Pics of Dodie.

Dodie.

Full name: Deirdre Hortense Bishop

Age (season 1): 12

Daughter of Joann and Dave
Sister to Hoodsey.
Best friends with Ginger and Macie

Key episodes: Losing Nana Bishop, Wicked Game,
About Face, Kiss Today Goodbye.

Dodie is Ginger's best friend since first or second grade. She acts as a sounding board and provides Ginger with all sorts of useful and less useful information on school stuff, clothes and every other imaginable subject. Dodie has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother Joann, although they have more in common than they both realize. She was closer to her grandmother Nana from whom she got her trademark pigtails. At Lucky Jr. High, Dodie has only one ambition: to become popular.

Personality: Should you have to define Dodie in one word, 'insecure' would be quite accurate. It's that insecurity that makes her so much of a wannabe. But it also makes that she clings to all BFF traditions and often reacts vicious when anyone comes between her and Ginger. And although Dodie usually means well, she completely lacks Ginger's sense of empathy. As a result she's often completely oblivious of the consequences of her actions for other people.

But Dodie also has her positive sides: she is the most light-hearted, positive and enthusiastic of the three girls. She tops it with a hands-on attitude that Ginger often lacks and in that way they complement each other.

Quote: "I've always loved Caprice but being a leader? It really gives me a sense of purpose." ('Heat Lightning')

Pics of Ginger.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

This has been one of the weirdest summers I can remember. We're having the longest heat wave on record, it hasn't rained since June and vampire mosquitoes have taken over the earth. Nothing seems right anymore.. even things between Darren and me feel a little strange. Even though I adore Darren, there's been something missing between us. I gotta believe that Darren is feeling it too, if absence does really make the heart grow fonder.. maybe this time away will be good for the both of us.

I can't remember the last time I thought about Sasha. Things were totally over between us. Especially after our last disastrous meeting. Then why would I thought I saw him today? Did I get a total case of butterflies.. worst than the first time we met? It's been a long time since I felt the same way with Darren and all of a sudden.. I'm not missing Darren as much as I should.

It's one thing to daydream about seeing an old crush.. it's another thing to make out with him. This is horrible.. it's like I'm cheating on Darren with a daydream.

I wanted to crawl into a hole.
At that moment I knew that Dodie was wrong. I didn't want Sasha for a boyfriend, what I wanted were those feelings I had when I first met him. I wanted the electricity that comes with a new crush. That same excitement I used to feel whenever I was with Darren. But at that moment my feelings for Darren were never more real. Absence had made my heart grow more fond of Darren than ever before.

Maybe it takes something you used to want in you past to point out the goodness of what you have. Maybe we get bored with stuff because we put so much importance on things that are new and as soon as the novelty wares off we forget just what we liked about it in the first place. Nothing can ever stay the same so why do we expect it to? Instead we should just enjoy it for what it is without ever taking it for granted.

- Ginger.

Quotes.

Ginger Foutley: "And if time teaches anything in from this crazy world, its that nothing worth having ever comes easy.

Lois Foutley: "...That's what life is all about. You know we're not put in this earth to live perfect lives, where we never get hurt, never make mistakes. We're put here to hurt ourselves head first into this crazy world, and the bruises and scrapes you get along the way, it just means you're living the life!"

Skiing & French kissing.

The idea that an exotic boy like Jean Pier told someone to tell Courtney to tell me that he may wanna sit with me on the chairlift is really kind of exciting. But.. I still feel like a total spaz, plus I don't want Ian Richton to get the wrong idea. Ugh man! And I thought skiing was overwhelming. All and all I guess things could be worse.
I suppose skiing and quite possibly French kissing is just like everything else, it looks a lot harder than it is, it's actually kind of fun where you're doing it and the trickiest part is knowing when to stop. But I'll have to get back to you on the kissing thing when I know first hand hehe.

~Ginger

Ginger.

