Showing posts with label Disney Television Animation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney Television Animation. Show all posts

January 31, 2026

SOFIA THE FIRST

 

SOFIA THE FIRST
(Disney Junior, Disney Channel, January 11, 2013-September 8, 2018)
 
Disney Television Animation

 

 

            Sofia the First centered on Sofia (Ariel Winter), a young peasant girl that became a princess when her mother, Miranda (Sara Ramirez), fell in love with and married the king of Enchancia, Roland (Travis Willingham). Sofia gained a new family that included her twin step-siblings Amber (Darcy Rose Byrnes) and James (Zach Callison, Tyler Merna & Nicolas Cantu), attended the royal school headed up by good fairies Flora (Barbara Dirickson), Fauna (Russi Taylor) and Merryweather (Tress MacNeille), and received a powerful artifact as a gift from Roland: the Amulet of Avalor. The amulet would bless Sofia for doing good deeds and curse her for doing wrong, as well as linked her to “all the princesses there ever were” that allowed them to help each other when needed. Ten princesses from Disney’s past were featured: Cinderella (Jennifer Hale) from Cinderella; Jasmine (Linda Larkin, Lea Salonga singing) from Aladdin; Belle (Julie Nathanson) from Beauty and the Beast; Ariel (Jodi Benson) from The Little Mermaid; Aurora (Kate Higgins) from Sleeping Beauty; Snow White (Katherine Von Till) from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Mulan (Ming-Na Wen, Salonga singing) from Mulan; Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) from Tangled; Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) from The Princess and the Frog; and Merida (Ruth Connell) from Brave (Anna and Elsa from Frozen were denied an appearance, but Josh Gad’s Olaf was allowed a guest spot). It also gave her the ability to talk to animals, allowing her to befriend rabbit Clover (Wayne Brady), squirrel Whatnaught, and birds Mia (Ashley Eckstein) and Robin (Meghan Strange).

Sofia with her animal friends.


       However, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses as Enchancia was threatened by numerous evil forces; some of whom wanted Sofia’s amulet for themselves and their own ambitions. Among them was the bumbling royal magician, Cedric (Jess Harnell), who wanted to overthrow the royal family; Princess Ivy (Anna Camp), who took over Enchancia and wanted to make it as devoid of color as her own kingdom; Prisma (Megan Hilty), an evil crystal-conjurer determined to outclass her sister, Azurine (Rachel MacFarlane), no matter the cost; Glacia the Ice Witch (Phylicia Rashad), who bestowed anyone that brought her a gift with magic; Vor (Paty Lombard), an ancient enchantress imprisoned in the Locket of Vor for spreading evil throughout the world in order to conquer it and manipulated Prisma to get free; Slickwell (Christian Borle), a young steward that sought to replace the royal steward, Baileywick (Tim Gunn); Miss Nettle (Megan Mullally & Anna Vocino), a fairy that sought to surpass her former mentors, the good fairies; and Morgana (Catherine O’Hara), the egocentric arch-enemy of Merlin (Jeff Bennet) who sought nothing more than to defeat him, among others.

Sofia, Amber, James and Miranda.


            The series was created by Craig Gerber after he was approached by Nancy Kanter at Disney Junior for an idea for a show about a princess targeted to 2 to 7-year-olds. Gerber took inspiration from his life and family to create Sophia. His son, Miles, liked to play pretend and emulated fantasy characters he didn’t really have anything in common with. Gerber decided that his character should go through a lot of the same life situations Miles would, to serve as a “magic mirror” that would allow him to enjoy the fantasy while identifying with the scenarios on the show. He also incorporated his own childhood experiences of being from a blended family and posited what if Sofia wasn’t always a princess, but became one overnight. It was a way to modernize the princess dynamic and allow Sofia to be bold and curious as she explored her new role and the world around her.


Vor manipulating Prisma for her freedom.


            Sofia the First debuted with a Disney Channel television movie, Once Upon a Princes, on November 18, 2012. It was the 5th most-watched program for the week, and the highest for a Disney animated special since 2009’s Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation! The series proper debuted on January 11, 2013 on Disney Junior.; becoming one of the top 3 broadcasts for girls ages 2-5. The series ran for four years, picked up Emmy and Humanitas awards, and spawned the spin-off series Elena of Avalor. For the series’ 10th anniversary n 2022, a sequel series was announced on social media called Sofia the First: Royal Magic; which was officially greenlit in 2024 and set to debut in 2026 (as of this writing). The original Sofia continues to air in reruns on Disney Junior and on the official Disney Junior YouTube channel, and is available to stream on Disney+.

November 09, 2024

HAILEY'S ON IT!

WARNING: This is about a recently-cancelled series. Spoilers may follow.

HAILEY’S ON IT!
(Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney+, June 8, 2023-May 18, 2024)
 
Disney Television Animation, 37 Monkeys

 

 

 

Hailey Banks (Auli’I Caravalho) was a typical bookish 14-year-old girl whose insecurities rendered her adverse to taking risks. Unfortunately, her world was turned upside down on New Year’s when she was visited in her bedroom by a scientist from the future known as The Professor (Sarah Chalke). She told Hailey that she would be responsible for saving the world from devastating climate change, but only if she completed every item listed in the journal she wrote. Now she must conquer all of her fears and insecurities to do all the things she never thought she’d have to—including kissing her best friend, Scott Denoga (Manny Jacinto).

The Professor fills Hailey in on her future.

Hailey’s On It! was created by Devin Bunje and Nick Stanton; fulfilling a goal they had since starting their careers with Disney Television Animation. The concept spawned out of the single scene of Hailey meeting The Professor. That scene was essentially what would play out in the debut episode, as well as establish the recurring gag of The Professor being recalled to the future after failing to completely deliver her message to Hailey--particularly the upcoming winning lottery numbers (in the original pilot, Hailey just didn’t pay attention to The Professor and had no idea what she had to do). The resulting series, initially titled Hailey Banks and the Apoca-list and I Will NOT Kiss Scott Federman, was designed to have grounded characters in extraordinary situations inspired by a variety of time travel movies; particularly Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. While there was a looming threat of a bleak future, they wanted the world to be bright and positive; something Hailey would want to fight for.

Group hug! Kai, Patricia, Frank, Hailey, Scott, Dwayne and Johnson.


Hailey resided in a fictional version of Oceanside, California with her family: her father Kai (originally named Kyle, voiced by Cooper Andrews), a laid back and supportive man who worked as a musician and was serious about his Polynesian culture; her mother Patricia (originally named Cynthia, voiced by Julie Bowen & Kari Wahlgren when she was younger), a hard-working and determined realtor; and her twin baby brothers Dwayne and Johnson. Dwayne and Johnson’s names, as well as Kai’s overall appearance, was inspired by wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who co-starred with Cravalho in the film Moana and later Moana 2 (the series also contained several verbal and visual references to the film). The family pet was Frank (Dee Bradley Baker), an old flamingo with bald patches and a tendency to be smelly and disgusting through no fault of his own. 

Hailey and Beta.

