Summer Camp Island

Premise

Set in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, Summer Camp Island follows two childhood best friends Oscar Peltzer, an elephant, and Hedgehog, a hedgehog, who are dropped off at a magical summer camp. The camp is a host to many bizarre occurrences, such as camp counselors who are popular girl witches, horses that transform into unicorns, talking sharks, yetis, haunted cabins, post-it notes that lead to other dimensions, and nosey monsters that live under the bed. Oscar and Hedgehog must contend with these out-of-place events and make their stay at camp worthwhile.

Characters

Main

Oscar Peltzer (voiced by Justin Felbinger in the pilot and Elliott Smith in "The First Day"–"The Library", Asher Bishop in "Spell Crushers"–"Glow Worm", and Antonio Raul Corbo in Season 3 onwards in the series) is an 11-year-old anthropomorphic elephant who is best friends with Hedgehog. Oscar tends to be socially awkward and slightly uncomfortable with his new surroundings. When he sets his mind to something, he will become determined to perform any task or complete any objective. He has a strong connection to Hedgehog to the point that if she disappeared or something happened to her, he becomes inconsolable, though he does learn to work without her. He believes in order and will do anything to outsmart or outdo Susie, the camp counselor. He lives in New Jersey. In the episode "Glow Worm", he is revealed to be a magical glow worm who is able to make positive and happy events occur when he does something nice, dedicated, considerate and happy and gives magic to other beings.

Hedgehog (voiced by Ashley Boettcher in the pilot and Oona Laurence in the series) is an 11-year-old anthropomorphic hedgehog who is best friends with Oscar. She is the more level-headed and logical of the two. She mostly wants to help Oscar out of his comfort zone, but also wants to outdo Susie. In the episode "Hedgehog Werewolf", Hedgehog is bitten by the Werewolf Queen, giving her the ability to transform into a werewolf at the full moon every month. Hedgehog comes to accept her condition and does wolf activities with Betsy and the other werewolves of the island. She used to have crush on Max but she was heartbroken when she found out he wasn't interested in her. Luckily, her friends helped her get over it. She lives in New Jersey. Hedgehog enjoys playing music, radio show hosting, science and spells throughout episodes.

Susie McCallister (voiced by Julia Pott; Poppy DeAbaitua (young); Joanna Lumley (adult)) is an anthropomorphic cat, a witch and lead camp counselor. She can be mean and condescending to the campers at times. Deep down, she does display some responsible and sympathetic behavior, but would rather be rude to the campers. Despite looking and acting as a 15-year-old, she is around 400 years old, having gained immortality from a magic potion. She loves to tease and torment Oscar and Hedgehog whenever she gets the chance to do it, especially Oscar. Later in the series, Susie becomes Hedgehog's new magic teacher at Ramona's insistence. In the fifth season, it is revealed that her parents went missing in the North Pole when they were planned to be escorted to London with the potion to help her sister Mildred control her growing uncontrollable magic power.

Supporting

Max (voiced by Thomas Vaethroeder in the pilot and Ramone Hamilton in the series) is an anthropomorphic part bat and part vampire. He is a fun-loving, wily, and also helpful kid who likes to enjoy the company of Oscar and Hedgehog. However, in the pilot he shows a more aggressive attitude towards Oscar, seeing him as somewhat of a nuisance. Everyone appears to think he is cool because of his backwards cap.

Pajamas (voiced by Anna Strupinsky in the pilot and Naomi Hansen in the series) is a pair of sentient pajamas owned by Oscar. Believed to be gender-fluid (referred to as "she" and "he" throughout the series.)

Pepper Corn (voiced by Sam Lavagnino in seasons 1–3 and Julian Edwards in season 4 onward) is an anthropomorphic part panda and part cloud person normally seen with his security blanket. He has an innocent yet somewhat neurotic personality at times.

Lucy Thompson (voiced by Indie Nameth) is a 9-year-old anthropomorphic part aardvark and part yeti. She lives in Manhattan and is very independent. She is unaware of the fact that her mother's letters are actually from Susie. She has a crush on Oscar. She can understand yeti language. Her yeti name is Bagpipes.

Oliver (voiced by Andre Robinson) is an anthropomorphic part dog and part monster who is musically gifted.

Alexa (voiced by Alexa Nisenson) and Lem Mongello (voiced by Daphne Thomas in season 1, Mattea Quin in seasons 2-4 and Mykal-Michelle Harris in seasons 5-present) are two anthropomorphic giraffes who are sisters.

