Angela Anaconda
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| Angela Anaconda | |
|---|---|
 The Angela Anaconda title card. |
|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Joanna Ferrone and Sue Rose |
| Starring | Sue Rose Richard Binsley Kevin Duhaney Edward Glen Jonathan Malen Bryn McAuley Ali Mukaddam Ruby Smith-Merovitz Robert Tinkler |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 57 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Teletoon |
| Original run | October 9, 1999 – February 24, 2002 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Angela Anaconda is a cutout animation television series that aired on the Fox Family Channel (now called ABC Family) in the U.S. It centers around the adventures of an eight-year-old girl named Angela, who has wacky brothers, weird friends, and hates a fake-French girl named Nanette Manoir.
Angela Anaconda began as a short skit on the Nickelodeon show Kablam!. Angela Anaconda later became a series and was a hit on Fox Family Channel from 1999 to 2001. In 2001, when Disney bought the Fox Family Channel and changed the network's name to ABC Family, Angela was moved and cancelled after two months. The show aired reruns on Nickelodeon in 2004, but was removed about a month later.
The show was created by Joanna Ferrone and Sue Rose, who also created the cartoon character Fido Dido. Sue Rose created Disney's Pepper Ann. The show was produced by Decode Entertainment and C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures. It also airs on Teletoon in Canada. It premiered in the UK on Cartoon Network, and currently airs there on Channel 4, it also airs on POP TV in Slovenia and ABC2 in Australia.
The show features a very distinct art style, reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's animation from Monty Python's Flying Circus, in which all the characters are made out of cutouts of black and white photographs.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
[edit] Angela Anaconda
Angela is a freckle-faced young girl with brown hair. She dislikes her classmate Nanette Manoir, often calling her "Nanette Manure" and "Ninny-Poo". As a result Nanette tries, usually successfully, to get Angela in trouble. Angela often imagines situations where calamities befall Nanette while she gets the upper hand. In coversation Angela tends to use overly complex syntactic constructions, such as "I think I have an idea that is an idea that is good."
[edit] Gina Lash
Angela’s best friend, Gina Lash is the most intelligent child in the third grade. Possessing encyclopedic knowledge and an impressive vocabulary, Gina routinely dispenses reason and insight to her friends--although she will participate in whatever crazy scheme her friends are cooking up. Gina shares many interests with her friends, but her thirst for knowledge has led her to pursue a variety of other hobbies; she owns a microscope and other scientific paraphernalia. Gina is best known for her appetite, which rivals that of any adult. She’s always hungry and can even fall prey to Nanette Manoir if she’s bribed with her gourmet chef’s cooking. Gina’s favourite foods include Abatti’s Pizza, cinnamon swirls and Tastee Swirl ice cream. Gina is in love with the Tastee Swirl mascot, a man with a whipped ice cream head who dispenses ice creams from his truck. Despite being rather big, Gina does not let jibes about her appearance affect her, remaining happy and confident. Gina lives with her mother, who seems to be single (until she begins dating a rather buff co-worker.) Her father is never mentioned on the show. Gina also owns a pet turtle called Sheldon who loves carrots.
[edit] Johnny Abatti
Johnny is a sweet but dim child of Italian-American descent. His parents are never seen in the show, and he appears to be under the care of his grandmother and uncle Nicky. Regarded as being good looking, Johnny takes pride in his Elvis-inspired hairstyle, and is the object of a few crushes. Nanette tries to flirt with him and refers to him as “John” even though nobody else does. Johnny is privileged enough to be invited to exclusive Manoir events, usually bringing Gina, Angela and Gordy along, often against their will. Despite this preferential treatment, Johnny remains totally clueless about Nanette’s affections, even though he doesn’t seem to dislike her like Angela and Gina do. Although he won’t admit it, Johnny may have strong feelings for Angela, as he becomes resentful of any rival for her affections. In one episode he sends Angela flowers but forgets to sign the card, and the credit for his gift goes to Angela’s imaginary boyfriend Bob. Johnny likes to pick his nose and shoot spit balls at the teacher, Mrs. Brinks.
