The Fancy Nancy TV series is an computer animated cartoon that appears on Disney Junior and Disney Plus. She’s fancy. Her name is Nancy. What else do you need to know? A lot actually.
What's in this review
What is the Fancy Nancy TV series?
Fancy Nancy TV series (That’s fancy for Fancy Nancy TV show) takes the popular children’s book and brings it to the small screen in what is bound to grate on your ever loving nerves. To put it in two words: ça craint! (That’s French for, “It sucks!”)
If you’ve read the books (which I haven’t), you’ll probably instantly recognize the generic (That’s fancy for bland) computer generated Nancy Clancy with her crazy red hair, outlandish outfits, and pompous demeanor (That’s fancy for she’s a know it all freak with red hair that no one actually likes).
The Fancy Nancy show generally shows a whining, complaining, and screaming little girl act terribly. There is typically a half-ass moral thrown in at the end that screams an intern writing wrote it between coffee runs for senior staff.
What’s the story?
The Fancy Nancy TV series follows the adventures – I use that word very loosely here – of Nancy Clancy of Plainfield, Ohio. There really isn’t any over-arching plot between episodes. Instead, you get treated to another day in the life of Nancy where she:
- utters random “big” words or French phrases and then quips “That’s [fancy or French] for [whatever the hell she just said]!”
- whines, cries, pouts, or otherwise engages in obnoxious behaviors before learning some lesson at the end, which she clearly doesn’t actually learn because every damn episode she continues to whine, cry, pout, and so on
- swoons over anything fancy or French
Talk to your kids about
Valid sites, like Common Sense Media, would have you talk to your kids about things like importance of self-expression, how you should respect other people’s values even if they are different than yours, and have you seen other book characters brought to life.
While this may be all well and good, you may find it more useful to discuss:
- How their taste in TV shows is absolutely abysmal. I mean seriously, what self-respecting child actually likes this dribble? Make sure to really hammer home that there are so many better things to occupy their time with.
- Be sure to talk to them about Gingervitis. It is a serious condition that, while scary, can’t hurt them through the TV (I think). And while Fancy Nancy suffers from Gingervitis, she can’t, in fact, steal their soul through the TV… again, I think… but why take the risk? For more information on this serious condition, please check out this helpful resource or check out how Peter Pan and Wendy dealt with the same issue.
- Ask them if they know what condescending is? That’s fancy for speaking down to others. See if they can identify how Fancy Nancy is constantly condescendingly saying some 3-5 letter word is “fancy” for something else. Or she throws in random French quotes. You’re not smart Nancy, shut up and sit down.
Fancy Nancy TV Series Diversity
Not to be out done on yet another area of reviewing for parents, Common Sense Media does not actually contain anything about diversity on Fancy Nancy TV series. Let’s ponder why for a second.
The Fancy Nancy TV series is about as “diverse” as a royal family’s gene pool. Nancy has a person of color best friend, named Bree James.
This aspect of the Fancy Nancy show reminds me of 90s cartoons and shows with the one token black friend.
To be fair, they do include an Autistic child, Sean. Of course, they made it a plot point that Fancy Ass Nancy misunderstands her friend Lionel, believing she will meet his “artistic” friend. That’s fancy for creative.
Needless to say, diversity is not exactly strong with this show.
Frequently asked questions about Fancy Nancy
People ask them, maybe not you, but that does not mean I won’t add in some questions others have about the Fancy Nancy TV series.
Who has autism in Fancy Nancy?
Though I answered this above, for lazy people only looking at headings and not bothering to read the rest of my smut, here you go. Fancy Nancy contains a single Autistic character named Sean. This is Lionel’s cousin, who “sees the world in a whole different way.”
While Fancy Nancy lacks in other forms of diversity, the inclusion of an Autistic character is an important one. Feedback on him indicates that he is well received and helps some fans connect with a character like them.
How old are the characters in Fancy Nancy?
The characters in the Fancy Nancy TV series are about 6 years old. Some are younger, some are older. Obviously the adults are not 6, and her younger siblings are not 6. But yeah, Fancy Nancy may appeal to a younger audience of preschool and maybe kindergarten aged children.
Are Fancy Nancy and Nancy Clancy the same?
Fancy Nancy’s full name is Nancy Clancy. As far as the television series is concerned, they are the same person, but apparently there is a new series of books called Nancy Clancy that is supposed to be a detective oriented series.
Where can I watch Fancy Nancy?
If you are so inclined, you can watch Fancy Nancy on Disney Junior or Disney Plus. I don’t know or care enough to figure out the schedule, so if you really want to find it on Disney Junior, good luck.
Other Disney Plus reviews
If you want to read about other Disney Plus or Disney Junior titles, check out these other “reviews:”
- Mickey and Roadster Racers
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
- Bluey
- Guide to Bluey Characters
- Mickey Mouse Funhouse
Fancy Nancy TV Series Parent Review
Name: Fancy Nancy
Description: Fancy Nancy is an adaptation of the popular book series of the same title. It features a pretentious girl named Nancy Clancy as she navigates the world of faux fashion in an attempt to be a faux fashionista.
Author: Nathan
Overall
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Plot
(0.5)
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Characters
(0.5)
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Watchability
(0.5)
User Review
( vote)Dad's Take
No, just no. The Fancy Nancy TV series is not worth the 22 minute run time.
Fancy Nancy is nothing if she is not:
- pretentious (that’s fancy for flashy or tasteless)
- whiny
- privileged (that’s fancy for entitled)
- obnoxious (that’s fancy for unpleasant)
If you’ve never watched the Fancy Nancy TV series, first, you’re blessed. