The Special Magic of Herself the Elf

The Special Magic of Herself the Elf (or The Magic of Herself the Elf, as titled on the VHS cover) is a 1983, Canadian-American, animated, television special. It is based on the properties by the companies American Greetings and Mattel. Production was shared amongst Nelvana, Scholastic Productions (or Scholastic Entertainment), and Those Characters from Cleveland. It had been released on VHS only once and has yet to be re-released on any other home media.

Plot
A female elf named Herself gets kidnapped and held captive for a year. A year later, four other, female elves (Meadow Morn, Willow Song, Snow Drop, and Wood Pink) come to her aid, accompanied and assisted by a male wood sprite named Wilfie, as they hatch a plan to free her. They also have to put a stop to a mad wizard named Thorn and his daughter, Creeping Ivy, who are out to destroy nature and want to take over the forest.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It is a good paragon of Nelvana's early art style and the animation is well-fluid. There are little animation errors.
 * 2) The writing isn't cheap and is satisfyingly decent enough.
 * 3) Both sides of characters, both the protagonists and antagonists are equally great. Both sides play off of each other well. The dynamics amongst the heroes are great.
 * 4) The character designs are pleasing.
 * 5) Pleasant, soft, serene theme song performed and sung by Judy Collins.
 * 6) All the voices sound well-done and acted.
 * 7) The backgrounds and sceneries are well-drawn.
 * 8) It balances cheer with gloom and doom.
 * 9) Decently written dialogue.
 * 10) While it may be cutesy, it still also has plenty of wholesomeness going for it.
 * 11) Several entertainingly fun moments to keep one's attention.
 * 12) It is one of those merchandise-based cartoons that has meaning behind it and isn't just an extended commercial.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) This is the only animated material in the franchise, supposedly due to it being too similar to Strawberry Shortcake (but some may beg to differ that it's not similar or alike enough to that). A short-lived animation based on a minor franchise that has a lot going for it and deserved so much more than what it got. Also, the villains Thorn and Creeping Ivy debuted in this, so it would make for their only appearance.
 * 2) If some can't get passed the cuteness, they may find it to have too much of that for their liking. But again, there's still balance to counter that.
 * 3) Wood Pink can be somewhat annoying with her persnicketiness.

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