[edit] Gordy Reinhardt
Gordy is a sensitive and effeminate boy with asthma who prefers pressing flowers, housework and writing poetry to "dangerous" activities like tag or hide and seek. Gordy, who wears large, square spectacles, is skinny and physically weak; the complete opposite of his burly ex-Army dad Coach Reinhardt. Despite being so unalike, their father/son relationship is very strong and they show genuine love and concern for one another. The Coach enjoys the strawberry souffles, hand-embroidered towels and pillow cases Gordy makes in his free time. Gordy loves animals and is the proud owner of an immaculately groomed dog called Fabio. He is an expert on pet care and worries about the welfare of any animal entrusted to Angela. Gordy spent almost an entire episode wearing rubber gloves and a face mask, refusing to leave his house, after looking at an eyelash under a microscope. In spite of Gordy's outward appearance and mannerisms, he is deeply in love with Gina Lash, but his love is never returned.
[edit] Nanette Manoir
The richest kid in class, Nanette is the teacher’s pet despite being an average student. She is manipulative and has wrapped Mrs. Brinks around her little finger with constant praise and gifts. The perfect little angel to adults, Nanette is devious, cunning, snobby and mean, exercising the worst of her traits on Angela and her friends. She is very proud of her looks, constantly bouncing her golden hair. Her interests are a posh variety of activities such as baton twirling, ballet, painting and ice skating. Nanette uses her family’s wealth and status as a way of asserting her superiority. Because of her French last name, Nanette believes that she’s French. She sprinkles her conversation with misapplied French phrases, explaining their meaning incorrectly; she believes “pomme de terre” is French for “apple polisher” and Crêpes Suzette is French for "overpriced pancake". Nanette's parents speak with American (possibly southern) accents. Nanette has a huge wardrobe full of designer originals, but nearly always wears a French girls’ school uniform to school, complete with beret. She owns a poodle named Ooh La La, who is male, and has a personal butler named Alfredo.
[edit] January and Karlene
Nicknamed the “Copycat Clone Club” by Angela, January Cole and Karlene Trainor are Nanette’s best friends--treated more like servants--who follow Nanatte around wherever she goes. Sporting bouffant hairdos, preppy clothing and beauty moles, they are very concerned with their appearance and look to Nanette for fashion guidance. When Nanette makes a statement, January instantly agrees, then Karlene agrees even more. Despite their devotion to Nanette they are fickle; when Nanette was bedridden with a head cold, they found themselves without a leader and instantly latched onto Angela, who had the high-status job of organising the school’s float in a parade.
[edit] Josephine Praline
A devout Catholic, Josephine acts as a moral rudder for her classmates. She’s sweet, loving and forgiving, but stern when she sees injustice. She set up a confessional in the girl's washroom, where her friends come to talk to her about their worries. She is well-liked by her classmates. Josephine urges Angela to see the good in Nanette instead of hating her, but is surprised when she can't find any good qualities herself. Josephine frequently delivers praise and sometimes glows with a heavenly, serene light. She'd rather be in a Catholic school, but makes the best of her public school experience. Josephine comes from a large family. (at least 19 brothers and sisters) Her mother is so scared by the danger and sin of the outside world she won't even leave the house.
[edit] Candy May
Candy May is an incredibly dim child. She appears to cut her own hair, and wears a shirt with a unicorn decal. She hesitates a lot, draws her words out and often confuses herself. She isn’t allowed near sharp objects and loves playing with glitter and paste. She may be older than the other kids, since she's the tallest child in the classroom.
