Dance Puppy Dance

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Dance Puppy Dance is the final episode of Season 4 of Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures, and the finale of the series.

Summary[]

Cherry Jam writes a song for the dance performance from the previous episode, but gets pretty cross when it goes viral, because she cannot concentrate on writing another song.

Episode Review[]

Strawberry, Plum, and Apple sit at the cafe and watch a video recording of Plum's dancing dog show from the previous episode. They find it funny. Apple asks permission from Plum to upload the video to her "Berry Best Bits" web page. Plum agrees, but there is a problem: the music on the video is hard to hear, due to the barking. Apple says she can use another music instead. Plum explains Apple she cannot use just any music; it has to match the dancing. Strawberry suggests to ask for help from their friend who is a world famous singer/composer in Berry Bitty City - Cherry.

Cherry is busy composing music to a song she is writing for the Queen of Berryvania. It is not going well, and she is near despair. The girls come with Pitterpatch and Pupcake. Strawberry asks Cherry if everything is alright, and Cherry answers sadly that the queen of Berryvania asked her to write a special song for celebrating her reign. It should be easy, but it is very stressful, she cannot come up with anything. Plum says there since she is so busy, they won't bother her. Cherry agrees, for she needs to clear her head. Apple explains the problem with the video, and asks her to compose a new song to go with the video. Cherry says all they need is the old song fully produced, and she can do it in no time, while Plum and Strawberry give her backup. Plum and Strawberry take their musical instruments, and together they play the song. Cherry does the adjustments very quickly. Apple and the pups enjoy listening, and dance to the music. When it is done, Cherry sends Apple the music file by the Berrynet. She suggests to name the song "Dance Puppy Dance". Apple compliments Cherry and says she is going to upload the song and the video right away. The girls thank Cherry heartily and leave. Cherry returns to the song she is writing for the queen, but it does not work. Since her stomach is rumbling, she goes to the cafe.

At the cafe, Cherry continues working while eating, but still in vain. She is sad, explaining Strawberry that the queen trusts her, and she can barely concentrate. Apple, after uploading the new-composed video, enters and shows the girls that the it has become a great hit, millions of people watch it on the Berrynet.

Apple increases the volume, Orange and Blueberry are excited to hear it. The girls start dancing to the sound of the music. Suddenly, Cherry's facial expression changes to anger - definitely unlike her. She shuts her laptop, and explains she cannot write her next song for the queen while listening to her last song, she needs quiet. The girls apologizes and promise they won't make a peep. Just then (talk about bad timing) Plum and Raspberry excitedly enter, telling Cherry that "Dance Puppy Dance" made into to the Berry Bitty City top pop songs! Plum plays the song loudly from her cellphone. All the girls dance, except Cherry who packs her equipment and storms off.

Cherry finds a quiet spot at the gazebo, and relaxes. Strawberry comes and apologizes for distracting her, but she has to admit it is pretty cool that everyone loves her song so much. Isn't it what music is for anyway? Cherry agrees, but she needs to focus, and cannot think of a new melody with the other one playing in her head all the time? She thinks she hears it right now... then she realizes that the song is actually playing now - Postmaster Bumblebee flies nearby, whistling the music loudly while listening to it from his walkman. She exclaims "I've created a musical monster!" and goes away. Strawberry calls after her, but she does not stop.

Cherry rests near her bus. Suddenly, guess who arrives... Mavis Maraschino and her assistant Berrykin Bertram.

Cherry and the chair fall backwards. Mavis insists on interviewing Cherry for her show "Berry Hits and Misses", about the song sensation that sweeping the Berry Bitty world "Dance Puppy Dance". Cherry apologizes that she has no time and wants to leave, but as usual Mavis does not listen, and demands to know what is the secret behind that mesmerizing musical masterpiece? As if to get on Cherry's nerves as much as she can, Mavis plays the song. Cherry says angrily she does not want to talk about that song, does not want to hear it - and wants to go far away where she won't hear it ever again. She takes her equipment and walks away. Mavis is satisfied with the exclusive scoop she has just gotten: Cherry boldly bashing her own tune. Maybe there is more to it than meets the eye? She'll bring it live to the audience.

Cherry finds another spot, peaceful and quiet, without any music players or Berrynet around, and gets to work. Berrykin Bloom and more Berrykin gardeners walk nearby. Worried, Cherry

asks them if they intend to turn on the radio? Berrykin Bloom assures her they have no time for that, they have to pick the berries. Cherry relaxes. She returns to the new song, and finally manages to write more and more lines. Just then, the song she cannot stand is playing very loudly from nearby loudspeakers. Berrykin Bloom and his crew enjoy listening, but Cherry explodes in rage. She yells "That does it!!". She decides that since she cannot get away from that song - she will destroy it!!!

