Rainbow Brite, I wish they would try to “hoochify” her and her pals, I would throw a fit! I wonder if they would also modify the Sprites that came with each Rainbow Brite character? Instead of calling them “Sprites”, would we now have to call them “Crystal Lights”? Would “Mojito Lime” and “Burnt Sienna” now be part of the Rainbow Brite crew?
    As for Strawberry Shortcake, did they change the villians? Would the “Purple Pieman” now be inappropiate?

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

  23. 23 On June 12th, 2008, RachelNo Gravatar said:

    Oh, no. Purple Pieman is still accurate because pie makes you fat, so anything with pie in it is villainous. Who wants to bet with me that the Purple Pieman is turned into a huge fat purple blob?

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

  24. 24 On June 12th, 2008, MarsteNo Gravatar said:

    *cries quietly in corner*

    But . . . but . . . how are the Care Bears supposed to do the Care Bear Stare and shoot all that happy-love-stuff from their bellies IF THEY HAVE NO BELLIES?!?!?! Is there less happy-love-stuff too???

    *goes back to crying quietly*

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

  25. 25 On June 12th, 2008, BigLibertyNo Gravatar said:

    On the shortcake reference, interestingly, in the new version Strawberry Shortcake no longer lives in a shortcake, she in fact, lives in a strawberry.

    Cuz shortcake is fattening and has sugar and is baaaaaaaaaad. Or at least, that’s my theory. :P

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 12:37 pm

  26. 26 On June 12th, 2008, JackieNo Gravatar said:

    I think they will leave Rainbow Brite alone. You see both Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake were shows that were based on American Greetings card characters. So they’re trying to recycle the shows, and doing a rather lame job of it.

    Rainbow Brite has nothing to do with American Greetings, so I’m sure she’s safe. Actually, I really haven’t heard of any recycling of Rainbow Brite, other than they re-released the Star Stealer movie on DVD. I heard the creator of the series is French, so perhaps it’s just really difficult getting in touch with the creator and asking their permission about the series.

    I realized after watching the Star Stealer movie, that Rainbow Brite really did inspire me to be more of a tomboy. She didn’t let boys talk down to her, and she always was putting Murkey and Lurkey in their place. Even though arguably, Murkey & Lurkey were a great part of the show too, since they were like the bumbling bad guys. I don’t remember the name of the woman who had spikey 80’s hair, I recall she owned a pet rock in the Star Stealer movie. I think, now knowing the creator is French, she has to be a parody of those really snooty rich French women, who buy all the top designer clothes. Also, most of the people who animated Rainbow Brite were Japanese. So Rainbow Brite actually was what would now be considered Anime. You can see alot of the influence in the cartoon, if you know what to look for. There’s also the huge eyes, which is a somewhat infamous Anime trademark.

    I don’t like the whole, revamping the characters claiming to make them more modern, which means making them behave more based on gender roles. Perhaps it’s that the 80’s was a brief period of time when people were more open minded about things, that guys could look just as girly as girls. That girls could be major tomboys, and not hassled about it. Maybe the remakes of the cartoons being lame, just goes to show that had they not been made in the 80’s, they could’ve been majorly lame.

    BTW, remember the Alvin & the Chipmunks Adventure movie where they went around the world? They re-released that on DVD, while it does have fat stereotypes in it, mostly around Elenor and Theodore, it’s still a cute film. There is the woman who has this little dog, that acts just as spoiled as she is, which is hilarious. They also had the first imagined 3D video game, and it’s so interesting to remember when video games like that seemed so futuristic, and now everything is 3D.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 1:02 pm

  27. 27 On June 12th, 2008, NinaNo Gravatar said:

    In response to #10, don’t even get me started on the rant I have for Michael Bay for giving Optimus Prime flames, lips, and sad eyes. Ugh.

    As for Strawberry Shortcake, it is a shame they’ve changed an icon. There really was no need to. They did redo her a while back, I remember selling her new toys at Suncoast. She had a little hat and all of her friends were still there. What is with the pink hair??

    As a regular attendee of anime conventions, I’m not gonna blame anime. I’m blaming anime imitators. For goodness’ sake, why can’t people just work from what they have? Why do they think that giving things an anime style will automatically make it better??

