''Growing Up Creepie'' is an

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 ...

created by Anthony Gaud, Chris Woods, and

Carin Greenberg Carin Greenberg (born September 17, 1959) is a writer, story editor and producer of children’s entertainment. She is a Peabody finalist and winner of three Daytime Emmys, two Annie Awards and a Writers Guild Award. She wrote a series of children ...

, and produced by Mike Young Productions. In other countries, the series was simply titled ''Creepie''. The series premiered on September 9, 2006, and concluded on June 21, 2008, airing one season of 26 episodes.

Premise

As told in the opening introduction and in the episode "Creepie Crawling", Creepie was an infant left on the doorstep of the Dweezwold Mansion, which is home to a family of various anthropomorphic insects. The family took her in and raised her as one of their own. She must now adjust to a life surrounded by a society of entomophobic humans as she attends Middlington Middle School and keeps her home life secret in order to protect both herself and her family.

Characters

* Creepella "Creepie" Creecher (voiced by

Athena Karkanis Athena Karkanis (born September 7, 1981) is a Canadian television, film and voice actress. She is noted for her role as Grace Stone in the NBC/Netflix science fiction drama series ''Manifest''. Life and career Karkanis was born in Alberta and r ...

): The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

protagonist, a preteen girl raised by bugs. She was born with multicolored hair. She initially comes off as being sassy, but in reality, she is friendly and warm-hearted. Her catchphrase is "Wicked". She was abandoned on Caroleena and Vinnie's doorstep as a baby. Creepie's biological parents are never seen or mentioned, and no explanation is given for their absence. Her real name is Creepella, but everyone except Dr. Pappas and Vinnie calls her Creepie. If anyone ever finds out that Creepie is being raised by bugs she will have no choice but to live somewhere else, and the Dweezwold Mansion will be fumigated by Mr. Hollyruller. Her favorite color is black, and she is fiercely protective of her family and other insects. * Caroleena (voiced by

Julie Lemieux Julie Lemieux (born December 4, 1962) is a Canadian voice actress. Career Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino in '' Sailor Moon'', young Darien Shields in '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and Peruru in '' Sailor Moo ...

): A

praying mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...

who is Creepie's adoptive mother and Marge's best friend. She is very strict and constantly threatens to eat her children if they don't listen to her. It was her maternal instinct that persuaded her husband to adopt Creepie. She loves cooking. * Vinnie (voiced by

Dwayne Hill Dwayne Hill (born June 5, 1966) is a Canadian voice actor. In 2009, he was nominated for two Gemini awards, one in the solo category for '' Grossology'', the other, which he won, was for best ensemble in '' Atomic Betty''. Overall, he has voiced ...

): A

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

who is Creepie's adoptive father. He is a New Age

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

that has a sinister vampiric appearance. Like his wife, he is loving to his

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

daughter. He loves to paint and meditate. * Gnat (voiced by

Stevie Vallance Stephanie Louise Vallance, commonly known as Stevie Vallance, also credited as Louise Vallance during the 1970s90s, is a Canadian actress, musician, composer and director who has worked on numerous films and television series, both live-action and ...

): Creepie's younger brother, a

gnat A gnat () is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. Most often they fly in large num ...

. He constantly sneaks in Creepie's backpack and causes havoc at school. Gnat is actually older than Creepie since he and Pauly were the ones that persuaded their family to adopt her. * Pauly (voiced by

David Berni David Berni is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian and writer. Life and career David Berni is an actor who currently voices the character Frank on Go, Dog. Go!, Bernie on Ollie's Pack and Bird Bud on '' The Snoopy Show''. He is also known for ...

): Creepie's older brother, a

pillbug Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda. Unlike members of some other woodlice families, members of this family can roll into a ball, an ability they share with the outwardly similar but unre ...

. He loves to eat and is a wise-cracking jokester. * Budge Bentley (voiced by

Richard Yearwood Richard Yearwood is a British-Canadian actor, television host, director and producer, who is best known for providing the voice of Donkey Kong in ''Donkey Kong Country''. Career Yearwood began his acting career in 1980, in the television serie ...

