A New Girl in School

A New Girl in School" (titled New Ghoul in School on the Enchatria Girls YouTube channel) is the first TV special produced for the Enchatria Girls cartoon series and first-and-only TV special on the YouTube channel. The TV special ties into the Dawn of the Dance doll line. YouTube premieres May 6, 2020, Nickelodeon premieres November 1, 2020. and also Universal Kids premieres November 20, 2020.
== Description ==
Being the new girl is totally terrifying. See what really happened during Wendy Wonders' first week at Enchatria High!
== Summary ==
It is Monday and Wendy Wonders' first day at Enchatria High. Everything is new and intimidating to the girl aged 15 years old, but entirely unprepared she isn't. She has a collection of magazines with her in which she hopes to find guidance on how to work through teenage humanhood. Taking the advice from SevenTween, she tries to make "an awesome first impression", but only manages to convey that she's very very very new. Making her way through the crowds of students, Frankie worries that she'll never have friends and will have to spend all high school as a "loner".
On Tuesday, Wendy makes her way to Trigular Calcometry 101. At the classroom door, Keith Evans passes her by and greets her. As Wendy has a moment of happiness for being noticed, and by such a handsome guy no less, Brainy the Weird Breathing Guy enters and accidentally knocks her over. While Wendy collects her stuff from the floor, Judy Von Puckett and Elsa McMorgan enter. Judy doesn't see Wendy and nearly trips over her, which earns Wendy Judy's dislike. Little more is said when the teacher arrives and the class commences. Bor Rang turns out to be a very boring man though and Wendy turns to her magazines for advice on how to survive. At that moment, her best friend Lori Creaser lets herself down from the ceiling next to Wendy and starts talking to her. A little weirded out, Wendy lets her, happy to finally have someone notice her and talk to her. When the bell rings, Lori is still talking and Wendy follows her into the hallway.
At the chalkboard, Rang has fallen asleep and Elsa finishes the calculation he was working on for him.
As Wendy and Lori walk and talk, they suddenly find themselves alone and Lori's attention perks when she hears moaning coming their way. The two are too late to escape the zombie flashmob, though they are cornered at the girls' bathroom. It's door is opened by Rachel Finster to let her friend and company inside. Wendy and Rachel hit it off well during their time waiting for the knights to leave. When they are gone, Lori and Rachel leave, telling Wendy she can text them. Wendy realizes too late she does not have their numbers, but is optimistic about having made two possible friends. She believes she can still do better though and decides to join one of the school's clubs.
On Wednesday, Wendy signs up for various clubs in order to make more friends. However, either her clumsiness or her lack of investment or knowledge in the clubs cause that plan to fail. She doesn't bother to learn the rules of chess when joining the Chess club, her charge electrocutes the Swim Team, and she only realizes she doesn't know what she's asking signatures for during Community Service until Judy asks her. Wendy also electrocutes Judy and ruins her hair when she hands her a pencil to sign the petition. All in all, Wendy messes up so badly that her chances to make friends become lower than before Wednesday.
Nonetheless, a poster announcing cheerleader tryouts gives Wendy new hope, as she has no doubt she can do that right. That is, until she arrives at the tryouts and finds out that the Cheer Squad captain is no one else than Judy Von Puckett, the girl Wendy probably offended the most in the past three days. Nonetheless, she stays, and Judy gives her a chance like everyone else. The applicants are ordered to watch a performance by the current members of the Cheer Squad, then repeat it. However, the Cheer Squad's performance is so impressive that all applicants but Wendy run away afterwards, too intimidated to try and mimic that. Wendy just gives it a go and is a success, but her chance at fame is ruined when her shoes comes loose and ends up in Elsa's juice, splashing the liquid mostly over Judy, which causes Judy to scream at very high loudly volume that could break glass.
