Camp Candy
| Camp Candy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Animated series |
| Created by |
Joel Andryc Ellen Levy Phil Harnage |
| Directed by |
Scott Shaw! (season 1) Dan Thompson (season 2) Winston Richard (season 3) Animation Directors: Robert Alvarez (Season 1) |
| Starring |
John Candy Lewis Arquette Valri Bromfield Danny Mann Cree Summer |
| Country of origin |
United States Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Andy Heyward (seasons 1-2) Haim Saban (seasons 1, 3) John Candy (season 3) Robby London (season 4) David Campbell (season 4) |
| Producer(s) |
Scott Shaw! (seasons 1–2) Winston Richard (season 3) |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
DIC Animation City (seasons 1-2) Saban Entertainment (season 3) |
| Distributor | Worldvision Enterprises (Season 3) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
NBC (1989–91) Syndication (1992) The Christian Channel (1993–94) |
| Original release | September 9, 1989 – Fall 1992 |
Camp Candy is a 1989–1992 animated television series produced by DIC Animation City, Saban International Services and Worldvision Enterprises (1992), in association with Frostbacks Productions, with comedian John Candy providing the voice for an animated version of himself.
Overview
The show is set in a fictional summer camp run by John Candy. The animated series spawned a brief comic book series based on the show; also entitled Camp Candy, it was published by Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint.
Twenty-seven episodes of the series aired during the 1989 and 1990 television seasons on the NBC television network. Thirteen new episodes ran in syndication in the 1992 season, distributed by Worldvision Enterprises, along with repeats of the previous episodes. The series was later rerun on the Fox Family cable channel from 1998 to 2001.
Harry Nilsson wrote the series' theme song, which Candy sang.
The later syndicated broadcasts featured live action segments featuring Candy.
In both versions, the closing credits featured songs about Camp Candy that were sung to the tune of various traditional camp songs such as “Bingo” (spoofed as “Candy”), “Miss Lucy’s Steamboat,” “On top of old smoky,” “Yankee doodle boy” (parodied as “Big John Candy”), “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain” and “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze” (Parodied as “Circus Parade.)
Episode formula
Almost all episodes would begin where John Candy would be trying to show an outdoor skill to some kids, to which he would then say it reminded him of a story, where he would tell of the episode in narration. John was a dedicated leader of Camp Candy, a summer camp that is presumably built by him, and he tries to get various kids to get along.
The children included:
- Robin McHale - a nature-loving African-American girl
- Alexandra "Alex" Dawson - a redheaded tomboy
- Vanessa Carter - a rich & snobbish fashionista
- Iggy Jarvis - a bespectacled hypochondriac
- Gregory "Binky" Jarvis - Iggy's more adventurous younger brother, and the youngest member of the gang
- Rick Rogers - an amateur but talented prankster.
Adult characters included Nurse Molly, a nurse who had a crush on John, but he never seemed to take notice, as he was interested in an attractive redheaded receptionist called Miss Sweetingham.
John's main antagonists were Xavier "Rex" DeForest III — a man who seeks to demolish Camp Candy in order to make way for a condominium, and Chester — a dimwitted greaser employed by DeForest. Another antagonist included Hob Nayles, a strict disciplinarian who headed the rival Camp Kickboot and sought to humiliate John, but was really a coward at heart.
Cast
- John Candy - Himself
- Lewis Arquette - Xavier DeForest III
- Valri Bromfield - Nurse Molly
- Danny Mann - Chester
- Tony Ail - Binky (seasons 1–2)
- Tom Davidson (actor) - Iggy (seasons 1–2)
- Danielle Fernandes - Robin (season 1)
- Willow Johnson - Vanessa (seasons 1–2)
- Andrew Seebaran - Rick (seasons 1–2)
- Chiara Zanni - Alex (seasons 1–2)
- Brian George - Botch (season 2)
- Gary MacPherson - Duncan (season 2)
- Cree Summer - Robin (season 2)
- E.G. Daily - Alex, Binky, Rick (season 3)
- Katie Leigh - Iggy (season 3)
- Gail Matthius - Vanessa (season 3)
- Candi Milo - Robin (season 3)
Additional voice cast
|
List of Camp Candy episodes
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 13 | September 9, 1989 | December 16, 1989 | ||
| 2 | 14 | September 8, 1990 | January 19, 1991 | ||
| 3 | 13 | 1992 | 1992 | ||
Season 1 (1989)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Forest's Prime Evil" | September 9, 1989 |
| 2 | 2 | "Small Foot, Big Trouble" | September 16, 1989 |
| 3 | 3 | "The Katchatoree Creature" | September 23, 1989 |
| 4 | 4 | "Tough as Nayles" | September 30, 1989 |
| 5 | 5 | "Bird Is the Word/Best Behavior" | October 7, 1989 |
| 6 | 6 | "Fools Gold" | October 14, 1989 |
| 7 | 7 | "Sleight of Hand/Thanks, But No Pranks" | October 21, 1989 |
| 8 | 8 | "Mind Over Matter/Brat Pact" | November 4, 1989 |
| 9 | 9 | "May the Best Parents Win" | November 11, 1989 |
| 10 | 10 | "Not So Brave Brave/Opposites Attract" | November 18, 1989 |
| 11 | 11 | "Indian Love Call/Spoiled Sports" | December 2, 1989 |
| 12 | 12 | "Rick Gets the Picture/Poor Little Rich Girl" | December 9, 1989 |
| 13 | 13 | "Christmas in July" | December 16, 1989 |
Season 2 (1990–1991)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Robo-Camp/The Glasnost Menagerie" | September 8, 1990 |
| 15 | 2 | "Color War and Peace" | September 15, 1990 |
| 16 | 3 | "Camp Cuisine/Take the Compass and Run" | September 22, 1990 |
| 17 | 4 | "Candy Springs" | September 29, 1990 |
| 18 | 5 | "Wish Upon a Fish" | October 6, 1990 |
| 19 | 6 | "Taking the Bully by the Horns/Rock Candy" | October 13, 1990 |
| 20 | 7 | "Dear Mom and Dad" | October 20, 1990 |
| 21 | 8 | "Stand Up and Deliver/Ruthless Campers" | October 27, 1990 |
| 22 | 9 | "Camp Candy's Funniest Home Videos" (NOTE: This was a "clip show" episode.) | November 3, 1990 |
| 23 | 10 | "Robin's Ark" | November 10, 1990 |
| 24 | 11 | "Candy and the Ants/Smart Moose, Foolish Choices" | November 17, 1990 |
| 25 | 12 | "One Million Years B.C." | November 24, 1990 |
| 26 | 13 | "Jokers of the Wild/Uncle Rexie" | December 1, 1990 |
| 27 | 14 | "Scare Package" | January 19, 1991 |
Season 3 (1992)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | 1 | "TV or Not TV" |
| 29 | 2 | "Rock and Rest/Rick Van Winkle" |
| 30 | 3 | "The Last Word" |
| 31 | 4 | "A Ribbeting Experience/The Bamboo Woodpecker" |
| 32 | 5 | "Wild, Wild Candy" |
| 33 | 6 | "When It Rains...It Snows" |
| 34 | 7 | "Saturday Night Polka Fever" |
| 35 | 8 | "Chester's Millions" |
| 36 | 9 | "Bee Prepared/Signs of Silence" |
| 37 | 10 | "Dr. Tongue's Amazing Adventure/Lucky Dog" |
| 38 | 11 | "Wild World of Camping/Total Lack of Recall" |
| 39 | 12 | "Battle of the Badges/The Return of the Magnificent Three" |
| 40 | 13 | "Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Host, Bobby Bittman" |