''Camp Candy'' is an animated television series produced by DIC Animation City,

Saban Entertainment BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...

and Worldvision Enterprises, in association with Frostbacks Productions, with comedian

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian who is best known for his work in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood films. Candy first rose to national prominence in the 1970s as a member of the Tor ...

providing the voice for an animated version of himself. 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 Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

from 1998 to 2001. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

following Saban Entertainment’s closure in 2001.

Plot

The show is set in a fictional

summer camp A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...

run by John Candy. Twenty-six episodes of the series aired during the 1989 and 1990 television seasons on the NBC television network. Almost all episodes would begin where John Candy would be trying to show an outdoor skill to some kids, to which he would then be reminded of a story, where he would tell of the episode in narration. John was a dedicated and responsible leader of Camp Candy, a summer camp that was presumably built by him years ago with the help of the townspeople, Milo, Botch, and Molly, and he frequently tries to get various kids to get along. A majority of the episodes focused on John himself, namely having to stave off the bankruptcy or destruction of the camp due to the plots of Rex DeForest III or within his personal life and everyday struggles. In the third season, Candy appeared in live action segments, talking about nature and ecology. Several characters originating from '' SCTV'' that were performed by Candy or otherwise also made guest appearances that season.

Characters

(voiced by himself) - The fictional version of the actor who is the proprietor of Camp Candy who runs it with comical results. John is very smart, levelheaded, responsible, and witty, although he is unnaturally clumsy, but also very loving and warm-hearted. In nearly every episode, John encounters a problem that may cause Camp Candy to be shut down by either the schemes of Rex DeForest III or outside forces, but he always somehow manages to end the day coming out on top. John is tall and rotund, yet in some points, he is depicted as being in good shape and very attractive by many female characters, mostly by Molly. He has shaggy blonde hair and typically wears an army green shirt with pockets in the front over a white T-shirt, a whistle around his neck, army green shorts, and brown boots. However, he has been seen in a variety of outfits. * Nurse Molly McDermott (voiced by

Valri Bromfield Valri Bromfield (born February 10, 1949) is a Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and television producer who started her career as one half of a comedy team with Dan Aykroyd. Together, they joined the first Toronto company of The Second City wh ...

) - The optimistic and perky head nurse at Camp Candy. She is highly qualified and regularly goes out of her way to treat any medical problem no matter how serious or trivial, yet is often overly enthusiastic and can get ahead of herself, and she tries to act as a motherly figure towards the campers. Molly possesses a strong infatuation with John, flirting with him and tending to his frequent injuries; a few episodes mainly focus on her attempts to impress him. John, aware of Molly's feelings for him, often appears to be in love with her as well, and near the end of the series, they become a couple. A running gag in few episodes is her bad cooking skills; whatever food she makes is either inedible or burnt. Molly is tall and slender with shoulder-length blonde hair, and almost always wears a white nurse's uniform even when not tending to her nursing duties. * Robin (voiced by Danielle Fernandes in season 1,

Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her extensive work in animation, voicing characters such as Elmyra Duff in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and related media, Susie Carmichael ...

in season 2,

Candi Milo Candyce Anne Rose Milo (born January 9, 1961) Timestamps: (00:27:12-00:27:45) Milo states that she is "firmly 51". (00:06:40-00:06:47) Milo states that she was born in Palm Springs. (00:16:23-00:16:25) She says her birthday is in January. (00:48 ...

in season 3) - A nature lover who is known for her sweet, shy and sensitive personality. She is very good at understanding and communicating with animals and loves being out in the wilderness, taking in all the nature around her. She hates to see any environment in danger or any animal hurt and wants to help everyone anyway she can. She is an African-American with her black hair tied in twin buns and wears a t-shirt with the letter C, shorts, white socks and gray sneakers. * Alexandra "Alex" (voiced by

Chiara Zanni Chiara Zanni () is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Amy Ryan on The N series '' About a Girl'' and Maggie Buckman on the CBC series '' Edgemont''. She is also known for her voice-work as Hahli in '' Bionicle: Mask of Light'' ...

