Western Animation / The Buzz on Maggie

"You've never met a girl like her before."

I'm strange! I can't hide it!
That's just the way I am!
Might as well get over it!
Don't try to understand!
I'm strange, and I like it!
Just the way I am!

— Opening theme song

In some average American city, there's an average garbage dump that is host to your average miniature insect metropolis. But make no mistake: the town of Stickyfeet will give rise to a rock legend that will be remembered for eons. Assuming that she can keep her ridiculous impulses in check and not alienate everyone around her, that is.

The Buzz on Maggie (2005-2006) was a short-lived Flash animated series that aired on Disney Channel. Created by Dave Polsky and directed by Dave Wasson (Time Squad), the show centers on Maggie Pesky, an energetic, pink-haired teenage fly girl who aspires to be a world-famous musician. Along for the ride are her best friend Rayna Cartflight, her younger brother Pupert, and her older brother Aldrin. The series also came with an upbeat theme song performed by Skye Sweetnam.

Despite high ratings in its home country, the series failed to gain an audience overseas and ended after one season, leaving it as one of Disney Channel's more obscure animated series (even Disney+ doesn’t have it). Though at the very least, it holds the distinction of being Jessica DiCicco's first voice acting role (as the titular character).

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Contains examples of:

• Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Lampshaded in "Pieface" after Pupert's friends go after Maggie in a helicopter.
  "No wonder they cut our arts program. The defense budget's through the roof!"
• Alpha Bitch: Dawn, Maggie's arch-nemesis, is a stuck-up Rich Bitch who is quick to single out anyone "below" her, bragging about her popularity in the process.
• Annoying Younger Sibling:
  • Pupert's childishness sometimes gets on Maggie's nerves, especially when she's in the middle of something.
  • Bella is one to Maggie in "Bella Con Carny", and she sets up the events of the episode. Justified, however, as she is just a baby.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Maggie and Aldrin do clash a lot, but deep down, they love each other.
• Beautiful All Along: Maria Monarch in "The Candidate". Even before the makeover, she appears stunningly beautiful after taking off her glasses. After the makeover, her acne clears up and even her hairstyle changes.
• Big Brother Bully: Aldrin often targets and harasses Maggie over her miserably failed attempts at following her dreams. He can also be one to Pupert at times, such as using him as a basketball in "Funball", showing little regard to his health.
• Big Brother Instinct: Aldrin, but only to Bella. He is noticeably upset when he hears Maggie left her at the carnival, that she "could be anywhere by now!" and is the only sibling who wins his game when the Pesky family compete for the right to keep Bella. She is also the only sibling he never, ever teases.
• Black and Nerdy: Rayna
• Broken Aesop: At the end of "The Candidate" Maggie gives a speech about how you shouldn't judge people by their appearance, but Maria wouldn't have a boyfriend if it wasn't for her makeover, and she never goes back to looking the way she did before.
• Buffy Speak: Maggie is fond of adding 'tacious' to certain words to make new ones. This was most frequently done with 'fantacious' (as a stand-in for fantastic), but there were other examples.
• Burger Fool: Buzz Burger.
• Butt-Monkey: The universe really seems to have it in for Maggie, as she'll face bad luck out of the blue and have her dreams sabotaged moment after moment. Also, she is a frequent victim of Yank the Dog's Chain.
  • Pupert at times is taken advantage of for his Annoying Younger Sibling status, such as in "Funball".
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Maggie in almost every episode.
• Cain and Abel: Played with in the final episode with Aldrin and Maggie.
• Cheerful Child: Pupert is always hyperactive and full of joy.
• Couch Gag: The Theme Tune begins with Maggie getting out of bed and dressing up in two different outfit/costumes each time.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Maggie, at times, can be one when she doesn't get what she wants.
  • Rayna can also act snarky and sarcastic when Maggie lacks common sense.
