"G.I. Janie" is the first segment of the twenty-eighth episode of Pepper Ann. It aired on February 7, 2000.
Synopsis[]
Aunt Janie protests against a new, violent video game -- and finds herself addicted to it.
Plot[]
Pepper Ann comes home to see that Lydia and Janie bought the FunStation 8000. Janie is trying to do a report on the violence of video games and Pepper Ann offers to help her out. After looking through her collection of games, Pepper Ann settles on Warmonger, an alien war game. As she plays through the levels, Pepper Ann sets it to two player and has Janie take the second controller. They start playing all through the night and straight on until morning. Pepper Ann goes to do other things while Janie seems hooked on the game.
Pepper Ann tells Nicky what happened and she becomes concerned that Janie playing the game has desensitized her to the violence, though Pepper Ann sees no harm in her playing. Janie, who was once a peace loving hippie, has now become a war obsessed individual and reveals that she got further in the game. She recruits Pepper Ann and Milo and they go around time collecting rations and purchasing better controllers. During this time, Janie becomes much more aggressive and angry; becoming determined to defeat the final boss.
Janie, Pepper Ann and Milo play through the game, but Aunt Janie kills Milo's character. They eventually come across the final boss, General Zohn with Janie trying to kill him, but Pepper Ann talks some sense into her; ending her deranged mental state. Janie gives a speech to a convention stating that while games are harmless, they should not be taken seriously and those should stay grounded to reality. One of the peace members asks Janie to do a similar report on cartoon violence, but everyone turns it down and drags Janie away.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Pepper Ann Pearson
- Danny Cooksey as Milo Kamalani
- Clea Lewis as Nicky Little
- April Winchell as Lydia Pearson
Additional voices[]
- Scanlon Gail as Sales Clerk
- Edie McClurg as Estelle Sommers
- Susan Tolsky as Janie Diggity
Other appearances[]
- Jo Jo Diggity (does not speak)
- Ned Diggity (does not speak)
- Moose Pearson (cameo)
- Lamar Abu-Dabe (cameo)
- Myrna (cameo
Desk Gag[]
"Iceberg, dead ahead!"
Trivia[]
- The title of this episode is a play on the title of the 1997 film G.I. Jane.
- FunStation 8000 is a parody of PlayStation. It may be a competitor to the Super Mega Hardcore Game Blaster 8000.
- For unknown reasons, this segment, along with its sister segment, would be removed from syndication on Toon Disney after a few years.
- Modern research shows that violent video games have zero effect on children's behavior. It was discovered that children who play video games for less than an hour a day were better behaved. Further research has also suggested that there is no connection towards desensitization and violence in video games.
