Apple Dumplin' is a recurring character from the Strawberry Shortcake franchise. She is usually a baby girl, or a girl the same age as Strawberry and friends. She is often related to Strawberry in some form, or at the very least close friends with her.
General Information[]
1980s[]
Apple Dumplin' was the first baby character introduced in the vast world of Strawberry Shortcake. Her doll was introduced in the first wave of characters, which also included Strawberry, Blueberry Muffin, Huckleberry, and The Pieman. Although she is smaller and less independent than the older Strawberryland kids, Apple has also proven to be more than capable of taking care of herself when the situation warrants. Being just a little baby, she did not speak as yet but is capable of standing up and has surprisingly good penmanship skills as she scribbles on paper to communicate with others. She also had a pet named Tea Time Turtle.
2003 Series[]
In the 2003 reincarnation of the series, Apple Dumplin' was Strawberry Shortcake's younger sister and had a pet duck named Apple Ducklin'. She is still a "baby" character but seems to be a bit older than in the 1980s, being more like a toddler, as she walked and talked more in 2003. During seasons 1-2, she was a baby who spoke in few words and phrases from time to time. During season 3, Apple could then speak in full simple sentences, with minor grammatical errors indicating that she'd most likely grown a bit since the series premiere. She was a lot smaller than Strawberry and was usually seen sitting down. During season 4, Apple Dumplin' had grown to be an 8-year-old girl.
Berry Bitty Adventures[]
Apple Dumplin' is now the same age as Strawberry. However, she is no longer her sister and is actually her traveling cousin who owns a blog. She is a world traveler of Strawberryland. She visits on some occasions. She hangs out often with her best friends Lemon Meringue and Sour Grapes.
Berry in the Big City[]
Apple Dumpling is Strawberry Shortcake's childhood best friend from Berryville. She works as a farmhand for Strawberry's family on their berry farm.
She initially distrusted Strawberry's new friends due to them being from the city, and harbored a jealousy of them out of concern that Strawberry replaced her as a friend with them. However, she grew to trust and befriend the Berry Besties, especially Orange Blossom, who she formed a close bond with after Orange saved her life during the Berry Guardians' trials.
Appearance[]
1980s[]
Apple Dumpling is a small baby girl, who is often seen sitting. She wears a simple yellow onesie with a red apple on it. She wears oversized scrunchie socks that are green and white striped. She has a simple yellow bonnet. Her hair is ginger and curly, she also has freckles.
2003[]
Apple has the same ginger hair, but it is more spiky and wispy, similar to Strawberry's hair. In official art and dolls, she appears blonde. She has green eyes and round pink cheeks. She wears a dress that is similar to a Victorian-era baby dress. It is yellow with an apple pattern and has a green collar with a red ribbon tie, red sleeves, and green gingham ruffle trim. She wears white lacy socks with little red Mary-Janes. She also has a hat that is pale yellow with apples, with an apple blossom flower on top. the brim is white in the cartoon and green and white gingham in official art and books.
2007[]
Apple's hair is now a darker red but still more orange than Strawberries. It is in pigtails with bows. Her hat was remade for her grown-up head size, but the flower was not re-added, and it now has a red trim. She wears red capri jeans with a green trim ruffle, a plain white tee, and a light green denim jacket. She still has red Mary-Janes.
Berry Bitty Adventures[]
Apple has blonde hair and bangs, with a side braid held in place by a plastic apple barrette. She has strangely unique grey-silver eyes. She wears a red knit hipster slouchy beanie. She, like in 2007, wears a plain white tee and has a yellow vest with a casual green belt over it. She has a red plaid skirt and red boots. Her leggings are pale yellow and white.
Berry in the Big City[]
Apple Dumpling is a dark-skinned girl with brown eyes, brown-ish hair and red highlights with two little tufts poking out, and an apple-shaped hairclip on the left side of her head. She wears a green-and-white striped t-shirt, orangish-red overalls, a green belt, and green buckle shoes with yellow soles.
Personality[]
1980[]
The 1980s Apple Dumplin' was mostly just another cute baby, often spending her time in Raspberry Tart's home. She is shown as smart however, being able to write to communicate and even making a contract for the Purple Pieman to sign when he captures her.
2003[]
During seasons 1-2, Apple Dumplin' was generally a happy and enthusiastic baby. She constantly giggled and was often affectionate with Strawberry and her friends. However, she would cry and get discouraged if something went wrong or if she let someone down due to being a baby. During the third season, however, when she could speak clearly, the series began to show a stubborn side to her. Apple had a big desire to be seen as an older girl, like Strawberry and her friends. She always wanted to be involved in their activities and help out. She also gets annoyed when others treat her like a baby, though she is one herself. In 2007 she is the age Strawberry and her friends used to be. She is kind and fun-loving and looks up to her teenage sister.
