Strawberry Shortcake: Dress Up Days relates two separate stories to illustrate a lesson about about being excluded by your peers. By watching this DVD, children are expected to learn about optimism and pessimism from bubbly redheaded Strawberry Shortcake.

A party has been planned, and Strawberry's best friends -- as well as viewers at home -- are invited. Unfortunately, planning a huge outdoor party doesn't seem such a good idea when a huge storm ruins the big plans. Disillusioned, Shortcake's friends feel the storm has ruined everything for them. They are pessimistic, to say the least, and mope around until invited inside.

Suddenly Blueberry Muffin comes up with an idea to use dress-up clothes and put on a production of "Strawberella" in order to pass the time. Strawberry Shortcake is then ostracized for wearing a tattered raincoat, and the lesson driven home is clothes do not make the man, woman or child -- character does.

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees that each person is special and worthy of being included and liked. Peppermint Fizz, who is a brat and a bully, happens to be one of Strawberry's best friends, but when she gets angry her temper, bitterness and resentment fizz over like a soft drink. She becomes jealous of Rainbow Sherbet, a new girl who lives on a riverboat and has seen the world. This newcomer is now garnering attention that Rainbow thinks belongs to her, so she issues an ultimatum to Strawberry Shortcake: it's either me or her. Naturally, Strawberry Shortcake does not like Peppermint’s terms.

In the end Strawberry and friends put on a costume party trying to trick Peppermint into identifying Rainbow Sherbet from others who are identically dressed. Will this teach her being different is not such a bad thing?

Lessons about bullying are important to learn at a young age. And, despite our differences, inclusion of everyone in our society is certainly a goal to strive for. Unfortunately, this DVD fails to drive home these lessons very effectively. I feel strongly that such lessons must be reinforced by a child's early teacher and best defense -- his or her parents. If that doesn't happen, stories included on a DVD will not be enough.

Musical numbers here are flat and often inaudible. Furthermore, voice talent and dialogue are stiff and stilted. The characters intentionally trip over every big word they utter. Use of "Oh Puhleeze" and "cool" to excess does not represent how children speak. In fact, most youngsters can figure out complex things without dialogue and stories that talk down to them like this DVD does.

The animation of Strawberry Shortcake: Dress-Up Days is stuck in the 1980s. Considering all the advances in computer generated animation, I think it's best to rent DVDs like Ice Age or Toy Story and leave the teaching of important lessons to parents. 

(Released by Fox Home Entertainment; not rated by MPAA.)