Additionally, the house (or, rather, Hailey's closet) was inhabited by Beta (Gary Anthony Willaims), a robotic AI smartphone from the future given to Hailey by The Professor. Beta was cantankerous and didn’t put up with any nonsense—particularly Scott’s—and loved working out to get “yoked”. He was programmed with a copy of Hailey’s list and calculated the best ones to check off next (although Hailey kept resisting his attempts to have her get kissing Scott over with). To disguise him and make him mobile, Hailey stuck him into the body of a pink teddy bear (which sometimes led to his involuntarily saying “I wuv you” when squeezed). Beta’s creation was to allow the writers a way to “organize and prioritize list items” without relying on the actual list, plus the dynamic the character could have with Hailey. They enjoyed Williams’ performance so much that Beta was upgraded from being a minor character.


Becker and Sunny watching Scott and Hailey kick it with some talented birds outside U.F. Dough.


As mentioned, Hailey’s best friend was Scott (now Denoga instead of Federman). He was outgoing and fun-loving, but also not very bright and accident prone. Along with being totally loyal to Hailey and dedicated to helping with her list, Scott loved Dingles chips (a parody of Pringles) and was often eating them in a variety of flavors. Not only had Scott grown up with Hailey, but he also lived right next door with his family: his divorced mother Sunny (Joy Osmanski), who owned and operated an alien-themed pizza place called U.F. Dough; and sister Becker (Judy Alice Lee), a tough and mischievous girl that would always go out of her way to help someone she cared about—assuming there was something in it for her. Becker actually had a small infatuation with Hailey, but quickly got over it when a series of misunderstandings led her to believe Hailey was too needy and clingy.

Hailey's horror at seeing that list item in her journal.


The journal, or “My Big List of Things I’m Totally Gonna Do”, was started by Hailey in the 1st grade and became a repository of whatever random thing that came to her mind that she swore she’d try one day (but honestly never would). As Hailey had no idea how important the journal would become, a lot of the entries range from the silly—like teaching a cat to play the piano—to the mundane, like common chores. Adding to the list didn’t seem to have much of an effect other than giving Hailey something else to do, but attempting to remove something caused a time glitch that brought about a vision of the disastrous future if Hailey failed. A special watch given to her by The Professor flashed red, yellow or green to let her know how her progress on a list item was going. The original pilot established that there were 337 list items, but the total number was not as clearly defined in the final show to allow greater freedom and flexibility as story ideas evolved. Some of the known items included:
 
#46: Win first place for World’s Cutest Pet Rock.
#48: See the northern lights.
#49: Plant a lot of trees.
#97: Grown an organic worm farm.
#98: Learn to pull a rabbit from a hat.
#99: Swim with the dolphins.
#100: Start my own shaved ice stand.
#101: Beat dad at badminton.
#102: Ride in a hot air balloon.
#103: Parasail over the harbor.
#109: Eat a raw onion.
#141: Make a pie.
#142: Play the Glockenspiel.
#143: Kiss Scott Denoga.
#144: Run the O.C. 10K.
#146: Go skydiving.
#147: Ride a monster truck.
#148: Swim synchronized.
#149: Eat junk food for a day.
#150: Learn to DJ.
#192: Have a Disney movie marathon.
#232: Learn to walk in high heels.
#233: Use my ear wax to make a candle.
#235: Teach a cat to play the piano.
#236: Hug a cow.
#237: Try an extreme sport.
#238: Fly in a hot air balloon.
#400: Roller skate all the way to Orlando.
#??: Climb a mountain wearing a onesie.
#??: Swim to Scotland.
#??: Learn to play rugby.
#??: Lose a game of chess to a monkey.
#??: Spike my hair and dye it bright neon.
#??: Take a picture with Celine Dion.
#??: Learn guitar and write a theme song.
#??: Invent a new color.
#??: Break the loudest fart record.
#??: Complete a puzzle.
 
Chaos Bots causing, well, chaos.


However, it wasn’t only Hailey’s insecurities getting in her way. Some unseen malevolent force from the future also wanted her to fail and frequently sent back robots called Chaos Bots to help ensure just that. The Chaos Bots could assume any form and came in a variety of sizes. They had the singular drive to either prevent Hailey from completing a list item or to destroy the entire list. Fortunately, they mostly only posed a minor annoyance and proved easier to dispatch than not.

Escape room shenanigans with A.C. and Kristine.


Other characters included Kristine Sanchez (Amanda Leighton), a popular and self-absorbed fashionista with a passion for hats and became Scott’s girlfriend (the show bucked the popular girl trope by making her friendly to everyone); Kennedy (Shara Kirby), a perfectionist and Becker’s one-time rival-turned-girlfriend; Bill Board (Carlos Alazraqui), an eccentric Southern philanthropist who made his fortune in billboards and had a habit of throwing his money around foolishly; A.C. Aychvak (Josh Brenner), Hailey’s self-proclaimed rival that took every opportunity to show he’s better than her at anything since she once beat him in a game of Duck, Duck, Goose, and a stock boy at his parents’ business, Fans Plus (their last name is a play on the acronym HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning); Hailey’s classmates Thad (Nik Dodani), Jonathan (Nico Santos), Bored Murray (Eric Bauza), Genesis (Erica Lindbeck), and Lucy Morgan (Sydney Mikayla); and Becker’s friends The Saws: Chainsaw (Kyle S. More), Bonesaw (Theodore Barnes), Buzzsaw (Nik Shriner), Hacksaw, Paul (Billy Kametz) and Third Becky (More).

Hailey making a New Year's promise to get going on her list. Little did she know...


Hailey’s On It! debuted simultaneously on Disney Channel and Disney XD on June 8, 2023, becoming only the second series to do so following Kiff and the first to not premiere on a Friday night since Amphibia. It was also the final series with serialized elements to debut on Disney Channel following the October 2021 announcement that story-driven shows would be relegated to streaming service Disney+ in favor of more episodic fare on the networks. The debut episode was added to Disney+ the following day along with the next four episodes. Episodes continued to be added to the service in batches following or preceding their airing on the networks.  The original pilot, which starred Ashly Burch and Adam McArthur in the main roles, took about 3 years to complete while each additional episode took about a year. On June 15th, 2022, Disney Branded Television revealed the series was given an order for 10 more episodes, increasing the first season from 20 to 30. Production on the season wrapped in April of 2024. 


Hailey going for her varsity letter in cheerleading.

The series was written by Bunje and Stanton with Lindsey Reckis, Yolie Cortez, Marty Donovan, Kevin Yee, Karen Graci, Alison Wong, James Alexander and Mary Gulino. Graci served as story editor. Characters were designed by Timothy Moen with Soyeon Yoo, Lina Schlotter, Christina Faulkner, Serapio Calm, Ricky De Los Angeles, Layron DeJarnette, Mark Deloyd Ingram, Mike Maglio, Ivan Mendoza, Jacob Perez, Jose Zelaya, and Claire Nero. Animation duties were handled by Rough Draft Korea and Saerom Animation. Matthew Tishler and Andrew Underberg served as the series’ songwriters and composers, and Cravalho performed the series’ theme, “The Future’s in My Hands”. The song, visualized in the intro, ran through some of the list items Hailey would have to do to accomplish her mission. A recurring gag would see Hailey shut her bedroom window on Scott when she got to the item about kissing him, and his resulting fall would be followed by a different (often silly) sound effect. Bunje and Stanton found they shared sensibilities with Tishler and Underberg, and the presence of music was greatly expanded in the series; especially when Cravalho was cast, giving Hailey a hidden talent for singing to make use of her abilities. The series utilized a blend of genres, including K-pop, pop-rock, electronic dance and musical theater.


