Teacher's Pet (also known as Disney's Teacher's Pet) is an American animated sitcom produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and directed by Timothy Björklund.[1]
Teacher's Pet | |
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Genre | sitcom |
Created by | Gary Baseman Bill Steinkellner Cheri Steinkellner |
Directed by |
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Voices of | |
Theme music composer | Brian Woodbury Peter Lurye |
Opening theme | "I Wanna Be a Boy" |
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) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers | Michele Furuichi-Yost (season 1) Nancylee Myatt (season 2) |
Editors | John Royer (season 1) Susan Edmundson (season 2) |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company | Walt Disney Television Animation [a] |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 9, 2000 February 9, 2002 | –
Network | Toon Disney |
Release | January 11 May 10, 2002 | –
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 ABC from 2000-2002, and finishing its run on Toon Disney in 2002.
A feature-length film adaptation was theatrically released in the United States and Canada on January 16, 2004, which serves as a finale to the television series.
Premise
editThe 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 is 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
editMain cast
edit- Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II: (Nathan Lane; Kevin Schon in six episodes) Leonard's dog. He dresses up as a boy 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.
- 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 him become more confident to a decent degree, due to the former's immediate popularity.
- 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 canary. 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
edit- 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) A Korean girl of the class 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 is secretly in love with 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
editSeries overview
editSeason | Segments | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
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First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
1 | 17 | 13 | September 9, 2000 | January 13, 2001 | ABC | |
2 | 9 | 26 | 8 | September 22, 2001 | February 9, 2002 | |
21 | 18 | January 11, 2002 | May 10, 2002 | Toon Disney |
Season 1 (2000-01)
editNote: The first season aired on ABC's One Saturday Morning. All episodes in this season were directed by Timothy Björklund.
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboard by | Original air date | Prod. code | ||||||
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1 | 1 | "Muttamorphosis" | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Timothy Björklund | September 9, 2000 | 001 | ||||||
Spot the Dog decides once and for all to go to school, and so he becomes Scott Leadready II, top student of his master Leonard Helperman's fourth grade class. | ||||||||||||
2 | 2 | "Pet Project" | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Fred Gonzales & Celia Kendrick | September 16, 2000 | 002 | ||||||
Spot tries to pass Mr. Jolly off as his pet cat and Leonard writes about Pretty Boy when the kids have to write and recite an essay on their pets. Guest stars: Pat Musick as Mary Beth and David Sabella as Pretty Boy's singing voice | ||||||||||||
3a | 3a | "Movin' on Pup" | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Celia Kendrick | September 23, 2000 | N/A-003 | ||||||
3b | 3b | "Escaping Dog Trick" | Ford Riley | Fred Gonzales | ||||||||
Scott does well enough on the N.A.S.T.Y. to get promoted to the fifth grade, but finds out that the fifth grade is much more of a challenge than he had anticipated. Mrs. Helperman thinks Spot's run away when he sneaks away as Scott to buy ice cream with Leonard. Once Spot returns home, Mrs. Helperman has an electronic fence set up, which restricts him from going to school, causing him to mope. Guest stars: Clancy Brown as the Fifth Grade Teacher, Patrick Warburton as Officer Doggytime and Brad Renfro as Miles | ||||||||||||
4 | 4 | "A Lick is Still a Kiss" | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Chuck Klein & Melissa Suber | September 30, 2000 | ABC-04 | ||||||
Leonard mentions to the cool kids that Leslie uses pink lemonade lip gloss with a hint o' mint, which he had learned from Spot, but that turns into a rumor that he had kissed Leslie on the lips. It doesn't get any better when Principal Stricker threatens him (along with Scott later on when he defends Leonard) to be sent to the "School For Losers". | ||||||||||||
5 | 5 | "Being Mrs. Leadready" | Laura McCreary | Chuck Klein & Melissa Suber | October 7, 2000 | 005 | ||||||
Scott needs to find someone to play his mother for parent-teacher night and eventually has to play not only his mother but himself at the same time after being invited over for dinner. Song - "Spot's Lament" (Original & Reprise) | ||||||||||||
6a | 6a | "Let Sleeping-Over Dogs Lie" | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Mike Diederich & Fred Gonzales | October 28, 2000 | ABC-06 | ||||||
6b | 6b | "Costume Pity Party" | Michael Price | Norma Klinger | ||||||||
Scott and Leonard are invited to Ian's birthday/slumber party, and Leonard's scared since he doesn't know what to expect from a slumber party, especially since it's at Ian's house. On Halloween day, Leonard explains that he doesn't wear costumes anymore for the season since someone had bullied him the previous year (It's later found out that said bully was made fun of previously for wearing a disco costume the year prior to that). In the meantime, Spot's cover nearly is blown when his costume falls apart and appears as his actual self as he arrives at school, but everyone believes that he's actually in costume as a dog, so he goes with it and pretends to be Scott in a dog costume, but things go awry when they are told to take off their costumes for later.
