Pepper Ann


Pepper Ann is an American animated sitcom created by Sue Rose and aired on Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC. It first premiered on September 13, 1997, and ended on November 30, 2001. It was the first Disney animated television series to be created by a woman.
Tom Warburton, who later created Cartoon Network's Codename: Kids Next Door, served as the lead character designer for the series.

Overview

Pepper Ann centers on the trials and tribulations that occur during the titular character's adolescence and charts her ups and downs at Hazelnut Middle School. The character originated in a comic strip published in YM magazine.
The opening titles has Pepper Ann, when she sinks to under her desk after getting a detention slip from her teacher Roland Carter for being late to class again, finding a different item each episode such as a $5 bill, kiwi lipbalm, or a driedel.

Episodes

Characters

Main

  • Jennifer "Pepper Ann" Pearson is the titular protagonist of the series, who is a bespectacled, quirky 12-year-old girl whose emotions come out in fantasies. Her conscience, Alter-Ego, often drives her insecurities through misguided advice. She is of Jewish faith from her mother's side.
  • Nicky Anais Little is Pepper Ann's female best friend, a very intelligent and sensible, yet soft-spoken overachiever, who often serves as a confidant for Pepper Ann. She can be prone to bursts of rage or extreme emotion and struggles to keep her composure when she feels she is overlooked. Nicky keeps to a pescetarian diet.
  • Milo Kamalani is Pepper Ann's male best friend, a laid-back and mellow hippie who prides himself in his artistic "talent". Milo is driven by passion, which can sometimes ostracize him from his peers. In early seasons, he is often her partner in crime with her schemes.
  • Lydia Pearson is the mother of Pepper Ann and Moose and the ex-wife of Chuck. She is a salesclerk working with the fashion store "It's You!" at Hazelnut Mall.
  • Margaret Rose "Moose" Pearson is Pepper Ann's stoic younger 7-year-old sister with an androgynous appearance, whose favorite pastime is skateboarding.
  • Craig Bean is a "cool" 8th grader whom the 7th graders admire. He serves as Pepper Ann's main love interest, as they both have hidden crushes on each other.

    Recurring

  • Dieter Liederhosen is a German student in Pepper Ann's class with an articulate appreciation for food.
  • Trinket St. Blair is a spoiled, rich, popular girl who often serves as a foil to Pepper Ann.
  • Cissy Rooney is an air-headed popular girl who is Trinket's best friend.
  • Tessa and Vanessa James are two gossipy black twin sisters who finish each other's sentences.
  • Janie Lilly Diggity is the aunt of Pepper Ann and Moose and Lydia's sister. A former member of the Peace Corps, she spends her time as an activist.
  • Jo Jo Diggity is Pepper Ann and Moose's uncle and Janie's husband, who works as a cop.
  • Nedward "Ned" Diggity is the socially inept son of Janie and Jo Jo, and Pepper Ann's cousin, who has an affinity for cheese.
  • Lillian Lilly is the mother of Lydia and Janie, and Pepper Ann's grandmother. In her youth, she used to be a performer and actress.
  • Leo Lilly is Lillian's husband and Pepper Ann's grandfather.
  • Peter "Pink-Eye Pete" Ogilvy is a nerdy kid who suffers from pink eye.
  • Alice Kane is Pepper Ann's pompous academic rival. She presents a superficially mature attitude in spite of being just as competitive as Pepper Ann.
  • Gwen Mezzrow is a bubbly girl who constantly alternates between pining for Milo and being entirely uninterested in him in favor of Dieter, who is indifferent to her affection.
  • Stuart Walldinger is Nicky's bookish boyfriend, whose main hobby is RC car-racing. He holds a reserved attitude but has a tendency to act out and bottle his emotions.
  • Constance Goldman is a shy, awkward girl who looks up to Pepper Ann.
  • Shelf McClain is a large, academically stunted Scottish student in Pepper Ann's class who bullies other students and steals their lunch money.
  • Chuck Pearson is the estranged ex-husband of Lydia and father of Pepper Ann and Moose. He works as a blimp pilot and speaks with a Mid-Atlantic accent.
  • Sherrie Spleen is the TV anchorwoman for Channel 96 in Hazelnut.
  • Margot Lesandre is a snooty saleswoman who is rivals with Lydia and Janie.
  • "Shouty Kid" Sean Lesandre is the son of Margot, and Moose's crush. He is most recognizable for his booming voice.
  • Sketch is an 8th grader whom Pepper Ann admires for her "coolness". She values loyalty but is shown to be somewhat aloof.
  • Crash is Moose's neurotic best friend, whose name Pepper Ann never remembers.
  • Crying Girl is an unfortunate girl who often breaks down in tears at the slightest mishap, most often Pepper Ann's misadventures.
  • Lamar Abu-Dabe is a 7th grader and a classmate of Pepper Ann's whom Constance has a crush on.

    Hazelnut Middle School

  • Principal Herbert Hickey is the school's tough disciplinarian with zero tolerance for Pepper Ann's shenanigans. His distinctive feature is a wart on his face that has a hair growing out of it. This was Adams's final role before his death in 2005.
  • Ms. Vera Groober-Schwartz is the school's secretary.
  • Mr. Roland Carter is a science teacher who is passionate about what he teaches. He is known for giving Pepper Ann detention slips but does believe that she can be a good student even when she successfully does her assignments.
  • Ms. Abriola Stark is the math teacher who is also in charge of the drama club.
  • Ms. Bronte Bladdar is a stoic English teacher who speaks in deadpan-monotone mannerisms.
  • Mr. Sherman Finky is the social studies teacher. He presents a hip demeanor, but is no-nonsense when it comes to shirking projects.
  • Ms. Carlotta Sneed is the economics teacher whose main hobby is knitting.
  • Mr. Owen Clapper is the music teacher. He tends to clash with Ms. Stark concerning school plays.
  • Mr. Reason is the stern woodshop teacher.
  • Coach Doogan is the physical education teacher, and the head of the school's soccer team.
  • Coach Bronson is the football coach.
  • Nurse Oomla is the Jamaican-accented school nurse.

    Broadcast and home media

Pepper Ann was aired as part of the Disney's One Saturday Morning block on ABC from 1997 to 2001. Select new episodes of the show were also shown on Disney's One Too on UPN during the 2000–01 season.
Starting on September 3, 2001, the series began syndication through Disney Channel, and also joined Toon Disney alongside Disney's Doug on an hour-long primetime block called The Magical World of Toons. Previously unaired episodes that had never aired on ABC or UPN made their premiere throughout early September on Toon Disney, and November 15–30 on Disney Channel.
The series remained in syndication on Disney Channel until September 8, 2002. While Pepper Ann would leave regular syndication on Toon Disney in 2004, the show received a few marathons throughout 2007 and 2008, with the final one being played on July 20, 2008, the last time the show was broadcast on US television.
All 65 episodes of the series were included on Disney+ on September 8, 2021 in the United States, with the episodes from season 4 listed under season 3 on the platform, along with the episodes initially being listed in their package order.
Internationally, the show aired on GMTV in the UK and RTÉ in Ireland.

Scrapped film

In 1999, an animated film based on the series was in development at Walt Disney Television Animation and Walt Disney Pictures under the name Pepper Ann's Rio Adventure. The movie would have followed Pepper Ann's soccer team being invited to Rio de Janeiro as part of an event where they try to stop a land developer from deforesting the Amazon rainforest. The movie was scrapped for unknown reasons, however concept art of the film by animation director Richard Bowman was posted onto eBay in recent years, the most recent piece being posted in July 2024. It is unknown whether or not the film was intended to be theatrical or made for television.