Chibi Scott unknowingly signs himself and Chibi Hailey up for a romantic game show.


Along with the primary series, the characters from Hailey’s took part in a variety of Disney Channel shorts that aired during commercial breaks; including Theme Song Takeover, Broken Karaoke, and Chibi Tiny Tales, as well as appearances in episodes of Chibiverse. Updates related to the series were added to the DisneyNOW games Bubble Burst, a bubble-popping color matching game, and Color Splash, which was a virtual coloring book featuring images from various Disney properties, until the DisneyNOW app was shut down in September 2024 and the games were delisted from the website in November 2024. Following the series premiere, Walt Disney Records released a virtual soundtrack containing 6 songs featured on the show performed by Cravalho, Onestar and Wade O. Brown. A plush doll of Beta was given out to members of the crew. Coupled with positive reviews, Hailey’s won “Outstanding Kids & Family Programming or Film – Animated” at the 2024 GLAAD Media Awards.

Beta already regretting this road trip.


The final episode aired on May 18th, 2024, followed in August by five shorts starring Hailey, Scott and Beta on Disney Channel’s official YouTube channel as the second entry in their Road Trip series, following Big City Greens. However, there was no news about a second season renewal. Suspicions arose that the series may have been cancelled by Disney when Carvalho updated her Spotify profile with the line “She also provided the voice of Hailey for the short-lived Disney animated series Hailey’s on It!” earlier in the year (since altered again), and staffers had taken to Twitter to encourage fans to stream the show on Disney+ while admitting they hadn’t gotten a second season order yet. Since Disney+’s launch, crew on Disney projects have candidly stated that renewals have relied heavily on viewership on the streamer rather than the networks; a similar problem that plagued The Ghost and Molly McGee when news of its own cancellation came months prior.

Is this...the end?


The series was ultimately pulled from Disney+ globally on September 27th, along with live-action sitcoms Pretty Freekin Scary and Saturdays. Any episodes available on DisneyNOW followed on October 1st. TV Line would officially announce the show’s cancellation the next day. Hailey’s became the first Disney Channel animated series to end after 1 season since The Buzz on Maggie, and the first for Disney TVA since Billey Dilley’s Super Duper Subterranean Summer. It’s also their first animated series to end on a cliffhanger. Unlike other series removed for tax write-off purposes in recent years, as of this writing Hailey’s was still available to purchase for online viewing, and select episodes and clips remain on Disney Channel’s YouTubeReruns returned to Disney XD on June 29th, 2026.

           

EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Beginning of the Friend” (6/8/23) – The Professor comes from the future tells Hailey Banks she must complete all of the items in her to-do list in order to save the world from climate change.
List items:
#??: Enter homemade birdhouse in Home Tweet Home competition.
#195: Free Sid the Psychic Squid
#239: Ride every ride at the county fair.
 
“Beta’d and Hooked / The Wild, Wild Mess” (6/8/23) – Hailey, Beta and Scott set out to catch a fish that once attacked her father to use in their fish taco and win the Fish Taco Festival. / Hailey seeks to become Sheriff for a Day at a western town attraction, but ends up needing to protect it from some real desperados.
List items:
#178: Win first prize at the Oceanside Fish Taco Festival.
#??: Become Sheriff for a Day.
 
“The Last Sand / The Show Must Go Wrong” (6/9/23 D+, 6/17/23 DC) – Hailey must deal with her self-proclaimed rival A.C. Aychvak in order to win a sandcastle-building competition. / Hailey is forced to step up and out of her comfort zone when Kristine’s play takes a horrible turn.
List items:
#167: Win first place at the sandcastle-building competition.
#89: Be in a school musical.
 
“Cubix Dudes / Cos-Played” (6/9/23 D+, 6/17/23 DC) – Scott gets recruited by a group when one of their members gets injured, making him too busy to help Hailey get the photograph of a special owl she needs. / Hailey, Scott and Beta end up getting tricked out of line to get into a convention and meet her favorite comic creator by a group of bullies.
List items:
#??: Steer pigeons from a life of aggression.
#77: Take a photo of a Strawberry Moon owl.
#??: Build a replica of a lighthouse using popsicle sticks.
#200: Get Chan Yee’s autograph.
 
“Road Trippin’ / Escape Doom” (6/9/23 D+, 6/24/23 DC) – Kristine tags along when Hailey and Scott go to a disgusting restaurant in Arizona to spend Hailey’s last gift card. / An escape room challenge is complicated by A.C., forcing Hailey to step up and take charge.
List items:
#411: Use up all of my gift cards.
#67: Complete an escape room.
 
“The Flamingo Must Flamin-Go / Splatter of the Bands” (6/9/23 D+, 6/24/23 DC) – Despite her mother being against pets, Hailey must adopt one and ends up with a smell old flamingo named Frank. / Needing to win a band competition without getting pelted by tomatoes, Hailey abandons her father’s group in favor of a more refined European duo.
List items:
#63: Adopt and raise a pet.
#??: Have a perfect splatterless performance at Splatter of the Bands.
 
“Bringing Home the Beacon / Dance Like No Mom is Watching” (7/1/23) – Hailey seeks to fix the lighthouse Patricia inherited, but she’s already looking to unload that family embarrassment. / While Beta is down for an upgrade, Hailey attempts to complete a list item on her own: achieve the high score in a dance video game.
List items:
#17: Show mom I can fix anything.
#119: Get the high score on Mega Dance Hero.
 
“Kistine-ceañera / The Puffle Kerfuffle” (7/1/23) – Kristine’s father keeps interfering in her Quinceañera, including pushing her to dance with someone he likes better than Scott. / Attempting to reunite a kids’ show duo to complete a list item shines a bleak light on the potential future for Hailey and Scott’s friendship.
List items:
#7: See a LIVE taping of the Puffles.
 
“Flippin’ Out / Smells Like Queen Spirit” (7/8/23) – Hailey chooses cheerleading to win her varsity letter, but discovers the sport isn’t as easy as she believed it would be. / Hailey must win the Crab Queen Pageant while trying to figure out if her competitor is some kind of more advanced Chaos Bot.
List items:
#213: Earn a varsity letter in a school sport.
#167 (repeated): Win the Oceanside High School Crab Queen crown.
 
“Catching Felines / It’s All Gonna Be OK-Pop” (7/8/23) – Hailey believes that Scott’s sister misinterpreted her request for Wild Katz sneakers and instead got her actual wild cats! / Stuck babysitting, Hailey takes her brothers to a K-pop concert so she can complete a list item and be noticed by one of the band members.
List items:
#234: Make a female friend.
 
“W.F. Whoa!” (7/15/23) – Hailey, Scott and new A.I. pal Omega must rescue Beta from the National Organization of Paranormal Extraterrestrials.
List items:
#304: Learn to juggle.
 
“Seas the Day / Kissed Opportunities” (7/22/23) – Hailey’s attempt to cheer Scott up over his breakup potentially turns to her expressing her feelings, until Kristine tells her she doesn’t want anyone else dating him. / Hailey throws a party that ends up leading to a game where she could finally kiss Scott.
List items:
#301: Throw a cool party.
 
