MICHELLE OBAMA GIVES ‘WAFFLES + MOCHI’ PIZAZZ
“Waffles + Mochi,” a foodthemed series for children of all ages that began streaming Tuesday, comes from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions — one of the first products of a big slate of programs for Netflix that the former president hopes “won’t just entertain, but will educate, connect and inspire us all.”
It’s no surprise to find them here. The White House may be a bully pulpit, but Netflix is what the world watches; likewise, it’s no surprise that the streamer would want the world’s foremost power couple in its luxury stable. Both Obamas are quite media savvy, and television is an instrument they’ve played expertly in unexpected ways: POTUS out-snarking Zach Galifianakis on “Between Two Ferns” to sell the Affordable Care Act; FLOTUS demonstrating Mom Dances with Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.”
While Barack has been podcasting with Bruce Springsteen — “The Renegades: Born in the USA,” over on Spotify — Michelle, as “Mrs. Obama,” runs a toy-town supermarket, where she oversees a talking shelf (Taleia Gilliam, as Shelfie) and a talking mop (Diona Elise Burnett, as Steve) and tends a rooftop garden where she may be typically found in the company of an officious bee named Busy (Jonathan Kidder).
Co-created by Jeremy Konner (“Drunk History”) and Erika Thormahlen, on whose 2006 independent pilot “What’s Cooking With Waffles and Mousemeat” the present series would seem to be based, “Waffles + Mochi” isn’t formally innovative, like “Teletubbies” or “Wonder Pets,” but rather a well-balanced mix of familiar ingredients: a fanciful set, documentary visits to far-flung places, real kids being real, comical or calming adults, and puppets.
As to our puppet heroes: Waffles is the child of a Yeti and a frozen waffle, a furry thing with waffles for ears; Mochi (Russ Walko, puppeteer; Piotr Michael, voice) is a strawberry mochi ball. (No one will attempt to eat either of them, except for Jack Black, who mistakes Mochi for a soup dumpling.) A squishy ovoid with eyes and a (sometimes animated) mouth, who speaks only in meeps and purrs, Mochi is actually the more expressive of the two, and looks adorable in a crash helmet or wearing spectacles. They come from the Land of Frozen Food, “where ice cream never melts and dreams, well, they get frozen too.”
But they watch Julia Child on television and long for something more, and something more to eat. As luck would have it — there is no more substantial rationale — a truck belonging to Mrs. Obama’s grocery store gets stuck outside their house one day, and they stow away to the snowless city, there to meet new friends and learn about nonfrozen food.
Each episode has a different subject (corn, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, eggs and so on) and a similar structure. A problem arises, possibly of the puppets’ own making — they have poured salt all over the chocolate chip cookies, or broken the last jar of pickles in the store. After chatting with (or avoiding) “Mrs. O,” as she is sometimes called, they set off in their flying, talking MagiCart to learn something or fix a problem.
They visit other lands, for real, including Italy, Peru and Japan — the budget is on the screen — to cook alongside famous chefs and interview food experts, including LA Times food writer Lucas Kwan Peterson. There may be a cartoon, sometimes featuring the Taste Buds (voiced by Kate Berlant and John Early). And then they return, report and repair (if necessary) and earn a merit badge. Each episode comes with a kind of moral, too, suggested by the subject — potatoes will tell you something about inner beauty, pickles are about patience, salt prompts a conversation about moderation.
It’s not only a kids’ show, but what might be called a Cool Kids show — Lyric Lewis plays the store’s baker, named Baker; Rashida Jones guests as Cheryl from the cheese counter; Barack’s old interlocuter Zach plays a stock boy and Gaten Matarazzo of “Stanger Things” plays an electrician; Common helps Waffles and Mochi discover their roots.
And finally, there is Lionel Ritchie, turning up for the season finale.
“Are you here to give us a sweet jam?” asks Mrs. O.
“Well I brought some apricot,” he replies.
And everybody dances.