One of my favorite things about animation is the wide range of options and variety cartoons come in. One such series I found while channel flipping last year was Growing Up Creepie. I originally mistook it for a watered down pre-school series, but soon discovered one of the most original and entertaining series I had seen all year.
Growing Up Creepie stars the title character Creepie Creeture, a middle school girl with a unique background: she was raised by thousands of insects in an abandoned mansion! The two season series features Creepie going through the trials of being “normal” kid in a world that is almost completely alien to her. She gets by with her beloved bug parents and siblings, and her human friends Fudge, the only person who knows her secret, and Chris-Alice, her best gal pal.
Creepie is of the most visually interesting characters I’ve seen in a long time. Shes only a couple of feet tall, with a black and white outfit similar to many girl Goths of animation (though she isn’t technically a goth) with snow white skin and purple eye shadow, blue, pink, and green hair. Needless to say, she’s not your average preteen girl!
Creepie Creeture, get it?
The character is far from you average cartoon protagonist, but that is what makes her so appealing. One of the hallmarks of the show is showing Creepie adjust to the world of human beings, while continuing being apart of the world of bugs. She’s pretty shy when it comes to trying new things and isn’t always sure of herself, but in time she grows in character and perseveres through different trials throughout the series. At the same time, though, she is true to herself; she doesn’t change things about herself to fit in, she simply adapts to each situation in her own way.
Her friends are also compliment her character well. Chris-Alice is one of my favorite characters on the show. She is constantly getting Creepie to try new things and is an entertaining girl in her own right. She is overly perky and enthusiastic and is a perfectionist in school. Given her polar opposite nature, you wouldn’t expect her and Creepie to be friends, especially since her father is an exterminator. She and Creepie have great chemistry together, though, and the two, along with Fudge, make Creepie’s school yard trials worth it. Meanwhile, Fudge, who is about ten times Creepie’s size, knows of Creepie’s background, and goes on more than a few adventures with her throughout the series. He’s a pretty likable and funny character, as well as Creepie’s best friend.
The series can be categorized as a coming of age and comedy series, with supernatural and horror elements. Each episode ends with an eerie vibe, as well as some educational facts about insects. The series ran for only ran for two seasons from 2006 to 2008. It still airs sporadically on the Hub Network, and has a DVD containing 13 episodes from the series.
Growing Up Creepie was a series I found by accident, and has stayed on my watch list since. The series is entertaining without being offensive or clichéd. It is a hidden gem of a cartoon worth seeking out.
Andrew Mathieu
Cartoons & Characters Blog 