Pepper Ann: Dances With Ignorance/The Tell-Tale Fuzzy

Meet Pepper Ann, a spunky 12-year-old whose over-the-top, energetic ways make her a hit with "tween" fans of the popular Disney animated series. Pepper Ann wears glasses, has divorced parents, lives in a suburb, is blessed with good friends, wants to fit in, and--like many other teens or teens-to-be--is a bit of a drama queen. In the first of two episodes, "Dances With Ignorance," when Pepper Ann discovers a very distant Native American relative while researching a class-assigned family history project, her excitement is outrageous--as are the stereotypes she embraces. From braided hair and teepees to rain dances and accusing a helpful Navajo family of being "Indian givers," Pepper Ann's too easy acceptance of detrimental stereotypes eventually teaches her an important personal and cultural lesson. In the second episode, "The Tell-Tale Fuzzy," P.A. (as she's called by her friends) finds a wad of cash at the mall, but rather than turning it in to the lost-and-found, she spends it. Later, wracked with guilt, she goes on an exaggerated honesty spree, chasing a man for blocks, for instance, just to give him a dime he's left in a pay phone. When hidden cameras for a prank show catch her returning a veritable fortune in quarters to an arcade, all heaven breaks loose as the entire town tries to commend her for her guilt-fueled honesty. While the message here is a bit mixed--can honesty be "good" or "bad" depending on motivation?--the essentially positive message combined with the fast pace, excellent animation, and popularity of the series, make this a solid choice. Recommended. Aud: E, I, J, P. (E. Gieschen)