Mrs. Munger's Class

Mrs. Munger's Class was two seasons of brief, 90-second skits on Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC that featured the talking heads of a middle school yearbook page. The kids in the photos would often exchange silly dialogue and insults, while Mrs. Munger would tell them to "Simmer down! Simmer! Simmer!" The camera would focus on whoever was speaking on one part of the yearbook page and quickly pan to follow the dialogue. Students would move between the pictures to interact with one another. The show was in black and white, but color was used on occasion (on field trips or to show cosmetics).

Technical details

Directed by animator Tim Maloney, and produced by Disney for ABC's "One Saturday Morning" children's television programming, the skits used Adobe After Effects and Photoshop computer software to manipulate photographs from a school yearbook. With the aid of computer animation that superimposed facial expressions, the photographs would appear to move their lips as the characters spoke dialogue. The skits ran for 18 months during the 1997-98 season, and during the fall of 1998, until a class action lawsuit was brought against Disney over the use of actual school portraits used to create the characters.

Controversy

Although the school portraits used in the show were manipulated, collaged, and otherwise altered, the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit felt that there was still too much resemblance. As such, the plaintiffs claimed the photographs were used for entertainment without personality rights clearance. Mrs. Munger turned out to be Mrs. Kathleen Foresman, who had been a teacher at Woodbridge Middle School in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Woodbridge, Virginia, in 1975 when her picture and those of her 6th grade students were taken for a page in a yearbook. She, and four of her former students, filed suit against Disney on December 23, 1998.^[1] Edward Jackson, a computer engineer in San Diego, had learned that his likeness was being used after his 10 year old niece brought the similarity to his attention. Jackson, an African-American, was outraged not only at the use of his photo, but at the "Buckwheat" like speech pattern of the character.^[2] The lawsuit was settled for undisclosed damages.

Adult Characters

• Mrs. Munger- The teacher. She regularly urges the class to "simmer" when things get out of hand. Although often expressing frustration toward the class, she generally manages to take things in stride.
• Susan- The field hockey coach. Appears as a substitute teacher in one episode and attempts to teach fire safety in another.
• Sven- A somewhat effeminate man with an European accent. He gives Mrs. Munger a makeover in one episode.

Students

• Lance- Speaks only in Pig Latin. Apart from Cissy tattling, no one acknowledges this.
• Gordon- Gordon generally makes sarcastic remarks. He finishes his quotes with "ole!"
• Karyn- She's obsessed with death.
• Artie- A New Jersey kid. Most of his statements are very simple, or even unrelated to the topic at hand. When asked to interpret an art piece, for example, he responds with "I'm hungry and my feet hurt".
• Dawn- The class kiss-up, who reveals that she is overcompensating for her parents that travel a lot. She often refers to her fellow students as "the children".
• Cissy- The tattletale. In field trip episodes, she often wears her girl scout uniform, numbered "666".
• Yvonne- A young lady whose lines are all about suffrage, oppression, or other social issues.
• Grace- She is the figurative punching bag of the class. She generally says "Cut it out!"
• Theodore- The indecisive one. Stutters every sentence and always answers randomly. Described by Gordon as the "nitwit".
• Rock- The class nerd. He doesn't talk until late season 1, but only in object–subject–verb-style (Yoda speak). Rock is friends with Lance.
• Amanda- She likes to sing and say poetry. Most of her lines are sung.
• Phoebe- Prone to random outbursts, stares the rest of the time. She brings her mom's cosmetics to school in several Season 2 episodes.
• George and George- The trouble-makers who are just two kids named George who look alike. When people called them twins, they always say, "We're not twins!"
• Mahoot- He always says "What" or stares blankly. In 'Good Will Mahoot', he said an actual sentence, followed by "What" when a stunned Mrs. Munger asks him to repeat himself. In "Simmer Minute", the thoughts inside his head are radio interference noises.
• Darryl- Mahoot's cousin, whom appeared only once in "Mahoot's Cousin," who also says "What?" and is even dumber and weirder than Mahoot.
• Farquhar- A foreign exchange student from Sri Lanka. Ironically, he speaks in a blatantly stereotypical American dialect. Only seen in one episode.