in season 1-2, E.G. Daily in season 3) - A tomboy who has a huge enjoyment of camping and sports. She is described as brash, outgoing and extremely courageous, never letting anything scare her. She also likes to take up the role as leader. However, Alex's leader senses can make her way too bossy. Physical activity is her favorite hobby and always loves to participate in races, sports and always desires to have lots of exercise in her life. She has red hair that is tied in two pigtails and wears a t-shirt with the letter C on it, shorts and brown boots. * Vanessa (voiced by Willow Johnson in season 1-2, Gail Matthius in season 3) - An extremely girly fashionista who comes from a rich family. She is very new to camping as she had been used to a wealthy, spoiled environment. Vanessa can care more about her appearance and can come across as selfish but, in reality, is still a supportive and charismatic person. Fashion is her specialty and, like Molly, she never goes anywhere without any beauty essentials. She has long brown hair (in the comics her hair is auburn), with a portion of it held up in a whale spout ponytail and wears a t-shirt with the letter C on it, shorts, pink socks and lavender sneakers. * Richard "Rick" (voiced by Andrew Seebaran in season 1-2, E.G. Daily in season 3) - A prankster who comes from a family line of comedy. Like John, Rick is notable for his easygoing attitude as well as his comical nature. He loves to pull pranks on the campers and John just as much as he loves to act cool. However, Rick can get to the point of irritating and can even be very reckless at times. He has blonde hair as well as green and pink shorts. * Bartholomew "Binky" (voiced by Tony Ail in season 1-2, E.G. Daily in season 3) - The youngest of the campers and Iggy's younger brother. Binky is described as a daredevil and loves to seek out an adventure. He's very energetic, optimistic and very curious, always wanting to know more about the world without him. However, being the youngest he can get very careless about his safety, as well as coming across as a bit naive, dragging the ever-reluctant Iggy along with him. He has short ash brown hair that is covered by a blue cap turning the other way. * Iggy (voiced by Tom Davidson in season 1-2,

Katie Leigh Katie Leigh is an American voice actress. She has voice acted in both television, film and occasionally video game roles. Career Katie Leigh is known for her voice roles such as Sunni Gummi in '' Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears'', Zuzu in ...

in season 3) - A timid, high-strung, clumsy, and accident-prone boy who fears practically everything and was the most hesitant about attending Camp Candy, that is, until John showed him what fun summer camp can be. Despite having such an reluctant attitude, Iggy is known for being the smartest camper due to his intense knowledge of the wild even moreso than John. He is Binky's older brother and has short ash brown hair with glasses. * Botch (voiced by Brian George) - The camp

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

who debuts in the second season. He was an immigrant whose native country was never specified, but he spoke with an Eastern European accent. When not tending to his duties in the camp's kitchen, Botch was seen practicing his shots at basketball., * Milo Gould (voiced by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

) - Camp Candy's counselor-in-training who is tends to be a self-serving brown-noser which admittedly annoys him quite a bit, yet in typical John Candy fashion, he treats Milo very well and lets him in on all the fun and hilarity at Camp Candy. * Rex DeForest III (voiced by Lewis Arquette) - The primary antagonist of the series. DeForest is a very self-centered and greedy businessman and entrepreneur who openly hates John as he had built his Camp Candy on his property per an agreement they had made years ago. His plans often involved getting Camp Candy shut down or constructing nearby it. These would always never work due to various reasons (or by John and the campers' interference) and Camp Candy would continue to stay open. ** Chester (voiced by Danny Mann) - DeForest's henchman. He was a dimwitted greaser who always followed Rex's orders. One episode had him revert to his childhood after falling into a "fountain of youth" which Rex takes advantage of to use Chester as a kid to join Camp Candy in order to cause trouble. However, he has a change of attitude and starts to think for himself once John and the Camp Candy kids accepted him. * Allan "Al" Nayles (voiced by

Jess Harnell Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor. His roles include Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Captain Hero in '' Drawn Together'', Jerry in the first two seasons of '' Totally Spies!'', Ironhide in the first three ''Tr ...

) - The head counselor of another summer camp called Camp Kickboot which is at the other side of the lake. His personality is nearly the opposite of John's; he is self-centered, brash, snide, bossy, demanding, short-tempered, and very hot-headed. Al can, however, be whiny and cowardly when faced with real danger, and John uses his own skills to save him.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1989)

Season 2 (1990–1991)

Season 3 (1992)

Clip Show

Cast

as Himself, Bear (in "When It Rains...It Snows"), Yosh Shmenge (in "Saturday Night Polka Fever"), Dr. Tongue (in "Dr. Tongue's Amazing Adventures") * Lewis Arquette as Rex DeForest III *

as Nurse Molly McDermott * Danny Mann as Chester * Andrew Seebaran as Rick (Seasons 1–2) * Tom Davidson as Iggy (Seasons 1–2) * Tony Ail as Binky (Seasons 1–2) * Danielle Fernandes as Robin (Season 1) *

as Alex (Seasons 1–2) * Willow Johnson as Charlotte (Seasons 1–2) * Brian George as Botch (Season 2) * Gary MacPherson as Milo Gould (Season 2) *

as Robin (Season 2) * E.G. Daily as Rick, Binky, Alex (Season 3) *

as Iggy (Season 3) *

as Robin (Season 3) * Gail Matthius as Charlotte (Season 3)

Additional voices

* Charlie Adler (Season 1) * Tim Andres (Season 1) * Lynda Boyd (Season 1) * Scott Bremner (Season 1) * Don Brown (Seasons 1–2) * Jim Byrnes (Seasons 1–2) * William Callaway (Season 1) * Christopher Candy (Season 2–3) * Jennifer Candy (Season 2–3) * Victoria Carroll (Season 3) * Garry Chalk (Seasons 1–2) * Brent Chapman (Season 1) * Babs Chula (Season 2) * George Coe (Season 3) * Ted Cole (Seasons 1–2) * Bob Costas as Himself (in "Candy Springs") * Michael Donovan (Season 1–2) *

Pat Fraley Pat Fraley is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated television series and voiced Falcon in ...

