''Rose Petal Place'' is an American-produced

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

from 1984 made by

Ruby-Spears Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was an American entertainment production company founded by veteran writers and '' Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' creators, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, in 1977, before closing in 1996. S ...

, with a corresponding line of flower-themed dolls made by

Kenner Products Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy brand owned by Hasbro. Kenner Products began as a toy company founded in 1946, going on to produce several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures for t ...

. The concept for ''Rose Petal Place'' was created by

David Kirschner David Maxwell Kirschner (born May 29, 1955) is an American film and television producer and screenwriter. His producing credits include Don Bluth's ''An American Tail'' (also wrote) and ''Titan A.E.'' animated features as well as the '' Child's Pl ...

and the film was written by Mal Marmorstein. The film was directed by

Charles August Nichols Charles August "Nick" Nichols (September 15, 1910August 23, 1992) was a Canadian-born animator and film director, who worked in animation for over 50 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Hanna-Barbera. At Disney, he worked on various shor ...

, and was released in syndication in May 1984.

History

''Rose Petal Place'' was first introduced in the 1980s as an animated film which also included a corresponding toy line and playsets. Rose Petal dolls were markedly similar to the fruit and dessert-themed

Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry shortcake may refer to: * Strawberry shortcake (dessert), a shortcake served with strawberries * Strawberry Shortcake, a cartoon character and franchise created by American Greetings ** Strawberry Shortcake (TV series), ''Strawberry Sho ...

dolls, also made by Kenner. The Rose Petal dolls themselves were flower-themed and based on different types of flowers. According to the toys' boxes and the movie, ''Rose Petal Place'' began a long time ago when a young girl (played by

Nicole Eggert Nicole Elizabeth Eggert (born January 13, 1972) is an American actress. Her notable roles include Jamie Powell on the situation comedy ''Charles in Charge'' and Summer Quinn on the television series ''Baywatch''. She guest-starred in ''The Super ...

) was moving away from her lovely home and garden. She cried for her beloved garden because no one would be there to take care of her flowers. She didn't want them to perish, so she made a secret wish that the flowers would live forever. Out of this magical wish, combined with her tears of love, brought Rose Petal and all of her friends (Lily Fair, Daffodil, Orchid, Sunny Sunflower, and Iris) to life. Now living forever, Rose Petal and her friends reside in the garden and tend the little girl's flowers, but face trouble from the nefarious plots of Nastina the spider and her assistant Horace Fly. Other accessories which were produced included lunchboxes, books, games, stickers, and various fashions for the dolls.

Characters

The primary characters of ''Rose Petal Place'' were: * Rose Petal, a pink-haired, pink-clad doll whose singing keeps the other flowers alive. In the cartoon, Rose Petal was voiced by

Marie Osmond Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television personality, author, and businesswoman. She is known for her girl next door, girl-next-door image and her decades-long career in many different areas. Her musi ...

. * Sunny Sunflower, a yellow haired and clad tomboy who tells jokes to make the other flowers laugh. She is Rose Petal's closest companion and voiced by

Susan Blu Susan Blu, better known as Sue Blu, is an American voice-actress, voice-director, and casting-director in American and Canadian cinema and television. She most notably voiced Arcee in '' The Transformers: The Movie'' and Seasons 3 and 4 of '' Th ...

. * Lily Fair, a blue haired and clad

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer. Her voice actor was

Renae Jacobs Renae Jacobs (born February 1, 1957) is an American voice actress, who is perhaps best known for voicing journalist and reporter April O'Neil in the original ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series. Early life Renae Jacobs was born Feb ...

. * Daffodil, another yellow haired and clad doll, this one obsessed with finance. She was also voiced by

. * Orchid, a purple clad shopaholic with pale lavender hair. She was also voiced by

. * Iris, a purple and white clad painter of African ethnicity. Voiced by

Candy Ann Brown Candy Ann Brown (also known as Candy Brown Houston) is an American dancer, choreographer and theatre, film and television actress. Career Brown is known for originating the role of June in the 1975 Bob Fosse-directed Broadway musical ''Chicago' ...

. * Nastina, a widow

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

who attempts to thwart the flowers' happiness, and even to kill Rose Petal on one occasion. Nastina is assisted by a

horse-fly Horse flies and deer flies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect Order (biology), order Diptera. The adults are often large and agile in flight. Only females bite land vertebrates, including humans, to hematophagy, obtain blood ...

, Horace (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

), who didn't get a toy. Voiced by

Marilyn Schreffler Marilyn Sue Schreffler (June 14, 1945 – January 7, 1988) was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Biography Marilyn Schreffler was born in Wichita, ...

. The animated special also featured five other characters, Elmer, an

Elm tree Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, p ...

who watches over the garden, Seymour J. Snailsworth, a wise and helpful snail, P.D. Centipede, a sports-oriented centipede (all voiced by

), Tumbles, a friendly hedgehog and a lavender-colored kitten named Pitterpat.

''Rose Petal Place: Real Friends'' (1985)

David Kirschner Productions and Ruby-Spears Enterprises created a second movie in 1985 called ''Rose Petal Place: Real Friends''. The film was directed by

. This second movie introduced six new characters, which Kenner scheduled to be released as dolls shortly after. Although prototypes and marketing samples were made, the entire line was discontinued before the dolls could hit the shelves.

The second series of unproduced dolls

* Cherry Blossom, an Asian character wearing a cherry pink

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...

. She enjoys interior decorating. * Sweet Violet, a light blue haired and clad actress. * Fuchsia, a dark purple haired doll with fuchsia clothing and a taste for clothing design. * Gladiola, a blonde doll with light pink clothes and a taste for tap dancing. * Marigold, an orange haired and clad organizer of events. * Canterbury Belle, a pink haired and clad baker.

