What happens when you combine Michelle Obama, puppets, food, and an incredible list of celebrities? The most delightful and heart-warming show to enter our lives in recent memory.
On March 16th, Netflix will release a series called Waffles + Mochi. It’s Michelle Obama’s new show, which hopes to inspire kids and adults alike to cook.
Many of us have already consumed everything on Netflix that seems worth watching. It’s hard not to wish we hadn’t already binged the whole catalog. That’s why this news from one of our favorite Obamas is oh-so welcome. It’ll bring a much-needed lift and a bit of laughter to our lives this spring.
From Presidential to Producers
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are both executive producers on Waffles + Mochi , making the new series the latest installment in their multi-year deal with Netflix. The former first couples’ production company, Higher Ground Productions has a slate of fiction, non-fiction, and kids and family series and feature films in the works.
A few Higher Ground projects are already out for your viewing pleasure. The Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentary American Factory chronicles the reopening of a factory by a Chinese billionaire in Dayton, Ohio, and the resulting clashes when it comes to labor practices and corporate culture. Becoming follows the first African-American First Lady of the United States on her multi-city book tour to promote her fabulous memoir of the same name. Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution is a documentary about Camp Jened, which was a summer camp for teens with disabilities in upstate New York in the ’70s and the disability rights movement it helped propel. This moving, touching film won the 2021 International Documentary Association award for Best Feature.
What is Waffles + Mochi?
Waffles + Mochi is brought to us by the same people who created Chef’s Table, Salt Fat Acid Heat, and Ugly Delicious. The main characters are Michelle Obama, Waffles (a waffle-covered yeti), and Mochi (a pink, adorable mochi). For the uninitiated, Mochi is a delicious but deadly Japanese rice cake made out of sticky rice and sometimes filled with ice cream.
Guests that appear throughout the show include Jack Black, Rashida Jones, Common, Zach Galifianakis, Tan France, Gaten Matarazzo, Sia, Mandy Moore, Samin Nosrat, and José Andrés. They interact with the puppets in inventive and charming ways and participate in educating Waffles and Mochi.
Those appearances alone are enough to warrant tuning in. But the show is endearing and fantastic for more reasons than that.
In the series, Michelle Obama plays the role of a supermarket owner. She decides to hire Waffles and Mochi, both puppets who have aspirations of becoming chefs. As Obama says as the trailer opens, “If you want to be great chefs, you have to learn about all kinds of different foods.” So, she sends the puppets on an international adventure to learn more about the cuisines of the world.
Waffles and Mochi embark on a fun-filled, educational, eye-opening journey, meeting all kinds of people and seeing lots of sights along the way. Stops on their journey include Japan, Italy, Peru, and more. Some of their adventures include riding a llama, a journey into the ocean, a trip across a perilous bridge, eating pasta in Italy, and trying all kinds of unfamiliar dishes.
The show is (not surprisingly) cute, and it’ll almost certainly have you laughing the whole way through—no matter your age.
The Message
During her time as First Lady, Michelle Obama was known for championing healthy eating, education, and a global approach to addressing the world’s problems. These priorities have continued for her, post-presidential status. So it’s no surprise that Waffles + Mochi is infused with the importance of yummy and healthy eating, childlike wonder, and cross-culturalism. Inclusivity and enthusiasm for learning are central components of the show, making it so much more than just an entertaining piece of television.
If you’re looking for an educational and engaging show for your kiddos, look no further.
A Kids’ Show?
At first glance, Waffles + Mochi seems like a show designed for—and bound to remain in—the kids’ section of Netflix. But it doesn’t take long to figure out that this might actually become a favorite of adults this year, too.
Amidst the pandemic, economic, and political chaos of the past year, we’re all a little short on joy. Things feel heavy, complicated, and worrisome. We’re struggling with missing family, friends, and coworkers. We’re used to reports on Coronavirus cases and maddening political coverage.
Waffles + Mochi is poised to be the perfect antidote to our woes. It offers innocent entertainment, cute-yet-clever jokes, and a welcome distraction from the state of things as they are.
So, is it a perfect show for the children in our lives? Yep, no doubt. But is it also kind of the perfect thing for us grown-up kids who need a bit of guilt-free jubilation? Yep, it sure is.
Whether alone, with friends or roommates, as a couple, or as a family, every age will get a whole lotta joy from this show.
Just the Thing We Need
We’re already sold on Waffles + Mochi—and we think you should be too.
Between the all-star cast of characters and guests, endless education, and lighthearted charm, it’s just the thing we want and need this year. This new Netflix series is a little something to look forward to this spring, and something to change up our same-old streaming routines. Thank goodness for Michelle Obama and puppets.
March 16th is officially less than a month away—and it couldn’t come fast enough.