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

  28. 28 On June 12th, 2008, RachelNo Gravatar said:

    Gammazon: I’m so sorry to tell you this, but Holly Hobby has also gone under the knife.

    And I added an update to this post. One website has estimated that all the work Shorty has had done in her “fruit-forward” makeover would cost a whopping $23k in real life.

    posted on June 12th, 2008 at 3:52 pm

  29. 29 On June 13th, 2008, Dr. Robyn SilvermanNo Gravatar said:

    We’ve been discussing this as well over at Kiss My Assets and Powerful Parenting–

    http://kissmyassets.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/nip-tuck-for-strawberry-shortcake-and-friends-less-belly-fat-more-muscles-and-a-cellphone/

    Perhaps people think that this will have no impact– but according to numerous studies, it can.

    “the depictions about gender roles seen by children could impact and interact with both the expectations they develop about relationships and appropriate behavior, and their future life decisions. It is important to keep in mind, too, that the concern about stereotyping is not less severe because these are cartoons and not “real life.” Although this issue has not been definitely settled by research, several studies have indicated that young children accept fantasy as reality and cannot always distinguish well between the two. – Sex Roles: A Journal of Research by Thompson et al.

    Anyway– let’s not forget the physical loss as well-
    Longer eyelashes and less belly fat in the care bears? I mean, they are just sweet little teddy bears– not work out bears. Who wants to give a squeeze to a hard, bony bear?

    Dr. Robyn

    posted on June 13th, 2008 at 7:44 pm

  30. 30 On June 14th, 2008, Fat AngieNo Gravatar said:

    Sudden thought on the “sexification” of Strawberry Shortcake. When Penny Arcade did this, they got sued. :P

    posted on June 14th, 2008 at 10:38 am

  31. 31 On June 16th, 2008, rickiNo Gravatar said:

    What bugs me is apparently how “alike” the new versions of everything is…instead of being independent girls who battle evil, they sit in their suburban bedrooms and chatter on their cell phones. BOR-ING.

    When I was a kid, just one reason I hated Barbie was that it seemed to me that she didn’t DO anything but stand around and look pretty - like hell she could actually run or jump with those feet, and she probably wouldn’t like getting her clothes muddy.

    I played with the little plastic farm animals you used to be able to buy - at least if they got muddy you could wash them off with the hose.

    I’m really bummed by how they changed Holly Hobbie. I guess I’m a little older than a lot of the posters; I was already a little past doll-age when Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears came out. (N.B.: that doesn’t mean I still didn’t WANT the dolls). Holly was one of the dolls I played with as a kid, because the whole “pioneer” thing kind of fired my imagination. Now, they’re redoing her with the “great-granddaughter” of the original Holly character. (So they killed my Holly! Thanks a lot, toymakers). As far as I’ve been able to determine, she’s as much a predictable suburbanite as all the other “revamped” characters - not much for kids to have their imagination sparked by, unless kids these days only imagine having the newest fanciest cell phone or getting that cute kid of the opposite sex to notice them in class.

    Sigh. I feel a disturbance in the Force, like a thousand tiny painted-on mouths crying out and then being silenced.

    posted on June 16th, 2008 at 12:19 pm

  32. 32 On June 18th, 2008, Shaping Youth » Facelifts for Kiddie Characters: Rebranding ’80s Icons? said:

    [...] eye roll of Angelina Ballerina being given a tummy tuck (yah, every mouse needs one, eh?) the Care Bears and My Little Pony being slimmed down and morphed into eyelash batting beasties, and Strawberry [...]

    posted on June 18th, 2008 at 3:35 am

  33. 33 On June 11th, 2009, Will someone please give Big Boy a Big Boy? » The-F-Word.org said:

    [...] Big Boy isn’t the only character to go on a diet.  Hasbro introduced a slimmed down version of My Little Pony in 2007, followed a year later by a dumbed-down but svelte Strawberry Shortcake (even her cat is thinner!) and sadly skinny Care Bears — read the outrage here. [...]

    posted on June 11th, 2009 at 2:56 pm

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