“Sight for Dinosaur Eyes / Along for the Slide” (7/29/23) – Hailey builds a device The Professor accidentally drops plans for and accidentally creates a giant iguana with it. / Becker joins Hailey and Scott on their Mt. Oceanside climb so that she can sneak off to ride the abandoned alpine slides.
List items:
#220: Climb Mt. Oceanside.
 
“Leather Jacket Haley / In a Pinch” (8/5/23) – A leather jacket makes Hailey more confident and tough, leading to an explosive mishap for Kristine. / Hailey shirks her duties of looking after the school’s mascot in order to get all of the loose change out of her father’s old couch.
List items:
#??: Get all of the coins out of dad’s couch.
“The Fart of War / Who Let the Dogs Out? (Hailey)” (8/12/23) – An app leads to a mock trial when A.C. tries to shut his partner Scott out of it. / Hailey becomes convinced that the Dingles company tests their products on dogs and intends to free them from the factory.
List items:
#76: Win a mock trial.
#nn: Free the beagles from the Dingles factory!
 
“Beta’s Gonna Hate / The A-maze-ing Maze” (9/29/23) – While Scott, Hailey and Kai hold an indoor Olympics, Beta is convinced the cleaning robot brought home by Patricia is a Chaos Bot in disguise. / Hailey looks to complete a corn maze on her own, but ends up stuck in the center with a scarecrow and Beta.
List items:
#81: Conquer the Circle of Corn-fusion Maze.
 
“I Know What You Did Last Slumber / Lady and the Trampoline” (10/14/23) – A slumber party prank on A.C.’s new jet ski leads to it rolling off a cliff and exploding. / Hailey must conquer her fear of being mocked by the older kids in order to complete the Big Bounce at Trampoline Town.
List items:
#45: Pull an all-nighter.
 
“Scott’s On a Roll / Bye Bye Birdies” (10/14/23 VOD, 10/21/23 DC) – Scott and Hailey both want to get a sandwich named after them and compete against each other in a contest to do so. / Hailey must do the most difficult list item yet: tell the truth for an entire day.
 
“Frankly Fabulous / The Pin is Mightier Than the Swole” (10/21/23 VOD, 10/28/23 DC) – Hailey enters Frank into a dance competition against his former abusive owner while Scott struggles to find a gift for his mother. / Hailey tries hard to lose to her father at bowling while Beta discovers a stuffed bear making vending machine and makes himself a swole body.
List items:
#92: Let dad win at bowling.
 
“We Wish You a Merry Chaos-mas” (12/1/23) – The future of Christmas depends on Hailey’s celebration being a success despite Scott sending the reindeer that originally made it so through a time portal.
List items:
#215: Throw the best Oceanside Christmas Festival ever.
 
“Mer-Made in Oceanside / Full House (of Bugs)” (3/16/24) – Hailey’s next list item is to once again see the Oceanside mermaid she believes she once saw as a kid. / The Denogas must stay with the Banks when their house gets infested, but the parents end up enjoying the togetherness more than Scott and Hailey do.
List items:
#81 (repeated): Find the mermaid again.
 
“The Umpire Strikes Back / Magician: Impossible” (3/23/24) – Hailey and Scott join the awful local baseball team so that Hailey can catch a foul ball. / Hailey, Scott and Beta try to help a magician whose act is being ruined by her tricks being exposed online.
List items:
#47: Be an audience volunteer at a Barbara Cadabra show.
 
“Bad Bear Day / 2001: A Spouse Odyssey” (3/30/24) – A tube of banned honey-based hair gel makes Scott so popular that he begins neglecting Hailey. / Learning her parents failed to file their marriage certificate, Hailey wants to throw them a wedding to rival their previous disastrous one.
List items:
#139: Throw mom and dad a better wedding.
 
“The Saw-shank Redemption / No More Mr. Rice Guy” (4/6/24) – When a bunch of kids end up in detention on the day of the kite festival, they all believe A.C. was behind it so he could win himself. / Feeling unappreciated, Kai goes on strike and his family discovers just how much he does around the house and the town.
List items:
#39: Win a ribbon at the kite festival.
 
“When Squeeples Attack / Cool Intentions” (4/13/24) – Hailey and Scott decide to take care of a small furry creature The Professor left behind despite Beta’s warnings against it. / Haily and Scott take jobs with A.C.’s mother in order to earn the money they owe Becker and get Beta back from her.
List items:
#75: Make five shots in a row on the basketball arcade game at U.F. Dough.
 
“Out of Body Slam Experience / Get Whale Soon” (4/20/24) – Hailey hypnotizes Scott to make him act like various animals, but unfortunately needs to wait to get the next volume on how to un-hypnotize him. / Haley needs to rescue a whale for her list, but keeps getting sidetracked by her neighbors’ lost dog.
List items:
#538: Hypnotize someone.
#301: Paint a log.
#26: Save a whale
 
“How Kristine Goat Her Groove Back / Oceanside’s 11” (4/27/24) – Hailey tries to cheer up Kristine when she loses all of her fame, and a resulting hallucination makes her believe she needs to get back together with Scott. / Hailey writes a note promising to ask Scott out and hides it in a book that ends up in a donation bin—and in the hands of a gossip columnist.
 
“Student of the Weak / Smother Knows Best” (5/4/24) – Hailey tries everything to win “Student of the Week”, going so far as to imitate previous winners. / Knowing about Hailey’s crush, Patricia begins trying to steer the two together—much to Hailey’s embarrassed annoyance.
List items:
#25: Win Student of the Week.
 
“The Biggest Luger / An Imposter is Born” (5/11/24) – Scott is invited to join a prestigious luge team since his father used to be a champion, and Hailey gets his father to come and train him. / When pop sensation Kelci Fyre discovers she looks like Hailey, they decide to trade lives for a bit on the provision that Kelci will listen to Hailey’s demo.
List items:
#201: Play a demo song to Kelci Fyre.
 
“I Wanna Dance With My Buddy” (5/18/24) – A dating app makes Hailey believe she and Scott aren’t a good match after all while Scott realizes he LIKES likes Hailey…but is he too late? 
 
Shorts:
Broken Karaoke:
“I’ll Wear Them All” (10/24/23) – Kristine teaches Hailey about how fun wearing hats can be.
 
Chibi Tiny Tales:
“Hailey’s On The Disneyland Matterhorn” (11/11/23) – Hailey, Scott and Beta encounter an abominable snowman while climbing the Matterhorn.
List items:
#123: Climb the Matterhorn.
#199: Go parachuting.
 
“Beta in Love” (11/18/23) – Beta attempts to woo U.F. Dough’s robot vacuum.
 
“Fortune Teller” (11/25/23) – Hailey refuses to accept her fortune from a fortune telling machine when it keeps showing her she and Scott will kiss.
 
“Science Unfair” (2/17/24) – Scott accidentally causes Hailey’s paper-mâché volcano to go haywire.
 
“Chaos Bot Picnic” (5/18/24) – Chaos Bots spoil Hailey, Scott and Beta’s picnic in the park.
 
Theme Song Takeover:
“Beta Theme Song Takeover” (8/19/23) – Beta reminds Hailey and Scott just how advanced a supercomputer he is.
 
“Scott’s Theme Song Takeover” (2/10/24) – Scott decides it’s time that they do some of the things on his list of most excellent cool things that are totally doable.
 