Mavis is on the air, showing the viewers a recording of what Cherry told her earlier. She asks the audience: why would Cherry miss such a golden opportunity for publicity? Suddenly, Cherry arrives in a disguise. She introduces

herself as "Kumquat Cooldude" from Berry Big City. Mavis says she never heard of him. "Kumquat" explains that only the coolest of the people have been allowed into his cool circle of coolosity. Mavis quickly changes her mind and pretends she remembers him. She explains to the viewers that they are old friends, and asks "Kumquat" for his opinion about the new hit. "Kumquat" claims that "Dance Puppy Dance" is... super-lame! Mavis gasps, and so are Strawberry, Orange, Apple, and Plum who are watching the interview on Apple's laptop at the cafe. "Kumquat" continues: anybody who is truly cool will tell, the song is musically horrible, and anybody who does not want to look like a banana brain - should stop listening to it. Plum is enraged, how that guy dares to bash Cherry's song? "Kumquat" continues: "If you want to be cool and sophisticated like me and Mavis, then by all means - turn off that song and never play it again!!". "Kumquat," asks for Mavis's opinion. Mavis is speechless (a very rare event). While she fumbles for words, her cellphone is ringing - its ringtone is none other than "Dance Puppy Dance". She says apologetically how that horrid song became her ringtone? She agrees with "Kumquat". "Kumquat" addresses the viewers: "There you go, folks. You heard it from Mavis herself. That song is crummy, so stop listening to it, stop singing it and playing it in public, stop dancing and stop whistling it". Cherry's ploy nearly works, but then she adds absently "What this town needs is some peace and quiet so I can write the queen her song!". Mavis realizes something is fishy. Cherry tries to fix her mistake, but Mavis takes off her disguise - exposing her to the live broadcast. Mavis and the Berry girls are astonished, failing to understand why Cherry did that. Mavis announces that they will not stop playing her masterpiece, and does as she said. Cherry just tells that Mavis to enjoy the song all she wants, because this is Cherry's last song they'll ever hear, and she will never write music again!! Mavis and Strawberry exclaim "What?!". The Berry girls are saddened to hear their dear friend's announcement.

The Berry girls and Berrykins gather. They fail to understand why Cherry hates her song, and find it hard to believe she intends to retire from the music world. Strawberry says that although they love the song, friendship comes before music, and if their friend needs them to stop listening to her super-catchy song so she can compose a brand new super-catchy song for the queen of Berryvania - they should do it. They all agree to stop playing, listening, whistling, and singing the song.

For the next day, the Berry girls patrol the village, and whenever they hear someone playing/singing/whistling/humming the song

(Postmaster Bumblebee, Berrykin Bill) - they hush him sharply. Plum even goes that far to use a parabolic microphone, to make sure the song is not playing anywhere. Strawberry thinks they succeeded, and they go to see Cherry. They hope that once Cherry sees how everyone respects her wish not to play the song, she's bound to start writing music again.

On the way, they pass by Berrykin Bloom, who pushes a small cart with a strawberry-shaped container, and wears headphones. They greet him but he does not answer--not typical for him. They stop and look at him. He quickly removes the headphones and greets them back. Strawberry bends closer to the cart and hears the song comes out of the container. She opens it and finds a radio boombox inside. Berrykin Bloom is embarrassed, pretending he has no idea how the radio got there. Strawberry and Plum are annoyed. Suddenly, a squirrel appears and snatches the container with the boombox. Plum and Strawberry run after the squirrel. Orange comes out of her store and joins the chase.

Meanwhile, Cherry comes out of her tour bus. She is in a good mood after taking a nap and continues writing the song. Just as she makes good progress, she hears the song in the background... she yells "Anything but that song!". The squirrel appears, knocking over Cherry and her equipment, followed by the three girls. They jump at the squirrel and end up bumping into the musical instruments. Nonetheless, they grab the radio, and the squirrel runs away. Cherry verbally lashes out at her friends, unfairly accusing them of bringing the song over there, although they know she doesn't want to hear it. Strawberry apologizes and explains what they were trying to do. Cherry grabs the radio, pulls it out of the container, and furiously presses all the switches, but it won't turn off - what angers her even more.