Alexa is part giant who is athletic and active. Multiple times throughout the series, she is seen watching over and protecting Lem like a parental figure.

Lem, who is the youngest camper. She is shown to have a very strong relationship with her older sister Alexa, even sharing the same cabin as her sibling. She attended the camp with a fake invitation, and is therefore the only member of the camp without a magical identity.

Production

The series is the second Cartoon Network original series to be solely created by a woman, the first being Steven Universe, which was created by Rebecca Sugar.

The series was first announced in January 2017 and later had been shopped around at different festivals, including Sundance.

Development

During a presentation at MipJunior in Cannes in October 2018, creator Julia Pott stated that the series was intended for viewers craving gentleness and compared its soothing tone to the television series Gilmore Girls. Pott compared her animated series, which follows two friends at a magical sleepaway camp, to Gilmore Girls. "Nothing bad is ever going to happen in that show, and if you really just need to be soothed, you can watch it, and that is what we want with this show… anyone that wants to feel soothed, it is for them," she added. "There is darker stuff in there, but it is in a little cute package."

At the MIPJunior session, Rob Sorcher, then Chief Content Officer at Cartoon Network, presented the European premiere of the series, noting the depth of its world-building and creative direction. The series was developed through Cartoon Network's Artists Program, which "specializes in curating distinct and diverse artists, most of whom have never run a show", Sorcher said. While many participants have never worked in television at all, the program has "become the main pipeline of television development" for the network, spawning 11 series to date.

Creator Julia Pott drew inspiration for Summer Camp Island from her childhood interests in "spooky" folklore and supernatural television series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Pott designed the show's world to reflect a "kid-logic perspective," where fantastical elements such as monsters under the bed, ghosts, and quicksand are accepted as reality.

After working as a freelancer on short films such as Belly and The Event, Pott joined the crew of the Cartoon Network series Adventure Time. This period served as a transition to her role as creator and showrunner of Summer Camp Island, a production valued at approximately $30 million according to executive Rob Sorcher. Pott has described the transition from independent filmmaking to managing a large team as "overwhelming," noting that the increased responsibility led to personal struggles with anxiety and panic attacks. Reflecting on the production process, she stated that the "hardest thing to deal with was her own expectations," noting that the scale of the project often led to intense self-criticism over perceived failures.

During her time on Adventure Time, Niki Yang received creative guidance from showrunners Adam Muto and Pendleton Ward regarding the pressures of television production. Muto advised her that "not every episode is your episode," encouraging her to let go of segments that were not working. Similarly, Ward suggested focusing on a single successful element within an episode rather than striving for perfection, noting that "if there is one thing in the episode that you think is funny, that is a victory."

Broadcast

The series premiered on Cartoon Network on July 7, 2018. The show's premiere marathon also happened on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang on July 7, 2018. The marathon ended on July 9, 2018, at 6:00 AM. The show's premiere marathon also occurred on Teletoon on August 13, 2018. On Cartoon Network Australia and New Zealand, a sneak peek of the series was broadcast on December 15, 2018. It premiered on Cartoon Network Southeast Asia/Philippines on January 25, 2019. The show premiered on Cartoon Network UK on March 4, 2019. The show also premiered on Cartoon Network India around July 19, 2019.

At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Julia Pott announced that the second half of the first season would premiere in late 2018 on Cartoon Network with another 20 episodes. Those episodes ended up being pushed to 2019, and on May 20, 2019, it was announced that the episodes would premiere on June 23, 2019.

At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Pott announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, which premiered exclusively on HBO Max on June 18, 2020. The third season premiered on December 10, 2020. The fourth season premiered on June 17, 2021. The fifth season was released on December 9, 2021. The sixth and final season was scheduled for June 9, 2022, but after HBO Max removed a number of cartoons in the United States that August (when it aired early on Cartoon Network Italy), it instead premiered on Cartoon Network in mid-2023. Although produced in a quarter-hour format, the series mostly airs on Cartoon Network as two 11-minute segments of a half-hour show.

Reception

Critical response

Reception to the series has been positive. Journalist Abbey White of The Hollywood Reporter and Insider argued that it follows in the footsteps of Steven Universe, and praised the storyline about two non-binary aliens who love each other, with a "sweet, beautiful song," and saying that it is in an "age-appropriate way ... [which can] reach kids [so] that they can understand."

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media described the series as quirky and heartwarming, arguing that it has "cross-generational appeal", stating that there are many "quirky characters and silly adventures", many of which are relatable in their daily experiences. She also said the series has a "a welcome freshness that...yields a worthy contender for families' attention."