“Hailey’s Off It!” (5/11/24) – Hailey and Beta sing about taking a day off.
List items:
#15: All day hopscotch
#16: See a shooting star
#17: Show mom I can fix anything.
#18: Find the skunk in dad’s garage.
#19: Write a novel.
#20: Hold my breath for 2 minutes.
#21: Collect every color gel pen.
#22: Donate to every charity.
#305: Have an EPIC Taco Tuesday.
#??: Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
 
Road Trip:
“Road Trip” (8/3/24) – Beta drives Hailey and Scott in The Professor’s car to visit the Giggleton Clown Museum.
 
“Moon Roof” (8/10/24) – Hailey is concerned over Beta’s driving while Scott is concerned with opening the moon roof.
 
“Arrrchie’s” (8/17/24) – Beta is horrified that the drive-thru he takes them to requires you to order like a pirate.
 
“Robot Road Rage” (8/24/24) – Beta gets road rage when they end up stuck in a massive traffic jam.
 
“The Clown Museum” (8/31/24) – They arrive at the museum to find it abandoned and dilapidated to the point of being incredibly scary.
List items:
#87: Visit the Giggleton, Nevada clown museum.
#??: Visit the Victorian Doll Museum.


Originally posted in 2024. Updated in 2026.

October 12, 2024

THE GHOST AND MOLLY McGEE

 WARNING: This is about a recently-cancelled series. Some spoilers may follow.

THE GHOST AND MOLLY McGEE
(Disney Channel, Disney+, October 1, 2021-January 13, 2024)
 
Disney Television Animation

 

  

This is the story about a young girl and her best friend. …Who happens to be a ghost.

Molly and Scratch.


The Ghost and Molly McGee was created by Bill Motz and Bob Roth. It centered on the titular Molly McGee (Ashly Burch), an extremely optimistic 13-year-old Thai-American who moved with her family to the town of Brighton; a downtrodden town whose chief export were turnips, since it was founded by turnip farmers. She was pleasantly surprised to discover their new house came with a live-in best friend: a grumpy lazy ghost named Scratch (Dana Snyder), whose only desire was to spend his afterlife relaxing and pigging out in solitude. Scratch was initially less-enthusiastic about his new roommates and attempted to scare them out; both for his own peace and to remove the curse he accidentally placed on Molly that bound them together until she moved out. Reluctantly, Scratch warmed up to Molly and found himself reciprocating her friendship and becoming a welcomed part of her family.

The McGees: Darryl, Molly, Pete and Sharon.


Molly’s family was comprised of Pete McGee (Jordan Klepper), her Irish father who worked as a civil engineer and City Council member. He often meant well, but could be a little dimwitted and accident prone. Sharon McGee (Sumalee Montano) was her Thai mother who once abandoned her dreams of becoming an artist. She made a living by doing odd jobs found through an app called Gig Pig (a play on Task Rabbit), and could be very competitive—especially with board games. Darryl McGee (Michaela Dietz) was her mischievous younger brother who was always running some kind of scheme and claimed to many connections that allowed him to get whatever he needed. He had a pet tarantula named Heidi Hairylegs (of which Molly was afraid). Occasionally they would facetime with or be visited by Sharon’s headstrong mother, Nin (also Montano), who was very wise but a poor communicator—especially where Sharon was concerned. Her culture made her very familiar with the concept of living with a ghost and therefore nonplussed by their new family member. Scratch became very enamored by the kind of food Nin could cook, since she was once a restauranteur, and they developed a very strong bond (Scratch would call Nin his “favorite McGee”).

A slumber party with Libby and Andrea.


Molly was on a mission to “enhappify” the world, making Brighton the perfect place for her as it was deemed one of the most miserable areas in the country. This often put her into contact (or at odds) with many of Brighton’s citizenry. At Brighton Middle School, she met her human best friend Libby Stein-Torres (Lara Jill Miller), a book and turtle-loving introvert with a deeply-hidden inner confidence that often had bad luck, clumsy tendencies, a strong conspiracy theorist streak that had her digging into all of the town’s dirty secrets; Andrea Davenport (pronounced AHN-dree-uh if you want to stay off her bad side, voiced by Jules Medcraft), the most popular and richest girl at school whose absentee parents owned the profitable Davenport’s department store (the name came from Davenport, Iowa where producer Britta Reitman grew up); Sheela (Aparna Nancherla), once a contender for Molly’s best friend who had an abrasive but ultimately good-natured personality; and Kat (Eden Riegel), Molly’s helpful and kind pink-haired friend. The Brighton Hills Retirement Home where the McGees often volunteered saw Molly befriend one of its residents, Patty (Jenifer Lewis), who led a long and interesting life and was in love with one-time bad boy Bobby Daniels (Danny Trejo).

Molly with Mayor Brunson and Patty.


Other characters in the human world included Principal O’Connor (Eugene Byrd), Brighton Middle School’s uptight principal that was often targeted by Darryl’s pranks; Miss Lightfoot (Julia Jones), a science teacher who was always worried she’d offend Andrea and had the annoying tendency to microwave fish in the teacher’s lounge; Mrs. Roop (Jane Lynch), a history teacher with such a passion for the subject that she’d consider flunking anyone for merely making fun of it; Mr. Pham (Andrew Phung), a drama teacher who lost his love of life and teaching to stress and fatigue; Mayor Stu Brunson (Patton Oswalt), the often inept Mayor of Brighton who came from a long line of politicians and was always looking for ways to outdo aptly-named rival town Perfektborg; Weird Larry (Trevor Devall), the eccentric pawn shop owner with a pet skunk who tended to ask for help with the most uncomfortable of favors; Irving the Illusionist (Devall), a street magician who got a thrill out of bewildering passersby with his tricks (as bad as they were); Leah Stein-Torres (Pamela Adlon), Libby’s mother who owned the Book Marks the Spot bookstore; and the Davenports Maxwell (Thomas Lennon) and Dorothea (never revealed on the show but instead via a now-deleted tweet by Roth, voiced by Jessica Keenan Wynn). Film director Greta Gerwig made a cameo appearance in “Hooray for Mollywood!” as the director Andrea hired to direct the film she hijacked from Molly and her friends.

The Chairman and the Ghost Council: Lucretia, Sir Alister, Grimbella and Bartholomew


As much as he wished it was, the afterlife wasn’t all fun and games for Scratch. He, like other ghosts, were charged with maintaining their designated haunting’s misery levels through scares in order to feed their boss: a tall, looming grim reaper-like being known as The Chairman. Failure to do so would result in banishment to the Flow of Failed Phantoms. Ensuring his will was carried out was The Ghost Council, comprised of the Barrister Ghosts Lucretia (Grey Griffin, Greg Baldwin in the pilot), Sir Alister (John DiMaggio), Grimbella (Kari Wahlgren using a British accent), and Bartholomew (Baldwin). They resided in the Ghost World, which was accessed by a ghost conjuring a swirling vortex. Scratch was often put into a position where he had to choose preventing his banishment by doing his required scares or preserving his budding friendship with Molly as she actively caused Brighton’s misery numbers to fall.

Scratch flanked by Geoff and Jeff with Abraham Lincoln, Grimbella, Barthrolomew and some other ghosts.


