This Holly is great grand daughter of the original Holly Hobbie. Holly and her brother, Robbie spend the summer at their Aunt Jessie's house in Upstate New York. The kids plan a surprise party for their aunt with the help of their Uncle Dave. Holly's summer friends, Amy and Carrie are typical kids that really enjoy seeing their friends every year. Holly is a typical girl into lemonade stands, riding her bike and just having fun. Both my nieces and I enjoyed this film quite a lot, to my surprise. It is not the usual sappy, mindless kids' fare that we are bombarded with so often. It's rather thoughtful, in fact and it even has enough substance to keep the adults interested. Highly recommended.
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RAMChYLD14 November 2007Well, I was dragged into this by a friend from an online club. I tried resisting putting my foot into this pool for some time, but decided to give in last month. And I must say, I'm glad I did.
The storyline was a complex multiple plot story that neatly ties up all lose ends in the end. Pretty cool for a show targeted at younger audiences. Also, I certainly like the character designs and personalities. It's clear that Nickelodeon Studios put a lot of work into the special- as the special features both a full set of characters from both the city and the countryside where Holly is visiting. Animation-wise, it was pretty well done. Animation was fluid and clean. What I liked most about the special, however, was the songs. LeAnn Rhymes performed the main theme song which was pretty good, but the two songs Holly sings in the special? Beautiful and memorable. I hope they eventually put the songs out on CD.
In short, I really loved the special and am looking forward to view the second one soon. -
lisalaurine30 September 2006Don't let the childlike designs and characters fool you from seeing this gem of a well written, throughout and thought provoking movie. While the title may seem like the usual "Kiddie" movie of today's young children, Holly Hobbie and Friends is anything but a toddler's eye view of the world.
The movie introduces the viewer to the family and world of Holly Hobbie and her friends. Using unique animation, where similarities can be drawn to Strawberry Shortcake, the movie takes you on a journey literally from Hobbie's hometown to her grandmother's house for her aunt's birthday. The dialogue and script are well written to the point that there is no distinction between the dialogs of the adults or Holly and her friends. There is no dumbing down or sugarcoating of life and its learning environment. Holly and her friends spend the time at her grandmother's home exploring the cornfield. One of her friends happens to be believe in aliens. When Holly dismisses that aliens exist, it upsets her friend to point she runs away to hide in Grandmother's barn. Again there isn't any of the usual "Ha, ha" soundtrack (common in other movie) playing in the background while Holly tries to locate her friend to apologize.
While Holly and her friends are out searching for aliens after she has apologize to her friend, her aunt bakes pies for the family. Much to her chagrin, each pie that is baked is eaten by her husband, Holly's uncle. To teach the uncle a lesson, her aunt stitches up his shirt to make it look as though it shrunk. The trick is to make the uncle look as though he grew fatter. The trick works in having the uncle change his pie eating ways but the trick is just as hurtful and mean as it would be if displayed in a teenage film.
Despite the title, movie is unique for not only its childlike innocent but its very adult view of the world, life's lessons, bad habits and not being judgemental towards others. A Must see and recommendation for all who say kiddie movies aren't as clever as they use to be! Don't miss a chance to see this excellent and surprisingly original movie! -
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.