Word girl grown up

This article is about the character. For other uses, see WordGirl (disambiguation).

WordGirl is the titular main protagonist of the show of the same name. Her secret identity is mild-mannered 5th grader Becky Botsford, but whenever evil arises, she instantly becomes WordGirl by placing her hand to her chest and exclaiming, «Word up!».

Her trademark insignia consists of a red star imposed on a golden shield. She appears to have a fondness for maroon, as both her WordGirl and Becky designs wear it. 

WordGirl is extremely popular in Fair City, which she protects, and there has been more merchandising and honoring of the heroine. She has even received many (over 200) keys to the city.

Background

WordGirl was born on the planet Lexicon, and as an toddler accidentally wandered onto a spaceship, which was piloted by Captain Huggyface. While he was driving the spaceship, WordGirl woke and startled him, making them collide into an asteroid and forcing him to crash land on Earth in order to save the both of them. However, neither of them have tried to return to Lexicon since.

WordGirl was then adopted by Tim and Sally Botsford, who at that point had not having children of their own (though later they had their own boy, T.J. Botsford, who would be her sibling), and she was given the name «Becky.» Captain Huggyface was also «adopted» as a pet and given the name «Bob.» The downed spaceship remained in the same spot and would then be used as WordGirl’s secret hideout.

She grew up in real life, though she displayed her enthusiastic intelligence at an early age — she was found on the Botsford’s doorstep as a toddler reading their newspaper (even though in one flashback, she was found in the woods). Sooner or later, she took up the identity of WordGirl. She has a handful of meanings on her dictionary memorized and is able to define any given word at a moment’s notice.

Physical Appearance

WordGirl has a shoulder-length straight dark brown hair is styled into a classic flip. She has light brown skin and her face is circular. She, like everyone else in the show (with the exception of Dr. Two-Brains), does not have a specific eye color, except for times that she’s under mind control (e.g., in the episode «The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour»).

In her usual attire, she wears a cream-colored shirt under a V-neck green sweater with a maroon skirt and a matching headband. She wears cream-colored knee socks with black and white saddle shoes. In her superhero attire, she wears her powerful suit, with her red star embellished on a golden shield on her chest. She has a golden cape, a 2-way communication belt, dark red boots and gloves.

Secret identity

WordGirl finds it hard to keep her identities separate, often making slips, but thankfully no one notices. In truth, she does a very bit to disguise her true identity. Her helmet does absolutely nothing to hide her face or her distinctive hairstyle, and Becky is the only other person in town shown with a monkey sidekick. The fact that it’s made so obvious to the viewing audience usually adds to the comic element of the series.

Only a few times have people guessed or discovered her secret. Each time, however, she manages to put them off the truth. One of the most serious times her secret has been exposed is in the episode «Two-Brains Forgets», when Dr. Two-Brains overhears a conversation between Becky and Bob regarding new WordGirl and Huggy costumes. Through a fortunate turn of events, his memory of this event is later erased. In «WordGirl Makes a Mistake», Becky confesses to being WordGirl to her father and brother (in spite of Bob’s protests) after feeling that she has hidden it from them for too long… but neither of them believe her. Tobey also guesses that Becky is WordGirl due to her possessing the remote to his robots, but she convinces him otherwise by the means of a clever plan between her and Huggyface.  Those who do learn the truth about Becky/WordGirl are:

• Violet’s cat Priscilla watches Becky transform into WordGirl in «Tobey’s Tricks and Treats».  However, since she’s a cat, this does not present any real threat to WordGirl’s secret.
• The mailman is able to witness Becky’s super-strength in «Earth Day Girl» when he delivers an absurdly large package to her door, and even sees her flying around in excitement when he walks past the window.  However, he dismisses it saying, «I’m just a letter carrier, so I won’t give it another thought.»
• Becky’s grandfather Bampy realizes she’s really WordGirl in the episode «Bampy Battles Bots». He reveals this to her at the end of the episode, telling her that her secret was safe with him.
• Scoops finds out her secret identity in «Invasion of The Bunny Lovers». Although referring to this discovery as «the scoop of the century,» in the end he decides it is best to keep it a secret.
• Rose uses investigative reporting to figure out who she is in «News Girl». Scoop persuades her not to reveal WordGirl’s secret identity.
• Kid Math found out Becky’s identity in the eponymous episode. When Becky asked him how he found out, Kid Math(Rex) said “Are you serious?”, which means that it was obvious to him.
• Violet finally learns that her best friend Becky is WordGirl in «Rhyme and Reason (episode)».