Other ghostly characters included Geoff (originally named Kevin, voiced by Eric Edelstein), a goofy and dimwitted spook that considered Scratch his best friend and who had been in a 100-year relationship with a buff ghost also named Jeff (albeit with a different spelling, voiced by Vincent Rodriguez III); Ghost Bouncer (DiMaggio), the bouncer of the Haughty Haunts Club responsible for keeping the riffraff out; Abraham Lincoln (Kelsey Grammer), the 16th President of the United States; Ezekiel “Tug” Tugbottom (Chris Diamantopoulos), once believed to have been the great hero of Brighton until it was revealed he had just stolen the credit from his sister, Sally (Kerri Kenney-Silver); Franklin Roosevelt (DiMaggio), the 32nd President of the United States; Jinx (Liza Koshy), a joy hunter dispatched by the Ghost Council to eliminate Molly; and Sobgoblins (Griffin), tiny ghosts that feed on misery and sadness and make it hard for those feelings to disappear.

Early concept art of Molly facing off against the Ghost Council on Scartch's behalf surrounded by the Flow of Failed Phantoms.

The series was first conceived back in 2007, then known as The Curse of Piper McGee. It would have focused Piper McGee going to Transylvania on a family vacation where she would be cursed by a vampiric ghoul called the Count for accidentally disturbing him. The series would have played out the same way: with the gloomy Count bound to the eternal sunshine of Molly and being forced to partake in her adventures. Motz and Roth pitched it to Nickelodeon, but they passed on it. After being signed to an overall deal with Disney, they pitched the series again; this time titled The Curse of Molly McGee, which received a much better reception. The series was greenlit by Disney Channel in July of 2019 to be produced by Disney Television Animation under the title it would eventually air; which was felt better reflected the relationship between Molly and Scratch. Molly was originally conceived as being half-Black, but ultimately became half-Thai; making her the second Disney Thai-American protagonist after Anne Boonchuy in Amphibia. The setting was also relocated to a town inspired by Motz’s childhood home in the Quad Cities region of Illinois and Iowa after it suffered an economic downturn when International Harvester’s Farmall Works Plant in Rock Island closed in 1985.


Jinx and the Sobgoblins.


Following a first-look during a panel at 2020’s New York Comic Con, The Ghost and Molly McGee debuted almost a year later on Disney Channel on October 1, 2021; with the first 5 episodes being added to Disney+ on October 6th and further episodes being added to the service in batches after or preceding their televised airings. The series was written by Motz and Roth with Charley Feldman, Sammie Crowley, Katie Greenway, Paul Chang, Peter Limm, Maiya Williams, Madison Bateman, Cynthia Furey, Peri Segel, Jase Ricci, Ricky Roxburgh, Mia Resella, Brandon Hoàng, Sam Cherington, Gloria Shen, Jenava Mie and Mariam Girgis. Justin Rodrigues was the lead character designer, working with Karl Cruz, Claire Nero, Elsa Chang, Ham Firouzan, Harley Huang, Baptiste Rogron, Kali Cruz, and Phillip Light. Some members of the crew were very active on social media and often posted behind the scenes information about the episodes they worked on after they aired. The series’ theme was written by Motz, Roth, Allie Feder and Mike Kramer and performed by Burch and Snyder. Along with the score by Kramer, each episode contained a 1-minute humorous song number tied into the plot written by Rob Cantor. Those songs were performed by the characters involved. 

Molly on her mission to enhappify the world.


The first season largely followed Molly and Scratch as the former explored and sought to make positive changes in Brighton where she could, while the latter dealt with his growing affection for Molly and place within the McGee family that put him at odds with his job and the threat of banishment by the Chairman. Ahead of its premier, the series was renewed for a 2nd season which saw a bit of a shift in the status quo. The Chairman ended up being destroyed, with Scratch appointed to reluctantly take his place. The naturally lazy Scratch decided to abolish the old Chairman’s rules and only donned the cloak to bark out an order or use its special powers when it served his purposes—which often ended up backfiring spectacularly. A mystery began unfolding as Molly took an interest in uncovering Scratch’s forgotten past. A discontinued strawberry soda unlocked a flash of his adventurous best friend, Adia Williams (Kimberly Brooks), who had moved away when they were children and gave him that soda to always remember her by.

The Ghost Chaser Chens: Ollie, Ruben, Esther and June.

The McGees also gained new neighbors in the Chens, who seemed to be a perfect match for the McGees. Unfortunately, there was one problem: they were ghost hunters. Patriarch Ruben (Leonard Wu) was scared by a ghost as a kid, and dedicated his life to studying and eradicating the supernatural when he wasn’t brewing his own root beer. He was joined by his wife, Esther (Stephanie Sheh), and his children Juniper (Sue Ann Pien, who was autistic like her character), an inventor responsible for much of their gear, and Oliver (Alan Lee), their research specialist. They documented their exploits and posted them online as The Ghost Chaser Chens. It also didn’t help matters that Ollie was Molly’s ideal boyfriend while she was best friends with a ghost.

Molly as a wraith with her soulless body.


Disney had commissioned the writing of 10 scripts for season 3 in anticipation of the series continuing to be a success; bolstered by the response the first batch of season 1 episodes received on Disney+. Season 3 would have seen Ollie become the Chairman after Scratch gave up the cloak and struggling to balance between the worlds. As a result, he was beginning to forget about his life due to all his time spent in wraith form; a ghost-like form a living person could assume to travel to the Ghost World while their body continued performing basic tasks and functions sans personality. Other stories would have seen Libby struggling with writer’s block; Ruben Chen becoming a full-time brewmaster after backing from Dorothea Davenport; Andrea would have had a relationship with her crush, Alina Webster (although this did make it into the Chibi Tiny Tales short “Scratch, Molly’s Third Wheel”); a Purim holiday special; a revolt against the recorder; and Molly attempting to rekindle Mr. Pham’s love of teaching.

Saying goodbye.


However, without the same marketing support of the first episode drop onto Disney+, the second in December didn’t perform as well. Despite the next drop improving, Disney had decided to cancel the 3rd season by June of 2022. A glimmer of hope for a decision reversal came during the internal upheaval that would see studio head Bob Iger return to replace the embattled Bob Chapek, but that required an even higher threshold of viewership that the series just could not meet. Motz and Roth always had a clear ending in mind for the series, but now lacked the space in which to tell that story. They were surprised when their request for an additional episode to wrap everything up was granted. Before the official word of the cancellation came down, social media posts by Motz on Instagram with the cast wrap party and on Twitter gave all indication that this was the ultimately the series’ fate.

The mysteriously cancelled book.


A book adapting “First Day Frights” had appeared on online retail sites for pre-orders, but ended up cancelled for unspecified reasons by Disney Books. Disney slapped a promotional image on t-shirts, totes and pillows for sale in the Disney Channel Fan Shop on Amazon in 2021. DisneyNOW hosted a game called Bandshell Boo-Nanza on its website, where Molly was in charge of keeping the crowds happy during a week-long talent show. Tasks included making coupons, clearing customer lines, serving ice cream, fixing faders, plugging in plugs, and cleaning up litter. Scratch could help with some of these tasks provided Molly collected enough food. Molly and Scratch were also included in the 2019 game Disney All-Star Racers until the DisneyNOW app was shut down in 2024.

