As Told by Ginger is an American animated teen drama television series created by Emily Kapnek and produced by Klasky Csupo for Nickelodeon. The series is set in the fictional town of Sheltered Shrubs and follows middle school (later high school) student Ginger Foutley and her friends as they navigate adolescence, friendships, family life, and the social hierarchy of school.
The series premiered on Nickelodeon on October 25, 2000, and concluded on November 14, 2006, with a total of 60 episodes over three seasons. It received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour). As Told by Ginger was widely praised for its serialized storytelling, character development, and realistic portrayal of adolescence. Unlike most animated children's series of its era, the characters aged over the course of the series, experienced lasting personal growth, and frequently changed outfits, reflecting Kapnek's goal of depicting adolescence with greater realism.
Contents
Premise
Characters
The series centers on junior high school student Ginger Foutley. Alongside her close friends Darren Patterson, Dodie Bishop, and Macie Lightfoot, Ginger navigates adolescence while attempting to improve her social standing at school and dealing with the challenges of friendships, family, and growing up.
Although Ginger and her friends occupy the lower end of the school's social hierarchy, she unexpectedly befriends the popular and affluent Courtney Gripling, who is fascinated by Ginger's perspective and frequently includes her in her social circle. Courtney's best friend, Miranda Killgallen, views Ginger as a threat to her own social status and frequently attempts to undermine her.
At home, Ginger records her experiences in a diary, which serves as the series' narrative device. Meanwhile, her younger brother Carl and his best friend Hoodsey Bishop are featured in recurring comedic subplots, while Ginger's mother, Lois, provides guidance and support throughout the series.
Setting
The series is set in the fictional suburban town of Sheltered Shrubs, Connecticut. Sheltered Shrubs was inspired by Larchmont, New York, where series creator Emily Kapnek moved while attending junior high school. Kapnek stated that Larchmont became "sort of the basis for this show".
Other recurring locations include Protected Pines, the gated community where Courtney Gripling lives; Brittle Branches, the hometown of Ginger's father; and Heathered Hills, home to Sasha, whom Ginger meets at summer camp.
Continuity and themes
As Told by Ginger has been recognized by fans and Nickelodeon alike for its character development, most of which was unusual for a cartoon in its time.
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 the 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 become freshmen in high school. Carl's age group works in the 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 notable aspect of the series was the rotating and evolving character wardrobes. Characters would change clothing every episode, and often within the same episode; a highly unusual characteristic at the time for both Nickelodeon animated shows and children's animation in general. The standard practice in animated television was to design a character with a specific "default" outfit that would rarely be changed, updated, or altered unless the plot necessitated it. Other Klasky Csupo productions of the time, such as Rugrats and Rocket Power, followed this practice. This served to simplify the animation process, saving money and production time.
By contrast, As Told by Ginger evoked live action sitcoms, where characters change clothes as frequently as they would in real life. This was most conspicuous amongst the girls in Ginger's age group (Dodie, Courtney, Macie, Miranda and Ginger herself) and some of the adults such as Ginger's mother. After Darren had his orthodontic headgear removed, his clothes changed as well.
Meanwhile, Carl's younger and less fashion-minded age group changed clothes infrequently, and with far fewer deviations from their usual style. Hoodsey stands out in particular as a satire of the traditional animated character who is only seen in one outfit, as he only ever wears a purple hooded sweatshirt and shorts, which other characters regard as abnormal. This is further satirized when it is revealed Hoodsey's clothes rack primarily consists of similar purple hoodies, indicating that to spite appearances, he change his clothes as frequently as the rest.
Episodes
Television films
Four television films were produced during the series' run.
Summer of Camp Caprice (also titled Season of Caprice) features Ginger, Dodie, Macie and Courtney heading to summer camp, with Darren and Miranda going to military camp (where Miranda's father works). Meanwhile, Carl and Hoodsey investigate dog nappings.
