The plot, such as it is, is very simple. Holly and her friends Carrie and Amy are bored with their summer holiday of horseback riding and swims at the lake. When they express their ennui to Holly's Aunt Jessie, Jessie tells them to go out and see the world with new eyes, that life is too interesting to ever have a boring day (I suggest Aunt Jessie try a telemarketing career for the opposing view). Taking her advice, they go around town, trying to experience their same old haunts with renewed perspective. Happening upon "Crow's House," the town's spooky, run-down mansion, the girls decide to prowl around its grounds, later that night.

Meanwhile, Holly's uncle Dave is anticipating a visit from an old high school buddy and former rebellious band mate, while Holly's brother (or is he a cousin? The movie makes that fuzzy) and his friend Robbie annoy their next-door-neighbor, the cranky Willie Scranton. Later that night, when Holly and her friends visit "Crow's House," they're scared by a ghostly figure, and run back home. The next morning, Holly decides to go apologize to Annabel Crow, who isn't scary at all; she's a kindly, lonely old woman who used to pal around with Holly's great grandmother, Holly Hobbie. When Holly learns that Mrs. Crow is going to be evicted from her home, she convinces the town mayor to form "Make a New Best Friend Day," to help out Annabel - if anyone can find her.

I can't say I'm at all knowledgeable about Holly Hobbie. Of course, I've been aware of the little bonneted ragamuffin from card giant American Greetings, but I had no idea they updated her for the new millennium (actually, that's not exactly accurate; the old Holly is still around; this new modernized Holly is a separate line of merchandise). Decked out in a more contemporary cap, pedal pushers and clogs, Holly's make-over was obviously undertaken to tap into the potential market of all those young girls whose mothers grew up on the old Holly Hobbie line. I've written before about DVD movies based on wholly made-up commercial tie-ins, ranging from quite charming and amusing (Strawberry Shortcake, another American Greetings tie-in) to truly wretched (the vile Bratz films or the incomprehensible iZ and the Zizzles). And again, in principle, I don't have anything against the practice. Some critics come down hard on the notion of disposable movies based on marketing schemes, but as long as the films are enjoyable, who cares if they were designed to sell toys? I don't have any problems with a corporation making money. After all, we're not taking about "art" here; this isn't a discussion of the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel (both of which, by the way, were created after that "evil" money changed hands).

So, is Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever entertaining? Hmm...yes, I suppose - for its intended audience. My little five-year-old daughter seemed to enjoy it (she didn't walk out on it, which is a plus). I asked her what she enjoyed about it, and she said, "Holly was nice. She helped people," (a new Rex Reed!), so I would imagine that the creators of Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever accomplished part of their goal: making a fairly innocuous film that little kids would like. I, on the other hand, found the film tedious, with truly horrible songs interspersed throughout the brief 44 minute running time (the wretched hip-hop-flavored Together made me briefly leave the room get a sandwich and gather my sanity). I also groaned at the pandering subplot of the ageing "boomer" and his nostalgia for his high school rock 'n' roll band and his hippie "power to the people" crap (just as a side note to the screenwriters, 20 years ago - the time the two "hippies" have spent apart since high school - no high schoolers were saying, "Power to the people." Try the generation before that). Most of the young moms and dads who may watch Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever with their kids won't relate to this ridiculously outdated subplot.

On the other hand, I did admire the film's central message of the community helping out neighbors in need; it's a good lesson for little children to hear (if they need it in their cartoons, I guess). Annabel's and Holly's relationship is sweet and tender; it's just too bad the filmmakers didn't trust this aspect of the story and developed it more (and I'm not sure why the DVD box on the back describes Annabel as "the town witch:" nobody refers to her that way, and it's never implied that she is one). And I did enjoy the crusty old neighbor Willie Scranton, who started off as an old wheeze of a stereotype, but who became rather funny by his big scene in the barn. Other marketing additions like Cheddar the Pig and Doodles the Dog did little to aid the movie, and on that note, I must say that although the creators of Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever entertained my young daughter, they didn't succeed in their company's prime objective: hooking her on Holly Hobbie the brand. There were no requests for Holly Hobbie toys or cards or even more Holly Hobbie movies after Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever finished. Maybe it's because this new Holly Hobbie looks so generic, so anonymous (if I didn't see the name on the DVD, her image wouldn't jump out and say "Holly Hobbie" to me at all), that there isn't any hook to her merchandising - at least to my kid or me. Frankly, I miss the old bonneted Holly Hobbie.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full screen video image for Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever is sharp and colorful, with no transfer issues spotted.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 2.0 stereo mix is entirely too adequate for getting across those horrible songs. Subtitles and close-captioning are available.

The Extras:
There are a couple of light extras for Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever. First, you can play dress-up with Holly, by dragging over clothes selections appropriate for where she's heading off to for the day. There's a pop quiz to see if your child was really paying attention to the film (she passed, by the way). And there are three sing-along options for songs in the film, which you can hear sans Holly and friends if your child wants to sing solo (mine didn't want to sing those songs at all).

Final Thoughts:
Holly Hobbie, the adorable little ragamuffin with the enormous bonnet, has now been transformed into a contemporary, hip little tween. Her adventures in Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever are mild at best, with tedious songs thrown in to boot. Young girls may enjoy a rental, but unless they're big Holly Hobbie fans, I seriously doubt if they'd want to watch Holly Hobbie & Friends: Best Friends Forever over and over again.