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7 | 7 | "Scott's Honor" | Michael Price | Fred Gonzales & Celia Kendrick | November 4, 2000 | 007 | ||||||
Spot tries to prove to Leonard that he can succeed as a Junior Boy Ranger, which Leonard thinks he can't do because dogs are color blind.
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8 | 8 | "Fifi" | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Chuck Klein & Melissa Suber | November 11, 2000 | ABC-08 | ||||||
When the fourth grade class goes to the circus, Spot falls in love with and pursues Fifi, a circus acrobat poodle. He is successful, but as she is in a traveling circus, she insists that Spot should come with her too. Guest star: Bernadette Peters as Fifi | ||||||||||||
9a | 9a | "Bad to the Bone" | Jim Patterson & Stephen Leff | Fred Gonzales | November 18, 2000 | FO-09 | ||||||
9b | 9b | "Always Knock the Postman Twice" | Story by : Gary Baseman Teleplay by : Ford Riley | Celia Kendrick | ||||||||
Scott thinks he's been branded a bad'un when Mrs. Helperman writes him up on his permanent record for sticking his head out the school bus window, so ends up showing them all at school how bad he can be. When Scott makes slanderous insults against a mailman during "Career Day" (Going back to his dog instincts) and ends up getting in trouble for it, Leonard tries to change Spot's prejudice against mailmen by explaining to him all the mistakes that Spot and the other dogs see about mailmen before he gets himself into more trouble at school. Song - "No One Does Bad Quite As Good As Me" | ||||||||||||
10 | 10 | "You Can't Bite City Hall" | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Chuck Klein & Melissa Suber | December 2, 2000 | ABC-10 | ||||||
The city wants to turn the dog park into a skateboard park and Scott supports this until his dog friends and enemies inform him of their perspective of the park, leaving Spot confused to decide which side he's going to be on. Song - "Dog and Skateboard Park" | ||||||||||||
11 | 11 | "A Dog for All Seasons" | Story by : Ford Riley Written by : Ford Riley & Michael Price | Fred Gonzales & Celia Kendrick | December 16, 2000 | 011 | ||||||
Spot tries to find out if dogs have any holiday traditions. Meanwhile, Mrs. Helperman has to write up a new holiday school play that includes all the kids' religious traditions, but finds it harder than she expected.
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12 | 12 | "Tallulahpalooza" | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Chuck Klein & Melissa Suber | January 6, 2001 | 012 | ||||||
Mrs. Helperman agrees to be a pet sitter for Principal Stickler's cat Tallulah. This strikes conflict with Leonard and Spot as they want to leave the house to go out for Laser Tag and pizza, but they both feel that Tallulah is spying on them, and might catch on to Spot's secret. Meanwhile, Pretty Boy has a hard time trying to avoid being eaten by Tallulah and Mr. Jolly falls in love with the cat. Guest star: Tress MacNeille as Tallulah | ||||||||||||
13a | 13a | "Saving Mr. Jolly" | Cade Chilcoat | Celia Kendrick | January 13, 2001 | N/A-013 | ||||||
13b | 13b | "Rule of Paw" | Ford Riley | Fred Gonzales | ||||||||
Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly both think the other is missing so they go to school in search of Leonard's help and things get worse when they do find each other and Tallulah finds them too. In the meantime, Leonard, Scott, and the rest of the class participate in the "VIPATOTY" fitness test. When Scott takes his new role as playground safety monitor a bit too seriously, Leonard intentionally breaks a bunch of small offenses to make a point that his new rules are ridiculous. Scott doesn't like this one bit and it lands Leonard in Student Council Court. Guest star: Tress MacNeille as Tallulah |
Season 2 (2001-02)
editNo. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Storyboard by | Original air date | Prod. code | |||||||
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14 | 1 | "Never Take Candy from a Kindergartner" | Timothy Björklund | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Celia Kendrick & Chuck Klein | September 22, 2001 | 1C03-205 | |||||||
Leonard feels very guilty when he lets kindergartner Emma get a crush on him and feeds him free samples of candy from her dad's store, so Scott tries to help out, only to get roped into the same situation. Meanwhile. Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly both annoy each other with their habits (Pretty Boy being his seed bell and Mr. Jolly with his scratching post,) so they bet each other that they can do without the thing that they love. Note: The episode was originally planned to premiere on September 15, 2001, but was delayed due to the coverage of the September 11 attacks.[3] | ||||||||||||||