Molly and Scratch amongst other Chibified Disney characters from DuckTales, Big City Greens, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Amphibia, Phineas and Ferb and The Owl House.

Along with appearing in several Chibi Tiny Tales shorts, Molly and Scratch have starred in new segments of the anthology series Chibiverse. They and other characters have also participated in the Disney Channel short segments Broken Karaoke, Theme Song Takeover, How NOT to Draw and Random Rings that aired during commercial breaks. A collection of these from other programs were presented in a half-hour special called Spring Shorts-Tacular with the Ghost and Molly McGee, with Molly and Scratch featured in new hosting segments at various intervals. Along with being on Disney+, several episodes and various clips have been uploaded to the official Disney Channel YouTube.

  

EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The Curse / First Day Frights” (10/1/21) – Scratch unintentionally curses himself and Molly to be bound together until they move out of the house. / Scratch tries to make matters worse for Molly at school when she ends up angering popular influencer Andrea Davenport.
 
“Howlin’ Harriet / The (Un)natural” (10/2/21) – Molly goes camping with the Wilder-Scouts to pick out her human best friend, and Libby’s ghost story ends up becoming a reality. / Molly joins the school’s terrible baseball team and Scratch ends up using his powers to cheat so they can win.
 
“Getting the Band(shell) Back Together / The Greatest Concert Ever” (10/6/21 D+, 10/9/21 DC) – Volunteering at a retirement home inspires Molly to try and resurrect the town’s bandshell, long destroyed by a hurricane. / Needing a performer for the restored bandshell, Molly meticulously plans to get country superstar Kenny Star.
 
“Mama’s Gotta Hustle / Hooray for Mollywood!” (10/6/21 D+, 10/16/21 DC) – When the McGees are unable to afford to fix their van, Sharon begins taking odd jobs through the Gig Pig app. / Molly and her friends get squeezed out of their own horror movie when Andrea gets involved.
 
“Not So Honest Abe / The Best of Nin-tensions” (10/6/21 D+, 10/23/21 DC) – Scratch has Geoff pretend to be Abraham Lincoln so Molly thinks he knows him, but Geoff’s faulty information causes Molly to fail her report. / Molly and Scratch attempt to fix the rift between Sharon and her mother.
 
“Mazel Tov, Libby! / No Good Deed” (10/30/21) – Molly attempts to jazz up Libby’s Bat Mitzvah, but it ends up just giving her a panic attack. / Molly, Darryl and Scratch must spring their teachers from prison after Darryl uses the nice lesson Molly gave him to get them incarcerated.
 
“The Trump Twist / All Systems No” (11/6/21) – To outdo Perfektborg for next month’s issue of Midwest Monthly, the Mayor places Pete and Molly in charge of the Turnip Festival—which Scratch must ruin or face banishment. / Molly and Scratch challenge each other to only say “yes” or “no” respectively for an entire day while the McGees try to get a bee out of their house.
 
“Monumental Disaster / Talent Show” (11/13/21) – After meeting the ghost of the legendary town hero, Molly and Libby are determined to expose him as the fraud he is. / Libby accidentally signs up to be in the talent show and Molly encourages her to do it—until she learns that Libby can’t sing.
 
“Scratch the Surface / Friend-Off” (11/20/21) – Molly tries to create an alter-ego to tell Libby anything since she can’t relay her adventures with Scratch, but Libby just thinks Molly doesn’t want to be friends anymore. / Molly sets up a scavenger hunt to try and bring Libby and Scratch together, but they end up turning it into a competition to see who Molly’s best friend is.
 
“Festival of Lights / Saving Christmas” (11/27/21) – The McGees spend their first Hannukah with the Stein-Torres family as a blackout hits Brighton. / Molly takes inspiration from A Christmas Carol to try and get Mr. Davenport in the holiday spirit and save the town’s Christmas celebration.
 
“Ice Princess / Read, Set, Snow!” (2/12/22) – The spirit of a failed ice skater brings major snow storms with her as she tries to perfect her routine, and Pete reveals himself to be a former ice skater as he steps up to be her partner. / Molly desperately wants someone to play in the snow with her, but everyone just wants to try hygge.
 
“Game Night / The Don’t-Gooder” (2/19/22) – Scratch uses the McGees’ love of board games to cheat his way out of cleaning the downstairs bathroom. / Molly gets tired of being outdone in charity work by Andrea when she does practically nothing and stumbles upon a secret that could expose Andrea once and for all.
 
“Innocent Until Proven Ghostly / Twin Trouble” (2/26/22) – Scratch is accused of eating the anniversary cake Pete baked, but Molly holds a trial to prove his innocence. / The arrival of Pete’s bullying twin siblings causes the depression-feeding Sobgoblins to come to the McGee household.
 
“Goat Your Own Way / A Very Hungry Ghost” (3/5/22) – Molly tries to prove her way of training a goat for the country fair is better than the prescribed way while Scratch trains Pete to get him a fried food platter. / Nin visits to celebrate Sart Duan Sib (a feast for ghosts) which excites Scratch—until Geoff ends up inviting every ghost including the Ghost Council.
 
“Scare Tactics / The Bad Boy Bobby Daniels” (3/12/22) – While Molly nervously searches for Heidi after she gets loose in the house, Scratch and Geoff ditch their yearly scaring seminar. / Molly and Scratch attempt to reunite Patty with her long-lost love.
 
“Citizen McGee / The Internship” (6/11/22) – Molly volunteers to be “Mayor for a Day”, but ends up with the job permanently as Brunson finds it too stressful. / Molly is disappointingly assigned to be Weird Larry’s intern while Scratch gets an intern of his own.
 
“The Lucky Penny / Lock, Stock, and Peril” (6/18/22) – Disasters occur when the already-lucky Andrea ends up possessing a luck-infused penny. / When the others get trapped in the basement, Molly and Scratch go to get Weird Larry to get them out but keep getting distracted along the way and missing him.
 
“Out of House and Home / Home is Where the Haunt Is” (6/25/22) – The McGees all chip in when Pete gets himself hurt, but along the way end up evicted after forgetting to pay the mortgage. / The McGees live in their van in the woods while Scratch tries to scare away any potential buyers for the house.
 
“The Jig is Up / Molly vs. the Ghost World” (7/9/22) – The Ghost Council sends Jinx to find out why Brighton’s joy is going up, and Scratch learns the truth about why ghosts are required to do scares. / Molly becomes a wraith and heads to the Ghost World with Geoff to rescue Scratch from his trial with the Ghost Council.
 
Season 2:
“The New (Para)Normal” (4/1/23) – Scratch reluctantly becomes the new Chariman while the McGees make friends with their new neighbors, the Chens—who happen to be ghost hunters.
 
“Book Marks the Sprite / Dobule, Double, Darryl & Trouble” (4/2/23 D+, 4/8/23 DC) – Molly keeps Ollie busy while Libby and Scratch deal with a story sprite that’s consuming all the stories in the book store. / Darryl becomes a wraith to have fun while his body does all the work, and comes to think everyone prefers his well-behaving body to his true self.
 
“Faint of Art / A Soda to Remember” (4/2/23 D+, 4/15/23 DC) – Sharon becomes intended by the blank canvas when she sets out to do some painting in the basement. / Molly and Libby attempt to obtain a discontinued brand of strawberry soda to help Scratch retrieve memories of his past life.
 