Powers and Abilities

• Supernatural Intellect: Despite her young age, Becky possess a vast intellect, as she outsmarts others with genius intellect, has knowledge in robotics, as well as a comprehensive Vocabulary as she has a handful of meanings on her dictionary memorized and is able to define any given word at a moment’s notice. She knows most hieroglyphics as well.
• Lexiconian Physiology: Usually, like all Lexiconians, Becky is able to perform different inhuman feats.
  • Super-Hearing: WordGirl often hears alarms or screaming people from across the city because her hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, she can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
  • Enhanced Vision: WordGirl’s vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
  • Flight: WordGirl is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
  • Supernatural Speed: WordGirl can fly at supersonic speeds, She commonly uses her speed to appear and disappear faster than people can notice, as well as to somehow change in or out of her suit in seconds. She also has the ability of speed reading.
    • Supernatural Reflexes: WordGirl’s reflexes are so fast, she can respond to attacks within seconds.
  • Supernatural Strength: WordGirl’s strength is enhanced while not limitless, the extent of her super strength is undetermined; making her among the strongest terrestrial beings, allowing her lift or press objects or structures that are larger than herself, such as planes or ships.
  • Cold Breath: WordGirl is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from her lungs. She can chill the air as it leaves her lungs to freeze targets. She can also rewind the process to pull larger volumes of air or vapor into her lungs.
  • Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of her dense molecular structure and fully charged bio-electric aura, WordGirl is high-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. Although she can still catch colds and hiccups.
  • Supersonic Scream: WordGirl can unleash a highly destructive stream of ecto-energy from her vocal cords and mouth. 
  • Oxygen Independency: As Lexiconians, both WordGirl and Huggy do not need oxygen to breathe in space or underwater.
  • Fourth-Wall Knowledge: She knows that she and her world is fictional, can communicate with the invisible narrator to see what happens next, track down villains, or usually talk to him, and at end of the story/episode she poses in mid-flight and even looks/waves in our direction. 

Weaknesses

• Her powers are disrupted by Lexonite, a substance from her home planet Lexicon. In the episode «WordGirl Makes a Mistake», it makes her weak and disrupts her ability to define words correctly. In the episode «Gift Pony», it not only saps her power but she has an allergic reaction to it.
• Her love of Pretty Princess can be considered a weakness for her, since it takes away her focus from crime fighting on certain occasions, such as in the episode «Showdown at the Secret Spaceship Hideout». It can be said that also allows her to be hypnotized by Mr. Big in the episode «The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour».
• She’s suspicious to almost everything. This is revealed when she sees Mr. Big’s yo-yos and Tiny Big performing, she believes that she knows better and is more smart than most people in Fair City. Same thing occurs when Mr Big runs for Mayor, she is the only one who can see through him.
• Even though she can very smart and a really good problem solver, she can be tricked or one-upped by villains like Granny May or Mr. Big.
• One of her weaknesses is that she cannot take any action if she can’t prove a villain’s wrong-doing. This is a constant problem but she manages to prove it in the end.
• Her Weakness is Juggling through family and crime-fighting life. Crime happens randomly causing her to omit her family and friends to stop that particular crime for some reasons while leading into conflict with her family life and most likely her time alone.
• Even though she has high level of stamina, she can be exhausted out and also exhausted/stopped by hot temperatures
• When first meeting Reginald, after getting Huggy to kiss him, she wants to prove to the high society and elderly rich people, including Reginald, to reveal that she knows better and is smarter than them when, in reality, she should have been polite to Reginald.

