''Camp Candy'' is a 1989-1992

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

produced by DIC Animation City,

Saban Entertainment Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and S ...

and

Worldvision Enterprises Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. was an American television program and home video distributor established in 1954 as ABC Film Syndication, the domestic and overseas program distribution arm of the ABC Television Network. They primarily licensed p ...

, in association with Frostbacks Productions, with comedian

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' ser ...

providing the voice for an animated version of himself. Thirteen new episodes ran in syndication in the 1992 season, distributed by

, 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 A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

run by John Candy. Twenty-six episodes of the series aired during the 1989 and 1990 television seasons on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...

. Almost all episodes would begin where John Candy would be trying to show an outdoor skill to some kids, to which he would then say it reminded him 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

(voiced by himself) - The fictional version of the actor who is the proprietor of Camp Candy who runs it with comical results. * Nurse Molly (voiced by

Valri Bromfield Valri Bromfield (born February 10, 1949) is a Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and television producer who started her career as one half of a comedy team with Dan Aykroyd. Together, they joined the first Toronto company of The Second City wh ...

) - The camp nurse at Camp Candy. * Robin (voiced by Danielle Fernandes in season 1, Cree Summer in season 2,

Candi Milo Candyce Anne Rose "Candi" Milo (born January 9, 1961) Timestamps: (00:27:12-00:27:45) Milo states that she is "firmly 51". (00:06:40-00:06:47) Milo states that she was born in Palm Springs. (00:16:23-00:16:25) She says her birthday is in Januar ...

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 Chiara Zanni (; born July 19, 1978) is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is known for her roles as Amy Ryan on The N series '' About a Girl'' and Maggie Buckman on the CBC series '' Edgemont''. She is also known for her voice-work as Hahli i ...

in season 1-2,

E.G. Daily Elizabeth Ann Guttman, (born September 11, 1961) better known as E. G. Daily and Elizabeth Daily, is an American actress and singer. Daily is best known for her animation voice roles as Tommy Pickles on ''Rugrats'' and its spin-off ''All Grown ...

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 van Pelt (voiced by

Willow Johnson Willow Johnson is a Canadian voice actress who has worked in Vancouver, voicing characters in English language versions of anime and cartoons. She is best known for voicing List of Ranma ½ characters#Kasumi Tendo, Kasumi Tendo in the ''Ranma ½ ...

in season 1-2,

Gail Matthius Gail Matthius (born December 14, 1953) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' during its critical and ratings low point at the time (the 1980–1981 season, produced by Jean Doumanian), and ...

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,

in season 3) - A prankster who comes from a family line of comedy. Rick is notable for his laidback and "Cool" attitude as well as his comedic 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. Rick's pranks can even become too much for the campers. He has blonde hair as well as green and pink shorts. * Gregory "Binky" (voiced by Tony Ail in season 1-2,

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 Katherine Elizabeth "Katie" Leigh Joseph (born December 16, 1958) is an American voice actress, best known for her roles as Sunni Gummi in ''Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears'', Zuzu in ''Poppy Cat'', Alex in the first two seasons of ''Tot ...

in season 3) - * Botch (voiced by

Brian George Brian George (born 1 July 1952) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Pakistani restaurateur Babu Bhatt in ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), the Indian gynecologist father of Raj Koothrappali in ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019 ...

) - The camp

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

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 kitchen, Botch was seen practicing his shots at basketball. * Duncan (voiced by George MacPherson) - * Rex DeForest III (voiced by

Lewis Arquette Lewis Michael Arquette (December 14, 1935 – February 10, 2001) was an American film actor, writer, and producer. Arquette was known for playing J.D. Pickett on the television series ''The Waltons'', on which he worked from 1978 to 1981. Life ...

) - The primary antagonist of the series. Rex DeForest III is a heartless and greedy businessman and entrepreneur who wants Camp Candy to be shut down and demolished in favor of building new luxurious resorts and condos. Rex's plans would always never work 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. * Hob Nayles (voiced by

Jess Harnell Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor and singer. His notable roles include Captain Hero in the animated TV series ''Drawn Together'', Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Ironhide in the first three ''Transformers'' films ...

in season 3) - The strict head counselor of a rival camp called Camp Kickboot which is at the other side of the lake. Despite his personality, Hob can be a coward at times when it comes to things that would frighten him.