15 | 2 | "A Few Good Boys" | Timothy Björklund | Michael Price | Tina Kügler & Bob Onorato | September 29, 2001 | 1C03-203 | |||||||
Both Scott and Leonard get Junior Boy Ranger community service assignments that they absolutely can't stand. Guest stars: Kath Soucie as Baby Kittens and Marc Wilmore as Troop Leader Steve Knicke | ||||||||||||||
16 | 3 | "Bad Fur Day" | Timothy Björklund | Story by : Gary Baseman Written by : David Maples | Troy Adomitis, Karen Carnegie, Raymond S. Persi & Barry Vodos | October 6, 2001 | 1C03-212 | |||||||
Spot makes fun of Leonard's bad haircut until he himself winds up with a bad grooming that could blow his cover. | ||||||||||||||
17 | 4 | "The Tale of the Telltale Taffy" | Alfred Gimeno | David Maples | Karen Carnegie, Bob Onorato & Barry Vodos | October 27, 2001 | 1C03-225 | |||||||
While trick-or-treating, Scott convinces Leonard to go across the street to get candy since their street is only offering fruits and vegetables, but both of them start to feel guilty since Leonard had promised to his mom previously that he wouldn't go across the street. Meanwhile, after Leonard takes in a stray black cat from out of the rain, Pretty Boy and Jolly suspect the cat of being a vampire after reading up on vampire stories online. Song - "It's About The Candy" Guest stars: Tim Curry as Spooky and Kevin Schon as the singing voice of Spot/Scott[nb 2] | ||||||||||||||
18 | 5 | "Don't Count Your Chickies Before They Hatch" | Alfred Gimeno | Nicholas Hope & Jessie Jones | Fred Gonzales & Ennio Torresan Jr. | November 3, 2001 | 1C03-215 | |||||||
Scott is thrilled at a chance to go the upcoming air show, but this conflicts with his class assignment to watch over chicken eggs, so in the meantime, Leonard videotapes the whole thing for Scott so he can still watch the airshow later on. Eventually Scott has to leave the house to retrieve a light bulb when the chickens incubators light bulb dies, but on the way to the light bulb store, Scott is extremely tempted to go to the airshow. In the meantime, after complaining that he feels that he has no purpose in life, Mr. Jolly finds purpose by lying on top of the eggs to keep them warm. | ||||||||||||||
19a | 6a | "Strickler's Pet" | Timothy Björklund | Mark Steen | Chuck Klein | January 11, 2002 (Toon Disney) | 1C03-206[4] 1C03-208[5] | |||||||
19b | 6b | "Fresh 'n' Frozey Chocolaccino" | Story by : George McGrath Written by : Nancylee Myatt | Karen Carnegie, Celia Kendrick & Chuck Klein | ||||||||||
Strickler makes a stupid promise to get the students to read 2000 books in one month, and makes Scott "Junior Deputy Vice Principal" to keep him from helping the kids reach that goal so he won't have to shave his head bald and paint it purple. Scott and Leonard get the brilliant idea of selling their "Fresh 'n' Frozey Chocolaccino" drink to raise money to buy a Steel Sabre scooter, but things go awry once they run out of ingredients and end up selling ice.
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20 | 7 | "The Grass Seed is Always Greener..." | Timothy Björklund | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Celia Kendrick, Zac Moncrief & Melissa Suber | January 18, 2002 (Toon Disney) | 1C03-207 | |||||||
Pretty Boy's migrating instincts kick in and he flies the coop. Song - "Wormface And Skelebony Opening" | ||||||||||||||
21 | 8 | "No Substitutions, Please" | Alfred Gimeno | Nicholas Hope & Jessie Jones | Fred Gonzales & Tina Kügler | January 19, 2002 | 1C03-223 | |||||||
Mrs. Helperman catches a cold and so turns her class over to a substitute. Everybody loves her except Scott due to his canine super-sense. Meanwhile, Mr. Jolly, trying to fill in for Spot, tries to assist with Mrs. Helperman and her cold. Guest star: Grey DeLisle as Ms. Dewygood | ||||||||||||||
22 | 9 | "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Green" | Timothy Björklund | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Fred Gonzales & Ennio Torresan Jr. | January 25, 2002 (Toon Disney) | 1C03-211 | |||||||
Scott gets jealous when Leonard makes up a popular game based on the fetch game Spot's played with Leonard. | ||||||||||||||
23a | 10a | "Party Animal" | Alfred Gimeno | Story by : Cade Chilcoat Written by : Billiam Coronel | Celia Kendrick & Chuck Klein | January 26, 2002 | 1C03-210 1C03-224[6] | |||||||
23b | 10b | "Mr. Jolly: Man...or Mouser?" | Timothy Björklund & Alfred Gimeno | Bill Steinkellner & Cheri Steinkellner | Ennio Torresan Jr. | |||||||||
Scott secretly sets up a surprise party for Leonard's birthday, but Leonard doesn't seem interested. Leonard bets that Mr. Jolly can catch wiseacre mouse Margarita Ratoncita in five minutes. Guest star: Nika Futterman as Margarita Ratoncita | ||||||||||||||
24 | 11 | "What's Sweat Got to Do with It?" | Timothy Björklund | Jim Staahl & Jim Fisher | Zac Moncrief & Melissa Suber | February 1, 2002 (Toon Disney) | 1C03-218[7] | |||||||
