L to R: Emerson, Camille, Ashlyn, Willa, and Kendall.
The garden of friendship blooms with good deeds.
A spinoff of the American Girl line, the WellieWishers are a line of characters and dolls released in 2016. The line—named after wellies (a term for Wellington boots/rubber rain boots that was popularized in the United Kingdom)—focuses on six elementary-aged characters and is designated to cover the gap left between the brand's Bitty Baby line of infant baby dolls and the older aged and targeted American Girls. It can be considered a Spiritual Successor to the previous line by American Girl, Hopscotch Hill School, which ran from 2003-2006 and also focused on the four-to-six-year old demographic, but wasn't as successful.
The line focuses on five (later six) main characters (of different ethnicities) who spend time together playing and learning in an open garden. The first five released are:
- Willa: Caucasian; animal lover, she's into nature and exploring. Her aunt Miranda owns the garden the characters meet at regularly.
- Kendall: African American; a creative child who loves to build and design things.
- Emerson: East Asian; she loves jokes and performing and can make up songs of her own, but can be perfectionist and inconsiderate, getting in over her head.
- Camille: Caucasian; She loves the sea, mermaids, and water, and is best at understanding other's feelings.
- Ashlyn: Ambiguously Brown; loves princesses, pink, and ruffles as well as party and activity planning.
- Bryant: The only boy and Ambiguously Brown; enjoys dragons, being brave, and assisting others in their activities.
The line switched from a more realistic focus to a fantasy, imagination style in 2021, with the target age lowered to four. In 2022, the collection added its first boy doll, Bryant, and plush pet characters: a multi-colored dragon named Criselle and Lulu, a magical Llamacorn, later followed by a pig, Peegin.
The collection is accompanied by a series of illustrated early-reader chapter books. The first books each had realistic problems, scenarios, and lessons for elementary aged kids; current books lean into the fantasy aspect but still have some problem solving and conflict resolution. Each book also includes a section for parents on how to apply the lessons and/or activities in the book. There is also an animated series on Amazon Prime that was later Rereleased for Free on American Girl's YouTube channel.
The WellieWishers franchise provides examples of:
- A Day in the Spotlight: Each book at the start of the franchise tends to focus on one character's specific problem, personality trait, or personality issue, though all the characters are present in each book. Nowadays the books have more of an ensemble cast issue, with each character getting some small emphasis in the book.
- Adults Are Useless: Massively averted. While adults are not often seen or assist with the children's problems, they are on easy call and if things become troublesome, Willa's Aunt Miranda (or other adults) can and will help the girls work through their problems with advice and assistance. Furthermore, every book has a "For Parents" section with tips for how adults can guide their child with the theme of the story including games, crafts, and/or addressing the same issues presented in the story.
- Ambiguously Brown: Ashlyn could be assumed to be any race or ethnicity, and it is never specified; this is also true with Bryant.
- Alliterative Title: WellieWishers.
- All Girls Like Ponies: Discussed in The Clippity-Cloppity Carnival. Almost all the girls like the idea of horses—going so far as to play with toy horses they're given and becoming excited about meeting one up close at a carnival to be held soon. Ashlyn, however—having just had a bad experience where a large horse scared her—is frightened of seeing a horse up close again. Because of this she prefers to have her toy pony be very un"horse"like. She becomes so upset from her fear that she eventually refuses to come to the carnival after learning a horse will be there. It takes confessing her fears to Camille to start to feel better and Camille's assistance to help Ashlyn start to face her fear. At the carnival, Ashlyn is glad to learn that the "horse" is instead a gentle pony.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Camille, Kendall/Emerson/Ashlyn, Willa.
- Boyish Shorts: Bryant, the only boy among the girls, wear striped shorts with additional dragon themed accessories. He's intended to be early elementary age (about 5-7 years old). This puts him in contrast to the various 18" male dolls of the American Girl line who, while having many outfits contain shorts, have pants just as often in their outfits and are portrayed as preteens.
- Childish Tooth Gap: Camille has one after losing her tooth in Ashlyn's Unsurprise Party.
- Fiery Redhead: Averted. Redheaded Willa is one of the more withdrawn characters; she has stage fright and is exceptionally shy.
- Free-Range Children: The main characters are given free range of Aunt Miranda's expansive backyard garden space and often participate in activities and planning—including construction—all their own in the space provided.