Cast

as Himself, Bear (in "When It Rains...It Snows"), Dr. Tongue (in "Dr. Tongue's Amazing Adventures"), Yosh Schmenge (in "Saturday Night Polka Fever") *

as Rex DeForest III *

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) *

as Alex (Seasons 1–2) *

as Vanessa (Seasons 1–2) *

as Botch (Season 2) * George MacPherson as Duncan (Season 2) * Cree Summer as Robin (Season 2) *

as Rick, Binky, Alex (Season 3) *

as Iggy (Season 3) *

as Robin (Season 3) *

as Vanessa (Season 3)

Additional voice cast

* Charlie Adler (Season 1) * Tim Andres (Season 1) *

Lynda Boyd Lynda Boyd (born January 28, 1965) is a Canadian actress, singer, dancer, musician, and writer. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films '' Final Destination 2'' (2003), '' An Unfinished Life'' (2005), ''She's the Man'' (2006), and ' ...

(Season 1) * Scott Bremner (Season 1) * Don Brown (Seasons 1–2) * Jim Byrnes (Seasons 1–2) *

William Callaway William Ronald Callaway (born March 11, 1940) is an American retired voice actor. He is also known as Bill Callaway and Bill Calloway. He is known for playing Aquaman in ''Super Friends''. Filmography Animated roles * ''Aladdin'' - Zarasto * '' ...

(Season 1) * Christopher Candy (Season 2–3) *

Jennifer Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' seri ...

(Season 2–3) *

Victoria Carroll Victoria Carroll (or Victoria Carrol-Bell; born Mary Carol Lee Ford on January 21, 1941) is an American actress and artist. Best known as Marie Massey in '' Alice'' (1978-1984). Early life Born Mary Carol Lee Ford on January 21, 1941 in Los Angel ...

(Season 3) *

Garry Chalk Garry Chalk is a British-born Canadian actor. He has provided the voices for Optimus Primal of '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' and '' Beast Machines'', as well as Optimus Prime in the anime English dubs of '' Transformers: Armada'', '' Transform ...

(Seasons 1–2) * Brent Chapman (Season 1) * Babs Chula (Season 2) *

George Coe George Coe (born George Julian Cohen; May 10, 1929 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. He was a cast member for the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' and voiced the character of Woodhouse in ''Archer''. Early life Coe was born in ...

(Season 3) *

Ted Cole Theodore Cole (born April 5, 1971) is a Canadian voice actor who works with Ocean Productions in numerous anime dubs. He's best known for his roles as Tatewaki Kuno in ''Ranma ½'', Chang Wufei in '' Gundam Wing'', Yamcha in the Ocean dub of '' ...

(Seasons 1–2) *

Ian James Corlett Ian James Corlett (born August 29, 1962) is a Canadian voice actor, animator, and author. He is the creator of Studio B Productions' animated series ''Being Ian'' and ''Yvon of the Yukon''. One of his best-known animation roles was the first En ...

(Seasons 1–2) *

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

(Season 2) *

Michael Donovan Michael Donovan is a Canadian voice actor and director known for his roles as Suikotsu in ''Inuyasha'' and Zoken Mato in ''Fate/stay night''. He has also directed many animated series and feature films. Roles Animation * ''3-2-1 Penguins!''K ...

(Season 1–2) *

Pat Fraley Patrick Howard Fraley (born February 18, 1949) is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated tele ...

(Season 1) *

Lorena Gale Lorena Gale (May 9, 1958 – June 21, 2009) was a Canadian actress, playwright and theatre director. She was active onstage and in films and television since the 1980s. She also authored two award-winning plays, ''Angélique'' and ''Je me so ...

(Seasons 1–2) * Marcy Goldberg (Season 2) *

Michael Greer Michael Greer (born James Robert Malley; April 20, 1938 Although some sources list Greer's birth date as April 20, 1942, no support for a 1943 birth date has yet been found in publicly available birth records.Jess Harnell Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor and singer. His notable roles include Captain Hero in the animated TV series ''Drawn Together'', Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Ironhide in the first three ''Transformers'' films ...

