Candyworld

Candyworld is an American-French animated series, created by Molly McCain. It first premiered on The WB from 1999 to 2004. The features the adventures of six teenage girls, who call themselves the Candybombs. Who often get into teenage antics. They also use powers in their everyday life.

The creation of Candyworld was based on the 1999 episode of Just Sammi called "Candy City" that Phil Roman wrote. The original show title was called "Fashionitaz", about a group of friends by day who are popular girls with fab fashions and by night, they are stylish fashion defenders. McCain thought this idea was a little generic. However, Jamie Kellner, the C.E.O of The WB, asked if they could combine the plot of Candy City and Fashionitaz together to create Candyworld.

Premise
The show centers around five teenage girls titled the Candybombs or the BFFLs (Best Friends For Life). Fianna Frostburg (voiced by Krysta Donahue) is the BFFLs de-facto leader, Fianna is a fun loving girl. She can be a bit pushy and stubborn as times go. She loves her friends and would make sure that she and her friends are in style.

The other members include - Marion Macaron (voiced by Tara Charendoff) is the bossiest and snobbiest second-in-command and is sometimes a foil to Fianna. She is really pushy and cares a little too much about her looks. She is the lancer of the group. If she really wants something done, she does it herself. Keira Konpeijiro (voiced by Momoko Ainjo-Aida) is the coolest girl in the group, When the girls have slumber parties, Keira specializes in anything extreme and cool. She is the party girl of the group. Wendy Van der Waferson (voiced by Aliyna Samuels) Wendy is the girls dancing diva, who love the "hip-hop thang". She can often be seen breaking out into a new tune. Lillian Lollipopper (voiced by Sharon Hughsman) is a nervous and clumsy girl, loves to shop, is a fashion expert and the big guy of the group. She is also the resident fashionista of the gang. Teresa von Taffenberger (voiced by Jillian Shayman) She is a goth girl and has a taste for poetry. And she is kind, but a little defensive. She is also a psychic.

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Setting
The show takes place in the titular city of Candyworld, USA. It is set in a late 90s/early 2000s city, with futuristic themes such as riding on flying candy boards.

Development
In September 1998, during the success of the WB's network Randy Rabbit, the wire services reported that Film Roman, which was partnered with Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and McCain-Donahue Productions, had a new animated sitcom in development for the summer of the following year. The series which was said to be in various stages of production at that time was called Fashionistas.

Described by one columnist as "teenagers fighting evil," "Fashionistas" was touted by producers and executives as a response to the rise of action aimed at children, maintaining that the new series would be a little less action-based and more character-oriented, and would provide "healthy role models for kids."

CEO of Film Roman, Phil Roman lamented the state of animated entertainment at the time, stating that "animated programming today is dominated by comedy, adult animation and action-oriented neo-militarism, whether made for kids or adults." Citing shows like The Simpsons, Daria and the controversial South Park, which were popular animated series at the time, Roman continued "Where are Josie and the Pussycats, Beverly Hills Teens, the female child characters to nurture and develop and identify with..."

When asked if the "boy-crazy" teens are fighting evil for children, Roman replied "Well, they may be a little more boy-crazy and fashionable than most teens, but they have typical teenage issues and the important thing is that they just have fully realized personalities."

While in development, the first names of the six main characters in the series were reported as "Jennie," "Chrissie," "Raven," "Mary-Lou," "Summer," and "Pierce." The girls' names were later changed, with "Chrissie" eventually becoming the series protagonist Fianna, "Jennie" being renamed to Lillian, "Mary-Lou" to Keira, "Pierce" to Marion, "Summer" to Teresa, and "Raven" eventually being renamed Wendy. And the show being renamed Candyworld.

Episodes
Candyworld has 110 episodes across 6 seasons that aired from June 1999 - May 2004.

Movie
On June 12, 2001, Warner Bros. Pictures released a feature film based on the show, titled Candyworld: The Movie, in theaters, and served as the second season finale.

Video Games
Many video game adaptations have been made for the Playstation, Playstation 2, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi.

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Home media
In late 1999, Warner Home Video released Candyworld on VHS and DVD in most regions, These DVDs featured about 5 episodes edited together to make an hour long story arc, with extra footage not featured on the TV versions. The first DVDs to be released were Girlfriends For Real - The Movie and The Power of Six- The Movie which were episodes 1-5 and 6-10. Best Friends 4 Ever - The Movie and You Go, Girlsǃ - The Movie were planned for a Fall 2001 and Winter 2002 release but was scrapped.

In September 2002, Warner Home Video re-released Girlfriends For Real - The Movie and The Power of Six - The Movie on September 14, 2002 and on October 7, 2002 on DVD, along with the scrapped releases of Best Friends 4 Ever and You Go, Girlsǃ. On June 14, 2003, Bedazzled Diamonds - The Movie was released on DVD. The Head over Heels and Mall Trawl arcs were merged together to make one arc titled Head over Heels and Mall Trawl - The Movie which was released on August 3, 2004.

In July of 2009, Warner Home Video released the whole series on DVD.

As of 2021, The show is now on HBO Max and Hulu.

Reception
To be added....

Broadcast
The entire series ran on the The WB in the United States from June 13, 1999 to May 26, 2004. The show went into syndication in 1999 and is in 80% of most syndication markets as of 2020. During and after it's run, Cartoon Network aired reruns of the show from September 15, 1999 to May 28, 2010, and Boomerang aired reruns from January 18, 2005 to January 21, 2017. As of May 2008, reruns of the series can be watched on TBS, and the entire series became available to stream HBO Max on May 27, 2020, the day the streaming service was launched.

Trivia

 * One episode of the show was removed due to many complaints of one of the characters being homosexual. As of 2009, the episode is now available to watch.