Teacher's Pet (TV series)
| Teacher's Pet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Gary Baseman Bill Steinkellner Cheri Steinkellner |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by |
|
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Brian Woodbury & Peter Lurye |
| Opening theme | Disney's Teacher's Pet Theme |
| Ending theme | Disney's Teacher's Pet Instrumental Theme |
| Composers | Stephen James Taylor Brian Woodbury Peter Lurye |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 39 (47 Segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Running time | 11 minutes (16 Episodes) 22 minutes (31 Episodes) |
| Production company | Walt Disney Television Animation |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC (2000–02)[nb 2] Toon Disney (2002) |
| Picture format | NTSC[nb 3] |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| First shown in | United States |
| Original release | September 9, 2000 – May 10, 2002 |
| External links | |
| Production website | |
Teacher's Pet (also known as Disney's Teacher's Pet) is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and directed by Timothy Björklund.[1]
The series follows a 9-year-old boy and his dog who dresses up as a boy.[2] Created by Gary Baseman—the artistic designer for the Cranium board game—Bill Steinkellner, and Cheri Steinkellner, it was broadcast on Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC and later Toon Disney, from 2000 to 2002.
Premise[]
The series follows Leonard Helperman, a 9-year-old boy in the 4th grade, who lives in fear because his mother, Mary Helperman, is his teacher. Because of this, he is often mocked and called a "teacher's pet", but he wants to be considered normal. Meanwhile, his dog Spot misses Leonard while he's at school, and yearns to be a human boy. So on the first day of the school year, he decides to come to class disguised as a new student named Scott Leadready II, who quickly becomes the most popular, influential kid in school. However, Leonard eventually finds out his secret. Although he disapproves of this at first, he allows Spot to continue attending school.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
- Leonard Helperman: (Shaun Fleming) Spot's master and best friend. He's somewhat unpopular because his mom's the teacher, since the kids think it gives him an unfair advantage. But the sudden enrollment of Spot has helped become more confident this to a decent degree, due to the former's immediate popularity.
- Spot Helperman: (Nathan Lane; Kevin Schon in six episodes) Leonard's dog. He dresses up as a boy named Scott Leadready II and attends Leonard's school. He's the most popular and doesn't want anyone to know he's really a dog. Usually at the end of the show, he will compare the episode’s moral or lesson to a historical event.
- Mary Lou Helperman: (Debra Jo Rupp) Leonard's mother. She is the perky and eccentric teacher of Leonard's class and embarrasses him. Just like all the other humans, she is too ignorant to be suspicious of Spot or tell that he and Scott are the same person.
- Mr. Jolly: (David Ogden Stiers) Leonard's neurotic orange cat. He is afraid of the outside world and stays at home with the family's parrot. He's in love with the principal's cat but his fear of the outside world (and her evil nature) prevents any chance of romance.
- Pretty Boy: (Jerry Stiller) Leonard's wisecracking green parrot. He calls Spot "Dog Breath". He's an honest guy and loyal friend but can be mean, rude and grumpy to everyone. He sometimes bullies Jolly because he’s scared of everything.
Recurring[]
- Principal Strickler: (Wallace Shawn) The straight-laced principal at Leonard and Spot's school. He owns a cat named Talullah. He hates dogs because one nipped off half his thumb.
- Ian Wazselewski: (Rob Paulsen) The class weirdo. His mom is the school nurse, so he thinks he has a special connection with Leonard. He's a guy with a chronic upper-respiratory infection...a guy who keeps his scab collection in his desk. Everyone calls him "Eww-an".
- Leslie Dunkling: (Mae Whitman) Leonard's best friend and crush. She is very nice and lives next door to the Helpermans.
- Tyler, Taylor, and Trevor: (Pamela Adlon) Three of the coolest kids in school. Leonard wishes he was as cool as them. They usually participate in typical slacker activities like skateboarding. They sometimes pick on Leonard, but usually they are more socially tolerant of him thanks to Spot being his best friend.
- Younghee Mandlebom: (Lauren Tom) Another girl of the class that is from Korea who is Leslie's best friend. She is often mean to Leonard, but she still cares for him and as a matter of fact, she secretly is in love him.
- Chelsey and Kelsey: (Cree Summer) Twins of the class who are friends with Leslie. They are usually stuck-up and think they are more important than everyone else, but they always bicker with each other. Leonard tries to get their attention, but usually fails.
- Moltar: Ian's invisible friend. Usually Ian likes to do the weird stuff he does with him.
Episodes[]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
| 1 | 13 | September 9, 2000 | January 13, 2001 | ABC | ||
| 2 | 26 | 8 | September 22, 2001 | February 9, 2002 | ||
| 18 | January 11, 2002 | May 10, 2002 | Toon Disney | |||
Broadcast/Availability[]
The show aired on ABC's "One Saturday Morning" beginning on September 9, 2000, and remained on the block until September 7, 2002. In January 2002, the show began airing reruns on Toon Disney; the remaining Season Two episodes began airing on Toon Disney on January 11, 2002 (Although new episodes were aired on ABC until February 9).[3] As of 2006, it vanished from Toon Disney altogether and hasn't been put into reruns in America since then. The show, alongside with the film, was made available on Disney+ on launch day.[4]
Awards[]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program | Nathan Lane | Won |
| British Academy Children's Awards | Best International Children's Programming[5] | Teacher's Pet | Won | |
| Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement in a Daytime Animated Television Production[6] | Teacher's Pet | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television Production[6] | Gary Baseman | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Production[6] | David Ogden Stiers | Nominated | ||
| 2002 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Special Class Animated Program | Teacher's Pet | Won |
| Outstanding Individual in Animation | Chuck Klein | Won | ||
| 2003 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Special Class Animated Program | Teacher's Pet | Won |
| Outstanding Individual in Animation | Gary Baseman | Won |
Film[]
On January 16, 2004, Walt Disney Pictures produced a full-length animated feature film based on the show in theaters, simply titled Teacher's Pet. Originally planned to be released in September 2003, it serves as the series finale.
When Spot sees a mad scientist on TV who can turn animals into humans, he sees this as a chance to become an actual boy. However, when Spot becomes human, he soon realizes the experience isn't what he thought after all. Most of the actors from the series reprised their roles for the movie. Despite mostly positive reviews from critics, the movie was a box office failure, only making over half of its budget back.[7]
References[]
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 270–271. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ "Look Who's Learning Now: Teacher's Pet". LA Times. September 9, 2000. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ^ "Disney's Teacher's Pet Heads to Toon Disney". Digitalmediafx.com. January 7, 2002. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
- ^ "Here's Basically Everything You Can Watch on Disney+". D23. October 18, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
- ^ "BAFTA Awards | Children's | International in 2001". Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Annie Awards: 29th Annie Awards". Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ^ "Teacher's Pet". Box Office Mojo.
Notes[]
- ^ Would do the voice for Spot/Scott in six episodes during Season Two
- ^ The series stopped airing new episodes in early February, but reruns continued until September 7, 2002.
- ^ When the series originally aired on ABC and Toon Disney, it made use of the "Pan and Scan" method since widescreen televisions weren't readily available at the time
External links[]
- Teacher's Pet (TV series)
- 2000 American television series debuts
- 2000s American animated television series
- 2002 American television series endings
- ABC Kids (TV programming block)
- American children's animated comedy television series
- Animated television series about children
- Animated television series about dogs
- Disney Channel original programming
- English-language television shows
- Television series by Disney Television Animation
- Television shows adapted into films