Wendy runs off in embarrassment, crying, to the solitude of the swimming pool at that time. Or rather, the expected solitude, as Gina Miller is there making a few laps. She strikes up a conversation with Wendy, listening to her frustration over the past three days and offering advice to stop trying so hard and just be herself. Wendy happily takes Gina's advice and encouragement, but casts it aside again when she glances at her People Beat magazine, which advises "Don't be yourself. Yuck! Be the dream-you." Pondering this, Wendy loses herself in a fantasy in which she's a talented singer and gains immense popularity through a killer performance. She awakens from her fantasy when Keith addresses her, as he needs her to close her locker so he can open his. A moment later, Tim Plasience walks by and pushily starts flirting with Wendy. Noticing her discomfort, Keith petrifies Heath and drags him away. Keith's kindness makes Wendy become interested in him, but her attention is soon taken by Rachel and Lori, who show up to tell her that Judy was impressed with her performance regardless of what happened at the end and that she is invited for an interview that will determine her membership. Wendy is overjoyed, but from a distance Gina watches, realizing that Wendy will try too hard to be accepted into the Cheer Squad.
On Thursday morning, Wendy turns to her magazines again for final advice. An article in People Beat about the link between unpopularity and teenaged lunch ladies convinces her to fake her way to glory. She meets up with Lori and Rachel at school for a pre-interview briefing, during which Keith happens to walk by and greet her. Wendy is overjoyed at the attention and confidently makes her way to the creepateria for her interview. Judy is still intimidating, but Wendy is sure she is ready. Judy starts the interview with quick-fire questions, one of the final ones being "favorite singer?". Wendy replies that that would be Justin Bieker and that he, in fact, partially owes his current success to Wendy's father. Judy elatedly proclaims her own love for Justin Bieker's music, but swiftly moves on to the next question, "Boyfriend?". Wendy feels pressured and just at that moment, Keith comes walking into the Cafeteria and again greets her. Wendy quickly claims that he is her boyfriend, much to the horror of everyone witnessing the event. Judy angrily declares the interview over and walks up to Keith, accusing him of cheating on her. Then she leaves the cafeteria, bursting into tears once outside. Wendy too decides to leave and runs off to the swimming pool again. She meets up with Gina, but this time the sea monster is not on her side as she's heard what happened. As Wendy processes that Gina just turned her back on her, she spots Gina, who also chose to come to the swimming pool to cry. When she spots Wendy, she reverts to anger and tells Wendy she doesn't want to see her again.
On Friday, Wendy recalls the past week and decides she has to fix things with everyone she hurt. She looks at one of her People Beat magazines-one with Justin Bieker on the cover-one more time and gets an idea. She makes her way to the bathrooms where Rachel and Lori are working on the latter's makeup and both apologizes and asks them for help to make it all up to Judy. Rachel and Lori agree to help, their role being to lure Judy to the gym. Meanwhile, Wendy talks to Keith and explains the situation to him, and the two of them await Judy in front of the gym's doors. When Judy arrives, Wendy explains what happened and thereby brings Judy and Keith together again. But as relieved as Judy is that Keith didn't cheat on her, she's still furious at Wendy. Wendy answers she knows that and that this isn't the full extent of her apology yet. She invites Judy into the gym, where a makeshift stage stands with Justin Bieker ready to rock — Wendy got him to give a concert at Enchatria High just for Judy on account of him owing the Wonders a favor.
The entire school has a great time at the concert. Wendy observes her friends having fun and is approached by Judy, who tells her she made it into the Cheer Squad, though on probation. Wendy is happy with this arrangement, but to herself notes that the Cheer Squad is not that important anymore now that she has her best friends forever.
