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The World of Strawberry Shortcake is a 1980 animated television special written by Romeo Muller, directed by Charles Swenson, and produced by Swenson, Muller and Fred Wolf. Starring the voices of Romeo Muller, Russi Taylor, Julie McWhirter and Joan Gerber, it was made by animators from Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in the United States and by Toei Doga in Japan. The music was written and performed by Flo & Eddie of the rock group, The Turtles. The titular character, Strawberry Shortcake, lives in a fictional place called Strawberryland. In the special, narrated by Romeo Muller (as Mr. Sun), she and her friends celebrate her sixth birthday. While preparations for her party are underway, a villain called the Peculiar Purple Pieman plots to steal the berries from Strawberry's home in order to make his pies. Produced and sponsored by the Kenner toy company, The World of Strawberry Shortcake was the first special to feature the American Greetings character, Strawberry Shortcake. Bypassing network television, it debuted on March 28, 1980 in syndication across more than 90 U.S. cities, and was later released on 16 mm film, VHS, Beta and DVD. The special received generally favorable reviews in the School Library Journal, which reviewed it in 1983 and 2007.