Age

• She states that her age is 10 and a half when interviewed by PBS reporter Jim Lehrer which occurred prior to August 2007. It aired when WordGirl was only in a series of shorts, and prior to the main TV series. This means that in real-life time, many of the events of the first season are actually flashbacks which would have occurred during 2006 and aired a year later.
• She celebrates her birthday in the episode «Becky’s Birthday» (which aired September 2007). The cake in this episode has no candles on it, and her age is never mentioned.
• In the episode «Department Store Tobey» WordGirl lets slip that Becky is 10. This would mean she’s 9 prior to the events of 4b.
• In the episode «Great Granny May» she explains Granny May’s mother that she‘s 10 and a half.
• She reveals having already turned 10½ in «Slumber Party Pooper».
• She celebrates another birthday in the season three episode, «A World Without WordGirl» (which aired December 2011). The cake in this episode has 11 candles, and occurs after episode 11, making her 11 years old past this point. This does not appear in the series, but a year later, she turns 12.

Becky Botsford

As Becky Botsford, she attends Woodview Elementary and has a few friends. Her closest friends include Violet Heaslip and Todd «Scoops» Ming (whom she has a crush on). Akin to her relationship with her as WordGirl, Becky finds a rival in Tobey McCallister III , who tries to outdo her (as well as everyone else) constantly in events such as Field Day or elections. In season three, her newest rival is Victoria Best, a girl who is «the best at everything she does» according to her parents. Becky’s intelligence is astonishing for a ten-and-a-half year-old girl, but her skills do not go into every field. While she has an excellent vocabulary, is well-read, and enjoys geography, she’s a poor artist, can’t dance and can’t sing. She also isn’t very good at charades (see the episode «Meat with a Side of Cute» for reference). She’s a huge fan of «The Pretty Princess and Magic Pony Power Hour» TV show as well as the Princess Triana books, even dressing up as the Pretty Princess for Halloween in the episode «Tobey’s Tricks and Treats».

Becky also has a great love for unicorns and has a big collection of them in her room. One of these, named Angelface, gets broken a number of times throughout the series, much to her anger.

Gallery

Click to see the full gallery.

Trivia

• On the official WordGirl website, it used to state on WordGirl’s profile that when she was an infant, she was found on the Botsford’s front steps reading their newspaper. However, in the episode «WordGirl Makes a Mistake», while telling Mr. Botsford and TJ she’s WordGirl, she says the Botsfords found her in the woods with Huggy.
• By age 2 she was completing crossword puzzles.
• In addition to the English dictionary, she knows most hieroglyphics as well.
• The official Soup2Nuts website states^[1] It states WordGirl to be nine years old, rather than ten. This was originally correct for the shorts and episodes 1-4a, however she is 10 for most of the series and recently turned 11.
• WordGirl is said to be an affectionate parody of Superman, due to them both having similar powers, coming to Earth as infants, and being vulnerable to radioactive fragments from their home world.

References

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WordGirl
Title card
Also known as	The Amazing Colossal Adventures of WordGirl
Created by	Dorothea Gillim
Developed by	Dorothea Gillim Jack D. Ferraiolo
Directed by	David SanAngelo Steve Young
Voices of	Dannah Phirman Feinglass Tom Kenny Maria Bamford Cree Summer Patton Oswalt Fred Stoller H. Jon Benjamin Larry Murphy James Adomian Grey DeLisle Jeffrey Tambor John C. McGinley
Narrated by	Chris Parnell Rodger Parsons (interstitials)
Theme music composer	Steve D’Angelo Terry Tompkins
Opening theme	«Word Up, It’s WordGirl!»
Ending theme	«Word Up, It’s WordGirl!» (instrumental)
Composer	Eggplant Productions Inc.
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	130 (250 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Dorothea Gillim (2007–09/Seasons 1–2) Deborah Forte (2009–15/Seasons 2–8)
Producers	Will Shepard (2007–09/season 1) Danielle Gillis (2009–15/seasons 2–8)
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Soup2Nuts Scholastic Entertainment
Release
Original network	PBS Kids Go! (2007–13) PBS Kids (2013–15) (PBS)
Picture format	NTSC (season 1) HDTV 1080i (seasons 2–8)
Original release	Shorts: November 10, 2006 – early 2007 Full series: September 3, 2007 – August 7, 2015
Related
Maya & Miguel Time Warp Trio