[edit] Mrs. Brinks
A dedicated third grade teacher, Mrs. Brinks is an eccentric middle aged woman with a rather masculine voice and large manly hands. She wears a huge grey beehive wig which hides her short ginger hair. Although she’s not a bad teacher, she’s easily manipulated and plays favourites, her decisions always favouring Nanette, whom she sees as the perfect little girl. Mrs. Brinks is biased against Angela. Mrs. Brinks likes to believe she’s sophisticated and succumbs easily to flattery. She thinks Angela is a bizarre, trouble-making and wayward girl, and constantly punishes her for things she didn't do by making her clap the chalkboard erasers (something Angela has since become very good at). Mrs. Brinks made Angela the top of her class when she believes Angela’s poem about her dog is about her. She and her husband, Connie Brinks--a frail, generous man--are rumoured to be weekend nudists. Angela and her gang often peer into the Brinks' back yard from Angela's tree house to find out if this rumour is true. (Later, the rumour is confirmed when Angela tricks Nanette into going in to the back yard.)
[edit] Other characters
Gen and Bill Anaconda: Angela’s loving parents. Bill is the inventor of Firm-a-Foam (among several other inventions) and Gen is a sculptor. Gen once was commissioned to sculpt Nanette and Ooh La La in pink marble, but the final statue was rejected by the Manoirs, who thought it was too small. This may be one of the many causes of Angela's dislike of Nanette.
Baby Lulu: Angela’s infant sister, who shares her taste in food with the family dog, King. She can only say bawoon (balloon).
Mark and Derek: Angela’s football obsessed older brothers. They’re rather dimwitted and enjoy head-butting each other, along with gently caressing each other's thighs on occasion. They enjoy teasing Angela and making her the butt of their jokes. They are on the football team coached by Gordy Reinhardt's father.
Grandma Lou: Resident of Florida, Angela's Grandma lives in a swamp full of alligators, and even keeps a pet alligator named Barney. She is incredibly energetic, and water skis despite having one artificial leg (to replace the leg eaten by an alligator.) She visits her family in Tapwater every time Barney eats something that belongs to the local sheriff--such as his dog or the tires from his squad car.
The Manoirs: Mustachioed Mr. Howell Manoir is an incredibly wealthy businessman who seems to own a lot of corporate properties. Mrs. Bunny Manoir is a Southern belle trophy wife who is especially attached to her daughter, and owns a bracelet made up of gold charms depicting Nanette in various stages of growth. Like Nanette, she believes herself to be French.
The Abattis: Grandmother Nona Abatti is the owner of Abatti’s Pizzaria, and is obsessed with beating her rivals, Sabatto’s Pizza. Uncle Nicky is a party animal in his thirties. He says he's been 26 for nine years. He always wears aviator sunglasses and is usually accompanied by two glamorous women. He seems to have a crush on Gina Lash's mother.
King: King is the Anaconda’s family dog and one of Angela’s best friends. King is female in spite of her masculine name. She appears to be some sort of terrier, but is most likely a mongrel. She’s very fond of Nanette’s dog Ooh La La, although their relationship is frowned on by both Angela and Nanette. King is very loyal and loving, even though she can’t do any tricks. At one point, King had a litter of puppies, one of which Angela named King II. King II ended up being owned by Mrs. Brinks, who renamed her Princess (much to Angela's chagrin).
Ooh La La: Nanette’s pedigree toy poodle, Ooh La La has had impeccable obedience training and knows many tricks, which doesn’t stop him from running away from Nanette often. Nanette cuddles him and makes him wear a tutu and tiara, but Ooh La La would prefer to be rolling in mud and eating garbage.
Barney: Grandma Lou's fearsome pet alligator, whom she hatched from an egg. Most people see him as a huge, scaly killer, but to her he's as harmless and cute as a puppy. Barney accompanies Grandma Lou wherever she goes, but is not completely trusted, even by Angela, who imagines him capable of devouring the more conventional pets in the neighbourhood.
Alfredo: The Manoir's sleek-looking butler, he is usually seen driving Nanette around in their limousine or aiding her in various schemes and activities. While he doesn't say much, he seems devoted to the Manoirs and acts as bodyguard to Nanette. However, he may not like the Manoirs very much, as he simply laughed when Nanette was mistakenly whisked away on a rented fire truck after the spring parade.
