As Told by Ginger


As Told by Ginger is an American animated comedy-drama television series aimed at preteens, produced by Klasky Csupo, which also produced shows such as The Wild Thornberrys and Rugrats, and aired on Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a junior high school girl named Ginger Foutley who, with her friends, tries to become more than a social geek. The series first aired on Nickelodeon on October 25, 2000.
As Told by Ginger ended production in 2004, although some episodes remain unaired on American television. It was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program. The series was approved and noted for the fact that it had ongoing story arcs and characters who developed, aged and changed their clothes throughout the show, a rare quality in an animated series.

Premise

Characters

The show focuses mainly on the life of junior high school student Ginger Foutley. Ginger and her friends Darren Patterson, Deirdre Hortense "Dodie" Bishop, and Macie Lightfoot, try to rise from the position of school geeks as they solve many conflicts that come their way.
Luckily for Ginger Foutley, the most popular girl in school, Courtney Gripling, has taken a liking to her and often includes her in her social plans. She is intrigued by her "gingerisms", as Courtney calls them. However, Miranda Killgallen, Courtney's right-hand woman, makes sure that she is not bumped down from her position thanks to Ginger. At home, Ginger writes her lively adventures in her diary. Her younger brother, Carl, is often scheming with Robert Joseph "Hoodsey" Bishop in his own side plots, and her mother, Lois, is always there for advice – to which Ginger is always able to listen.

Setting

The series takes place in the fictional suburban town of Sheltered Shrubs, located in Connecticut. Sheltered Shrubs is based on the real town of Larchmont, New York, where series creator Emily Kapnek moved to when she was in junior high. She said the town became "sort of the basis for this show". Other towns noted in the series are Protected Pines, a gated community in which Courtney lives, Brittle Branches, where Ginger's father resides, and Heathered Hills, the town of Ginger's summer camp crush, Sasha.

Continuity and themes

As Told by Ginger has been recognized by fans and Nickelodeon alike for its character development, most of which is unusual for a cartoon.
In the first season, Ginger's age group is considered as being in seventh grade. By the second season, they move up to eighth grade rather than remaining the same age. In this season, Darren has his unwieldy orthodontic headgear that he has worn for the entire first season removed, which results in rising popularity. They graduate junior high in the middle of the third season and move on to becoming freshmen in high school. Carl's age group works in a same way, as they become junior high students by the third season. Many episodes make references to past episodes, giving the episodes a definite order.
One of the most noticeable developments is that the characters change clothes every episode and often newer every day within the same episode, a highly unusual characteristic of cartoons in animation. Most animated cartoons have their characters remain in the same outfits throughout the series to save time and money. This was most conspicuous amongst the girls in Ginger's age group and some of the adults such as Ginger's mother. After Darren got his orthodontic headgear removed, he changed clothes as well. Carl's age group changes clothes only infrequently and with few changes. Hoodsey's coat rack has similar purple hoodies, satirizing cartoons whose characters always remain in the same outfits. Unlike most live-action shows whose characters only wear an outfit once, As Told by Ginger characters wear their outfits in rotation, and new outfits are added every few episodes.
The series also deals with several deeper themes. In "Wicked Game", Ginger's two best friends betray her after feeling jealousy toward her new boyfriend, Darren. In "And She Was Gone", the staff and students at school think Ginger is suicidally depressed after she writes a disturbing poem that worries them. In the episode "No Hope for Courtney", Carl's pranks cause his teacher to retire. After she agrees to come back, Mrs. Gordon passes on. In actuality, Mrs. Gordon's voice actress, Kathleen Freeman, died before the episode's completion, and the script was rewritten in dedication to her. "A Lesson in Tightropes" has Ginger going through an emotional breakup with Darren while she must undergo surgery for appendicitis. Furthermore, the episode "Stuff'll Kill Ya" shows Ginger dealing with a coffee and caffeine drug addiction. The old saying of "follow your dreams" became a whole new meaning. In Butterflies Are Free Part 1, when Dodie became so fascinated about the pep squad, she wanted to try out. However, the coach in charge of the team told her that a freshman has never succeeded in the attempt of the usual process. But despite that piece of info, she still became inspired. In Kiss Today Goodbye, Dodie continue to further her attempt by cooking healthy meals for the coach, cleaning cheerleading outfits, presenting the team. In Dodie's Big Break, she became a gopher, which is Lucky High School's mascot, she performed in her first game but got injured, which led to her becoming apart of the team. Unfortunately, it got taken away from her after she confessed to faking the injury that she recovered from. After being confronted by Ginger, Coach Candace allowed Dodie back into the squad and she allowed her to try out. But she injured her leg again and Dodie is allowed to try again in her sophomore year.
Unlike most other Nicktoons, the series was aired on the TEENick block.

Episodes

Sixty episodes were produced for the show.

Television films

There were four television films that aired during the series' run.
Nickelodeon had originally asked for the ending of The Wedding Frame to be changed to something less conclusive in case they wished to order more episodes, however, perhaps due to that situation being very unlikely, the original ending was eventually retained. It was released directly to DVD in the United States in November 2004, but it was not broadcast in the US; also, one of the episodes leading up to the film has never aired in the US either, resulting in some continuity problems.
In international airings, the films were divided into two and three parts in reruns.

Production

The pilot for the show was completed in September 1999. The show premiered in October 2000 on Nickelodeon. The show was greatly popular at first, making its way into the teenager-aimed block TEENick. After the second season, the show's popularity began to decline, partially due to constant scheduling changes. Nickelodeon then took the show off the air after airing less than half the episodes of the third and final season. The show was a part of the Nicktoons channel since its inception in 2002, and started airing the remaining third-season episodes in November 2004, when "Ten Chairs" premiered. The "high school" episodes were slated to premiere during November 2006, but only one, "Stuff'll Kill Ya", premiered. The aforementioned Season 3 episodes remain unaired, however, they instead aired on teen-oriented block The N on Saturday nights, on January 20, 2007.

Show airings

The opening theme, titled "I'm in Between", was written for the show by series composers, Jared Faber and Emily Kapnek. The song was first recorded with vocals by Melissa Disney, in character as Ginger. But this version was replaced before initial North American broadcasts with another version performed by Cree Summer. This would be used for half of the first season before a third version, featuring vocals by R&B artist Macy Gray, which was used for the rest of the series' run.
In the UK broadcasts, the Melissa Disney and Cree Summer versions were used for the first two seasons, while the Macy Gray version was used for season three. Internationally, the Macy Gray version is the most recognizable version.

Closing credits

The closing credits are generally designed backgrounds with the show's signature font. These backgrounds include the ice cream cones from Ginger's bedroom walls, ladybugs from Dodie's bedroom walls, pencils, lizards and more. In several episodes, the ending theme is an rock-based instrumental, although there have been exceptions. "Piece of My Heart" ends with a different and softer instrumental melody. The episode "Never Can Say Goodbye" ended with a song called "Wrong", sung by voice actor Kenny Blank as Darren Patterson, and "And She Was Gone" ended with a musical version of Ginger's poem during the credits. The episode "Come Back, Little Seal Girl" featured the songs "Courtney's World" and "The Little Seal Girl" blended together. In "About Face", a song called "Diamonds Are Expensive", presumably sung by the engaged Lois and Dr. Dave, is played over the credits. "Next Question" ended with "The Teen Seal Girl" song. Finally, the episode "No Hope for Courtney" had no music during the credits, being dedicated to the memory of Kathleen Freeman.

Awards