“A Period Piece / It’s Always Sunny in Sunnyland” (4/2/23 D+, 4/22/23 DC) – Molly becomes jealous of the new bond Andrea and Libby form after Libby gets her first period. / Molly creates a theme park experience in their home when their vacation plans get cancelled, but quickly grows tired of planning things out as the week goes on.
 
“I Wanna Dance with Some-Ollie / Davenport’s on Demand” (4/2/23 D+, 4/29/23 DC) – When Molly confesses that she has a crush on Ollie, an upset Scratch ends up finding himself in one of the Chens’ traps. / Andrea’s new app for her store is such a hit that it ends up threatening all the small businesses in the town.
 
“A Doll to Die For / The (After)life of the Party” (5/6/23) – Scratch traps a troublemaker named Lord Doom in a baby doll and Molly attempts to teach him how to be nice. / Scratch plans to ditch Geoff’s party to go to the one being held by the much cooler Jeff.
 
“Frightmares on Main Street” (5/13/23) – When Scratch enlists the aid of other ghosts to turn Molly’s charity haunted house into a success, it attracts the attention of the Ghost Chaser Chens.
 
“The Unhaunting of Brighton Video / 100% Molly McGee” (5/20/23) – Molly, Libby, Scratch and Ollie attempt to get a ghost out of the old video store so that it can become a new community center. / A visit from relatives leaves Molly feeling inadequately connected to her culture and hunkers down to make herself more Thai.
 
“All Shark No Bite / Nin-dependence” (6/28/23 D+, 7/8/23 DC) – Attempting to prove ghost sharks aren’t real, Scratch ends up summoning one that prowls the McGee household. / The McGees become overprotective and smothering of Nin after she hurts herself.
 
“Like Father Like Libby / Dance Dad Revolution” (6/28/23 D+, 7/15/23 DC) – Libby gets a chance to see her dad and is excited about all the things they could do together only to learn he’ll be extending his book-writing tour. / Molly helps Pete get his messages across with viral dance videos, but internet fame goes to his head and he begins to forget his original intent.
 
“Jinx! / Let’s Play Turnipball!” (7/22/23) – Jinx curses Scratch with bad luck until he gets her to say his name three times. / Ollie becomes the star player of the Turnipball team by pure luck, however his misinterpretation of the rules benches him and allows Perfektborg to pull ahead.
 
“The Ghost IS Molly McGee / All in the Mind” (7/29/23) – Molly and Scratch decide to switch bodies to fix Molly’s problem with the school play and Scratch’s problem with the Ghost Council. / Molly and Scratch head into Scratch’s mind to find out the cause of the bubbles developing on his body.
 
“Carbon Zero Heroes / Davenport’s in Demise” (8/5/23) – Molly and Ollie dedicate themselves to a carbon-neutral lifestyle while Libby drags Scratch into her bunker to prepare for the climate apocalypse. / When a new mega-store outside of town drives Davenport’s out of business, Molly must help Andrea rebrand herself online and stop losing followers.
 
“Web of Lies / Kenny’s Falling Star” (8/12/23) – Molly and Scratch believe they accidentally killed Darryl’s spider and are wracked with guilt when they hide the evidence. / Kenny Star is hiding out in Brighton after being branded a sell-out, and Molly tries to help him rediscover his country roots.
 
“Welcome to NecroComic-Con / Fit to Print” (10/28/23) – Molly, Ollie and Scratch must attempt to get the ghost canister back from the Chens before they inadvertently open it and release the Failed Phantoms inside. / Molly becomes editor of the broke school paper and secures major sponsorship from Flavor Burger, only to uncover the scandal that their Turnip Burgers are actually made of Perfektborg parsnips.
 
“Smile Valley Farm / The Grand Gesture” (11/4/23) – The McGees become addicted to a new farming simulation game. / Molly’s attempts to ask Ollie to be her boyfriend are repeatedly interrupted—especially by a piece of Scratch’s ectoplasm that Darryl and June accidentally brought to life.
 
“The Many Lives of Scratch / Alaka-Sham!” (11/11/23) – Scratch’s friends throw him a “death day party” and share far-fetched stories about his death, since he can’t remember it. / Irving challenges Darryl to a magic competition when Darryl and Scratch start performing to sucker money from people.
 
“F.O.N.A.A.! / Game On” (11/15/23 D+, 11/18/23 DC) – Scratch curses Molly to be fear-free for 24 hours so she can go to the dentist, but she spends the day doing reckless things. / Principal O’Connor wants Darryl to join a team sport, but Darryl talks him into forming an e-sports team and bets him he can win on the first try.
 
“White Christmases / Perfect Day” (12/1/23) – As Molly prepares the perfect Christmas for the town seniors, Scratch stresses about finding her the perfect gift. / Molly asks Scratch to create a time loop so she can fix every mistake she makes on New Year’s Day.
 
“Jinx vs. the Human World” (1/13/24) – Jinx steals the Chairman’s cloak and uses it to conquer the Ghost World and restore misery to the Human World.
 
“The End” (1/13/24) – Molly, Geoff, Libby and Ollie discover that Scratch is actually the wraith of a very-much alive man, and Molly convinces him to take his old life back.
 
Special:
“Spring Shorts-Tacular”(5/21/22) – Molly drags Scratch into helping her show off a series of Disney shorts to mark the start of the Spring season.
 
Shorts:
Chibi Tiny-Tales:
“Scratch Haunts the Chibiverse” (10/3/21) – Scratch haunts other Disney Channel characters to raise his scare chart.
 
“Mansion Madness” (10/8/21) – Molly and Scratch make themselves unwelcome at the Haunted Mansion.
 
“Scratch’s Sugar Rush” (10/17/21) – Scratch goes candy-crazy on Halloween.
 
“The War of Décor” (4/3/22) – Molly and Scratch have a disagreement over how their room should look.
 
“Springtime for Mama Scratch” (5/1/22) – Baby animals mistake Scratch for their mothers.
 
“Scratch, Molly’s Third Wheel” (4/15/23) – Scratch looks for someplace else to sit at a concert when Molly sits next to Ollie.
 
Broken Karaoke:
“Broken Scary-oke” (12/5/21) – Scratch sings about haunting people during the holidays.
 
“I Just Wanna Eat Bread” (8/13/22) – Scratch and Molly sing an ode to bread and salad.
 
“Ways We Feel Anxious” (10/10/22) – Libby forms The Stress Girlz with Candace Flynn (Phineas and Ferb), Marcy Wu (Amphibia) and Gloria (Big City Greens) to sing about what makes them anxious.
 
Theme Song Takeover:
“Andrea Theme Song Takeover” (6/12/22) – Molly and Scratch must deal with Andrea’s theme for The Most Fab Andrea Show.
 
“Libby Theme Song Takeover” (5/3/23) – Libby belts out how she’s unable to do a much-requested theme song takeover.
 
“Darryl Theme Song Takeover” (6/24/23) – Darryl’s theme song takeover highlights his many business schemes.
 
Disney Random Rings:
“Scratch Calls the Haunted Mansion” (9/25/03) – Scratch tries to wrangle a referral from one of the other residents so he can move into the Haunted Mansion.
 
How NOT to Draw:
“Scratch Comes to Life” (2/24/24) – Scratch tries several different schemes to get his hands on the animator’s lunch.