was only shown digitally, and not printed on traditional 35mm stock; had no major press reviews during its stay in theaters; and was designated as a direct-to-DVD feature in the first place. Hence, as with all of Kidtoon's past movies, it is not considered a legitimate theatrical release, according to animation expert Jerry Beck on his Cartoon Research site. In a January 2007 interview with Animation Magazine, Leslie Nelson, a member of DiC's European unit, said that Sweet Dreams was the biggest success for the Kidtoon program, beating the sales for an undisclosed record holder by 20%. During its October release, over two million tickets were sold. The Sweet Dreams Movie debuted on DVD in North America on February 6, 2007, courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Although there are no special features on the disc itself, every copy includes a special package of organic strawberry seeds. The movie had its first known international appearance when Disney Channel Asia picked it up for its "The Wonderful World of Disney" movie slot in March 2007. Disney Channel Asia has since repeated screenings of the movie several times. However, the film was not released onto VideoCDs in the Asian region until December, well over 10 months after the North American DVD release and over a year after its US theatrical début. Reception The day before its DVD premiere, R.J. Carter of the home entertainment site, The Trades, gave The Sweet Dreams Movie a B− grade. He commented on the storyline: "It's not exactly [compelling]. It's silly, and simple, and syrupy sweet—which is all that's called for in a Strawberry Shortcake adventure". On the computer animation, he went on to say: "It is not done so with an attempt to go for realism, however, as the finished product looks more like a cast of plastic moulded [dolls from the franchise] than little girls. Think of any of the Barbie DVD animated adventures of late, and you'll be in the right ballpark". Some days later, Mike Long of DVD Talk expressed disappointment over the film's story, design and ending, as well as its songs, and rated it one star out of five. Merchandise 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released The Sweet Dreams Movie on DVD on February 6, 2007. Grosset & Dunlap has published at least three books based on the film, all of which contain actual stills from the production. They are