90s Babies: The Return of 90s & 2000s TV, Part III
Part III: Disney
By Jessica Wise
This was originally written in 2016 for my graduate class on television studies. With the upcoming Popular Culture Round Table Talk on the way, I thought it was time to revisit. It’s been revised and taken out of the academic context for your enjoyment, and updated for present day TV.
Get your tickets to Round Table Talk: Popular Culture here.
As I conclude this three-part series, I’ll take some time to look at one of entertainment’s biggest producers of kid’s TV: Disney. As millennials gear up to join protests for Breonna Taylor and Vanessa Guillen, we visit the very playground that inspired us to rise up.
Disney presents a group of fourth graders who are loved enough to be among the first Disney animated series to return with reruns on Netflix, and now Disney+. Recess (1997-2001), follows a gang of young kids as they navigate growing up and the surprisingly complex politics of the playground. Original writer Paul Germain introduces a racially and bodily diverse principal cast — T.J. short, stout, and Jewish; Gretchen tall, and lean; Vince black with a ‘90s signature box cut; Mikey big and tall; Gus the military munchkin; and Spinelli the petite-but-fiery Italian.
If the diversity isn’t interesting enough, the kids also add texture to this in their non-traditional personalities and mannerisms. When Spinelli goes against her gritty nature to compete in a beauty pageant, Vince steps out of his star athlete norm and coaches her on how to walk. “Step...Step...Sashay” (Adomaits) he demonstrates in a pair of women’s black stilettos. Vince completely ignores the rules of stereotypical black masculinity without explanation, because he is a jack of all trades.
Mikey, though he is the biggest of the kids, turns out to be a gentle giant. He also does not allow himself to be bound by his stereotype. He proves light on his feet in ballet. He is a poetic pacifist. He also develops a golden singing voice that opens his sensitivity to his crush — his music teacher. He swoons “She’s kind, and beautiful, and smart, and I love her” (Germain), unconcerned at the macho expectations that come with his size and gender.
Even Spinelli, who could be dismissed with her orange beanie and combat boots as a basic spitfire tomboy, has a vulnerable side behind her tough exterior. She hides that her first name is Ashley because of the negative reputation that comes with the school’s Ashley clique. The Ashley’s, supporting characters, make up the glam girls of the playground and compete against Spinelli in the pageant. Their glamorous lifestyle and catty attitudes make them the girly foils to Spinelli and Gretchen.
Gretchen is the brains of the outfit, a math and science whiz. She deviates from what a “girly girl” should be, like her girl friend Spinelli. Today’s recent interest in pushing young girls to pursue STEM activities and focus less on appearance make Gretchen and Spinelli enduring and current. This creates yet another basis for Recess’s return to the small screen.
The kids’ non-traditionally complex personalities and interests is spurred by their time at Third Street School. Recess justifies the rebellious nature of T.J. and the gang by the rigid institution of the American public school system. The elderly and strict Ms. Finster and stressed out Principal Prickly constantly make rules and regulations that stifle the fun of recess and childhood overall. Ms. Finster threatens first grader Cornchip Girl with a week of detention “if [she] ever catch[es] [her] yawning without covering [her] mouth again” (Germain). She tests out different disciplinary punishments such as “the box” and “the wall” (Germain) that keep kids out of recess. Principal Prickly, always nervous about looking bad to the school board, documents offences in “the Prickly Files” (Germain) —a permanent record.
But the kids of Third Street School find solace and a fighting spirit in their fourth grade teacher Ms. Grotke. More interested in her students enjoying school than fearing it, Grotke’s teaching style is far from traditional. She is a black woman with natural hair, and she wears large circular glasses, a tribal necklace, sandals, and a caftan to class. This hippy style deviates greatly from the traditional suit and tie of Principal Prickly and the kitten heels and stockings of Ms. Finster.
Ms. Grotke also dresses for her lessons. In the Thanksgiving episode, she breaks tradition again in her costume, dressing like a Native American instead of a Pilgrim (Germain). This speaks to her hands-on and visual style of teaching, as well as her refusal to teach the given textbook without proper context. For Thanksgiving, she does not sugarcoat the eventual fate of the Native Americans.: “And so the noble Native Americans shared their bountiful food supplies with the undeserving European savages” (Germain).
Ms. Grotke also is the only teacher on the kids’ side when T.J. leads the playground against the administration. When Principal Prickly orders the school jungle gym “Old Rusty” to be torn down and replaced with a cheaper plastic model, Ms. Grotke supports the pushback he receives from the kids. She attempts to negotiate with Prickly and Finster before they attempt to have the kids punished for protesting. She suggests that “maybe the kids have a point. Maybe we should just give them what they want...I mean, after all, it’s just a jungle gym” (Germain). Her unpopular opinion, the first spoken in the faculty meeting regarding the jungle gym, speaks on behalf of the kids instead of in the interests of the school’s image. Indeed, Ms. Grotke was the teacher kids on the other side of the television needed, and I would think she would join her three-dimensional millennials on the protest lines today.
This protest also makes the best example of the kids’ agency over the adults in their lives. At the first announcement of Old Rusty being torn down, T.J. makes the first step. Instead of going inside when the bell rings at the end of recess, T.J. climbs to the top of the jungle gym and refuses to leave when the demolition men arrive. Trying to scare him down, the head of construction warns “Either you get off, or we’re gonna have to knock it down with you on it” (Germain). T.J., undeterred, responds “If that’s how I have to go, then so be it” (Germain).
When the administration discovers T.J. holding up demolition, they attempt to make an example of him by ordering him down in front of the entire Third Street student body and faculty. But this backfires. One by one, the students join T.J., and peaceful protest begins, faithfully joined by Ms. Grotki. By the time their parents are recruited by Prickly to attempt to stop the protest, the entire student body is chanting “Kumbaya” and “We Shall Not be Moved.” The parents, who went to Third Street as children and also played on Old Rusty, end up joining their kids in peaceful protest. Once they get their parents on board, Ms. Finster points out the army that has risen in defense of Old Rusty.:
Prickly: “You people can’t do this!”
Finster: “Actually, sir, they can.”
Prickly: “What?!”
Finster: “Well, that woman there is Mrs. Hockasy the president of the PTA. And that’s Jack Riley, superintendent's brother-in-law, and that’s” (Germain)...
Principal Prickly cannot even bear to hear the rest of the list. The kids have not only stopped him from his mission, but they have also recruited other adults to give their movement authority. Prickly accepts defeat, and the jungle gym stays. The fighting spirit and love of fun that the kids in Recess represent can be seen most in this episode. And this relatability made the series among the first of the ‘90s/early 2000s programs to return on Netflix.
The idea of a nostalgic return of ‘90s and early 2000s cartoons proves to be on the rise for every kids network, particularly with these programs that are already making their comebacks. The mature lessons and the complexities of the characters these programs brought with them create a basis for more than basic “kids TV.” This return seems to be inevitable, and the “90s babies” are about to join their old television icons for a not-so-new era of entertainment.
References:
Adomaitis, Sandy. "The Beauty Contest." Recess. Disney. 27 Feb. 1999. Television.
Germain, Paul. "The Box." Recess. Disney. 8 Nov. 1997. Television.
Germain, Paul. "The Great Can Drive." Recess. Disney. 22 Nov. 1997. Television.
Germain, Paul. "Jungle Gym Standoff.” Recess. Disney. 13 Dec. 1997. Television.
Germain, Paul. "Weekend at Muriel’s." Recess. Disney. 9 Jan. 1999. Television.
