"Manners Meltdown" is an episode of Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures.
Summary[]
The girls prepare themselves for the Berry Bitty Buggy Derby, a formal event where traditional etiquette is very important. After she accidentally makes a bad impression in front of Princess Berrykin, Blueberry ends up taking it overboard out of fear she could mess up again.
Episode Review[]
Strawberry is showing the girls how to properly ice a cake while Custard tries to lick it. She explains how careful one must be while decorating, or else there is a risk of ruining it. She offers to let the others try and volunteers Lemon, who worries she'll mess up until Strawberry assures her that even if it gets messed up the cake will still taste the same. Lemon gives it a whirl and is delightfully surprised to see how well she did, only to squirt some in Orange's face after being surprised by Princess Berrykin.
She has come to inform the girls of the old tradition they planned to bring back soon, the Berry Bitty Buggy Derby. It was forgotten due to how busy everyone usually is during harvest season, but she would like their help in bringing it back. Raspberry recalls it being a formal event, leading Princess Berrykin to admit that some of the traditions were weird. Just then, Blueberry comes rushing into the cafe, and she fails to realize that she just interrupted the Princess until Lemon points it out. Blueberry is very embarrassed and apologizes for her mistake, as she didn't know the Princess was there. Princess Berrykin forgives her and she decides to get going in order to locate the list of rules and preparations needed for the event.
While everyone else has forgotten her mistake, Blueberry finds herself dismayed over what she did. In order to help her feel better, she receives the job of being the "Manners Expert". Blueberry perks up, happy to have a chance to make up for what she did. She stays up all night to read the book and absorb what is tells her.
The following day the girls are discussing how excited they are for the event when Blueberry shows up to help them, with the manners book. She goes over some of the etiquette, such as bowing when the Princess approaches or greets someone. The other girls mention that this isn't something most people do anymore, and the Princess is their friend so she wouldn't make them do that. But Strawberry thinks that even if it seems strange, they should probably go along with it as its tradition. They decide to go over what they have done up to this point when Blueberry asks what they should do if someone makes a mistake. Strawberry assures her that it's okay to make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Unfortunately this does little to comfort Blueberry.
The next day the Princess is going over their progress when Lemon asks what the importance of introducing themselves to the drivers is. Strawberry explains that is a nice gesture to those from out of town, to make them feel welcome. A baby Berrykin comes over to ask her what a tradition is so she takes a moment to explain as Orange admits that she feels nervous. Blueberry brings up the book and how she has read it from top to bottom, at least three times. She demonstrates when Plum asks why three bows are placed on each car, explaining that it serves as a reminder of drivers from the past. As the cars drive by, the girls hold up umbrella. It's another tradition, and Plum remarks that it doesn't make sense to her- until she gets splashed by a puddle. The baby Berrykin says that it's tradition.
The drivers are brought up to the stage to meet the girls when Blueberry suddenly panics upon realizing they forgot to do an introduction. She tries to help before taking her turn, followed by Strawberry and everyone else. She worries that Strawberry forgot what to do and reminds her, and so far everything has been going well because of her help. But wanting to do more, she attempts to figure out what else she needs to handle.
That night the party is eventually held. Lemon and Raspberry chat about the dresses she made for everyone, then they notice Blueberry hasn't shown up yet. They find her trying to make small talk with Postmaster Bumblebee when Plum approaches, and they curiously observe Blueberry who is too focused on nitpicking various things instead of enjoying the party. As a result nobody else really has a good time either, and Strawberry decides to speak with her friend. Blueberry refuses to listen to reason though, using her spare time to review the book again.
The next day, Strawberry notices that Blueberry is sleep-deprived from staying up all night to re-read the book. Blueberry yawns, then starts to panic afterwards and scold herself. She stops after realizing Raspberry made a mistake and tries to help her, but by now none of her friends want to hear it from her. They start to hide from her instead of listening.
Blueberry notices a yellow Berrykin approaching the Princess, and thinks he is about to interrupt her speech. She yells out to it, not thinking clearly and disturbing everyone else in the process. The Berrykin explains that he wanted to tell the Princess one of the other racers had a flat tire. Then, embarrassed and humiliated, he runs off to hide. Blueberry is given several disapproving looks but doesn't understand what she did wrong, until Strawberry points out that it can be rude to correct people in front of others.
They find the racer having taken shelter in the cafe, and he refuses to come out. It's holding up the race though. Blueberry apologizes for embarrassing him like that, it was never her intention. The berrykin feels a little better and decides to come out, but now he's nervous that he will make another mistake, just like she was. He agrees to return to the race though, and to everyone's surprise he wins.
Blueberry is so happy that she hugs Lemon, only to quickly stop and ask if it was okay that she did that. Lemon assures her that she didn't mind, and as the Berrykin celebrates his win, Strawberry decides to sing a song for everyone.
Quotes[]
- Raspberry: (about Blueberry) She's correcting everyone's mistakes...
- Plum: (angrily) She was correcting me even before I made a mistake!
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- (Blueberry approaches the other girls)
- Blueberry: (shouts from afar) Bad manners!
- Plum: Uh-oh! Manners maniac coming our way! Quick, hide!
- (the girls quickly disperse)
- Blueberry: Where'd they go? I could have sworn they were here a minute ago...
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- Blueberry: "Umbrellas! Time for the umbrellas!"
- Plum: "Okay, now this tradition really makes no sense. Why would we open up umbrellas just because... someone is driving?"
- Baby Berrykin: "'Cause it's a twadition!"
- Plum: "Very helpful. Thank you."
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- (Lemon unintentionally sprays icing on Orange's face, for the second time)
- Orange: Why do you keep frosting ME? Do I look like a cake?
- Plum (helping Orange clean her face): Hehe, you do now!
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- (repeated line)
- Blueberry: Bad manners! Bad manners!
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- Blueberry: I was just trying to make sure everything went well. I mean, why is the driver upset? He is the one who goofed up his manners!
- Strawberry: Uhm... actually, Blueberry, it's even worse manners to correct someone's bad manners in front of other people.
- Blueberry: Oh no... I've been doing that to all of you, haven't I?
- Lemon: Well, not exactly... I mean, not really... I mean... eh
- Plum: Yes!
- The other girls: Yes!
Lessons[]
Blueberry learns that nobody is perfect, and bad manners or mistakes just happen. There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve herself for the sake of avoiding doing it again, but she took it too far by trying to correct everyone else. She learns of the balance between being polite and overdoing it.
Trivia[]
- This is the second episode in a row that is about Blueberry.
Goofs[]
- If Blueberry was seeing the girls during the moment before the race where she called out "Bad manners!", she should have seen them disperse, thus knowing in which directions they took off to hide. Yet, Blueberry has no idea where they went.
External links[]
- Manners Meltdown at the Internet Movie Database