): Creepie's best friend. He is the only one who knows Creepie's secret. While Budge might look like a bully because of his height and size, in reality, he's a sweet guy who wouldn't hurt a fly. He is friends with Creepie and Chris-Alice. Budge is very smart like his dad and loves yoga. He also loves entomology. * Chris-Alice Hollyruller (voiced by

Leah Cudmore Leah Renee Cudmore (born 1 October 1985), often credited as Leah Cudmore or Leah Renee, is a Canadian actress and singer. Career Cudmore has had recurring roles in television series including ''MVP'', '' Runaway'' and '' Blue Mountain State''. A ...

): Creepie's relentlessly happy friend and neighbor. Her catchphrases are, "Soggy Muffins" and "Super Mega Duper". Chris-Alice is on the cheerleading squad, takes karate, and is always signing Creepie up for stuff at school without asking her first. Her favorite color is pink. Her name is a pun on the word

chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

, a form of immature insect. She has fair skin and auburn hair in a ponytail. Her outfit is a yellow T-shirt with a red/brown checkered skirt and yellow shoes. * George Hollyruller (voiced by

Scott McCord William Scott McCord is a Canadian actor. He is known for his versatility and character work in film, television, animation and on stage. He is a Lifetime Member of ''The Actors Studio''. On television he has appeared in series regular, recurri ...

): Chris-Alice's father, the local exterminator. He is also the football coach at Middlington Middle School. * Bunny Hollyruller (voiced by

): Chris-Alice's mother, a hard-selling

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

agent. Like Chris-Alice, she is bossy and perky. * Carla Cabrera and Melanie Melisma (voiced by

Stephanie Anne Mills Stephanie Anne Mills (born March 7, 1979) is a Canadian actress. Biography Born in Edmonton, Mills aspired to be a singer, dancer and actress as a young girl. In 2003, she had starred in '' Eloise at the Plaza'' with Julie Andrews. She does vo ...

and Athena Karkanis, respectively): Two popular girls who maintain an on/off again friendship with Creepie. They are obsessed with Harry Helby, shopping, fashion, makeup, and their cell phones. Carla is the leader of the duo constantly seen with her cheerleading outfit and has her hair in unbraided pigtails. Melanie is a stereotypical

dumb blonde Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the " blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes are stereotyped as more desirable, but less intelligent than brunettes. There are many blo ...

and has problems with pronunciation. Her outfit consists of an orange T-shirt with a yellow cat on the front, green cargo pants, and white/orange sneakers. Also, she really enjoys shiny things and watches horror movies, almost as much as Budge. Melanie's favorite color is blue, and Carla's favorite color is purple. Carla and Melanie just want Creepie to be normal. * Harry Helby (voiced by Scott McCord): The resident heartthrob who is obsessed with his hair. Melanie and Carla have a massive crush on him though he usually ignores them and is somewhat more interested in Creepie. * Ms. Monserrate (voiced by Julie Lemieux): a firm but fair disciplinarian and principal of Middlington Middle School. Like Dr. Pappas, she's always spying on Creepie and the other students at Middlington Middle School and is a stickler for rules. She's obsessed with cleanliness. Her catchphrase is "Detention!". She will usually hand out a detention slip. * Dr. Pappas (voiced by

Juan Chioran Juan Chioran (born June 18, 1963) is an Argentine-born Canadian actor primarily associated with stage roles at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada. He is based in Stratford, Ontario. Chioran is also known for his voice acting roles, suc ...

): Creepie's homeroom and science teacher who is a stickler for rules. Dr. Pappas is always spying on Creepie and the other students at Middlington Middle School. He never cuts anybody a break if they're late turning in a class assignment or homework. His catchphrase is "Miss Creecher!" He refers to the students by their last names. He is probably insecure due to being practically bald and having a big nose. He is afraid of Budge. * Tarantula Boy (real name: Skipper) (voiced by

Dan Petronijevic Daniel Petronijevic (born March 28, 1981 in Scarborough, Ontario), known professionally as Dan Petronijevic, is a Canadian actor who has appeared in various feature films, including the '' American Pie'' franchise, and in TV shows such as '' 19- ...

