As Told by Ginger, also known as As Told by Ginger Foutley, is an American animated teen drama television series created by Emily Kapnek for Nickelodeon. Produced by Klasky Csupo in association with Nickelodeon Animation Studio, the series is set in the fictional town of Sheltered Shrubs and follows middle school (later high school) student Ginger Foutley and her friends as they navigate adolescence, friendships, family life, and the social hierarchy of school.
The series premiered on Nickelodeon on October 25, 2000, and concluded on November 14, 2006, with a total of 60 episodes over three seasons. It received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour). As Told by Ginger was widely praised for its serialized storytelling, character development, and realistic portrayal of adolescence. Unlike most animated children's series of its era, the characters aged over the course of the series, experienced lasting personal growth, and frequently changed outfits, reflecting Kapnek's goal of depicting adolescence with greater realism.
Contents
Premise
Characters
The series centers on junior high school student Ginger Foutley. Alongside her close friends Darren Patterson, Dodie Bishop, and Macie Lightfoot, Ginger navigates adolescence while attempting to improve her social standing at school and dealing with the challenges of friendships, family, and growing up.
Although Ginger and her friends occupy the lower end of the school's social hierarchy, she unexpectedly befriends the popular and affluent Courtney Gripling, who is fascinated by Ginger's perspective and frequently includes her in her social circle. Courtney's best friend, Miranda Killgallen, views Ginger as a threat to her own social status and frequently attempts to undermine her.
At home, Ginger records her experiences in a diary, which serves as the series' narrative device. Meanwhile, her younger brother Carl and his best friend Hoodsey Bishop are featured in recurring comedic subplots, while Ginger's mother, Lois, provides guidance and support throughout the series.
Setting
The series is set in the fictional suburban town of Sheltered Shrubs, Connecticut. Sheltered Shrubs was inspired by Larchmont, New York, where series creator Emily Kapnek moved while attending junior high school. Kapnek stated that Larchmont became "sort of the basis for this show".
Other recurring locations include Protected Pines, the gated community where Courtney Gripling lives; Brittle Branches, the hometown of Ginger's father; and Heathered Hills, home to Sasha, whom Ginger meets at summer camp.
Continuity and themes
As Told by Ginger has been recognized by fans and Nickelodeon alike for its character development, most of which was unusual for a cartoon in its time.
In the first season, Ginger's age group is considered as being in seventh grade. By the second season, they move up to eighth grade rather than remaining the same age. In this season, Darren has the unwieldy orthodontic headgear that he has worn for the entire first season removed, which results in rising popularity. They graduate junior high in the middle of the third season and move on to become freshmen in high school. Carl's age group works in the same way, as they become junior high students by the third season. Many episodes make references to past episodes, giving the episodes a definite order.
One notable aspect of the series was the rotating and evolving character wardrobes. Characters would change clothing every episode, and often within the same episode; a highly unusual characteristic at the time for both Nickelodeon animated shows and children's animation in general. The standard practice in animated television was to design a character with a specific "default" outfit that would rarely be changed, updated, or altered unless the plot necessitated it. Other Klasky Csupo productions of the time, such as Rugrats and Rocket Power, followed this practice. This served to simplify the animation process, saving money and production time.
By contrast, As Told by Ginger evoked live action sitcoms, where characters change clothes as frequently as they would in real life. This was most conspicuous amongst the girls in Ginger's age group (Dodie, Courtney, Macie, Miranda and Ginger herself) and some of the adults such as Ginger's mother. After Darren had his orthodontic headgear removed, his clothes changed as well.
Meanwhile, Carl's younger and less fashion-minded age group changed clothes infrequently, and with far fewer deviations from their usual style. Hoodsey stands out in particular as a satire of the traditional animated character who is only seen in one outfit, as he only ever wears a purple hooded sweatshirt and shorts, which other characters regard as abnormal. This is further satirized when it is revealed Hoodsey's clothes rack primarily consists of similar purple hoodies, indicating that to spite appearances, he change his clothes as frequently as the rest.
Theme song
The theme song, I'm in Between, was originally sung by Ginger's voice actress, Melissa Disney. However this was later scrapped for a cover by Macy Gray, which became the best-known version of the theme song. Another cover of the song by Cree Summer, Miranda Killgallen's voice actress, was also recorded for the show but not used.
In the original version of the theme song recorded by Disney, the title sequence featured various sound effects and brief character interactions. These included Darren greeting Ginger, Dodie, and Macie as he rode past on his bicycle; Blake Gripling shouting as he fled from Carl Foutley's doghouse with Carl and Hoodsie Bishop in pursuit; and the sound of a car horn when Lois Foutley's car was towed. When Macy Gray's version of the theme song was later introduced, these dialogue elements and sound effects were removed. However, the original animation was left unchanged, and the characters' mouth movements remain visible, corresponding to the now-absent dialogue.
Episodes
Television films
There were four television films that aired during the series' run.
Summer of Camp Caprice (also titled Season of Caprice) had Ginger, Dodie, Macie and Courtney heading to summer camp, with Darren and Miranda going to military camp (where, as it happens, Miranda's father works) and Carl and Hoodsey on the trail of dog nappers.
Foutleys on Ice (aired in the US as Far from Home), following up on the Emmy-nominated episode "And She Was Gone", dealt with Ginger winning a scholarship to an arts school, and Carl and Hoodsey making friends with a new character, the telekinetic Noelle Sussman (voiced by series creator Emily Kapnek). This episode was released on DVD.
Butterflies are Free follows Ginger and her friends graduating from junior high.
The Wedding Frame closed out the third season and the series as a whole, and features Lois marrying one of the doctors at her hospital.