Suddenly the queen of Berryvania appears. Cherry immediately stops her outburst, regains her composure and greets her courteously, while trying in vain to turn off the radio. The queen says she came to observe Cherry's progress on her royal song. Cherry fumbles for words, trying to explain why the song is not finished yet, but the queen thinks incorrectly the song that is playing in the background is the one Cherry wrote for her - and she loves it!! Cherry admits she was working on another song because this one is for dancing. The queen says that with such a groovy melody, what difference does it make? She announces this is the official royal song and asks the girls to put formality aside and join her in a dance. Finally, Cherry genuinely calms down. The three girls cheer and join the dance, with Apple and several Berrykins who have just arrived.

Strawberry approaches Cherry and says she must admit the music is really catchy. Cherry admits it is, apologizes for treating her and the others the way she did, and how Strawberry is right about her should liking her song. However, they must give her some rest from that song now and then. Strawberry apologizes for herself and everyone else not respecting Cherry's personal space - after all, the queen loves her song so much that Cherry will need to concentrate when the queen asks her to write an additional song. Cherry cheerfully admits to Strawberry that the latter knows how to cheer her up. Strawberry and Cherry join the dance, ending the episode and the series.

Quotes[]

(Apple enters the cafe)
Apple: (excitedly) Guys! Guys! You gotta see this! You aren't gonna believe it! Look!
(Apple approaches Cherry's laptop and browses to the website in which the song is played)
Apple: "Dance Puppy Dance" has gone viral! It's got, like, a berryzillion hit! And rising!
(Orange and Blueberry approach)
Orange: What is that song?
Apple: Catchy, right?
Orange: You're not kidding. It's super-danceable!

-----

Cherry: I've created a musical monster!!

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Cherry: (screams in rage) That does it!! If I can't get away from that song, then I'll destroy it!!!

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Cherry: Fine then, enjoy the song, 'cause it's the last song you'll hear from me! I'm NEVER gonna write music again!
Mavis: WHAT?!
Strawberry: (gasps with Orange, Plum and Apple) What?!

-----

Cherry: No... NO... ANYTHING BUT THAT SONG!!!
(Cherry is knocked over by the squirrel)

-----

Cherry: (lashes at the other girls) Oh, you did it alright! (stands up) How could you bring that...SONG HERE WHEN YOU KNEW I DIDN'T WANNA HEAR IT?!?!?

-----

Lessons[]

Although Cherry was under stress, that did not excuse her unpleasant behavior, which only saddened the other girls. She could have asked her friends to find a quiet spot for her. Surely Plum would have let her use the studio.
The other Berry girls proved to be what good friends are: despite the way Cherry behaved toward them, they did their best to help her by keeping the quiet.

Trivia[]

This is the second and last appearance of the Queen of Berryvania in the show, following "The Berry Best Biscuit"; it is the only time in the show she has speaking lines.
Cherry had writer's block before, in "The Berry Best Treasure"; she was upset then, but did not act like a bundle of nerves, just absent-mindedly.
The only season 4 episode in which Berrykin Bertram and Berrykin Bill appear.
Blueberry, Raspberry, Lemon and the twins have no speaking lines.
The song title is maybe a reference to Les Vandyke's song "Dance Puppet Dance", performed by Little Pattie in 1965.
This is the final appearance of the ten Berry Girls in the show, alongside several recurring characters: Pupcake, Pitterpatch, Queen of Berryvania, Mavis Maraschino, Berrykin Bloom, Berrykin Bill, Berrykin Bertram and Postmaster Bumblebee.
This is Mavis' third and last visit in Berry Bitty City, following "A Star is Fashioned" and "The Berry Best Vacation". Similarly to her former visits, she is unwanted and unwelcome, but she does not care.
This episode is the finale of Strawberry Shortcake Berry Bitty Adventures, as Season 5 was never confirmed due to conflicts, much to the disappointment of fans and persons alike.
- Other cartoons had the same case of ending, such as "Phineas and Ferb " and "Fish Hooks " from Disney Channel.
- In fact, a new series of Strawberry Shortcake is coming in 2019 or 2020 by DHX Media, which now owns the rights of the Strawberry Shortcake franchise overall, alongside with Iconix Brand Group.
When Strawberry says "What!?", she breaks the fourth wall by looking at the viewers. This is the last time that a fourth wall break happens.
Mavis had no idea who "Kumquat Cooldude" was, then she pretended they were old friends, and a moment later she revealed that such person never existed. However, since Cherry's statement has shocked the viewers, no one seemed to notice how Mavis made a fool of herself.

Goofs[]

The color of Cherry's tour bus is mostly red, much more than in the previous episodes.
Blueberry is absent from the meeting that Strawberry assembled.

External links[]

Dance Puppy Dance at the Internet Movie Database