The Most Popular Girls in School

The Most Popular Girls in School (abbreviated MPGIS) is an American adult stop-motion animated comedy web series that debuted on YouTube on May 1, 2012. Created by Mark Cope and Carlo Moss, the series animates Barbie, Ken and other fashion dolls, usually with customized costumes and hairstyles, as various characters. MPGIS follows the exploits of a fictional high school cheer leading team in Overland Park, Kansas and their friends, family and enemies. Variety described the series as "Mean Girls meets South Park".[1] The first episode has been viewed over nine million times,[2] and many episodes have received views in the millions.

The Most Popular Girls in School
Cast of MPGIS (Clockwise from upper left: Cameron, Shay, Jenna, Rachel, Deandra, Brittnay, Mackenzie and Trisha)
Genre	Animation Comedy Stop-motion
Created by	Mark Cope Carlo Moss
Starring	Kate Frisbee Lily Vonnegut Garrett Mendez Andrew Delman Carlo Moss Haley Mancini Afton Quast
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	82 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Mark Cope Carlo Moss Tiffany L. Gray Lily Vonnegut
Producer	Lily Vonnegut (seasons 1–4)
Production companies	Extra Credit Studios Universal Cable Productions (season 5)
Release
Original network	YouTube
Original release	May 1, 2012 – present
External links
Website

In April 2013, MPGIS parodied the viral email rant of Delta Gamma sorority member Rebecca Martinson by having the character Brittnay Matthews (voiced by Lily Vonnegut) reenact the so-called "Deranged Sorority Girl Email". The MPGIS video went viral itself.[3][4][5][6] On May 1, 2018, Extra Credit Studios announced a sixth season to be in development, as well as a Patreon to crowdfund MPGIS in addition to new spin-off shows The Most Popular Girls in Quarantine, Keeping Up With The Van Burens, and Models.[7][8]

Storyline

Domineering Head Cheerleader Mackenzie Zales and her absent-minded fellow cheerleader Trisha Cappelletti confront new Overland Park High School student Deandra when she attempts to use their restricted restroom. They broker an alliance just as Shay van Buren—the most popular girl in school outside of the cheer squad—and her sisters drag the cheerleaders into a bitter feud, hoping to finally crush Mackenzie's cheerleading reign.

Outside this drama, cheerleader Brittnay Matthews breaks up with her dimwitted second-string quarterback boyfriend Blaine, who immediately begins dating her nemesis, the annoyingly French exchange student Saison Marguerite. Brittnay is further infuriated by the Cheer Squad/Van Buren feud and the acceptance of new girl Deandra into the confidence of the squad.

Meanwhile, lonely lurker Jonathan Getslinhaumer tries to get the attention of the football team with his strange slang and empty threats, which mostly leaves them repulsed by his subconscious sexual innuendos. Finally, the unpopular and unattractive Rachel Tice, a childhood friend of Brittnay and Mackenzie who has since fallen out of favor, plots with her friend Judith to try to improve their social status. Rachel's moody sister Bridget occasionally makes an appearance to offer disdainful ridicule, and Lunch Lady Belinda cannot quite hide her crush on the dazzling Overland Park alumna Cameron Van Buren.

Later plot lines include the rivalry with cheerleaders from Atchison High School, a sabotaged prom and a carefully planned revenge plot against Mackenzie.

The first four seasons take place in the girls' junior year at Overland Park High School while the fifth season takes place during the summer between their junior and senior years of high school, with France being the primary location.[9] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Most Popular Girls in Quarantine is taking place over video calls while Overland Park is closed and Mackenzie attempts to get the school re-opened.

Cast

Main

Voice actor	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5
Carlo Moss	Deandra the New Girl	Main
	Rachel Tice	Main
	Blaine	Recurring	Main
Kate Frisbee	Mackenzie Zales	Main
	Ashley Katchadourian	Recurring				Guest
Lily Vonnegut	Brittnay Matthews	Main
	Judith Dinsmore	Recurring			Main
	Mikayla Van Buren	Recurring			Guest	Recurring
Garrett Mendez	Trisha Cappelletti	Main
Andrew Delman	Shay Van Buren	Main
	Saison Marguerite	Recurring		Main
Pete Capella	Tanner Christiansen	Main
Mark Cope	Jonathan "Than" Getslinhaumer	Main
Haley Mancini	Trisha 2		Recurring	Main
Afton Quast	Jenna Darabond	Mentioned	Guest	Main	Guest

Recurring

Voice actor	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5
Ray Hebel	Tristan McKie	Guest	Recurring			Guest
Dave Hill	Matthew Derringer	Recurring
	Amberlynn Weggers	Recurring	Guest	Recurring
Brian Konowal	Justin Michaelson	Recurring
Aaron Krebs	Cameron Van Buren	Recurring	Guest	Recurring	Guest	Recurring
	Oisin McGrann			Recurring
David Razowsky	Mrs. Van Buren	Guest		Recurring	Guest	Recurring
Bill Sindelar	Lunch Lady Belinda	Recurring	Guest	Recurring	Guest	Recurring
Christine Tarbet	Bridget Tice	Recurring	Guest	Recurring	Guest
Jessie Schneiderman	Jenna Dapananian		Recurring
	Chloe & Zoe					Recurring
Carla Henderson	Taylor McDevitt		Recurring
Grace Helbig (season 2) / Betsy Beutler (season 5)	Jeannie Halverstad		Recurring			Recurring
Lee Newton	Tanya Berkowitz		Recurring	Guest
	Katelynn Zales			Recurring	Guest
	Sofia					Recurring
Michelle Visage	Mrs. Zales			Recurring	Guest
Janel Benisch	Juliette Bonnet					Recurring

Episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	13		May 1, 2012	November 13, 2012
	2	17		March 5, 2013	July 23, 2013
	3	28		November 5, 2013	May 20, 2014
	4	12		January 6, 2015	March 31, 2015
	5	12		June 13, 2017	August 29, 2017

Production and broadcast

The Most Popular Girls in School animates Barbie, Ken and related Mattel fashion dolls,[3][4] generic fashion dolls and various branded dolls, usually with customized costumes and hairstyles, as various characters. Other dolls used include Disney's, Ariel, Belle, Merida and Mother Gothel,[10] Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games, Tyr Anasazi from Andromeda, and Oscar and Evanora from Oz the Great and Powerful. Guest voice talent has included Grace Helbig, Jason Earles, Lee Newton, Tyler Oakley, Michelle Visage, Kingsley, EpicLLOYD, Hannah Hart, and Mamrie Hart.

A March 2013 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign funded season 2 of the series,[11] a November 2013 Indiegogo campaign funded season 3,[12] and a November 2014 Indiegogo campaign funded season 4.[13]

MPGIS premiered on YouTube on May 1, 2012.[2] The fourth season concluded on May 31, 2015, and a fifth season was not announced until April 4, 2017.[14] A sixth season was announced at the end of the fifth-season finale episode on August 29, 2017.[15]

As of August 2017, the series' YouTube channel has over 900,000 subscribers and over 120 million views.[16] MPGIS has also produced spin-off shows The Trisha Show and Judy and Red, as well as bonus material like "Making of" and "Behind the Scenes" videos, viewer mail Q&A and "Extra Credit" (outtakes). On May 1, 2018, Extra Credit Studios opened a Patreon to crowdfund MPGIS in addition to new spin-off shows Keeping Up With The Van Burens and Models.[17]

Reception

Variety described the series as "Mean Girls meets South Park in this trash-talking, boundary-busting high-school-set Web series, acted out by stop-motion Barbie dolls."[1] The first episode has been viewed over 8.5 million times,[2] and most episodes have received views in the millions.

In April 2013, MPGIS parodied the viral email rant of Delta Gamma sorority member Rebecca Martinson by having the character Brittnay Matthews (voiced by Lily Vonnegut) reenact Martinson's so-called "Deranged Sorority Girl Email". The MPGIS video went viral itself.[3][4][5][6]

In January 2015, Variety reported that Charlize Theron's production company Denver and Delilah was developing a stop-motion animation series based on MPGIS with comic book writer Greg Rucka.[18]

In August 2015, MPGIS was nominated for a Streamy Award for Costume Design.[19][20]

See also

• Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

References

1. Saperstein, Pat (April 14, 2013). "Devour: Most Popular Girls in School, CBG19, The Beatles, Carol Burnett, More". Variety. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
2. "MPGIS – Episode 1: 'The New Girl'". TheMostPopularGirls. May 1, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2017 – via YouTube.
3. "Rebecca Martinson's Insane Sorority Email Gets Parodied By Barbie". The Huffington Post. April 22, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
4. O'Connor, Maureen (April 22, 2013). "Watch a Psycho Barbie Reenact That Sorority E-mail". New York. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
5. Weaver, Caity (April 18, 2013). "The Most Deranged Sorority Girl Email You Will Ever Read". Gawker. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
6. "Real-Life 'Mean Girl' Parodied on Web After Rant". Good Morning America. April 24, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
7. "The Next Chapter". Retrieved May 7, 2018 – via YouTube.
8. "Extra Credit Studios is creating The Most Popular Girls in School & More Stop-Motion Adventures". Retrieved May 7, 2018 – via Patreon.
9. "Where The F is MPGiS??!!". TheMostPopularGirls. August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2016 – via YouTube.
10. "Mother Gothel Classic Doll". Disney Store. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
11. "The Most Popular Girls in School Season 2". Kickstarter. March 4, 2013. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
12. "The Most Popular Girls in School Season 3". Indiegogo. November 15, 2013. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
13. "The Most Popular Girls in School Season 4". Indiegogo. November 19, 2014. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
14. "The Most Popular Girls in School Season 5 Teaser". TheMostPopularGirls. April 4, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017 – via YouTube.
15. "MPGIS – Episode 82: 'The Final Walk'". TheMostPopularGirls. August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017 – via YouTube.
16. "About The Most Popular Girls in School". TheMostPopularGirls. Retrieved February 17, 2016 – via YouTube.
17. "Extra Credit Studios is creating The Most Popular Girls in School & More Stop-Motion Adventures". Retrieved May 1, 2018 – via Patreon.
18. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (January 15, 2015). "Charlize Theron Inks First-Look Deal With Universal Cable Prods". Variety. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
19. Hurwitz, Daniel (August 13, 2015). "And the 2015 Streamy Awards nominees are ..." USA Today. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
20. "5th Annual Nominees". Streamy Awards. August 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015.

External links

• The Most Popular Girls in School's channel on YouTube
• The Most Popular Girls in School at IMDb