“Mrs. O,” Mochi and Waffles.
Photo: Adam Rose / Netflix
Since Barack and Michelle Obama formed their production company Higher Ground in 2018 and made a deal with Netflix, they have produced Oscar-worthy documentaries and some eye-catching podcasts. Today, the company’s first foray into television lands scripted on Netflix in the form of Waffles + Mochi, a charming, albeit slightly exaggerated, show that aims to teach children about different food, cuisine and cultures through the adventures of two dolls guided by Michelle Obama.
Waffles + Mochi is very much in line with the interests of the former first lady. Like her, let’s move! campaign, the main mission of the program is to show what healthy eating is like. Your heroes, Waffles – which is part yeti and part frozen waffle, and no, I’m not making this up – and Mochi, a Muppet-ish mochi ball, come from the Land of Frozen Food and are determined to learn how to cook and prepare fresh meals. After being hired to help Mrs. O – psst! This is Michelle Obama – who works in a supermarket with a roof garden, the two spend each episode meeting chefs and culinary experts from around the world to learn about specific foods and spices, including tomatoes, potatoes, salt, mushrooms and eggs .
Somehow, Waffles + Mochi it’s just a kindergarten friendly version of programs like Ugly Delicious, Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, and Salt Heat Fatty Acid, whose host, chef Samin Nosrat, appears in the first episode. It is informative and packed – as noted earlier, a little too packed – with segments, including those that place Waffles and Mochi in restaurants and food-related environments in various cities, conversations with children from around the globe and lively interstitials that, for example , presents viewers with the five types of tastes, each cartoonized in a way that resembles a certain recent Pixar. To put it bluntly, let’s just say that if Sour, voiced by John Early, made 23andme, he would definitely realize that it is related to Anger from Inside out.
Co-created by Erika Thormahlen and Jeremy Konner, who previously co-created Drunk Story, Waffles + Mochi it was designed to be educational, but also silly and a little eccentric. Each time Waffles and Mochi need to do research, they fly in a magical supermarket cart that takes them anywhere they want, from Peru to Japan and Los Angeles, in a matter of seconds. In the supermarket, some employees are human, but others are not. Busy Bee, another puppet, is Obama’s overly concerned helper. There’s also a talking mop named Steve, who, hey, why not. At the same time, it is a little strange to see Michelle Obama sitting next to a mop that has a mustache and wears Ray-Bans. I’m still trying to understand the fact that Waffles says his mom is a yeti and his dad is a frozen waffle because, from a conception point of view … you know, it’s better not to think about it too much. Let’s just say that if there are adults in the Waffles + Mochi the audience decided to pop an edible before broadcasting one of the ten episodes, this Pee-Wee Playhouse –influenced world or a) blow their minds or b) suddenly it would make absolute and complete sense.
As is often the case with programs like these, there are many celebrity guest appearances. Rashida Jones plays a corn bread baker named Sheryl. For one episode and one episode only, Zach Galifianakis works in a supermarket keeping the aisles clean and stocked. In an animated sequence during the tomato-focused episode, a tomato that looks like Sia sings a song about being misunderstood because of the confusion of fruits and vegetables. (The tomato’s voice is actually Sia’s.) There are also some crossover moments on Netflix. In addition to Nosrat’s appearance Salt Heat Fatty Acid, Gaten Matarazzo appears to do some Weird stuff jokes, and the fact that he talks to Waffles and makes no reference to Eleven and Eggos seems like a big missed opportunity. Tan France de Queer Eye appears and tries to make another potato, for some reason. With all due respect to France, whose hair is extremely pointed, it is a great example of a segment that could have been cut.
According to the sensitivity of the Upper Soil, Waffles + Mochi it is a deliberately inclusive program that conveys positive messages about how to work as a team and how to think about others. A wide variety of ethnic dishes are represented and, in any episode, several languages can be heard. At one point, restaurateur / santo vivo José Andrés explains how his non-profit organization, World Central Kitchen, provides communities with free meals after natural disasters. When the puppet duo heads to Savannah, Georgia, to learn more about rice, culinary historian Michael Twitty, who is black, gently explains to them that his southern relatives used to work in rice fields when they were slaves. As this series is aimed at children aged 5 and 6, even the occasional heavy moment is treated with a light touch and with an open heart.
The most enriching and fun parts of Waffles + Mochi these are interactions with chefs, as well as trips to places like the Sacred Valley of Peru, where heroes watch a man nicknamed the Potato Whisperer harvest potatoes with all kinds of colors inside. If there is a second season of Waffles + Mochi, let’s hope that Thormahlen and Konner leave segments like these to breathe a little longer – I could watch a whole half hour of Andrés making gazpacho with two dolls – and lose the pieces that are not so necessary. Part of eating well is avoiding empty calories. Waffles + Mochi, a good show that could be even better, it would be wise to do the same.