Holly Hobbie & Friends

You know, this wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be. And being the father of a 6 year old, I've seen PLENTY of cheap, horrible PAINFUL animated ripoffs (yeah, I'm talking to YOU, Strawberry Shortcake). Holly Hobbie and Friends: Surprise Party is a pretty gentle and cute story, the voice talent sounded pretty natural (familiar, too. Anyone know who they are?), the songs were clever and well written, and it wasn't trying to sell you cheap toys or tacky lifestyle choices at every turn (Bratz and Barbie immediately come to mind). The producer and director have a pretty good and interesting body of work behind them (Stripperella? They did STRIPPERELLA? Then they did HOLLY HOBBIE? Sheer genius). So, in summary, halfway decent, sounds good, not awful, kind of cute. Stands up to repeated viewings. One and a half thumbs up.