• Delinquent Hair: Maggie has pink hair, fitting with her rebellious personality.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Maggie's uncle realizes that he can sell the amoebas that one of them produced in bulk (due to Aldrin and Maggie hypnotizing it to follow a certain phrase that ends up being said repeatedly) when Pupert says to his uncle that he wants to keep one.
• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Rayna in kindergarten in a flashback.
• Entertainment Below Their Age: Invoked in the episode "The Flyinator", where Maggie and Rayna sneak into the titular R-rated horror movie. While Maggie stays throughout the movie to endure the trauma, Rayna is too scared to continue watching it and runs into the theater that's showing The Prancing Princess, a princess movie for toddlers, to watch it instead, singing along with the theme song and collecting the merchandise. At the end, Maggie's older brother Aldrin is secretly playing with a Prancing Princess doll while his family isn't looking, only for it to turn out to be little brother Pupert's doll which Aldri's fighting with him over.
• Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Bacteria serve the role as both pets and livestock in different episodes.
• Fantastic Racism: "Ladybugged" features a ladybug who is prejudiced against flies. She even makes them dress like ladybugs during the school dance and tells them that they shouldn't eat because she thinks the way they eat is gross.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: Maggie goes through this in the majority of the episodes.
• Furry Confusion: There's one kid at Buzzdale that looks more like a real fly.
• Genki Girl: Maggie is very cute, energetic, and spunky.
• Girl Posse: Maggie, Rayna, and Maria are often paired together. Dawn also has one with two other blonde girls.
• Good Parents: Frieda and Chauncey Pesky dote on their children and know what's right for them.
• Gross-Up Close-Up: On Maria's crusty, drool-covered hand in "The Candidate" before Maggie has to shake it.
• Gross-Out Show: Less so than the marketing would lead you to believe, but it was still an element. This is to be expected, though, as it revolves around houseflies and takes place in a dump...
• Growling Gut: On the episode "Hot for Tutor", Rayna's stomach grumbles after eating the last bite of Frieda's homemade stew.
• Halloween Episode: "The Big Score"/"Scare Wars".
• High-School Hustler: Maggie can exhibit clever methods when it comes to outfoxing authority figures at her school, even if her attempts backfire.
• Housewife: Frieda Pesky is a stay-at-home-wife who does the chores and looks after Bella.
• Humans Are Cthulhu: Mr. Sizemore. "Bugs on the Brink" also feature this.
• I Want My Mommy!: In "The Flyinator", the titular in-universe movie is so frightening to the audience that a young boy cries and hugs his mother, who in turn cries and hugs her own mom.
  Son: Ahh! I want my mommy!
  Mom: Ahh! I want my mommy!
  Grandma (unfazed): Why is the television so loud?
• I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: David Kaufman and Tara Strong both worked together on Danny Phantom.
• Imagine Spot: Maggie has a few here and there, and they occasionally come true.
• Jerkass:
  • Dawn is very spoiled, snooty, self-centered, and unreasonably cold-hearted to Maggie and Rayna, and people "below" her in general. She's an Alpha Bitch, after all.
  • Maggie herself is often boasting about her achievements and redeeming qualities, whining when she doesn't get her way, outfoxing authority figures, and trying to cut corners. Downplayed, as she is also a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Aldrin, being the Jerk Jock, is basically the male counterpart to Dawn, who looks over people who stand below him and bullies his younger siblings for simply being more popular than them (well, that, and their annoyance).
• Jerkass Has a Point: Aldrin in "Le Termite" exposes Maggie's lies, getting her in trouble with her boss. When asked why he did it, Aldrin points out that he works hard at his Burger Fool job and earned his family's praise while Maggie lied to make herself look better than him.