== Credits ==
=== Cast ===
* Wendy Wonders - Tara Strong
* Judy von Puckett - Andrea Baker
* Rachel Finster - Rowan Blanchard
* Lori Creaser - Kari Wahlgren
* Gina Miller - Janice Kawaye
* Keith Evans - Jack Griffo
* Jimmy Stones - Troy Baker (Debut)
* Tim Plasience - Kirby Robert Morrow (Debut)
* Elsa McMorgan - Molly Quinn
=== Crew ===
* Written by Anne D. Bernstein, Audu Paden, Lauren Rose and Ira Singerman
* Voice Direction - Audu Paden
* Talent Coordinator - Marsha Goodman Einstein
* Art Director - Eric Radomski
* Animatic Editor - Mike Mangan
* Executive Producers - Margaret M. Dean, Barry Waldo
* Supervising Producer - Audu Paden
* Produced by - Vincent Edwards, Ira Singerman, Shannon Nettleton
* Associate Producer - Haven Alexander
* Production Manager - Robert Romero
* Production Coordinators - Melissa Moore, Lauren Rose
* Storyboards by Tim Eldred
* Animation Character Design - Myke Chilian, Layron DeJarnette, Jenny Goldberg, Michael Huang, Lois Min Lee, Hal Newman
* BG Design - Brad Gake, Jeff Logue, Richard Lee, Robert Romero, Deanna Rooney
* Flash Clean-up Supervisor - Jason Flowers
* Flash Clean-up - Big Star Animation
* Additional Flash Clean-up - Sara Anderson, Jenny Goldberg, Robert Romero, Casey Mitchum
* Animation Supervisor - Shawn Toshikian
* Lead Animator - Stephen Sawran
* Animators - Joe Apel, Nick Butera, Daisy Church, David Haines, Cesar Henriquez, Anna Hollingsworth, Michael Huang, JoJo Ramos, Bob Rutan, Toni Tysen, Anne Walker
* Technical Director - Chris Staples
* Compositors - Andrew Hodges, Rich Ramazinski, Anthony Sipsas, Steve Wilson
* Post Production Supervisor - Don Devine
* Music - Steven Argila
* Editor - Michael Mangan
* Finishing Supervisor - Jim Cerrotta
* Finishing Coordinator - Rodney Mann
* Recording Studio - Salami Studios, North Hollywood, CA
* Post Production Audio - Salami Studios, North Hollywood, CA
* "Scars" By Toby Gad and Elyssa James
* "Friday I'll Be Over U" By Tiffany Amer, Savan Harish Kotecha, Max Martin, Johan Schuster
* Mattel Creative Consultants - Samantha Negley, Virginia Reneau, Kirsti van Rinsum, Garrett Sander, Julee Shapiro, Joel Smith, Erin Bloodgood, Elaine Gant, Jean Gomez, Eric Hardie, Cindy Ledermann, Kathleen Muray, Wendy Trilling
* Special Thanks - Catherine Demas, Bob Eckert, Neil Friedman, Tim Kilpin, Susie Lecker, Dr. Michael Shore
== Characters ==
# Sarah Duncan
# Wendy Wonders
# Otto Mason (Debut)
# Iris Smith
# Tim Plasience (Debut)
# Keith Evans
# Brainy Puffies
# Judy Von Puckett
# Elsa McMorgan
# Mr. Bor Rang
# Lori Craeser
# Rachel Finster
# Jimmy Stones (Debut)
# Gina Miller
# Glitter (Debut)
# Justin Bieker (Debut)
== Notes ==
=== References ===
* Justin Bieker is the Enchatria Girls version of Justin Bieber.
* The Jondaks Brothers is the Enchatria Girls version of The Jonas Brothers.
* The TV special's title is a play on "new kid at school".
* The magazine SevenTween is a play on magazine SevenTeen.
=== Continuity ===
* "New Girl in School" is a Volume 1 TV special, taking place at the year 2020, the first year the web series of Enchatria Girls was created. It is the first TV special made in 2D drawn animation, rather than CGI 3D animation, the second being "Fight On!".
* A New Girl in School's relation to the Volume 1 webisodes is either that it provides an alternative sub-continuity to the whole lot or only to the first half. Regardless, the following webisodes all feature events equal but different to those in "A New Girl in School":
** "The Jondaks Brothers" - Wendy is 15 years old.
** "Cheer Squad" - Wendy becomes a member of the Cheer Squad.
** "Substitute Teacher" - Bor Rang teaches Trigular Calcometry 101.
* Tim Plasience was new at school in the webisode "A Hot Boy" and this was after Wendy had been in school for a while, but he's been a student for longer than Wendy in "A New Girl in School", so this was perhaps rewritten.
* "New Girl @ School" establishes Wendy's reliance on magazines to get her through teenage monster life. The webisodes pick up on this starting "A Dare of a Dare".
* In "Girl Will Fly", Lori also explains how she used to like the Jondaks Brothers but is a fan of Justin Bieker these days.
* In "Cyrano de Elsa", Lori too voices her need to be 17 before she is allowed to have a boyfriend. Of course, this condition is ignored or no longer in effect during Volume 2, when she starts dating Clyde Finster at age 15
* "A New Girl in School" introduces Judy's scream-powers. They'll be first featured in the episodes in "Idol Threat".
