Animated specials, if consistent in anything, are notably inconsistent. You've got the great (Rankin-Bass is remembered for a reason, and even they have some serious duds), the unmemorable-but-inoffensive, and the dreadful (but ironically wonderful!) camp of the lazy, terrible specials. Most will fall into that middle ground, which I still usually find a reason to enjoy, and rarer still are those that are so horrendously done that I can't help but be enamored. Perhaps most elusive of all, though, are those truly great specials, with some soul behind them -- silly little television specials that really get elevated because there's evident care and heart put into their production.
All of this is to say that The World of Strawberry Shortcake,…