Girlstuff, Boystuff
Girlstuff, and don't forget the Boystuff
Girlstuff, Boystuff
We love our stuff and we can't get enough of it
— The theme song
Girlstuff/Boystuff is a Canadian/Hong Kong/British cartoon created by Ruth Beni of Animage Films UK and produced between Decode Entertainment (now part of WildBrain) and Agogo Media.
The show follows six teenagers who have been friends forever; three girls (Reanne, Talia and Hanna) and three boys (Jason, Simon and Ben). In each episode, the gang goes through typical teenage ups and downs throughout their daily lives.
The series debuted in Canada on YTV and aired from November 2002 to February 2003. It ran for 2 seasons for a total of 52 episodes.
This cartoon contains examples of:
- Agony of the Feet: "Tickets, Please" has Reanne's foot accidentally get stepped on by an overenthusiastic 411 Boyformation cheerleader.
- Amateur Film-Making Plot:
- "The Making Of..." has the gang attempted to re-shoot a documentary.
- "Lights, Camera, Ahhhh!" has the gang shooting a student film at an abandoned warehouse.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Talia is the youngest member of the group.
- Bathroom Stall Graffiti: In one episode, as part of a frankly contrived "everyone in detention" plotline, had the boys correcting the spelling of this.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Reanne is the brains, Talia is the Brawn and Hanna is the Beauty.
- Beach Episode: "The Lake" is treated as such.
- Beef Bandage: Parodied when, in "Gorilla My Dreams", Simon is offered a chicken nugget for his black eye when Talia tells Reanne to go fetch a steak after football tryouts.Reanne: I only had $1.50!
- Big Beautiful Woman: Talia is quite plump, and wears her curves beautifully.
- Birthday Episode: "The Birthday Party" features Ben's birthday.
- Camping Episode: "Tents Situation" has the gang camping for a night in Talia's backyard.
- Casanova Wannabe:
- Ben tries, but he has no luck with girls.
- Hanna has bouts of this to as several episodes have her trying to impress a boy she likes and it always backfires on her.
- Chick Magnet: Jason is usually quite popular with the girls.
- Childhood Friends: The members of the gang have known each other since nursery school.
- Childhood Friend Romance: "Lust in Translation" has Jason and Reanne trying to turn their longstanding friendship into a romance.
- Christmas Episode: "Last Minute Shopping", in which everyone forgets to get each other gifts, so now they have just a few hours to get presents!
- Credit Card Plot: "Cha Ching" has Simon being mailed a credit card by accident, and he tries not to give into temptation... at first. Hanna, who was basically The Ditz, summed up the basic aesop.
- Door-to-Door Episode: "Selling Out" has the gang being tasked to sell boxes of chocolate-covered almonds.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: "Eleven Minute Workout" has Jason and Ben get stuck in a militant aerobics class.
- Eating Contest: In "If the Shoe Fits", while at the fair, Ben and Jason compete to see who can eat the most without getting sick.
- The Fashionista: Although the Limited Wardrobe makes it hard to tell, Hanna is this. "Cha Ching" has a devilish Hanna appearing on Simon's shoulder to tempt him to buy.Devil!Hanna: By the way, does this pitchfork match my shoes?
- Felony Misdemeanor: One episode has Talia and Reanne having an Imagine Spot of Ben getting arrested by the Video Store Police for spoiling movie plots out loud and "enjoying Honky Tonk Heatwave".
- Feud Episode: In "Cause and Effect", Reanne and Hanna have a falling out.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Three girls (Hanna, Reanne, and Talia) and three boys (Jason, Ben, and Simon).
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: "Cha Ching" has a devilish Hanna appearing on Simon's shoulder to tempt him to buy.Devil!Hanna: By the way, does this pitchfork match my shoes?
- Granola Girl:
- Reanne is a vegetarian and cares very deeply about the environment.
- In "Save Me", Talia ends up meeting a cute guy, but he's far too environmentally conscious, and he drives her nuts.
- Hair Color Dissonance: Ben, Reanne and Simon all have blue hair, meant to be black. Talia has bright purple hair, and what colour that's meant to be isn't clear; though since her brother Jason is redheaded, one could infer that Talia is some form of auburn.
- Halloween Episode: "Goulstuff/Boilstuff".
- Imagine Spot: Prevalent in pretty much every episode.
- Injured Limb Episode:
- In "Spring Break", Hanna gets stuck with a broken ankle, so the gang tries to comfort their wounded friend.
- One episode has Ben ending up with a broken leg.
- It Tastes Like Feet: Everyone but resident vegetarian Reanne thinks tofu "tastes like feet".
- Nerdy Nasalness: Simon has a rather nasally voice.
- Not in Front of the Parrot!: "Teacher's Pet" has Ben tasked with taking care of the science teacher's parrot for a few days. His friends teach it to say various things as jokes, including "Ben is a chick magnet", which they find funny since he's a Casanova Wannabe. The bird talks incessantly while Ben tries to sleep, and he tries to get it to stop talking and bribe it with a cookie. It also turns out to have a skin infection which it didn't seem to have until the bird was in his care, and since Ben doesn't want to be blamed for it, he tries to treat it in secret. When it comes time for the parrot to be given back to the teacher, it suddenly repeats a large number of the phrases it learned over the course of the episode, ending with...Parrot: ...Shut up! Cookie if you shut up! Skin infection! Ben is a dead man!Teacher: You can say that again.
- Not So Above It All:
- At points, Reanne can be just as boy-crazy as Hannah and Talia despite usually being the more calm of the girls.
- Also when Reanne tries to show Simon that the dentist is not as scary as he thinks be volunteering to be checked up, they inform her she has cavities. This quickly causes her to become just as scared as him and it ends with them both bailing.
- Once per Episode: Very wacky Imagine Spots from the gang.
- Only Sane Woman: Reanne usually believes she is.
- "Pop!" Goes the Human: "Multiplex" has an Imagine Spot involving a special effects man eating so much junk food he swells up like a balloon and then explodes.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: In "Party of the Year", the gang is psyched about going to THE party of the year—or so they thought it would be. On the night of the party, the girls worry about what to wear, while the guys are more concerned about the possibility of slow-dancing with a girl. It turns out that the party is being thrown by a girl who isn't that popular—and that the party turns out to be pretty lame.
- Shameful Shrinking: In "Valentine Curse", Talia does this when she realizes that she had forgotten to sign her candygram to Colin.
- Sick Episode: "Flu Manchu" has Ben, Jason, and Talia coming down with the flu.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Talia's crush on Colin.
- Slippery Swimsuit: In "The Lake", Talia loses her bikini top in the lake, and she tries desperately to get it back.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Both Simon and Reanne are the smart ones in the group and wear glasses.
- The Smart Guy: Simon, the group's computer whiz and nerd.
- Theme Tune Roll Call: A section of the theme song has the members of the gang introducing themselves by their names.
- Town Girls: Talia is the Butch, Hanna is the Femme, and Reanne is the Neither.
- Valentine's Day Episode: The aptly-titled "Valentine Curse".