): Creepie's love interest – seemingly half-human, half Goliath tarantula – a headliner at the carnival "freaky" show. In the episode "Creepie Meets Tarantula Boy", Creepie later found out he was a normal kid and Tarantula Boy was just a costume and lost interest in him. However, in the episode "Return of Tarantula Boy", he appears in a movie and meets back up with Creepie. He introduces her to his mother, who is a real tarantula. In turn, she introduced him to her family, and it turns out that Creepie's mother knew his mom when they were kids, later on, it is hinted that they would start a romantic relationship from then on, but it never developed. * Marge (voiced by Leah Cudmore): A giant

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

who is Skipper's adoptive mother and Caroleena's best friend. In the episode "Creepie Meets Tarantula Boy", she was revealed to be a giant tarantula who wears hair curlers. She made caramel apples for the carnival and that's how Skipper came to be in the freak show. * Dr. Lance Pierce (voiced by

Patrick McKenna Patrick McKenna (born May 8, 1960) is a Canadian comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series ''The Red Green Show''. Early life Patrick McKenna became interested in Second City when a high-school teach ...

): A prominent pin-happy entomologist at the Middlington Museum of Natural History and a minor antagonist in the show who only appears in three episodes. His catchphrase is "Oh no!".

Episodes

Music

The theme song "Creepie Kids" and other songs featured throughout the series were performed by Samantha Lombardi. They were written by Michael Puskas, Samantha Lombardi, and

Clarence Jey Clarence Ranjith Jeyaretnam, better known as Clarence Jey, is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage who has had music chart on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, co-wrote the song "Fri ...

, and produced by Michael Puskas and Clarence Jey. "Creepie Kids" and the song "Life Lessons", heard in the episode "Goth To Have Better Friends", were released on Lombardi's 2007 album, ''Full Stop''. The music was featured on a DVD released by Mike Young Productions. The instrumental score heard throughout the show was composed by

Guy Michelmore Guy Michelmore is an English film and television composer and former television news presenter. Early life Michelmore is the son of BBC presenters Cliff Michelmore and Jean Metcalfe. His mother Jean was the presenter of ''Family Favourites'' an ...

, who was nominated for an

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

for his music for the series.

Broadcast

''Growing Up Creepie'' aired on

Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were ei ...

in the United States and premiered on September 9, 2006. The final episode aired on June 21, 2008. After the series ended, reruns aired on

The Hub The Hub may refer to: Places * The Hub, Bronx, an area of the South Bronx, New York, known for its convergence of subway and bus lines * The Hub (Edinburgh), former church in Edinburgh that is now home to the Edinburgh International Festival * T ...

until May 29, 2011. It also aired on YTV in Canada and

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

worldwide. The show aired on ABC Kids in Australia from 2007 to 2010. The series is available to stream on

Sling TV Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor aims ...

and Spectrum TV Stream.

Reception

Pam Gelman of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

gave the series 3 out of 5 stars; saying that, "''Growing Up Creepie'' has lots of dark,

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

-esque visuals and scary organ tunes, but older grade-schoolers and tweens will recognize that both are used for dramatic effect and will be able to focus on Creepie's day-to-day challenges."

Awards and nominations

, - ! scope="row" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" , 2007 ,

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally desig ...

, Directing in an Animated Television Production , Guy Vasilovich (for "The Tell-Tale Poem") , , , - ,

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

, Outstanding Special Class Animated Program , ''Growing Up Creepie'' , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" , 2008 ,

, Animation Production Artist , Natasha Liberman (for "Creepie and the Candy Factory") , , , - ,

, Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation , Peter Ferk , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2009 ,

, Music in an Animated Television Production or Short Form ,

(for "Rockabye Freakie") , ,

Home media

A DVD of ''Growing Up Creepie'' was released for Region 1 from

Genius Products Genius Products (also known as Genius Entertainment) was an entertainment company based in Santa Monica, California, United States. The ''Baby Genius'' line was one of a number of "smart toys" that came out in response to a study book about the ...

on August 28, 2007. The single disc volume is titled ''Creepie's Creatures Volume 1'' and features seven episodes. Bonus features include ''Creepie's Buggin' Trivia Game'' and an episode of ''Jeff Corwin Unleashed'' entitled "Creepy Creatures". It also had a DVD release in Australia from

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

. There were plans for other volumes in Australia but they were never released. The episode "Creep of the Deep" appears as a bonus feature on ''

Kenny the Shark ''Kenny the Shark'' is an American animated television series produced by Discovery Kids. The series was first premiered on Discovery Kids' Saturday morning block on NBC on November 1, 2003, and ended with the last episode on February 19, 2005. S ...

Volume 3: Catch a Wave''.

Notes

References

External links