Nickelodeon had originally asked for the ending of The Wedding Frame to be changed to something less conclusive in case they wished to order more episodes, however, perhaps due to that situation being very unlikely, the original ending was eventually retained. It was released directly to DVD in the United States in November 2004, but it would not be otherwise available in the U.S. until 2021, when it and one of the episodes leading up to the film ("Battle of the Bands") premiered on CBS All Access.
In international airings, the films were divided into two (for Butterflies are Free) and three parts (for the other three films) in reruns.
Production
The conception of As Told By Ginger began in the summer of 1996, shortly after the release of the dark comedy film Welcome to the Dollhouse. At the time, Nickelodeon and Klasky Csupo were hosting a screenwriting competition in New York, so Kapnek decided to develop an "animated version of junior high school hell," where the main character would tackle real issues that kids were dealing with, such as the pressure of fitting in and to look a certain way. The pilot for the show was completed in September 1999. The show premiered in October 2000 on Nickelodeon. The show was greatly popular at first, making its way into the teenager-aimed block TEENick. After the second season, the show's popularity began to decline, partially due to constant scheduling changes. Nickelodeon then pulled the show off the air after airing less than half the episodes of the third and final season. The show was a part of the Nicktoons channel since its inception in 2002, and began airing the remaining third-season episodes in November 2004, when "Ten Chairs" premiered. The "high school" episodes were slated to premiere during November 2006, but only one, "Stuff'll Kill Ya", premiered. Of the remaining Season 3 episodes, 4 ultimately premiered on TeenNick's The Splat in 2016, and the last 2 (including "The Wedding Frame", which had previously been released on DVD in the US in 2004) premiered on CBS All Access in 2021.
Show airings
The episodes "I Spy a Witch", "Déjà Who?", "An 'Even Steven' Holiday Special" and "Piece of My Heart" were all made for the first season lineup, but aired during the second season in the United States.
"Never Can Say Goodbye", "Gym Class Confidential", "Fast Reputation" and "The Nurses' Strike" all premiered in the same week during the TEENick block. They aired February 11–14, 2002 (which were the days between Monday and Thursday).
The episodes "Detention", "Kiss Today Goodbye", "A Lesson in Tightropes", "Dodie's Big Break" and "Battle of the Bands" are all high school episodes that were initially unaired in the United States. They were at one time scheduled to air during the second week of November 2006, but were immediately removed from the schedule after the first high school episode, "Stuff'll Kill Ya", was aired. "Detention", "Kiss Today Goodbye", "A Lesson in Tightropes" and "Dodie's Big Break" would premiere in the United States on TeenNick's The Splat in 2016, and "Battle of the Bands" would premiere on CBS All Access in 2021. In several other countries, especially in the United Kingdom, they are part of regular reruns.
DVD and streaming releases
The TV films Far from Home and The Wedding Frame are available on VHS and DVD in the United States and Canada (Region 1). Far from Home comes with the bonus episodes "Ginger the Juvey" and the pilot episode "The Party". The Wedding Frame includes "Stealing First" and "Dare I, Darren".
The complete series was made available to purchase on iTunes in 2008; the 60 episodes were divided into six volumes. As of January 2015, the episodes are no longer available for download.
The complete series was made available to stream on Paramount+ on January 12, 2021, until it was removed from the service on December 17, 2025.
The episodes 1 through 45 are available on Russian DVD sets with each DVD containing 5 episodes. The As Speaks Ginger DVDs, as they are known in Russia (Cyrillic: Как говорит Джинджер), are produced and distributed by Russobit-M and are only available with a Russian soundtrack.
Theme song
The opening theme, titled "I'm in Between", was written for the show by American rapper Ray Raymond. The song was first recorded with vocals by Melissa Disney, in character as Ginger. But this version was replaced before initial North American broadcasts with another version performed by Cree Summer. This would be used for half of the first season before a third version, featuring vocals by R&B artist Macy Gray, which was used for the rest of the series' run.
In the UK broadcasts, the Melissa Disney and Cree Summer versions were used for the first two seasons, while the Macy Gray version was used for season three. Internationally, the Macy Gray version is the most recognizable version.
Closing credits
The closing credits are typically designed backgrounds with the show's signature font. These backgrounds include the ice cream cones from Ginger's bedroom walls, ladybugs from Dodie's bedroom walls, pencils, lizards and more. In several episodes, the ending theme is a rock-based instrumental, although there have been exceptions. "Piece of My Heart" ends with a different and softer instrumental melody. The episode "Never Can Say Goodbye" ended with a song called "Wrong", sung by voice actor Kenny Blank as Darren Patterson, and "And She Was Gone" ended with a musical version of Ginger's poem during the credits. The episode "Come Back, Little Seal Girl" featured the songs "Courtney's World" and "The Little Seal Girl" blended together. In "About Face", a song called "Diamonds Are Expensive", presumably sung by the engaged Lois and Dr. Dave, is played over the credits. "Next Question" ended with "The Teen Seal Girl" song. Finally, the episode "No Hope for Courtney" had no music during the credits, being dedicated to the memory of Kathleen Freeman.
Awards
Three Emmy nominations for "Hello Stranger" (in 2001), "Lunatic Lake" (in 2002), and "And She Was Gone" (in 2003). All three were nominated in the Outstanding Animated Program (Less than One Hour) category.
"Best Cartoon" at Nickelodeon Netherlands Kids Choice Awards in 2005.
Two episodes of As Told by Ginger were ranked in Nickelodeon's "100 Greatest Moments in Nicktoons History", a special presented by Nickelodeon in November 2007. The episodes "Gym Class Confidential" and "Stealing First" were ranked at 97 and 95.