Orange Blossom

In doing research for this post, I learned that Strawberry Shortcake fandom is NO JOKE! It's hardcore and very intense. There's merchandise, events, life-size costumes for adults and children, offshoot comics, cartoons, DVDs, and much much more.

I happened upon this character by accident this morning. I was watching some a.m. Doctor Who (couldn't sleep), went to turn up the volume, the remote flips to Strawberry Shortcake on another channel SOMEHOW, and onto the screen pops Orange Blossom. How fortuitous!

The Strawberry Shortcake franchise has existed for almost 30 years - and my aunt, Felicia, LOVED the series, even going as far to insist on being called Strawberry Shortcake as a child. Strawberry Shortcake is an institution and the fandom is EVERYWHERE.

On to Orange Blossom. There are two iterations of this character - the first in the cartoon that premiered in the 1980s - the second in the 2003 reboot of the program. In the 1980s version, Orange Blossom is an urban artist from what I assume is NYC (in the show referred to as Big Apple City - and the show is filled with names like that. The characters live in places like Strawberry Land, Cookie Corners, and Huckleberry Briar. It's all very twee.), with a pet butterfly named Marmalade. In the 2003 series, she lives in Orange Blossom Acres in an orange tree shaped house.

Maxine Gibson

Seriously? Does Cree Summer voice EVERY black female cartoon character? I'm just going to go out on a limb and say - almost.

I'm exaggerating, but only a LITTLE BIT. That's the crazy part.

Which brings me to Maxine Gibson, 17-year-old computer genius from the cartoon Batman Beyond. Maxine uses her technological abilities to try to uncover Batman's secret identity - in the process, she got tangled up with a suspected emissary of the Joker, from who Batman saved her... so now she works with Batman, lending her expertise to his crime-solving arsenal.

Monica & Maya (Heroes)

Surprisingly, I've never gotten into Heroes. I watched the pilot episode and missed the next few and never tried to catch up - Regardless, I'll try to sum these characters up as best I can. Monica, played by Dana Davis (top 3 photos), is from New Orleans, works at a fast food restaurant, is the cousin of a character named Micah, and has adoptive muscle memory - which basically means that after she sees something once, in person or otherwise, her mind records it and she acquires that skill, either temporarily or permanently. This power applies to martial arts, hand-to-hand combat, playing the piano, cooking, etc.

Here's a clip of Monica beating the BREAKS off of a would-be robber:



Maya, played by Dania Ramirez, is from the Dominican Republic and has (or had?) the ability to emit poison and cry black tears (if you can't tell, I'm kind of lost in these character descriptions because they're pretty complex, so I don't know if the black tears ARE the poison or...). She tries to make her way with her twin to America to meet a doctor who can help her with her abilities and ends up killing some people on the way - but she's not evil.

Uhura

I have never ever EVER seen an episode of Star Trek, but I still love Uhura. The original Uhura was played by Nichelle Nichols and in the upcoming Star Trek Movie, a younger Uhura will be played by Zoe Saldana. The audience got to see Uhura go from a Lieutenant all the way to a captain through the course of the show. Nichols wanted to leave after her first season, but was persuaded by Martin Luther King Jr himself to stay on. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to fly in space, sited Uhura as an influence on her choice of profession.




Trivia - Mae Jemison actually appeared on the show in a cameo.

The Yellow Ranger

Who DIDN'T love the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers???? It was definitely one of my favorite shows growing up, along with Wishbone (the dog that reenacted classic literature) and the X-Men Cartoon. Naturally, the Yellow and Pink Rangers were my favorite. The Yellow Ranger's real name was Aisha Campbell. She turned into the Sabertooth Tiger-bot when they morphed and when they became the Ninja Rangers, she was a Bear. Gotta love the Yellow Ranger!

Numbuh 5




Numbuh 5, aka Abagail Lincoln, appears on the cartoon Codename: Kids Next Door and is voiced by Cree Summer (does she do the voice of ALL young, black, female cartoon characters???? lol). She's French and Black, speaks in 3rd person, is second in command in the Kids Next Door, has a weakness for candy, sweets, and ice cream, and has an evil older sister - whose name happens to be Cree.