- Girliness Upgrade: The whole line was given this in 2021. The generally normal styles of kid's clothing that had been practical and realistic—wellies to play in the mud/outdoors and themed but realistic tops and skirts—was replaced with fantasy wardrobes; each of the girl dolls now comes in a leotard and elastic skirt with play headbands and extras such as fairy wings, unicorn horns, or mermaid tail skirts. The additional stories (while still having some lessons) now focus the plot on the characters having their conflicts in imaginary settings such as attending princess school, being mermaids underwater, and a conflict with a cranky dragon who wants to take over their castle playhouse.
- Girlish Pigtails: Willa, Kendall (with her hair up in natural puffs) and Emerson.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Emerson, the dancer and performer of the group, originally had a ballet themed outfit with pink and purple accents. Her new outfit is still purple and has a tutu (though it's now more based on Unicorns).
- Limited Wardrobe:
- In the animated series, the girls almost always wear their standard iconic outfits; in the books, outfits often vary, but the girls are frequently seen in the same outfits the dolls are available to be purchased in.
- Bryant only has the outfit he's been released in; no additional boy outfits have been made for the line.
- Never Bareheaded: Ashlyn is almost never seen without her pink tiara, and Willa has a headband shaped like bunny ears. The 2021 outfit update has everyone with a headband except Bryant.
- No Full Name Given: None of the characters have stated last names.
- Official Cosplay Gear: The company sold accompanying outfits for many of the dolls' clothing, including their stock outfits. Rather than selling five pairs of individually designed wellies, a five-pack of matching socks are available along with clear boots.
- The One Guy: Bryant is the only boy included among the group.
- Our Fairies Are Different: Kendall's 2021 outfit is based on sparkly butterflies, and she often is illustrated holding a wand.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Camille (in both iterations) has a love of mermaids and merfolk. Her current meet outfit is designed to evoke mermaids.
- Our Nymphs Are Different: Willa's 2021 outfit is called a "nature fairy" outfit, and she is characterized as a friend to all animals.
- Pink Means Feminine: Ashlyn is decked out head to toe in pink—shirt, skirt, tiara, and wellies—in her meet outfit, and is the most "girly" of the main characters. Nearly all her secondary outfits have pink as well, and she is rarely seen without her tiara. With the redesign, nearly every female character has some pink in their outfit.
- Princess Phase: The whole line after the 2021 redesign is going through this. The focus and items changed from every day activities and clothing to a more fantasy, magical focus. The girls often pretend to be princesses—not just Ashlyn, who before limited being "princessy" to her tiara and love of pink—and wear frilly dresses and crowns in their imagination spots. Items in the collection reflect this, with things such as royal-themed desks and accessories, a castle themed playhouse, and princess style pajamas and clothing.
- Sixth Ranger: Bryant, the only boy in the group. He was added in part to appeal to boys that might want a WellieWisher doll of their own (after boy dolls had been added to the 18" line). However he has no hair decorations or headbands (instead he has a dragon tail accessory with his wings) and has no other outfits outside of what he comes with. He's also not been included in any of the Costco releases since his debut (as they have focused heavily on outfits that are overly girly, with rainbow nightgowns and sleep sets and princess dress up).
- True Blue Femininity: Gentle, peacemaking Camille (who often soothes over conflict) had a blue themed outfit originally. Her second outfit has pink accents, but still retains blue features resembling a mermaid.
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: In The Mystery of Mr. E, this occurs due to an Accidental Misnaming. Willa's Aunt Miranda asks the WellieWishers to look after "Mr. E," a dog that belongs to her friend Shu Ping, while he travels in China. The girls agree, but one day, the dog disappears. The situation is finally resolved when they discover Mr. E snug in a little cave with several puppies. They take Aunt Miranda to see and finally it occurs to Willa to ask how "Mr. E" could have had puppies if he's a boy. The twist in this case is that the dog's owner actually already knows she's a female dog. Aunt Miranda asks if she said "Mr. E" and explains that the dog's name is actually "Mystery". She had mysteriously appeared at Shu Ping's house one day and he could never find her owner, so he kept her and named her "Mystery".
- Youthful Freckles: Ashlyn, Bryant, and Willa all have freckles and are young.
