Camp Candy

Camp Candy is an animated television series produced by DIC Animation City, Saban Entertainment and Worldvision Enterprises, in association with Frostbacks Productions, with comedian John Candy 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 from 1998 to 2001.
Plot
The show is set in a fictional summer camp 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 leader of Camp Candy, a summer camp that is presumably built by him, and he tries to get various kids to get along. Some episodes focused on John, namely having to stave off the bankruptcy or ruination of his camp due to the plots of Rex DeForest III.
In the third season, Candy also 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
John Candy (voiced by himself) - The fictional version of the actor who is the proprietor of Camp Candy who runs it with comical results. A charming, good-natured, caring, laid-back, yet clumsy and accident-prone everyman, John frequently finds himself in and out all sorts of self-inflicted trouble, yet he always has his heart in the right place. John is also rather goofy and childlike, but in a fun and infectious way, hence why the child campers look up to him, as he treats them as his own children. In nearly every episode, he encounters a problem that may cause Camp Candy to be shut down, but with the help of the campers and his friends, he manages to end the day victorious. He is tall and rotund with shaggy blonde hair, dimpled cheeks, a medium-sized nose, and typically wears an army green shirt with pockets in the front over a white T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a whistle around his neck, matching cargo shorts, and brown boots.
Nurse Molly Mackleberry (voiced by Valri Bromfield) - The energetic, talkative, overly enthusiastic, and motherly camp nurse at Camp Candy. She is deeply in love with John, flirting with him and tending to his frequent injuries, much to his discomfort. John does care a lot about Molly's well-being, however, as he will go to great lengths to rescue her himself whenever she is in trouble or during the campers' endeavors. He has also been shown to reciprocate her feelings towards him, admittedly liking the idea of being kissed by her in one episode. She is tall and slender with straight blonde hair, a small beak-like nose, and almost always wears a nurse's uniform.
Robin (voiced by Danielle Fernandes in season 1, Cree Summer in season 2, Candi Milo 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's African-American and she has black hair tied in twin buns.
Alexandra "Alex" (voiced by Chiara Zanni 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, her leader senses can make her way too bossy. Physical activity is her favourite 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.
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. As a result, she 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 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.
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. Much like John, Rick is notable for his laid-back 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, he 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.
Gregory "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. 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 in season 3) - A cowardly, neurotic, clumsy, sheltered boy who fears practically everything and was the most hesitant about attending Camp Candy.
Botch (voiced by Brian George) - The camp chef 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.
Duncan (voiced by George MacPherson impersonating Don Knotts) - The counselor-in-training who tends to be a brown-noser which admittedly annoys John, but he still treats him nicely and considers him a friend.
Rex DeForest III (voiced by Lewis Arquette) - The primary antagonist of the series. Rex DeForest III is an extremely 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. Rex's plans often involved getting Camp Candy shut down or constructing nearby it. These would always never work due to various reasons and Camp Candy would continue to stay open.
Chester (voiced by Danny Mann) - Rex DeForest III'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, Chester has a change of attitude and starts to think for himself once the Camp Candy kids accept him.
Homer "Hob" Nayles (voiced by Jess Harnell in season 3) - 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, uncaring, smug, demanding, and has a rather nasty temper; as such, he often views John as his archrival. Despite his personality at times, Hob can be whiny and cowardly when it comes to things that would frighten him.
Cast
John Candy 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
Valri Bromfield as Nurse Molly
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)
Chiara Zanni as Alex (Seasons 1–2)
Willow Johnson as Vanessa (Seasons 1–2)
Brian George as Botch (Season 2)
George MacPherson as Duncan (Season 2)
Cree Summer as Robin (Season 2)
E.G. Daily as Rick, Binky, Alex (Season 3)
Katie Leigh as Iggy (Season 3)
Candi Milo as Robin (Season 3)
Gail Matthius as Vanessa (Season 3)
Additional voice cast
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)
Ian James Corlett (Seasons 1–2)
Bob Costas (Season 2)
Michael Donovan (Season 1–2)
Pat Fraley (Season 1)
Lorena Gale (Seasons 1–2)
Marcy Goldberg (Season 2)
Michael Greer (Season 3)
Jess Harnell as Hob 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 as Perry Gravy (in "Dr. Tongue's Amazing Adventures")
Alessandro Juliani (Season 1–2)
Terry Klassen (Season 1)
Maurice LaMarche (Season 2)
David L. Lander (Season 3)
Victoria Langston (Season 1)
Eugene Levy 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 (Season 3)
Shane Meier (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 (Season 2)
James Sherry (Season 1)
Hal Smith (Season 3)
Kath Soucie (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)
Episodes
Series overview
<onlyinclude>
Season 1 (1989)
Season 2 (1990–1991)
Season 3 (1992)
Clip Show
Production
Songs
Harry Nilsson wrote the series' theme song, 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" (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 series based on the show; also entitled Camp Candy, it was published by Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint.
References
External links
The Big cartoon Database's list of Camp Candy episodes
1980s American animated television series
1990s American animated television series
1989 American television series debuts
1992 American television series endings
1980s Canadian animated television series
1990s Canadian animated television series
1989 Canadian television series debuts
1992 Canadian television series endings
American children's animated adventure television series
American children's animated comedy television series
American television series with live action and animation
Canadian children's animated adventure television series
Canadian children's animated comedy television series
Canadian television series with live action and animation
NBC original programming
Cultural depictions of American men
Cultural depictions of actors
Cultural depictions of comedians
Animation based on real people
Television shows set in Colorado
Television series by DIC Entertainment
Television series by Saban Entertainment
English-language television shows
First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
Animated television series about children
Television series about summer camps
Television shows set in summer camps