Book and cassette episode list

In 1984,

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known as Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. It remained family owne ...

put out a series of three books with accompanying cassette tapes, six books without cassettes, one Panorama book, and four coloring books, as well as the record.

A Concert at Carnation Hall

Also in 1984,

released an album with

reprising her role.http://www.osmondheaven.com/lyrics_marie_rosepetal.html

Track Listing

Side 1 # "Elmer's Song" (

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * ''Tom'' (2002 film) ...

and

Stephen Chapin Stephen Chapin (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known as the youngest of the four Chapin brothers, which include Harry Chapin and Tom Chapin Tom Chapin (born March 13, 1945) is an American musician, enterta ...

) # "A Special Place" (

and

) # "Carnation Hall" (John Forster) # "Nastina, The Beauty Queen (John Forster) # "Little Bit Of Love (John Carney and

Tom Chapin Tom Chapin (born March 13, 1945) is an American musician, entertainer, singer-songwriter, and storyteller. Chapin is known for the song " Happy Birthday", released in 1989 in his ''Moonboat'' album. It takes its melody from "Love Unspoken", a so ...

) Side 2 # "Rehearsal Song" (

and John Carney) # "Coral Bells" (John Forster) # "Amazing" (John Carney, John Forster,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

and

) # "Look Inside" (John Forster) # "If You Have Love In Your Heart" (John Carney)

Vocals

* Rose Petal -

* Nastina - Evalyn Baron * Male Character Voices - Russell Horton * The Flowers - Marina Belica, Victoria Blumenthal, Jessica Craven, Katie Irving,

Merle Miller Merle Dale Miller (May 17, 1919 – June 10, 1986) was an American writer, novelist, and author who is perhaps best remembered for his best-selling biography of Harry S. Truman, and as a pioneer in the gay rights movement. Miller came ou ...

* Background -

, The Suits

Personnel

- producer *

- producer * Fannie H. Cromwell - executive producer * William C. Coleburn - executive producer * Jaime Chapin - production coordinator *

Gary Chester Gary Chester (born Cesario Gurciullo; October 27, 1924 – August 17, 1987) was an American studio drummer, author, and teacher. Beginning in the 1960s, he played on hundreds of records for bands such as the Coasters, the Monkees and the Lovin' ...

- engineer * Tommy "Monst" Civello - assistant engineer

Musicians

* Piano -

Warren Bernhardt Warren Bernhardt (November 13, 1938 – August 19, 2022) was an American pianist in jazz, pop and classical music. Early life Bernhardt was born in Wausau, Wisconsin. His father was a pianist, leading him to have early childhood exposure to pian ...

Robbie Kondor Robbie Kondor is an American composer, session musician, and arranger. He has worked as a composer on '' The Significant Other'', '' Ball In The House'', ''Sally Jessy Raphael'', ''Happiness'' (1998), '' The Suburbans'' (1999), '' Forever Fabul ...

* Guitar -

Georg Wadenius Georg "Jojje" Wadenius (born 4 May 1945) is a Swedish multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was particularly active during the 1970s and 1980s as a studio and session guitarist and bassist, as well as for a series of albums of childre ...

* Banjo -

* Bass -

Wayne Pedzwater Wayne Pedzwater (September 2, 1956 – March 17, 2005), born Wayne Pedziwiatr, was an American bassist. Pedzwater collaborated with many notable artists, such as Buddy Rich, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Jewel, The Honeydrippers, Simon and Garf ...

* Drums - Richard Crooks, Barry Lazarowitz * Synthesizer -

* Percussion -

Brian Slawson Brian Slawson (born 1956) is an American percussionist, arranger and composer. He is best known for his Grammy-nominated recording, ''Bach On W ...

* Violins - Harry Cykman (concertmaster), Ann Barak,

Glenn Dicterow Glenn Dicterow (born December 23, 1948) is an American violinist and former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He is on the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music where he holds the Jasch ...

, Harry Glickman, Raymond Gniewek, Regis Iandiorio, Gemma Sroczyńska * Violas -

Emanuel Vardi Emanuel Vardi (21 April 1915 – 29 January 2011), an American violist, was considered to have been one of the great viola players of the 20th century. Early life Emanuel Vardi was born April 21, 1915, in Jerusalem. His mother, Anna Joffa Va ...

, Leonore Weinstock * Celli - Jesse Levy, George Kim Scholes, Mark Shuman * Flute/Piccolo - Barbara Hart, George Marge * Oboe - Dennis Anderson, David Diggs, Alva Hunt * English Horn - George Marge * Clarinet - Al Regni, Dave Tofani * Bass Clarinet - Albert Regni * Bassoons - John Campo, Wally Kane * French Horn - Mark Sonder, Brooks Tillotson, Lawrence Wechsler * Trumpet - Danny Cahn, Robert Millikan * Trombone -

Dave Bargeron David Wayne Bargeron (September 6, 1942 – January 18, 2025) was an American trombonist and tuba player who was a member of the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears. Life and career Bargeron was born on September 6, 1942. He was lead trombon ...

, Arthur Baron * Tuba - David Braynard * Harp - Margaret Ross

References

External links

Guide for the Dolls Released

''Rose Petal Place'' at IMDB

''Rose Petal Place: Real Friends'' at IMDB

Entry at Ghost of the Doll
{{David Kirschner 1984 films 1984 animated short films 1984 American animated films American children's films Films based on toys Doll brands 1980s toys Films directed by Charles August Nichols Films scored by Dean Elliott Ruby-Spears 1980s English-language films