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Braceface

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(Redirected from Nina Harper)

Braceface
Braceface title card
The show's title card featuring lead protagonist Sharon Spitz
Genre
Created byMelissa Clark
Directed byCharles E. Bastien
Voices of
Theme music composerGrayson Matthews Inc.
ComposerPure West
Country of origin
  • Canada
  • China
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes78 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Marilyn McAuley (seasons 1–2)
  • Tom McGillis (season 2)
  • Tracy Leach (season 3)
Running time23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
ReleaseJune 2, 2001 (2001-06-02) –
September 1, 2004 (2004-09-01)[1]

Braceface is a coming-of-age teen drama animated TV series co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Jade Animation (Shenzhen) Company that aired on Teletoon (now as "Cartoon Network" in Canada). The show features U.S. actress Alicia Silverstone from the teen comedy film Clueless (who also voiced the title character for the first two seasons) serving as executive producer.[2] The episodes focus on the misadventures of Sharon Spitz, a high school student who often struggles with an unusual ability occurring in her braces, which often makes mishaps in her daily life. Although considered to be a iconic feature in the series, later episodes started to drop this narrative in favour of tackling real-life issues. Unlike most animated TV shows which take place in fictional cities or states/provinces, etc., this one takes place in the real-life town of Elkford, British Columbia.

Summary

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The show, set in Elkford, British Columbia, depicts the travails of a teenaged Sharon Spitz (a play on words, "sharing spit" being a euphemism for kissing), who is a junior high school student with braces that get in the way of leading a normal teenage life.[3] Mainly, her braces are somehow electrically charged at all times, giving her strange abilities such as remotely operating machinery, tapping into wireless communication channels, and even discharging electricity directly into what's in front of her, though much of these abilities are often outside her control. In the first season, she is enrolled at Mary Pickford Junior High, but later on, the show progresses her into attending Elkford High School.

Cast and characters

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  • Sharon Esther Spitz (voiced by Alicia Silverstone in seasons 1–2 and Stacey DePass in the third and final season) is the lead character of the show. She is of partial Jewish heritage. She is the middle child of the family.
  • Adam Francis Spitz (voiced by Dan Petronijevic) is Sharon and Josh's older brother.
  • Josh Spitz (voiced by Michael Cera) is Sharon and Adam's younger brother.
  • Helen Spitz (voiced by Tamara Bernier Evans) is Sharon, Josh and Adam's divorced mother.
  • Maria Wong (voiced by Marnie McPhail) is Sharon's classmate and best friend, who is interracial and is of mixed Chinese and Italian heritage. She is also Brock Leighton's girlfriend.
  • Connor MacKenzie (voiced by Peter Oldring) is another one of Sharon's classmates and best friends.
  • Alden Jones (voiced by Vince Corazza) is Sharon's crush at school and boyfriend. They later broke up. Sharon and Alden eventually got back together in the show's final episode.
  • Nina Harper (voiced by Katie Griffin) is Sharon's rival and ex-best friend.
  • Brock Leighton (voiced by Daniel DeSanto) is Alden's best friend/bandmate and Maria's boyfriend, who is of African-Caribbean heritage.
  • Alyson Malitski (voiced by Emily Hampshire) is Nina's ex-best friend and later Sharon's new friend. She is soon having a relationship with Connor.
  • Hannah Corbett (voiced by Elisa Moolecherry) is the Spitzes' next-door neighbour and Adam's girlfriend.

Episodes

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Main article: List of Braceface episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
126U.S.June 2, 2001 (2001-06-02)February 24, 2002 (2002-02-24)
CanadaJune 30, 2001March 27, 2002
226U.S.September 27, 2002 (2002-09-27)January 24, 2003 (2003-01-24) (10 episodes unaired)
CanadaSeptember 6, 2002June 22, 2003
326November 5, 2003 (2003-11-05) (Canada)September 1, 2004 (2004-09-01) (Canada)

Production

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The show was produced by the Canadian animation studio Nelvana and Jade Animation (Shenzhen) in China, with the additional pre-production work done by Studio B Productions (Vancouverand Atomic Cartoons.[citation needed]

Reception

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Sarah Wenk from Common Sense Media rated the series three out of five stars, stating "ultimately it's rather lightweight and, well, cartoony. There's nothing wrong with that, but it could use a bit more substance and less silliness."[4] Nancy Wellons from Orlando Sentinel stated "What could be a wonderful premise about the struggle of adolescents to confirm and yet remain individuals instead turns into a half-hour full of inane jokes, cliched characters and bad dialogue."[5] Evan Levine from Newspaper Enterprise Assn. wrote, "The brace subplot sometimes adds an uneasy note — is it fantasy? — and can be vaguely confusing. But the show holds the possibility of being a clever takeoff of the preteen years, whether you have braces or not."[6] Jeanne Spreier from Knight Ridder wrote, "Braceface takes a refreshingly light look at junior high challenges — boys, braces, friends, popularity, parents, school — without giving in to nastiness, violence, ill-will or dejection."[7]