CiCi le Creme A Parisenne foreign exchange student who lives with the Anacondas, CiCi looks much like Nanette. Angela tried unsuccessfully to get CiCi to uncover Nanette's fake French heritage, and was frustrated when CiCi and Nanette became friends. Angela was horrified when CiCi asked Angela to invite Nanette and the CopyCats to a sleepover. The group destroyed Angela's room while Nanette complained about fleas in the Anaconda's house. Nanette revealed that she too had a foreign exchange student from Sweden (an Angela lookalike) who did not fit in with the Manoirs' elegant lifestyle. The two students switched residences, much to the happiness of both families.
Prince Abdul Sadin Aballasalidini A wealthy Arab prince who visited Tapwater Springs Elementary for one day. Mrs. Brinks had the students draw straws to see who would be his guide. Angela ended up tricking Johnny Abatti with a fake salami and pickle sandwich (it was actually baloney with no pickles) to get the longest straw. The Prince, who was enraptured with Nanette and her "hair like spools of golden thread", was displeased with Angela. After he quickly ditches Angela to be with Nanette and Carlene and January, Johnny begins harassing Angela about the sandwich. This catches the Prince's attention who begins making fun of Johnny. Johnny threatens to fight the Prince, who has his bodyguard toss Johnny in a garbage can ("Good riddance to bad rubbish"). This enrages Angela who tackles the Prince. Seeing Angela as the "superior one" due to her anger and passion, he asks her hand in marriage. Angela considers the offer as she would become a wealthy princess, but she quickly decides the food, clothing, and activities involved in being an Arab princess are not to her liking (she wouldn't be able to watch TV, would have to wear robes, wouldn't be allowed to drive, and instead would only be carried everywhere, and only allowed to eat caviar). After one of her imagination sequences, the Prince watches Angela gag at the last thought and decides he does not want to "pollute the gene pool". He leaves the school in his helicopter as a sad Nanette bids him farewell, at that point, he rejects her because the helicopter blades are blowing strong winds everywhere, messing up her hair and turning it from "spools of golden thread" into "knots of yellow dread".
Coach Reinhardt The very macho father of Gordy is a BIG sports enthusiast, ex-Army officer and coach of Tapwater High. He has a real soft spot for his artistic and sensitive son Gordy. Coach Reinhardt secretly coached a professional wrestler to earn enough money to send Gordy to figure skating camp. Despite the obvious difference between himself and his effeminate son, it's clear they love each other and accept their differences. He is also the Nature Survival Counselor for Tapwater Elementary.
Mrs. Lash The beautiful single mother of Gina Lash, this sensual woman frequently goes on "business trips" with handsome male associates. At one point, Mrs. Lash and Coach Rhinehart had a brief romance, much to the horror of Gordy and Gina.
Jimmy Jamal An African-American boy in Angela's class, he is frequently seen playing a hand-held video game (called a Slamboy, a direct allusion to Gameboy) and talking about his Turbo Trainers, which make him run very fast. He is the son of the mayor of Tapwater Springs. He played Zeus, king of the Gods, for Nanette's Greek tragedy.
Mayor Jamal The father of Jimmy, not much is seen of the mayor of Tapwater Springs. However, he is a proponent of removing dilapidated buildings, as he supported the destruction of the unsafe but historical Tapwater House (opposing Gina Lash and her mother, who wished to save the house so their history wouldn't be lost).
Mr. Mapperson This elderly gentleman is the owner of Mapperson's Bakery, a local hangout for the youth of Tapwater Springs. His baked goods are especially popular with Gina Lash, who is his favorite customer (she especially likes his cinnamon swirls). When he needed a new face for the Mapperson delivery truck, he held a contest, which all the students fought over. In the end he chose Gina, who never entered the contest in the first place, for her customer loyalty.