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 Michael Horse (born Michael James Heinrich; December 21, 1949) is an American actor known for his portrayals of Native American characters in film and television. Early life Horse was born Michael James Heinrich near Tucson, Arizona, on Decem ...

as Chief Leapin' Lizard (in "When It Rains...It Snows") *

Tino Insana Silvio Peter "Tino" Insana (February 15, 1948 – May 31, 2017) was an American actor, producer, writer, and comedian. Life and career Insana was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 15, 1948, the son of Silvio A. Insana, a musician, and Hilora ...

as Perry Gravy (in "Dr. Tongue's Amazing Adventures") *

Alessandro Juliani Alessandro Juliani (born July 6) is a Canadian actor and singer. He is notable for playing the roles of Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta on the Sci-Fi Channel television program ''Battlestar Galactica'', Emil Hamilton in ''Smallville'', Ja ...

(Season 1–2) *

Terry Klassen Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor, ADR director and writer. Before animation, Klassen worked in radio in Winnipeg (CITI-FM), Toronto (Q107), Calgary (CFAC), Portage la Prairie (CFRY) and part-time at CFOX and CFMI. In animation, he is best ...

(Season 1) *

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...

(Season 2) *

David L. Lander David L. Lander (born David Leonard Landau, June 22, 1947 – December 4, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, musician, and baseball Scout (sport), scout. He was best known for his portrayal of Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman in the American Broad ...

(Season 3) * Victoria Langston (Season 1) *

Eugene Levy Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. From 1976 until 1984, he appeared in the Canadian television sketch comedy series '' SCTV''. He has also appeared in the '' American Pie'' series of films and the Canadian ...

as Pete (in "When it Rains...It Snows"), Bruno (in "Dr. Tongue's Amazing Adventures"), Stan Schmenge (in "Saturday Night Polka Fever"), Bobby Bittman (in "Bobby Bittman") *

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...

as Miss Woodenhouse (in "Lucky Dog") *

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

(Season 3) *

Shane Meier Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a su ...

(Season 2) * Jason Michas (Season 2) * Jane Mortifee (Season 2) * Richard Newman (Season 2) * Bailee Ostry (Season 1) *

Doug Parker William Douglas Parker (b. October 31, 1961) is an American businessman who was the Chairman of American Airlines Group, Inc., the parent company of American Airlines. Early life and education Parker grew up in Michigan and received a BA in ...

(Seasons 1–2) *

Alvin Sanders Alvin Sanders is an American-Canadian voice actor and voice director. He currently sits on the Union of BC Performers executive board. Filmography Animated Anime roles *''Dragon Ball Z'' – Mr Popo, Additional Voices (1996–1997) * '' Dragon B ...

(Season 2) *

James Sherry James Sherry (born 14 November 1967) is an Australian television presenter, actor, and producer. Career Sherry has hosted several children's shows, including ''Saturday Disney'' (1990 to 1994) and '' A*mazing'' (1994 to 1998). He has had gues ...

(Season 1) * Hal Smith (Season 3) *

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM) KATH (910 kHz) is an ...

(Season 3) *

Dave Thomas Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * Dave (film), ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * Dave (musical), ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital ...

as Mr. Schnope (in "Bobby Bittman") *

Marcia Wallace Marcia Karen Wallace (November 1, 1942 – October 25, 2013) was an American actress and comedian, primarily known for her roles in television situation comedies. She is best known for her roles as receptionist Carol Kester on the 1970s sitc ...

(Season 3) *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Lucky (in "Lucky Dog") *

Cathy Weseluck Cathy Weseluck is a Canadian actress and comedian who frequently works with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia and is known for her roles as Near in '' Death Note'', Cybersix/Adrian Seidelman in ''Cybersix'', and Spike in '' My Littl ...

(Season 1) * Dale Wilson (Season 2) *

William Windom William Windom (May 10, 1827January 29, 1891) was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 ...

(Season 3) * Tomm Wright (Season 1)

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1989)

Season 2 (1990–1991)

Season 3 (1992)

Production

Songs

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

wrote the series'

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, which he sang with Candy. In both versions, the closing credits featured songs about Camp Candy that were sung to the tune of various traditional camp songs such as "Bingo" (spoofed as "Candy"), "Miss Suzie" (parodied as "We Have a Camp Called Candy"), "On Top Of Old Smoky" (parodied as "On Top of Mount Frostback"), "Yankee Doodle Boy" (parodied as "Big John Candy"), "She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain" and "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" (parodied as "Circus Parade").

Comics

The animated series spawned a brief

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series based on the show; also entitled ''Camp Candy'', it was published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

Star Comics Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...

imprint.

References

External links

*
The Big cartoon Database's list of ''Camp Candy'' episodes
{{Children's programming on NBC in the 1990s 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