SOUNDS OF THE SEASON: SAD SONGS FOR MOTHER'S DAY

To celebrate the approach of Mother’s Day, I present to you a trio of three seemingly unassuming animated scenes/songs about mothers that will give you an emotional punch to the gut. 

I’m not sure why, but over the years animated films and shows have brought us some of the most heart-wrenching songs about mothers and motherhood.  Maybe it’s because they are aimed at children and mothers play a big role in their day-to-day lives, or maybe most animators have a lot of guilt over treating their mothers badly?  Whatever the reason, these songs are guaranteed to trigger your “rush to the phone and call your mom to thank her for everything” instinct.  

First up is "Your Mother and Mine" from Disney's 1953 animated film Peter Pan.  We bought the Blu-Ray edition and recently re-watched Peter Pan, and let me tell you I forgot how dark this movie is.  Peter Pan is seriously dickish and Tinker Bell and the mermaids tooare basically homicidal.  Don't get me wrong-- none of the above diminishes my enjoyment of the movie, which is firmly ensconced in my Top 25 Animated Disney Films list.  I just didn't remember how much refreshingly sour was mixed in the sweet.  There's also this tremendously sad scene, in which Wendy guilt trips the Lost Boys and her brothers via song.  The lyrics and tone of the song are quite melancholy by themselves, but when you remember that the Lost Boys are all either orphans or runaways (or kidnap victims-- I wouldn't put it past Peter) it adds an extra layer of sadness over the proceedings. You'll be sobbing like Smee by the end, and no need to wipe off your own war paint, because your tears will do it for you:

Feeling the blues yet?  If not, this next little ditty should do the trick.  From one of my current favorites, Disney Channel's wildly successful animated series Sofia the First, comes this song from last year's Mother's Day episode.  Sofia's mom, formerly a commoner, married the king and Sofia got herself a stepdad and two step-siblings (she also got a castle, servants, a magical amulet granting her the ability to talk to animals, and enrolled in a school run by fairies  But I'm not jealous.  Not at all).  But in this poignant song Sofia expresses her melancholy at having to now share her mom's affections.  Yes, she's singing to her witch friend but don't let her presence distract you from this heartfelt and surprisingly catchy song:

"Me and my mooooommmmm...."

You are crying now, right?  If not I must assume you are some sort of robot.  And not the emotional replicant kind yearning to be human, but some sort of Terminator assassin type sent to the past to read blogs about holiday-themed media.

Okay, I saved the saddest for lastest.  One of the most overlooked gems of the 80s is 1987's The Chimpunk Adventure.  This animated movie was a staple of my childhood; my sister and I rented it from our local video store religiously, along with our two other holy scriptures, The Muppets Take Manhattan and Troop Beverly Hills.  The story, which involves the Chipmunks and Chipettes in a hot-air balloon race around the world, collecting dolls secretly stuffed with diamonds by smugglers, is bananas in the best way.  There are thrilling action sequences, gender politics, and fascinating geo-politics at work here.  And the music!  "Diamond Dolls" is seriously one of the greatest songs EVER.  I listen to it constantly.  "The Girls & Boys of Rock & Roll" is a close second.  There's also a pretty racist song about Mexico and siestas that we'll conveniently ignore right now.

And then there's "My Mother."  Both the song itself and the scene that contains it are heartBREAKING.  The song is devastatingly sad on its own, but when coupled with the "sick penguin who needs to be reunited with its mother" storyline and visuals...just try and resist the sadness.  Just to up the ante, here is the scene and song from the movie playing simultaneously with a modern-day toddler's reaction.  This little girl is me in 1987 watching the movie and me now.  She is feeling ALL the emotions.  This is also a commentary on the modern state of parenting, where you record your child's heartfelt emotions and broadcast them to the world.  I've tried to adequately prepare you, I truly have.  Now watch:

Okay, that's it.  Time to go call my mom.  

SPRING FOR STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Strawberry Shortcake

Season 1 (2003)

We had another obnoxiously early Easter this year, and Mother’s Day is still a ways off (though fast approaching).  This makes for a somewhat tricky time in terms of material for the blog.  The weather is finally starting to turn warm and spring is setting in, but there isn’t an abundance of spring-themed TV episodes and films.  Luckily, years of obsessive research has given me an option for just such an occasion. Hence "Spring for Strawberry Shortcake," the second episode of the 2003 reboot of the greeting card character turned 80s childhood icon.  Previously I watched and somewhat surprisingly very much enjoyed the Christmas episode of this rather short-lived series, so perhaps my hopes were a bit too high going in to this.

We begin in Strawberryland, still coated in winter’s snow, where Strawberry Shortcake is eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring.  She explains to her (I assume baby sister?) Apple Dumplin’ what spring is and how great it is and so on and so forth.  She then assembles her various dessert-themed friends and pets (including the delightfully bitchy cat Custard and braggart horse Honey Pie) to help with the spring planting.  Along the way we’re “treated” to several songs about spring, working together, seeds, etc.

And yet spring still fails to show so Strawberry, in a plot almost indentical to the Christmas episode, sets out to find it.  She’s joined by a couple of her friends along the way, who have their own reasons for wanting spring (it involves a checklist of seasonal items like butterflies, flowers, green grass, baby birds and on and on).  Around this point we get the episode’s best song, a vaguely Calypso number called “Strawberry Jammin.’”  It was also at this point that I paused the TV and was dismayed to see that there was 20 minutes left to go.

Strawberry and her pals cross paths with Old Man Winter, who tells them Spring is an actual person and they have to go the Land of Seasons to find her.  “The Land of Seasons” sounds exactly like the kind of place I’d like to go to, so I perked up a bit at this point.  In short order they get there and meet Spring herself.  If you’ve ever wondered what the embodiment of Spring looks like, she’s around 12 years old and wears a green tutu.  Spring and the Strawberry gang pal around, throwing snowballs, until Spring is convinced to stop having fun and get to goddamn work.  She uses her magic to melt the snow, bring the flowers and trees to life, and at LONG last spring has officially arrived in Strawberryland.

There are several rather jumbled morals presented to us throughout the episode (some through song).  There’s something about teamwork and working together to plant crops, and something else about Spring needing to not be lazy and do her duty—I guess?  This show is definitely aimed at more of a preschool audience, so the plotting is light, the songs are endless, and the animation is pretty iffy.  This episode lacked the charms and clever wordplay of "A Very Berry Christmas," and also suffered from a lack of Custard’s bitchy repartee.  And Strawberry Shortcake media of any form suffers when Sour Grapes, the evil diva herself, fails to make an appearance:

Spring Quotient: A 5, as it doesn’t get much springier than this.

Own It, See It, Skip It?: This one definitely falls into the category of “I watched it so you don’t have to.”  Skip it!