Our latest heroine is a gangly 12-year-old with a tumbled mess of red hair and a tough, throaty voice. She’s full of energy, opinions and plans. She wants to be the coolest of the cool… but not stand out too much. Yep, she’s a character – a cartoon character.
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If you haven’t met the star of “Pepper Ann,” Disney TV Animation’s hit Saturday-morning series, it’s time you did.
Why not catch a special episode, “The Sisterhood”? (It airs at 7:30 a.m. Central Time March 20 on ABC.) In the episode, Pepper Ann reluctantly tags along with her mom and aunt to the annual “Adamant Eve” retreat to celebrate women’s solidarity. After a weekend of everything from Rosie O’Donnell movie marathons to spirited debates about women’s rights, Pepper Ann gains a new respect for earlier generations of women – and she shows the women at the retreat how cool girls are today.
Sound heavy and preachy? Not with Pep-per Ann; instead, it’s funny and touching.
“The whole episode came from the idea of Mom and Pepper Ann spending time together,” says “Sisterhood” writer Laura McCreary. “It was important to me to let kids know that things have changed. … The way things are with girl power is a great direction.”
Creator Sue Rose, who based “Pepper Ann” on her childhood memories, says girls should know how women before them struggled to make the world better. Even now, she adds, “we’re not out of the woods. The fact that Pepper Ann is a show featuring a girl – there are virtually no other shows like that on other networks.”
Hey, boys, before you yawn and turn the page… Rose says more boys are tuning in to “Pepper Ann” all the time. “The situations are real and funny,” so any kid can relate. Pepper Ann gets in trouble and does dumb things, like taking a practical joke too far or sneaking out in the middle of the night. But then she usually gets it together: “At the moment that she has no redeeming qualities,” Rose says, “she comes through.”
WHAT’S THE PLAN, PEPPER ANN?
-She might have to put her cat to sleep.
-She’ll see more of her dad, who doesn’t live with her.
-She’ll find out she’s one-sixteenth American Indian and will respond in a silly, over-the-top way (and learn a bit about stereotypes).