Pepper Ann is an American animated series created by Sue Rose and aired on ABC. It debuted on September 13, 1997. Pepper Ann focused on animated youths and charted their ups and downs at Hazelnut Middle School. It aired as part of the Disney's One Saturday Morning block. The character originated in a comic strip published in YM magazine.
Plot[]
The show centers on the titular character, Pepper Ann Pearson, a 12-year-old girl whose emotions come out in fantasies. The show was designed to be a "different sort" of girl's cartoon, and features many strong-willed female characters who aggressively reject the idea of passive femininity.
Pepper Ann's best friends are Milo Kamalani, a very eccentric, highly dramatic artist; and Nicky Little, a soft-spoken, overachieving aspiring violinist. Other fellow students at Hazelnut Middle School include rich and spoiled Trinket St. Blair, German boy Dieter Liederhosen, popular airhead Cissy Rooney, gossipy twins Tessa and Vanessa James, Nicky's boyfriend, the RC car-racing "nerd" Stuart Walldinger, and the cool 8th-grader, Craig Bean. Pepper Ann has no real enemies except Principal Hickey, a tough disciplinarian with zero tolerance for Pepper Ann's shenanigans, and Alice Kane, an uppity snob who refers to her as "P. Ann". As well, Pepper Ann usually receives advice from her conscience (whom she dubs Alter Ego), typically in the form of her reflection. She gets into mild vocal argues with Alter Ego and her feminist mother, Lydia, although Lydia usually gives the moral at the end.
Pepper Ann's father is seen only in a few episodes in his entirety. We know, however, that he was English, and divorced Lydia (although the two remain on good terms) when the girls were young. Lydia, in turn, embraces her divorcée single-mom identity with great gusto, and encourages Pepper Ann to be as proudly independent as she is, although she does keep a curfew on Pepper Ann. Further support is given by Lydia's sister, Janie Diggity an ex-Green Beret, and Pepper Ann's tomboyish deep-voiced younger sister, Moose.
Pepper Ann and Lydia make a cameo appearance at the House of Mouse episode The Stolen Cartoons. They are the only Walt Disney Television Animation characters to ever appear on House of Mouse, who only used characters from Disney's features and classic shorts (and sometimes comics). Lydia says, "Don't touch the villain, dear," to Pepper Ann after Pete falls out of the sky after being kicked out of the club.
Desk Gags[]
At the end of the opening sequence, she will always find something different under her desk (similar to The Simpsons' couch gag), such as:
- Five bucks
- A bicentennial quarter
- Kiwi lip balm
- Mardi Gras beads
- A mood ring
- A dreidel
- Dieter's maracas
- A glowing green stick
- An iceberg
- The Letter Q
- A talking French poodle
- PA's remote control
- A taking Dieter doll
- Frosty's head
- A Mini Pepper Ann
- The Black Velvet Fuzzy painting
- A gold tooth
- Scuff marks
- Mr. Talonsworth
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Jennifer "Pepper Ann" Pearson, Alter Ego
- Jeff Bennett as Craig Bean, Dieter Liederhosen, Ned Diggity, Pink-Eye Pete, Shelf McClain, Grandpa Leo, Mitch, Emmett Swink
- Danny Cooksey as Milo Kamalani
- Clea Lewis as Nicky Little
- Pamela Adlon-Segall as Margaret Rose "Moose" Pearson, Sean LeSandre (Shouty Kid), Hush
- April Winchell as Lydia Pearson, Grandma Lillian, Abriola Stark, Milicent the Militant, Sherrie Spleen
Additional voices[]
- Don Adams as Principal Hickey
- Paddi Edwards as Vera Groober-Schwartz
- Susan Tolsky as Janie Lilly Diggity
- Tino Insana as Jo Jo Diggity
- Maurice LaMarche as Chuck Pearson
- Jenna von Oÿ as Trinket St. Blair
- Kath Soucie as Cissy Rooney, Mrs. Little, Supermodel Mindy, Mean Girl, Crying Girl
- Cree Summer-Francks as Tessa and Vanessa James, Crying Girl
- Lauren Tom as Alice Kane
- Kimmy Robertson as Gwen Mezzrow
- Luke Perry as Stuart Walldinger (Season 2)
- Cam Clarke as Stuart Walldinger (Season 3-4)
- Candi Milo as Constance Goldman
- Kenny Blank as Lamar Abu-Dabe
- Adam Wylie as Crash
- Karen Duffy as Sketch
- Meredith Scott Lynn and Brittany Murphy as Poison, Tank
- Jim Cummings as Roland Carter, Mr. Little, Mama Tried Guy, Dirk
- Bebe Neuwirth as Bronte Bladdar
- Don Lake as Sherman Finky
- Julia Sweeney as Carlotta Sneed
- Kathy Najimy as Coach Doogan, Margot LeSandre
- James Avery as Owen Clapper
- Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Reason
- Tara Charendoff-Strong as Brenda
- Jess Harnell and Rob Paulsen as Mick Snot/Harry Schnitzer
- Wallace Langham as Wayne Macabre
- Hedy Burress as Effie Shrugg
- Nicole Sullivan as Tundra Woman, Kona Kamalani
- Glenne Headly as Becky Little
- Sue Rose as Fuzzy, Moira
- Kathy Kinney as Mama Destructo
- Mark Hamill as Himself
- Alex Trebek as Himself
Reruns[]
After appearing on Disney's One Saturday Morning, Pepper Ann was syndicated on UPN's Disney's One Too programming block for episode premieres in 2000. It then moved to the Disney Channel and Toon Disney on September 3, 2001, where the few remaining episodes would finally premiere, the last airing on November 30. Pepper Ann would leave Disney Channel following September 2002, and Toon Disney in 2005. In 2007 and 2008, the show would have the occasional marathon on Toon Disney, typically following a movie. July 20, 2008, was the last time Pepper Ann was shown on any cable channel in the US. It returned to Disney Channel in Portugal on April 11, 2011. Unlike Doug and Recess, none of Pepper Ann's episodes have been commercially released for home video to this day.
In the UK, the show was shown on ITV as part of GMTV's "Diggit".
In Canada, the show was initially broadcast as part of "One Saturday Morning" through BBS.[1] It would later start airing on Family Channel starting in 2000, with the first three seasons airing in their UPN order. The fourth season would air the following year in December 2002, with the series airing up until August 15, 2003.
The show was released on Disney+ on September 8, 2021. The first season, "The Finale" and select episodes from Season 3 are in PAL format (complete with the "Distributed by Buena Vista International, Inc." caption after the Walt Disney Television logo) while the rest of the series has its usual NTSC format.
Video[]
Gallery[]
.jpg "Pepper Ann promo art (1).jpg (130 KB)")
.jpg "Pepper Ann promo art (2).jpg (1.52 MB)")
.jpg "Pepper Ann promo art (3).jpg (1.02 MB)")
.jpg "Pepper Ann promo art (4).jpg (640 KB)")
Trivia[]
- This is one of several Disney Channel/One Saturday Morning animated shows that was initially pitched towards rival company Nickelodeon that they ultimately passed on. The others include The Proud Family, Phineas and Ferb, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, The Owl House, Recess, and The Ghost and Molly McGee.
Cancelled film[]
In 1999, a feature film titled Pepper Ann's Rio Adventure was in development. The film would have centered on Pepper Ann's class going to Rio De Janeiro, possibly for a soccer tournament, and stop a land developer from destroying the Amazon river. While no explanation was given as to why it was cancelled, it's possible that the failure of other Disney Television Animation films may have contributed to it. Concept art for the film can be seen here.
External links[]
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