Episodes

Season 1

• Word Problem (09/13/1997)
• Origami (09/20/1997)
• Math, Sarcasm, and Paper (09/27/1997)
• The Curve (10/04/1997)
• En Espagnol (10/11/1997)
• Field Trip (10/18/1997)
• Halloween (10/25/1997)
• Permission Slips (11/01/1997)
• The Zoo (11/08/1997)
• Substitute Teacher (11/15/1997)
• Thanksgiving (11/22/1997)
• Rock's Song (11/29/1997)
• Oral Reports (12/06/1997)
• Spelling Bee (12/13/1997)
• Christmas (12/20/1997)
• Seeing Things (01/03/1998)
• The Pits (01/17/1998)
• Calisthenics (01/31/1998)
• President's Day (02/14/1998)
• Seating Chart (02/21/1998)
• Film Strip (02/28/1998)
• Mahoot's Cousin (03/07/1998)

Season 2

• Chemical Reaction (09/12/1998)
• Wild Blue Yonder (09/19/1998)
• Exchange Student (09/26/1998)
• Career Day (10/03/1998)
• Creative Movement (10/03/1998)
• Art Museum (10/10/1998)
• Fire Drill (10/17/1998)
• Aquarium (10/24/1998)
• Bake Sale (10/31/1998)
• Class Computer (10/31/1998)
• Class Pet (11/07/1998)
• Make-Over (11/14/1998)
• Tallest Building (11/21/1998)
• Simmer Minute (11/28/1998)
• Gerald the Girbil (11/28/1998)
• Onomatopoeia (12/05/1998)
• Good Will Mahoot (12/12/1998)
• Girls' Room (12/19/1998)
• First Snow (12/19/1998)

Centerville

After Mrs. Munger's Class ended its run, Centerville aired, based upon the same student-photo premise.

Centerville Adults

• Murph- The lunchlady. She gets annoyed by students not moving, so she generally says "Move it along!"
• Brad- A high school student who works at Taco Freeze. He is also the guitar player for his garage rock band.
• Mitch- The bus driver. He's always in a bad mood and generally says "In your seats!"

Centerville Students

• Boyd- Boyd generally makes sarcastic remarks. He's also the drummer of Brad's garage rock band.
• Doight- He always brings stuff he thinks are interesting, much to Boyd's annoyance.
• Fran- She always talk about feeling sick. She also plays clarinet in Brad's garage rock band.
• Lily- A student with a lisp. She also thinks bus rides are boring.
• Seth- A student who's annoying and rude. He annoys Brad and is rude to Sigourney.
• Sigourney- The valley girl. She's also the singer of Brad's garage rock band.

Centerville Episodes

• Cafeteria 1 (09/11/1999)
• Cafeteria 2 (09/18/1999)
• Taco Freeze 1 (09/25/1999)
• The Bus 1 (10/02/1999)
• Lockers (10/02/1999)
• Cafeteria 3 (10/09/1999)
• The Bus 2 (10/16/1999)
• Taco Freeze 2 (10/23/1999)
• Buth Thtop (10/30/1999)
• The Bus 3 (10/30/1999)
• Taco Freeze 3 (11/06/1999)
• Urp (11/13/1999)
• Sick of Science (11/20/1999)
• Garage Band 1 (11/27/1999)
• Garage Band 2 (11/27/1999)
• Garage Band 3 (12/04/1999)
• Lost Rock (Garage Band 4) (12/11/1999)
• Election Bus (12/18/1999)
• Holiday Grub (12/25/1999)

References

1. ^ "Disney sued for using photos without permission," Syracuse Post-Standard, December 26, 1998, p A-5
2. ^ "Defamation suit filed," The Stars and Stripes, December 27, 1998, p13