Berry Bitty Adventures[]
Apple is shown as a busy bodied blogger who loves to help her cousin, though can get off track and forget things due to her excitable nature. She's shown as resourceful too with a knack for fixing machinery, being able to create machines to assist her friends or have fun such as a rainbow smoke machine, disco light system, and speakers hooked up to a phone call with Sweet Grapes and Sour Grapes, though she often doesn't think things through fully. She also loves telling stories of her adventures and is considered great at it. A recurring joke is her losing her turtle Tea Time in her adventures. Her hunt for adventure often clouds her judgement and is why she never stayed with anybody very long until eventually deciding to live in Berry Bitty City.
Berry in the Big City[]
At first, Apple Dumpling comes off as cold and abrasive to the Berry Besties, but is friendly and welcoming to Strawberry Shortcake as they are childhood best friends. Later on, Apple admits that she acted this way out of fear that Strawberry has replaced her as a friend. Throughout the special, Apple Dumpling begins warming up to the Berry Besties and becomes close friends with them after navigating the Berry Guardians’ trials. She also shows a competitive side to her when she and Orange Blossom begin competing over who can be more relaxed.
She shows immense distain for Boysenberry Mousse due to his attempts to ruin Berryville and buy up all the land. At one point, when Boysenberry is hanging from a cliff and about to fall into a chasm, Apple expresses reluctance to save him and only does so when Strawberry insists.
Pets[]
Teatime Turtle[]
In both the 1980s and 2010s generations, Apple Dumplin' has a pet male turtle named Teatime Turtle.
In the 1980s, Teatime Turtle has a green head and limbs, and black dot eyes. He has a lime green shell with, depending on the artwork, either a scalloped edge or a straight edge. His shell is covered in square scutes that vary between being depicted as cyan or depicted as yellow. Some artwork also depicts him with a small tuft of thin black hairs on the top of his head.
In the 2010s, Teatime Turtle has a yellowish-green head and limbs, and his eyes have gray-silver irises. His shell's carapace is lime green with a wavy edge, and is covered with circular yellow scutes. His shell's plastron is yellow and covered with thin, horizontal lime green stripes. He wears a flat cap with an orange, red, and yellow plaid crown and a red bill.
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_1.png "Pets Teatime Turtle (2010s) 1.png (242 KB)")
Apple Ducklin'[]
In the 2000s generation, Apple Dumplin' has a pet female duck named Apple Ducklin'. She replaces Teatime Turtle as Apple Dumplin's pet in this generation.
Apple Ducklin' has a yellow body with an orange bill and legs. She wears a light green collar with a charm hanging from it that is shaped like a red apple with two green leaves. She also wears a red ribbon wrapped around her forehead, which is tied in a bow.
Trivia[]
General[]
- Apple Dumplin' is probably the least consistent character in the entire franchise, with any common traits rarely carrying over to more than one incarnation, and even then there's usually something different about that common trait.
- Her 2003 incarnation was a baby like 1980s Apple, but she grew into a little kid in Season 4.
- Her Berry Bitty incarnation is related to Strawberry like 2003 Apple, but is her same-age cousin rather than her baby sister.
- Her Berry in the Big City incarnation is the same age as Berry Bitty Apple, but is no longer related to Strawberry.
1980s[]
- Blueberry Muffin and the Purple Pieman are the only people who could understand her scribbles.
2003[]
- In "The Play's The Thing", she is shown to fully comprehend the story of Cinderella and helps to act by being the queen.
- In some official art her hair is blonde, and most if not all toys of her from the 2003 series had blonde hair despite Apple being a redhead like Strawberry Shortcake. It's possible this was done to make her appear more different from her older sister.
Berry Bitty Adventures[]
- Apple tends to accidentally use the wrong words in idioms, like "spill the cheese" instead of "spill the beans"; "let the cat out of the hat" instead of "let the cat out of the bag"; etc.
- Her blogging website is called "Berry Best Bits" and The section she reviews food on is called "Yummy Yums."
- In "The Berry Bitty Great Race" she revealed that she had won 200 races and has the prizes to prove it.
Berry in the Big City[]
- This Apple Dumpling is the first since the original 1980s incarnation to not be related to Strawberry Shortcake, and is instead her best friend from Berryville.
- She is the first to have her name be spelled regularly as "Dumpling", rather than the shortened "Dumplin'".
- Apple Dumpling is the first incarnation of the character to not be a main cast member, and is instead a minor character who only appeared in Strawberry Shortcake's Summer Vacation.
- She is the first incarnation of the character to not be portrayed as being older than her previous incarnation at any point, remaining a teenager like her Berry Bitty counterpart.
- It is unknown what specific ethnicity Apple Dumpling is, however it is possible that she's Filipino like her voice actress, Mika Bantog.
- Her voice actress, Mika Bantog, uses They/Her pronouns, making her the second character in the series to have a voice actor who uses alternative pronouns. The first is Raisin Cane, voiced by nonbinary actor Justin Saint who uses He/She/They pronouns. However, Apple Dumpling herself uses She/Her pronouns.
Gallery[]
1980s[]
2000s[]
Artwork[]
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Screenshots[]
2010s[]
Screenshots[]
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Comics[]