* Timmy hits on Wendy one other time, in the episode "Date of the Friend". It could be a continuation of his flirt in "A New Girl @ School" or an alternative take on the same event.
* Wendy will be taken off probation in the course of Volume 2, but never officially so. She asks Judy to take her off in "Super Building", but is denied because she again causes Judy to be covered in a juice. The subject never comes up again, but given everything Wendy and Judy go through as part of the same team, it's not to be expected Wendy's still on probation.
* The Power Bed shown in Wendy's room was released in November 2020, and reappears in the 2021 TV special "Fight On!".
* While it is not clear where to place the Volume 3 webisode "Fashion Emergency" continuity-wise, it too represents a scenario that cannot take place in the same sub-continuity as "A New Girl @ School" on account of the story of how Lori and Rachel acquire their Dawn of the Dance outfits.
* Wendy recalls her leg coming loose during cherleading tryouts and 'hitting' the captain in "Lost of the Shell Shores".
* A screenshot from this TV special was used for the back of the box of Girl's Alive! Keith Evans.
=== Milestones ===
* Wendy's bedroom is shown for the first time.
* The Glitter make their cartoon debuts.
=== Errors ===
* During the intro shot of the Tuesday segment, Wendy's left eye colors are black.
* Lori notes that her "parents say" she can't date until she is 17. As later established, Lori only has one parent, her adoptive father, Lenny Craeser.
* In most of Enchatria High fiction, knights only speak Knights, but in the angry farmers flashmob-scene, the mob of knights is moaning in English, but most likely for the joke of mispronouncing "brains."
* SevenTween is mentioned when Lori actually is looking through a magazine called People Beat - in fact, People Beat is the only magazine the girls look at in the entire movie minus the spreads Wendy has pinned-up on her bedroom wall.
* Two times during the example routine, while there is a close-up on her left arm, Judy wears her 'Basic' jewelry instead of her cheerleading-outfit bracelet.
* At one point during the routine, Judy's ankle twisted on her bandage is located on her right leg instead of her left. It may seem this happens twice, but the second time is actually a reused shot from when Judy was turned away from Cheer Squad candidates, even though she is at that time facing them according to the surrounding shots.
* When Judy tells the candidates its their turn, her torso is not aligned with her hips.
* In Gina's introduction scene, when she comes out of the water, she wears her everyday outfit, while all later shots show her in her pink bathing suit. She wears her hood in all shots, even though it is or should be attached to her everyday 'Basic' jacket.
=== Other ===
* Several scenes, art, and animation parts are taken directly from the webisodes:
** The knights flashmob animation is also featured in "Cheer Squad".
** Mr. Bor Rang's animation and class scenes are also featured in "Substitute Teacher".
** The scene of Wendy magnetizing the lockers and electrifying a row of students was also used in "Bad Dare Day".
** The moment in the cafeteria before Wendy approaches Judy for her interview has the same background layout as the intro shot of "Photo Finish".
** Judy's art and animation when she gets electrified when Wendy asks her to sign the petition is also used in "Screamburst Friday" when she gets electrified by bad luck.
* A New Ghoul in School's intro music is a different piece from the EG Stomp than the Volume 1 webisodes use as their intro music, but it's the same piece as the Volume 2 and Volume 3 webisodes use.
* In addition to the above, "A New Girl in School" commences with the opening of a yearbook. This setup would be copied by the webisodes starting Volume 2.
* In both "A New Girl in School" and "Cheer Squad", the cheerleaders wear outfits without Enchatria Girls logo. The logo will appear on the uniforms starting Volume 2.
* "A New Girl @ School" contains one of the very rare appearances of Tim Plasience's "backgrounder"-style model. The one other time it shows up is in "Bad Dare Day".
* The teenage lunch lady on the cover of People Beat has Wendy's blue irises. While it can be argued that, as with the cover featuring Gina, Wendy is projecting on the cover, it is very subtle and the only way in which the girl looks like Wendy.
* This is currently the only TV special that can be seen on the official site, since "Fight On!" and "Why Do Girls Fall in Love?" have been removed.
* "A New Girl in School" utilizes intro cards for the characters, which is something later done in the spin-off series  Discendemants Girls TV special "True Loves Day".
Category:TV special