  • He also has a point in "Training Day" - Maggie did nothing to earn her scooter, relying on Aldrin's athleticism to net her the prize (and she belittles his skills as being "easy for him" and implies all he has to do to win is show up and "do his little running thing"). While it was wrong of Aldrin to fake an injury, Maggie had already agreed to do his chores for him anyway and by doing the work, she should have more appreciation for Aldrin's efforts. Of course, when Aldrin points out that he did what he did to teach her a lesson, she decides that she doesn't like the lesson and refuses to learn a thing.
• Jewish Mother: Gym Shorts' mom.
• Karmic Butt-Monkey: Zigzagged with Maggie. Sometimes her misfortunes aren't her fault (i.e. being bullied by Aldrin and Dawn), while other times, she does deserve it for things such as manipulating others or trying to find loopholes around authority.
• Keet: Pupert is an adorable Cheerful Child.
• Kids Shouldn't Watch Horror Films: Maggie and Rayna sneak into a scary R-rated movie called The Flyinator. Rayna ends up so traumatized, she'd rather watch the baby movie that's playing on another screen. Maggie plays it cool at first, but she eventually starts hallucinating the movie's monster everywhere until she confesses to her parents. They decide her trauma from watching the movie was punishment enough.
• Libation for the Dead: In one episode, the other bugs pour some juice on the ground before a field trip in honor of Maggie, who has accepted a detention so the rest of the class can get their excursion.
• Loose Lips: Rayna, occasionally.
• Meaningful Name: Dawn Swatworthy.
• Mouse World: The show is about sentient insects (flies in particular) and takes place in a junkyard in the human world.
• Nerd Glasses: A lot of the nerd characters wear glasses.
• Nerds Are Sexy: Troy.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed
  • Jay Buzz-Z (Jay-Z)
  • Spelling Bees (Beatles?)
• Own Goal: In one episode, Maggie coaches Pupert for various sports in hopes of getting him to beat Aldrin at one of them after he humiliates Pupert. After losing in all of them, Maggie invents a sport called "Fun Ball" where scoring involves having fun when shooting the balls into baskets. At the end Pupert gets bored of playing, tosses the ball, and manages to make a goal...in Aldrin's basket.
• Reset Button: Averted with Maria Monarch's makeover. Then again, she wasn't a main character, and it was her first episode.
• Sadist Show: Really, really, really, really sadistic....
• Sassy Black Woman: Rayna, like most characters voiced by Cree Summer, is quite cheeky and sarcastic.
• Scavenged Punk: Much of the town of Stickyfeet (which is located in a dump) is constructed from human refuse. Maggie's house, for example, is an old milk carton.
• Security Cling: Played for laughs in "The Flyinator" when a little boy clings to his mom, who clings to HER mom.
• Shrinking Violet: Maria Monarch was shy and insecure before meeting Maggie.
• Shout-Out: "It's the night of the living parents!"
• Small Name, Big Ego: Dawn and Aldrin are just full of themselves.
• Stealth Pun: Aldrin, for Buzz Aldrin.
• Stern Teacher: Cornelius Bugspit and Mrs. Wingston.
• Stocking Filler: Rayna wears fishnets.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Maggie (Tomboy) and Rayna (Girly Girl).
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Chauncey (he's not that ugly, just geeky) to Frieda.
• The Unfavorite: Surprisingly, Aldrin. One episode reveals that his uncle views him only as free labor on the farm, and that he has consistently been ignored in favor of his younger, cuter siblings during family vacations there (first Maggie, then Pupert is given the "Favorite Hat" to signify their status above him). He never even fights this until Maggie starts receiving the same treatment, and he helps her rebel. Even then, Maggie takes all the credit for their scheme in order to shove him back into the background. At least he's still a Big Shot on Campus.
• Wax On, Wax Off: How most of "Training Day" plays out.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Stickyfeet is located in a city dump somewhere in North America.
• White Gloves: All the characters wear these a la Mickey Mouse.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: This always happens to Maggie when she is about to achieve her lifelong goal to be a rock star.
• Yellow Sash of Power: Seen when Pupert becomes a hall monitor in "Pieface."

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