WordGirl (stylized as W✪RD GIRL) is an American preschool children’s Flash animated superhero television series produced by the Soup2Nuts animation unit of Scholastic Entertainment for PBS Kids.^[1] The series began as a series of shorts entitled The Amazing Colossal Adventures of WordGirl that premiered on PBS Kids Go! on November 10, 2006, usually shown at the end of Maya & Miguel; the segment was then spun off into a new thirty-minute episodic series that premiered on September 3, 2007 on most PBS member stations. The series of shorts consisted of thirty episodes, with 130 episodes in the full half-hour series.

WordGirl creator Dorothea Gillim felt that most children’s animation «underestimated [children’s] sense of humor» and hoped to create a more intellectual show for young audiences.^[2]

By June 2014, many PBS stations had stopped airing WordGirl, opting to air more popular series throughout the summer.^[3][4] However, new episodes continued to air on select stations, with streaming options on the PBS Kids website and video app. The series ended^[5] with the two-part episode «Rhyme and Reason», which was released on August 7, 2015.^[6][7]

The show was created for children ages 4–9.^[8] By 2022, the show had gained a cult following through social media.^[2]

Background[edit]

WordGirl began in 2006 as a series of shorts airing immediately after Maya & Miguel, becoming an independent show in September 2007.^[8]

The show’s creator, Dorothea Gillim, believes that children’s shows often underestimate children’s intelligence:

Part of my mission is to make kids’ television smart and funny. I feel as though we’ve lost some ground there, in an effort to make it more accessible. WordGirl’s focus is on great stories, characters, and animation. If all those elements are working, then you can hook a child who may come looking for laughs but leave a little smarter.^[9][10]

Gillim says she created the show, in part, with the idea that parents would watch the show with their children to support their learning.^[8]

Each eleven-minute segment in each episode (except for the first three episodes) begins with verbal instructions to listen for two words that will be used throughout the plot of that episode. The words (examples include “diversion,” “cumbersome,” and “idolize”) are chosen according to academic guidelines. The reasoning is that children can understand words like “cumbersome” when told that it means “big and heavy and awkward.”^[9]

PBS NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer agreed to do a mock interview with WordGirl. Jack D. Ferraiolo, who developed the series with Gillim and served as the series’ head writer in Season One, received an Emmy for his work on WordGirl.^[11]

Rather than hiring writers experienced with children’s television, the show’s original writers’ previous credits included The Onion and Family Guy. Narrator Chris Parnell had previously worked on Saturday Night Live.^[8]

Synopsis[edit]

The series follows WordGirl, a girl with superpowers whose secret identity is Becky Botsford, a student. WordGirl was born on the fictional planet Lexicon (also a term referring to the vocabulary of a language or to a dictionary) but was sent away after sneaking onto a spaceship and sleeping there. Captain Huggy Face, a chimpanzee who was a pilot in the Lexicon Air Force, piloted the ship, but lost control when WordGirl awoke, and crash-landed on Earth (more specifically in Fair City), a planet that affords WordGirl her superpowers, including flight and super strength. WordGirl utilizes these powers to save her adoptive home, using her downed spacecraft as a secret base of operations.^{[citation needed]}

WordGirl was adopted and provided an alter ego by Tim and Sally Botsford, who gave her the name Becky. While in her alter ego, she has a younger brother, TJ, obsessed with WordGirl, but still unknowingly a typical sibling rival to Becky. The Botsford family keeps Captain Huggy Face as a pet, naming him Bob. Becky attends Woodview Elementary School, where she is close friends with Violet Heaslip and the school newspaper reporter Todd “Scoops” Ming.^{[citation needed]}

