Pepper Ann: Gender, Family, and Some Other Stuff

2:58 PM · Dec 27, 2020 "Which pepper Ann character would be gay in the reboot and why is it nicky"

Apologies for skipping Recess, but I was eager to get to Pepper Ann. Much like how I wanted to cover Kim Possible after Marsupilami, I want to cover Amphibia after Pepper Ann. However, unlike Kim and Mars, there's actually a genuine connection between these shows.

Pepper Ann is a show I know I watched as a kid, but I really only remember how Pepper Ann finding things under her desk in a couch gag esque fashion and the Christmas/Hanukkah episode. (Congrats! Pepper Ann is the first Jewish protagonist of the Disney Watch!) Pepper Ann was also one of the three shows that I would say inspired me to do the Disney watch, with the other two being The 7D and... ugh... Teacher's Pet...

But this blogpost isn't about funny manlets or trans allegories. It's about Pepper Ann. 

While we've had girls in ensembles who are interesting (Sunni and Grammi Gummi, Spinelli and Gretchen, I fucking GUESS Hoppo and Butterbear), at this point, we've only had 1-2 female protagonists lead a show on their own. First we had Ariel, a Disney Princess. Second, if you call the Disney debut of Madeline 1995's ABC season instead of 2000's Disney Channel Season (which I do), we also had Madeline.

I have also just noticed that every girl protagonist we've had so far is a redhead. However, Proud Family does break that pattern.

Something worth noticing about Ariel is that she is the only female character who gets spotlight save maybe Ursula. Ariel has a ton of sisters but none of them get attention, the show instead focusing on the men in Ariel's life, such as Flounder, Sebastian, King Triton, and The Evil Manta.

Madeline is a little bit better at this. We don't have the personalities of the other girls, but Madeline does have Miss Clavel as a role model, and the only male character the show focuses on at all is Pepito. I also give Pepito a pass because he's funnier than almost every guy in Little Mermaid.

Both of these characters are also very polite and usually intended to be more role models than characters a girl can relate to. Comparatively speaking, Pepper Ann is a lot more crass though overall just a normal preteen-to-teenage girl.

11:27 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "pepper ann is definitely interesting i think it works well as a tween centric girl story that doesn't delve too much into being feminine. the characters are all written pretty well and i especially love moose"
11:30 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "i think pepper ann shouldn't necessarily be the goal post but it should be what a lot of shows acheieve. this sort of casual but real feeling of gender. i hate to use the phrase "thrown in your face" but it just goes as normal.... and it's pleasant."
11:32 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "it's not a girl power show, it's not some soft inoffensive sort of thing, and it doesn't really have women as a selling point."
11:34 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "i just really like that moose is like. pretty clearly gnc and it's like. just a thing."

Moose especially was a great character to see. At her age, I was pretty gender nonconforming myself and people always mistook me for a little boy. They still do, actually, but I'd argue I look more like Pepper Ann than Moose these days.

10:49 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "it may b cringe but pepper ann's design is like. a little gender i love how disastrious she looks"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though despite being a Moose recolor as a child and a Pepper Ann lookalike once I hit 13, it was ultimately Nicky who I related to the most? I kind of come off as loud to those I'm close to, but around strangers, I'm the smart quiet one who is full of unbridled emotion.

11:58 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "kinda enjoy this ep's running gag of how nicky was unable to think of any platonic male/female relationships in media"

Also this. I would do this. It's probably a lot easier to find male/female friendships than it was 25 years ago, but I would do this.

Ultimately, it seems like Pepper Ann would be a good show, but you must remember, this is the Doug era. Pepper Ann is ultimately a Doug character, so some of the Doug caveats are there.

1:02 PM · Dec 27, 2020 "man pepper ann is just too good but like. some of the time."
1:09 PM · Dec 27, 2020 "i think the episodes i've been enjoying the most are the ones centered around the pearson family."

It's definitely more entertaining then Doug, and while episodes were overall good, I did find myself checking the time stamp pretty often.

But when Pepper Ann is good, it's really good. For example, "Cold Feet" was probably my favorite episode that I watched. Pepper Ann's grandparents are renewing their vows, but her grandmother is about to dip out. She and Pepper Ann then go through photo albums of the exciting life she did live, and how while she ultimately lived a very full life.

As I mentioned, I did like episodes centered around Pepper Ann's family, similarly to Proud Family. Pepper Ann's friends weren't bad or anything, but other than Milo, Nicky, and for some reason, Dieter, none of them really stuck with me.

I do wonder if Pepper Ann would be one of those shows that would benefit from a reboot. Proud Family and Ducktales did pretty well with it, and I can imagine Pepper Ann improving on itself in a way that makes it very consistently great. At the same time, I do worry about a show like that getting a reboot, because it might just try and sell me on its themes instead of being comfortable and casual about it. Also I don't want them to make Moose any kind of lgbt unless its handled with the utmost care of a gnc lesbian.

Overall Rating For Pepper Ann: B Tier