(Season 1) * Lorena Gale (Seasons 1–2) * Marcy Goldberg (Season 2) * Michael Greer (Season 3) *

as Al Nayles (in "When It Rains...It Snows"), Duck (in "When It Rains...It Snows"), Weatherman (in "When It Rains...It Snows") * Doc Harris (Season 1) * Phil Hayes (Season 2) * Mark Hildreth (Seasons 1–2) * Michael Horse as Chief Leapin' Lizard (in "When It Rains...It Snows") *

Tino Insana Silvio Peter "Tino" Insana (February 15, 1948 – May 31, 2017) was an American actor, producer, writer, and comedian. Life and career Insana was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 15, 1948, the son of Silvio A. Insana, a musician, and Hilora ...

as Perry Gravy (in "Dr. Tongue's Amazing Adventures") *

Alessandro Juliani Alessandro Juliani (born 6 July 1975) is a Canadian actor and singer. He is notable for playing the roles of Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta on the Syfy, Sci-Fi Channel television program ''Battlestar Galactica (re-imagining), Battlestar G ...

(Season 1–2) *

Terry Klassen Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor, ADR director and writer. Before animation, Klassen worked in radio in Winnipeg (CITI-FM), Toronto (Q107), Calgary (CFAC), Portage la Prairie (CFRY) and part-time at CFOX and CFMI. In animation, he is best ...

(Season 1) *

as Milo Gould * David L. Lander (Season 3) * Victoria Langston (Season 1) *

Eugene Levy Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. Known for portraying flustered and unconventional figures, Levy has won multiple accolades throughout his career including four Primetime Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and ...

as Pete (in "When it Rains...It Snows"), Stan Shmenge (in "Saturday Night Polka Fever"), Bruno (in "Dr. Tongue's Amazing Adventures"), Bobby Bittman (in "Bobby Bittman") * Andrea Martin as Miss Woodenhouse (in "Lucky Dog") *

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-American actor whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his n ...

(Season 3) *

Shane Meier Shane Thomas Meier (born June 11, 1977) is a Canadian actor, best known for playing the title role in ''The Matthew Shepard Story'', a TV film about the life and murder of Matthew Shepard. Life and career Meier was born in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

(Season 2) * Jason Michas (Season 2) * Jane Mortifee (Season 2) * Richard Newman (Season 2) * Bailee Ostry (Season 1) * Doug Parker (Seasons 1–2) *

Alvin Sanders Alvin Sanders is an American-Canadian voice actor and voice director. He currently sits on the Union of BC Performers executive board. Filmography Animated Anime roles *''Dragon Ball Z'' – Mr Popo, Additional Voices (1996–1997) *''Hello Carb ...

(Season 2) * James Sherry (Season 1) * Hal Smith (Season 3) *

Kath Soucie Kath Soucie (, ). is an American voice actress, known for voicing Phil, Lil and their mother Betty DeVille in '' Rugrats'', Lola Bunny in the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise, Fifi La Fume and Li'l Sneezer in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Maddie Fent ...

(Season 3) * Dave Thomas as Mr. Schnope (in "Bobby Bittman") * Marcia Wallace (Season 3) * Frank Welker as Lucky (in "Lucky Dog") * Cathy Weseluck (Season 1) * Dale Wilson (Season 2) * William Windom (Season 3) * Tomm Wright (Season 1)

Production

Songs

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...

wrote the series'

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

, which he sang with Candy. In both versions, the closing credits featured songs about Camp Candy that were sung to the tune of various folk songs such as "Bingo" (spoofed as "Candy"), "I've Been Working on the Railroad" (parodied as "I've Been Camping at Camp Candy"), "Comin' Around the Mountain," "Over the River and Through The Woods" (parodied as "Over the Field and Through the Woods"), "Yankee Doodle Boy" (parodied as "Big John Candy"), "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" (parodied as "A Jolly Good Camp"), "Tiny Tim, the Turtle" (parodied as "We Have a Camp Called Candy"), "Row Row Row Your Boat" (parodied as "Camp Candy Is a Scream"), "Reuben and Rachel" (parodied as "Robin and Iggy"), "On Top of Old Smokey" (parodied as "On Top of Mount Frostback") and "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" (parodied as "Circus Parade").

Comics

The animated series spawned a brief

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series based on the show; also entitled ''Camp Candy'', it was published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

' Star Comics imprint.

References

External links

*
The Big cartoon Database's list of ''Camp Candy'' episodes
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