In 2004, the episode "Ms. Spitz Goes to Warsch & Stone" won an award at the Environmental Media Awards.[8][9]

Telecast and home media

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Mainly, it ran on Teletoon (now as "Cartoon Network" in Canada) from June 30, 2001[10][11] until September 1, 2004.[1] Corus' linear network Nickelodeon Canada aired repeats of the show on early school mornings at 4:00 AM from February 28, 2022, until August 26, 2024. YTV also aired repeats for some months in 2024.

Internationally, the show originally aired on Fox Family Channel (now as "Freeform") in the U.S. for the first season beginning on June 2, 2001, with repeats on the rebranded ABC Family until May 26, 2003. Disney Channel later aired repeats and premiered new episodes from May 2, 2004 until September 1, 2005, but some episodes were edited for content and time. Four episodes ("The Worst Date Ever. Period", "Miami Vices", "Whose Life Is It, Anyway?" and "Grey Matters") were skipped from Disney Channel airings due to their content. Half of season 2 (episodes 16 through 26) and the entirety of season 3 (such as "Busted") never aired in the U.S. until years later when services stream. The opening theme music was also notably shortened during the show's US airings on Fox/ABC Family and Disney Channel.[12] The show aired on Fox Kids[13] and Fox8 in Australia, and Channel 5 along Pop Girl in the United Kingdom. It also aired on Nickelodeon in Germany and South Africa. In India, the series aired on Star One.[14] It aired in Ireland on RTÉ Two from September 3, 2001 until 2005.[15] In Japan, the show was aired on STAR Plus Japan. In the Netherlands, the show aired on now-defunct Fox Kids/Jetix. In Eastern Europe, it aired on Minimax.

In Canada, DVD releases of the show were released by KaBOOM! Entertainment, and in the United States, DVDs were released by Funimation Entertainment.

In the United Kingdom, Maverick Entertainment released a DVD, titled "Brace Yourself" in 2006, which contains the first four episodes. Fremantle Home Entertainment later released two more DVDs.

Currently, the show is now streaming on both networks, FilmRise Kids and Tubi. The show is also available to stream in pay on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play,[16] and episodes 1-13 on YouTube (thru Corus' Keep It Weird Channel).[17]

Planned reboot

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In a podcast interview with The Relunchables, the show's creator Melissa Clark revealed that, as early as 2015, she was in talks with Corus' Nelvana about a Braceface reboot that would be set 20 years after the original series. She said that Nelvana had wanted her to write the pilot and first three episodes, and that they would be in contact to discuss further details, but they never reached back out.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mediacaster Magazine - Broadband & Content - TELETOON's September Sizzles with New Series and a Finale". October 16, 2013. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013.
  2. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 91. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 155. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  4. ^ "Braceface TV Review | Common Sense Media". www.commonsensemedia.org. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  5. ^ "DOWN IN MOUTH: 'BRACEFACE' FIZZLES". Orlando Sentinel. May 27, 2001. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  6. ^ "'Braceface' suited to kids ready for junior high school". Indiana Gazette. June 22, 2001. p. 11. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  7. ^ "'Braceface' takes a refreshingly light look at the junior high challenges". Lancaster New Era. June 4, 2001. p. 22. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  8. ^ "Fourteenth Annual Environmental Media Awards". Environment Media Association. December 4, 2004. Archived from the original on December 4, 2004.
  9. ^ "Environmental Media Awards, USA (2004)". IMDb. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  10. ^ "CANOE -- JAM! - Katie gets animated". June 10, 2016. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016.
  11. ^ "The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on June 29, 2001 · 85". Newspapers.com. June 29, 2001. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  12. ^ "Braceface Theme Song (US Version)". YouTube. February 12, 2023.
  13. ^ "Welcome To Foxkids.com.au". February 5, 2003. Archived from the original on February 5, 2003.
  14. ^ "STAR - Programme Guide". November 24, 2005. Archived from the original on November 24, 2005. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  15. ^ RTÉ Guide, 1–7 September 2001 edition and subsequent dates
  16. ^ "Braceface". TVGuide.com. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  17. ^ "BRACEFACE | Full Episodes". YouTube.
  18. ^ "Braceface w/ Melissa Clark". Bleav. December 15, 2024.
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