Michelle Tanner

Michelle Tanner
Full House character
First appearance	"Our Very First Show!"
Last appearance	"Michelle Rides Again"
Created by	Jeff Franklin
Portrayed by	Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Information
Gender	Female
Family	Danny Tanner (father) Pam Tanner (mother; deceased) D.J. Tanner (sister) Stephanie Tanner (sister)
Relatives	John Tanner (grandfather) Claire Tanner (grandmother) Nick Katsopolis (grandfather) Irene Katsopolis (grandmother) Jesse Katsopolis (uncle) Rebecca Katsopolis (aunt) Nicky Katsopolis (cousin) Alex Katsopolis (cousin) Joey Gladstone (godfather)

Michelle Elizabeth Tanner is a main character from the long-running television series Full House. She debuted in the show's pilot, "Our Very First Show!," which aired in 1987, and continued to the 1995 two-part series finale, "Michelle Rides Again."^[1] Michelle was the Olsen twins' first role; they were infants when they started working on the series.

Character

Michelle Tanner is portrayed as being the youngest of the Tanner family in Full House, noted for a string of precocious catchphrases such as "you got it dude", "you're in big trouble, mister" and "aw nuts!" and a highly endearing personality. Raised by her father, her uncle (Jesse), and a friend (Joey) after her mother's untimely death, Michelle debuted during her character's infancy, maturing throughout the progression of the series. She is depicted as being slightly mischievous, though her status as the youngest daughter of the family leaves many of her misdeeds undisciplined and spares her from punishment; to the chagrin of her elder sisters. Michelle is quite playful, being a young child; however many episodes end with her realization of a vital moral. Having never interacted with her deceased mother, Michelle occasionally yearns for a mother of her own, and episode plots have surrounded her desire for a mother and her plans to attempt to gain one through her father Danny remarrying. She is a favorite of her uncle Jesse and enjoys his company and playful teasing. She is crestfallen upon learning of Jesse's intended relocation from the Tanner household after his marriage to Rebecca Donaldson. She holds a tendency to scheme when met with a new desire as an enhancement to the comedy of the series, but she eventually realizes the errors of her ways by the episode's conclusion and she deeply adores her family.

From seasons six to eight, Michelle is a Honey Bee (Spin-off of Girl Scouts). Her sisters D.J. and Stephanie were honey bees before her. It is known that D.J. sold 725 jars of honey during her time as a honey bee. It is unknown how much Michelle sold.

Michelle attends Meadowcrest Preschool and later, Frasier Street Elementary School throughout the show's run.

Friendships

In season three, when Michelle enters preschool, she meets a boy named Aaron, who, that day, is able to wear the sharing crown because he brought his toys in. On this day, the teacher calls the kids to the reading carpet for story time and Michelle tells the class bird to come for story time. She then opens the cage, and consequently the bird flies out the open window. Michelle is sad and tries desperately to get the bird back, but at the end, Danny gets her a new bird for her class. When she brings it in, all the kids love it, and Aaron lets Michelle wear the sharing crown for bringing the bird to be the class pet; the two eventually become friends and stay friends throughout the series. Also, from season five to season six, she is friends with a boy named Teddy whom she meets on her first day of kindergarten. The two enjoy doing many things together; it is revealed that they enjoy dotting each other's I's. When the two are in first grade, Teddy reveals his father got a new job and thus he and his family have to move to Texas. Michelle, saddened by the news, ties him up in her room tricking him into thinking she was teaching him how to jump rope. He is eventually untied and he gives her his special toy and she gives him her special stuffed pig, "Pinky." Later, the two say that they would write to each other. At the end of that same episode, Michelle makes a new friend named Denise, who then sits in Teddy's old seat and learns how to cross T's. They are friends for the rest of the show. She, at first, does not want a new best friend, but she does like Denise. Michelle also makes many other friends throughout the series, including shy but intelligent Derek and tough-girl Lisa.

In season seven, Teddy moves back to San Francisco and attends Michelle's school once again, rejoining her class. Michelle, Teddy, and Denise get into a big fight when Danny comes into class for Parent Volunteer Day. He gives an assignment to trace your best friend, leading Michelle to believe that you could only have one best friend. The three then have trouble deciding who to trace, allowing Michelle to take advantage of the situation. She says that she would pick the one who gives her the best stuff, but she did not say it in words (Teddy offers to give her his lone-star tie and candy, and Denise offers her hair scrunchie and pencil case; Michelle takes them up on the offers, not realizing she is accepting bribes, which ultimately make Teddy and Denise angry when they understand what is actually happening). The three eventually make up in the end after Michelle picks Comet the dog as her best friend and traces him, and Danny helps them to understand that they could all be best friends.

Comet the dog

In season three, the Tanner family decides that they needed a dog, so in episode seven, titled "And They Call It Puppy Love," they adopt a dog, and name him Comet. Michelle grows a big bond with Comet. In season six, when Uncle Jesse is on tour in Tokyo, Michelle decides to dig a hole to Tokyo and she asks Comet to dig. In season eight, Comet runs away, leading Michelle to look all around San Francisco to find him (the only episode that was actually filmed in San Francisco).^[2] By the end, Comet comes home.

Crediting

The directors and producers of Full House did not want people to know that Michelle was played by a set of twins, so the girls were credited as Mary-Kate Ashley Olsen for most of the show's run. It wasn't until the final season that they were credited Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Despite the fact that the Olsens are fraternal twins, their physical appearances were nonetheless similar enough so that few could tell the difference between the two over the course of the show's run. In season one, Mary-Kate was used more often due to the fact Ashley cried when she was put on set for a scene.^[3]

Reception

In 1989, the Olsen sisters won the Young Artist Awards for Best Young Actor/Actress Under Five Years of Age for their portrayal of Michelle.^[4] In the next year, they were also awarded for Young Artist Awards for their work on Full House, in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Actress Under Nine Years of Age.^[5] They also won the Young Artist Awards for Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress Under Ten in 1991.^[6]

Book series

Shortly after the show ended, a book series was made for Michelle and Stephanie. The stories take place mainly during the later seasons. The stories include the sisters' friends and many other characters. The plots mainly focus on the characters' struggles and triumphs. Michelle is about nine years old and Stephanie is in her teens. The books were mainly published in the 1990s.^[7]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Full House characters

• Full House at the ABC Family website
• Michelle Tanner at the Internet Movie Database