Mr. Tasty Swirls This man with a head shaped like an ice cream cone who drives the ice cream truck around Tapwater Springs. Gina Lash has a crush on him. He once hosted a contest, which would allow the winner to ride in his ice cream truck with him and ring the bell.
Dr. (Miss) Yamagotchi A fiery, eccentric Japanese woman with a thick accent, she heads many activities in Tapwater Springs. She has been seen as the tour guide of the museum, head of dog obedience training, driver of a mobile library around Tapwater Springs and the head of the Junior Rangerette's, the Girl Scouts-like troop that the young girls of Tapwater Springs belong to. Her name is an obvious pun of Tamagotchi, the original virtual pet, which were popular a few year before the show aired.
Mr. Mooie A ventriloquist's dummy originally owned by Bill Anaconda. Mr. Mooie's ability to mesmerize audiences makes them love him more than the person controlling him. Angela felt a rise her in popularity when she showed Mr. Mooie for show and tell, but soon realized the kids only liked Mr. Mooie, not her. She threw him into a dumpster and the puppet's eyes opened eerily, like the evil doll Chucky from the horror movie Child's Play.
Cafeteria Worker This burly, hairy man prepares and serves lunch to the students of Tapwater Elementary. He is famous for his Jiggly Fruit, a favorite among the students. Once took Sherman, the class chicken, so he could cook her eggs.
Dirk Dirkson A former private investigator, who wears a trench coat and black sunglasses, he is great at solving cases and is an object of Mrs. Brinks' affection. At one point, he became the personal bodyguard of Nanette, after his retirement from P.I. work.
Daniel Nelles A short, irritating member of Angela's class. He has rat-like facial features. He is best known for his catchphrase, "That's a big cheese!"
Astronaut Bob The internationally famous astronaut who is Angela's hero. Angela won a day with him at the annual Tapwater Spring's auction, but Nanette, who had purchased his helmet, got him to spend the time with her. However, at the end of the day, he ate pizza with Angela and the two made it on the wall of fame at Abatti's pizza.
Bob A good-looking boy who attends Angela's school. Ironically, before Bob was transferred to Tapwater Elementary, Angela had made up an imaginary boyfriend named Bob to impress Nanette.
Connie Brinks The mild-mannered and quiet husband of the overbearing Mrs. Brinks. He's a humble man, often ridiculed and berated by his wife, whom he deeply loves. He is a very small and thin man, in contrast to the rotund Mrs. Brinks. He is a nudist like his wife. He enjoys his amateur radio and controls the Tapwater Springs private TV channel.
Mega Giants A franchise of toys, trading cards, and movies that is very popular with the youth in Tapwater Springs. Prominent is Kid Colossus. Mega Giants are a combination of Power Rangers, Super Sentai, the Fantastic 4 , Batman, and other superheroes, but seemed more likely to be a spoof of Digimon.
Bug Thugs A toy craze, these electronic bug toys say rude phrases at the touch of a button.
Chris Nicol Johnie Abatti's cousin from Italy who speaks very little English. He introduced Angela and the gang to "Pizza shoes".
Geraldine Klump The substitute teacher when Mrs. Brinks became ill, "Geri" is a free-spirited and adventurous woman with very liberal views toward teaching and punishment. She quickly bonds with Angela, and dislikes Nanette and her crew.
Unnamed characters Also frequently shown in many scenes of the show, are an elderly Asian man who is related to Miss Yamagotchi, a hippie woman, a pro-wrestler that Coach Rhinehart coaches for extra money, two lovely ladies in either pink or gold who are Nicky Abatti's girlfriends, and various students in Angela's class.
Angela also has a song and film clip, 'Ninnypoo', which stars Angela with her friends Gina, Johnny and Gordy, as well as Nannette and her two friends, January and Carlene. The song is about how fakely French Nannette Manoir actually is.
[edit] Trivia
Ian D'Sa of the band Billy Talent was one of the animators on the team.
The characters appear as an introduction to Digimon: The Movie, released outside of Japan.