Full name: Ginger Foutley

Age (season 1): 12

Daughter of Lois and Jonas

Sister to Carl

Best friends with Dodie and Macie

Key episodes: Ginger the Juvey, Fast Reputation,
Driven to Extremes, The Wedding Frame.

Ginger had it all figured out when she started Jr. High. Smart enough to avoid problems at school, a few friends at hand to hold regular sleepover parties and a soul mate guy living next door. And in the meantime nurturing her artistic talents by writing everything down in her dairy. But that was before she caught the eye of Courtney Gripling.

Courtney's offer is enticing to Ginger: a chance to come out of her shell, a way to popularity and big parties. But it comes with its downsides. How does she balance the new opportunities with her old habits? Can she fit Courtney's up market lifestyle with her single-parent family background? And does it mean that she'll have to leave trusty old Dodie, Macie and Darren behind? Not to mention that girls like Miranda and Mipsy are less than thrilled with Courtney's new interest for 'the red-haired wannabe'.

But slowly Ginger goes her own way from outsider to respected 'leading girl'. School plays, a stint as class president, some remarkable in-class actions and even her stay at Avalanche Arts (engineered by Miranda of all people) make sure that she's the girl giving the valedictorian speech when they graduate. Only to find after wards that high school is a different ballgame, new rules and no doubt a new path to find.

At home, Ginger also has to make a few choices. When at first she tries to mend things between her divorced parents, Ginger gradually realizes that they'll never be a couple again. And when Lois and Dr. Dave start a relationship she's in full support of it. But still that doesn't mean she wants to cut Jonas out of her life.

Personality: Who's Ginger Foutley? She hasn't figured that out completely herself yet. Once she described herself as 'average, pretty, pretty average'. But maybe her long-time companion Darren was closer when he typed her 'headstrong, opinionated, and wonderful’.

Ginger is a thinker: to her, nothing 'just happens'. Everything is subjected to doubts and opinions she writes down in her diary. Ginger knows every choice she makes has its pros and cons.

This gives her a healthy dose of criticism for everything that goes on around her. But it also means she's sometimes too doubtful to take on an opportunity. Once her mind is made up however she'll stick with it. Determination is the result, but sometimes she's just stubborn.

Quotes: "I'm not that close Darren. Not anymore." (After the breakup, in 'The Wedding Frame')

The theme song.

Over the course of the first season, ATBG had three versions of the theme song. The first was by Melissa Disney (voice of Ginger) that was used only twice. The Cree Summer version (voice of Miranda) was used for the rest of the 2000 and the first half of 2001. After that they switched to the final version sung by RnB artist Macy Gray.

In the USA all episodes now use the Macy Gray version, but it has been reported that in other English-speaking areas the original songs are used. For translated versions it differs from country to country.The Dutch version for example is sung by the Dutch voice of Ginger. You can listen to a low-quality excerpt of the Cree Summer version at Amazon (the Newest Nicktoons CD).

Why Ginger?

At first sight, the concept of As Told By Ginger looks a bit bland. Centered around a girl in junior high, her friends and family, it has been done before. The strengths are in the way it's worked out. Someone once compiled Ginger's strong points in three words: characters, story lines and clothes. Characters are those like Ginger, Darren and Dodie, evolving and rounded out far beyond the stereotypes you usually find in cartoons and children's series. The story lines refer to the unusual turns that are the trademark of Emily Kapnek's writing, while still never breaking characters.

The clothes part obviously referring to the relatively unique take on the character dresses and the rest of the environment, like the ever changing seasons. Certainly in the latter episodes this widens to excellent atmospheres created by animation, writing and great voice acting (see 'And She Was Gone', 'Heat Lightning' or 'Kiss Today Goodbye'). With all this it's hard to disagree with 'Runissknight' (at tv.com) who stated that it was an insult to call ATBG a cartoon, for all the negative connections. To him only the term 'animated series' was acceptable and I tend to concur.