WordGirl tries to balance her superhero activities with her «normal» life. She battles against an assortment of villains that include but are not limited to The Butcher, Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy, Dr. Two-Brains, Granny May, Mr. Big, Tobey McCalister III, Amazing Rope Guy and Whammer. The villains are all prone to malapropisms. At the same time, she must worry about maintaining her second life as Becky, keeping people from discovering the truth and living normal family situations.^{[citation needed]}

Format[edit]

Often, short animated segments are shown in between and at the end of episodes. «What’s Your Favorite Word?», ostensibly hosted by Todd «Scoops» Ming, is a short jingle and a series of vox populi interviews asking random children what their favorite words are and why. A short game show segment called «May I Have a Word?» (stylized as MAYIHAVEAWORD in the text bubble on Beau Handsome’s wall) airs following each eleven-minute segment. This segment features the game show host, Beau Handsome, asking three contestants the definition of a particular word. The segment was created by Kelly Miyahara, Barry Sonnenfeld, and Ryan Raddatz.

Yet another segment features the interstitials announcer (Rodger Parsons) asking Captain Huggy Face for a visual demonstration of a certain word (such as «strenuous» or «flummoxed»). When Captain Huggy Face correctly demonstrates the meaning of the word, a definition is given, followed by a victory dance by the chimpanzee sidekick.

During the four-part episode, «The Rise of Miss Power», a four-segment «Pretty Princess Power Hour» sketch is shown between acts, filling in for the average two-segment «May I Have a Word?» sketch, presumably to fill the double-length (52 minutes) time slot.

Companion website[edit]

The companion site to WordGirl lives on PBS Kids, and was built by interactive firm Big Bad Tomato. It contains vocabulary-building games, a section where children can submit their favorite word, a video page with clips from the show (only available in the US due to legal reasons), a «Heroes and Villains» section with character biographies and activities, and a PBS Parents section with episode guides, lessons, a site map, and more activities to play at home. As of April 2022, the website is still active.^[12]

Voice cast[edit]

Comics[edit]

A series of WordGirl comics were also released by Boom! Studios new KaBOOM! line. The names of the volumes and the stories within them are:

• Coalition of Malice^[13]
  1. Coalition of Malice —
  2. Super Fans —
• Incredible Shrinking Allowance^[14]
  1. The Incredible Shrinking Allowance —
  2. Fondue, Fondon’t —
• Word Up!^[15]
  1. The Ham Van Makes the Man —
  2. Think Big —
• Fashion Disaster^[16]
  1. Fashion Disaster —
  2. Fort Wham-Ground —

Series overview[edit]

Awards[edit]

The show has received seven Daytime Emmy nominations, winning four for «Outstanding Writing in Animation» in 2008, 2012–2013 and Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program in 2015.^[2]

2008:

• 2008 Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming, awarded July 19^[17]
• 2008 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in Animation

2009:

• Learning Magazine 2009 Teacher’s Choice Award for Families
• 2009 iParenting Media Award
• Featured at the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival 2009
• NY Festivals’ 2009 TV Programming and Promotions award

2012:

• 2012 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in Animation

2013:

• 2013 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in Animation

2015:

• 2015: Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program

Reception and legacy[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2022)

The series was positively received. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media described the series as having a «brainy heroine [who] uses vocab to outwit bad guys.» She also called it an «entertaining animated series» with some cartoon violence and said that it is an «excellent…choice for young grade-schoolers.»^[18]

In 2022, Collider attested that the «non-white, little girl superhero» protagonist of WordGirl began a superhero trend. The article attests that the generation who grew up watching WordGirl later demanded new and diverse Marvel heroes, such as Captain Marvel.^[2]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• WordGirl at Super3
• WordGirl at IMDb

взрослый, взрослый человек, возмужалый, возмужавший, взрослый

существительное ↓

прилагательное ↓

Словосочетания

custom has grown up — установился обычай; возник обычай  
grown-up fish — половозрелая рыба  
grown-up — взрослый  
be grown up — возмужать  

Примеры с переводом

Примеры, ожидающие перевода