Braceface

Braceface is an animated television series produced by Nelvana Limited and Jade Animation (Shenzhen) Company, and was produced in association with Teletoon and Fox Family Channel for the first season. The show features actress Alicia Silverstone from the movie Clueless (who also voiced the titular 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 creates mishaps in her daily life. Although considered to be a trademark feature in the series, later episodes began to drop this narrative in favor of tackling real-world issues. Unlike most animated shows that take place in fictional cities or states, this show takes place in the real life town of Elkford, British Columbia.

Braceface
Braceface title card
The series' title card featuring protagonist Sharon Spitz
Genre
Created byMelissa Clark Monkey Punch
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
Release
Original networkCanada
Teletoon
United States
Fox Family
(Season 1)
Original releaseJune 2, 2001 (2001-06-02) 
September 1, 2004 (2004-09-01)[1]

Summary

The series, set in Elkford, British Columbia, recounts the travails of 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] 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

  • Alicia Silverstone (Seasons 1-2)/Stacey DePass (Season 3) as Sharon Esther Spitz: The lead character of the show.
  • Dan Petronijevic as Adam Spitz: Adam is Sharon and Josh's older brother.
  • Michael Cera as Josh Spitz: Josh is Adam and Sharon's younger brother.
  • Tamara Bernier Evans as Helen Spitz: Helen is Adam, Sharon, and Josh's divorced mother.
  • Marnie McPhail as Maria Wong: Maria is Sharon's classmate and best friend, who is of mixed Chinese and Italian descent. She is also the girlfriend of Brock Leighton.
  • Peter Oldring as Connor Mackenzie: Connor is another one of Sharon's classmates and best friend.
  • Vince Corazza as Alden Jones: Alden is Sharon's crush at school and boyfriend. They later break up. Sharon and Alden eventually get back together by the end of the season.
  • Katie Griffin as Nina Harper: Nina is Sharon's nemesis at school and ex-best friend.
  • Tabitha St. Germain as Christy Lee: Christy is Nina's classmate and best friend.
  • Linda Ballantyne as Veronique Peters: Veronique is Nina's classmate and another best friend.
  • Daniel DeSanto as Brock Leighton: Brock is the African-American classmate, the best friend of Alden and Carmen, and Maria's boyfriend
  • Emily Hampshire as Alyson Malitski: Nina's ex-best friend and later Sharon's new friend. She soon has a relationship with Connor.
  • Elisa Moolecherry as Hannah Corbett: Hannah is Adam's girlfriend, who appeared in some episodes.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
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)April 11, 2003 (2003-04-11)
CanadaSeptember 6, 2002June 22, 2003
326U.S.May 2, 2004 (2004-05-02)September 14, 2004 (2004-09-14)
(Canada)November 5, 2003 (2003-11-05)September 1, 2004 (2004-09-01)

Production

The series 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 and Atomic Cartoons.

Reception

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

In the United States, the series originally aired on Fox Family Channel starting on June 2, 2001, with reruns on its successor ABC Family until May 26, 2003. Disney Channel later aired reruns 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 never aired in the United States until years later when services stream. In Canada, it ran on Teletoon from June 30, 2001[10][11] to September 1, 2004.[1]

Internationally, the series aired on Fox Kids,[12] Channel 5 and Pop Girl in the UK. It also aired on Nickelodeon in Germany and South Africa. In India, the series aired on Star One.[13] It aired in Ireland on RTÉ Two from 3 September 2001 to 2005.[14] In Japan, Braceface was aired on STAR Plus Japan. In the Netherlands, the show aired on Fox Kids/Jetix.

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

In the UK, 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 series is now streaming on both networks, FilmRise Kids and Tubi. The series is also available to stream on Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play and YouTube (thru Nelvana's Keep it Weird! Channel).[15] As of February 28, 2022, reruns can be seen on Nickelodeon Canada weeknights at 4:00 AM.

References

  1. "Mediacaster Magazine - Broadband & Content - TELETOON's September Sizzles with New Series and a Finale". 16 October 2013. Archived from the original on 16 October 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 2022-08-12.
  5. "DOWN IN MOUTH: 'BRACEFACE' FIZZLES". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  6. "'Braceface' suited to kids ready for junior high school". Indiana Gazette. 2001-06-22. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  7. "'Braceface' takes a refreshingly light look at the junior high challenges". Lancaster New Era. 2001-06-04. p. 22. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  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 2022-08-12.
  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. 2001-06-29. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  12. "Welcome To Foxkids.com.au". February 5, 2003. Archived from the original on 2003-02-05.
  13. "STAR - Programme Guide". 24 November 2005. Archived from the original on 24 November 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  14. RTÉ Guide, 1–7 September 2001 edition and subsequent dates
  15. "Braceface". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
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