Leonard's paired with Leslie in a square-dance performance, but he keeps getting sweaty palms when he's near Leslie. Meanwhile, when Pretty Boy finds out that Mr. Jolly recent stomach problems stem from having milk, he assists in helping him from having anymore dairy. Song - "Trip Your Partner Promenade" | ||||||||||||||
25 | 12 | "Dogfight" | Timothy Björklund | David Maples | Tina Kügler & Bob Onorato | February 8, 2002 (Toon Disney) | 1C03-217 | |||||||
When Scott and Leonard argue over a basketball loss the other kids force them to fight about it. Meanwhile, Mr. Jolly tries to prove how ferocious he can be after Pretty Boy points out how domesticated he is as a cat. | ||||||||||||||
26 | 13 | "Taint Valentine's Day" | Ennio Torresan Jr. | Billiam Coronel | Fred Gonzales & Tina Kügler | February 9, 2002 | 1C03-228 | |||||||
Nobody seems to love Leonard, especially on Valentines day, so Scott secretly sends many valentines to Leonard to boost his confidence, but his plot blows up in Leonard's face as the girls look over the valentines and find out that they're all written the same, so it's up to Scott to fix the mess he created. Meanwhile, Mr. Jolly helps Pretty Boy out with getting a lady bird on Valentines day. |
Broadcast/Availability
editThe show aired on ABC's One Saturday Morning block beginning on September 9, 2000. The block would continue airing new episodes of the show until February 9, 2002 and reruns would last there until September 7, 2002, when the block was rebranded to ABC Kids the following week.
The show began airing on Toon Disney on January 7, 2002 with new episodes premiering on the channel starting January 11, 2002.[8] Toon Disney would continue airing new episodes of it each Friday until reaching its finale on May 10, 2002. By the summer of 2006, it was removed from Toon Disney altogether and has not aired on American television since then.
The entire series was made available on Disney+ on launch day, November 12, 2019, in its original format.[9][nb 3]
Awards
editYear | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program | Nathan Lane | Won |
British Academy Children's Awards | International[10] | Teacher's Pet | Won | |
Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement in a Daytime Animated Television Production[11] | Teacher's Pet | Nominated | |
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television Production[11] | Gary Baseman | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Production[11] | 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
editA full-length animated feature based on the series, also titled Teacher's Pet, was released by Walt Disney Pictures on January 16, 2004. The film features the main cast from the series reprising their roles alongside new characters played by Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, and Paul Reubens.
Serving as a finale to the series, the film follows the characters during summer vacation. Leonard hopes Spot will finally act like a normal dog, but Spot hopes to become a real boy with the help of a mad scientist who claims he can turn animals human. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics but was a failure at the box office, making little more than half of its budget back.[12]
References
edit- ^ Erickson, Hal (2022). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2020 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 270–271. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ "Look Who's Learning Now: Teacher's Pet". LA Times. January 16, 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2014.[dead link]
- ^ "Disney's Teacher's Pet - I found this on eBay. While the second season premiered on September 22nd, 2001, it was originally planned to come out on September 15th. The premiere was delayed because of the 9/11 attacks, which had all four networks broadcasting uninterrupted news coverage (Teacher's Pet aired on ABC, mind you). As a result, many programs that were going to premiere around that time were delayed by a week or two - Example: Invader Zim (9/28) and the USA premiere of Yu-Gi-Oh (9/29). | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "WebVoyage".
- ^ "Disney's Teacher's Pet "Fresh 'n' Frozey Chocoloccino" Painted | Lot #13160".
- ^ "WebVoyage".
- ^ "WebVoyage".
- ^ "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
edit- ^ He took over as the voice for Spot/Scott in six episodes during the second season.
- ^ While Kevin Schon would voice Spot/Scott in many later episodes that aired on Toon Disney (and one on ABC), Kevin first voiced Spot/Scott during the song "It's About The Candy"
- ^ 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
- ^ Animation outsourced to Wang Film Productions and Toon City Animation.