Foutleys on Ice (released in the US as Far from Home), following up on the Emmy-nominated episode "And She Was Gone", deals with Ginger winning a scholarship to an arts school, and Carl and Hoodsey making friends with a new character, the telekinetic Noelle Sussman (voiced by series creator Emily Kapnek). This episode was released on VHS and DVD on April 5, 2005.
Butterflies are Free follows Ginger and her friends graduating from junior high.
The Wedding Frame closes out the third season and the series as a whole, and features Lois marrying one of the doctors at her hospital. It was only released on VHS and DVD in the United States on November 23, 2004. In 2021, it premiered on CBS All Access.
In international reruns, the films were divided into two (for Butterflies Are Free) and three parts (for the other three films).
Production
The conception of As Told By Ginger began in the summer of 1996, shortly after the release of the dark comedy film Welcome to the Dollhouse. At the time, Nickelodeon and Klasky Csupo were hosting a screenwriting competition in New York, so Kapnek decided to develop an "animated version of junior high school hell," where the main character would tackle real issues that kids were dealing with, such as the pressure of fitting in and to look a certain way. 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 pulled 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 began 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. Of the remaining Season 3 episodes, 4 ultimately premiered on TeenNick's The Splat in 2016, and the last 2 (including "The Wedding Frame", which had previously been released on DVD in the US in 2004) premiered on CBS All Access in 2021.
Show airings
The episodes "I Spy a Witch", "Déjà Who?", "An 'Even Steven' Holiday Special" and "Piece of My Heart" were all made for the first season lineup, but aired during the second season in the United States.
"Never Can Say Goodbye", "Gym Class Confidential", "Fast Reputation" and "The Nurses' Strike" all premiered in the same week during the TEENick block. They aired February 11–14, 2002 (which were the days between Monday and Thursday).
The episodes "Detention", "Kiss Today Goodbye", "A Lesson in Tightropes", "Dodie's Big Break" and "Battle of the Bands" are all high school episodes that were initially unaired in the United States. They were at one time scheduled to air during the second week of November 2006, but were immediately removed from the schedule after the first high school episode, "Stuff'll Kill Ya", was aired. "Detention", "Kiss Today Goodbye", "A Lesson in Tightropes" and "Dodie's Big Break" would premiere in the United States on TeenNick's The Splat in 2016, and "Battle of the Bands" would premiere on CBS All Access in 2021. In several other countries, especially in the United Kingdom, they are part of regular reruns.
Home video and streaming releases
The TV films Far from Home and The Wedding Frame were released on VHS and DVD in the United States and Canada (Region 1). Also included are "Ginger the Juvey" and the pilot episode "The Party" on the former,and "Stealing First" and "Dare I, Darren" on the latter, only as bonus episodes on the DVD versions.
The complete series was made available to purchase on iTunes in 2008, with all episodes divided into six volumes. As of January 2015, the series is no longer available on the service.
The complete series was made available to stream on Paramount+ on January 12, 2021, only to be eventually removed from it on December 17, 2025.
The first 45 episodes are available on Russian DVD sets with each disc containing 5 episodes. The DVDs (Cyrillic: Как говорит Джинджер) were distributed by Russobit-M and are only available with a Russian soundtrack.
Theme song
The opening theme, titled "I'm in Between", was written for the show by American rapper Ray Raymond. The song was first recorded with vocals by Melissa Disney, in character as Ginger, before being replaced with a version performed by Cree Summer. A third version featuring vocals by R&B artist Macy Gray began being used halfway through the first season, and was maintained for the rest of the series' run.
Closing credits
The closing credits are typically 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 a 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
Three Emmy nominations for "Hello Stranger" (in 2001), "Lunatic Lake" (in 2002), and "And She Was Gone" (in 2003). All three were nominated in the Outstanding Animated Program (Less than One Hour) category.
"Best Cartoon" at Nickelodeon Netherlands Kids Choice Awards in 2005.
Two episodes of As Told by Ginger were ranked in Nickelodeon's "100 Greatest Moments in Nicktoons History", a special presented by Nickelodeon in November 2007. The episodes "Gym Class Confidential" and "Stealing First" were ranked at 97 and 95.
