Ashley Spinelli

**Ashley Funicello Spinelli**, usually referred to as just **Spinelli**, is the tomboyish substitute ringleader of the Recess Gang in *Recess*. She goes by her surname because she does not want to be a member of the Ashleys. Spinelli is Italian-American.

## Personality

She is interested in wrestling and is known as the toughest kid on the playground. She is rebellious, obstinate, and frequently uses violence or threats when something is troubling her. However, she appears to have a soft side, such as stopping herself from clobbering Randall J. Weems with a dirt clod to get a kitten out of a tree (which she gently talks to get it to come to her) which turns out to be Miss Finster's cat. T.J. also mentions that even though she is tough, she will stand up for any kid on the playground who needs help. She hates talking about her parents because they embarrass her. Spinelli's parents are unsuccessful for telling her friends about her feelings or showing them her childhood photos. She is also planning to keep up with the latest trend, as revealed in "Schoolworld", when she says she likes the SAL 3000 for being new, and in "Weekend at Muriel's", when Miss Finster, having turned, on the car radio on the way to the latter's house, explains that "everyone likes the oldies", and Spinelli says, "Actually, I like the newies." She is implied to have a crush on T.J. Detweiler, even being mentioned by her mother at Parents Night. She is the most aggressive and baddest kid of the gang. The other members of the Recess Gang are not exempted from this kind of treatment from Spinelli.

## Relationships with the other members of the gang

### **T.J. Detweiler**

*Main article: T.J. and Spinelli's relationship*
Throughout the course of the cartoon, T.J. has been shown to have a crush on Spinelli, and vice-versa. Many episodes have moments where he wraps his arm around her shoulders; or puts a hand on her shoulder, for usually no real reason at all just to show his affections towards her. In the episode "More Like Gretchen", he even tells Spinelli "My heart goes out to you"; which semi-confirms his affection and, on several occasions, Spinelli has returned these affections. Moreover, on parent/teacher day her mother even comments that Spinelli told her that T.J. is the boy on which she has a crush. She is also T.J.'s unofficial second-in-command and has been said to take over when he isn’t around.

### **Mikey Blumberg**

Mikey and Spinelli are polar opposite; Mikey is husky and peaceful, while Spinelli is short and violent, for some reasons, Mikey's sincerity and calm behavior get in the way with Spinelli's attitude; the two share a rare moment of friendship in the episode "Dance Lessons", where Spinelli puts aside her tough attitude for Mikey's sake. She also was ready to defend Mikey when Randall made jokes about him in "Stand Up Randall"; which Mikey appreciated but said it wasn’t necessary.

### **Gretchen Grundler**

Being the only two girls in the group Gretchen and Spinelli are very close; Gretchen was Spinelli's first choice to go with her to the museum in "More Like Gretchen", and their friendship goes through a rough ground in the middle of the episode with a confused Gretchen, but Gretchen helps make things better between Spinelli and her parents. Gretchen also invited Spinelli to go with her in the "Young Adventurer's Fair" ("Bad Hair Day"); Spinelli helped Gretchen in her campaign in "The Candidates" as her assistant, they also shared revenge against T.J. in "My Funny Valentines" when he gave them both fake Valentine's Day cards from him.

### **Vince LaSalle**

Both Vince and Spinelli are considered T.J.'s right hand. They are good friends but did not associate as much as they do with other members of the gang.

### **Gus Griswald**

Spinelli and Gus do not associate often but are shown to care for each other in several episodes; Spinelli is shown to bully him for being a weak and a scaredy-cat, like in "A Genius Among Us". She said, "How can I get this ball into the hands of someone I can smear", before handing the ball to Gus, then chasing him. In *Recess: School's Out*, she was impressed by his leadership and even accepted a compliment from him for a wrestling move she did.

## Family

Her immediate family includes her father Robert ("Bob"), her mother Florence ("Flo"), and her two older brothers Vito, from whom she got her boots; and Joseph ("Joey"), who has been mentioned by Spinelli here and there throughout the cartoon. Not having made an appearance on the show, Spinelli also mentioned something about having an uncle named Manfred "Manny" and a cousin named Gordon ("Gordo") in two separate episodes, but they were neither spoken of again nor shown at all in the cartoon. They call her "Pooky" and have a tendency to embarrass Spinelli in public. It is shown in the episode "Parents' Night" that her parents are both secret agents. It is a fact unknown to all the other characters. It is stated in the episode "Weekend at Muriel's" that Spinelli's grandmother 'Aggie' and Miss Finster were good friends "back in Guam". As a result, Muriel is a family friend, and the perfect choice to babysit Spinelli. Muriel also becomes a bit of a grandmother figure to Spinelli, as she becomes a source of wisdom and details for Spinelli in later episodes.

Spinelli also has a great-aunt named Ashley, who was mentioned to be the first female to win the Iditarod Dog Sled Race in Alaska, as well as a family hero.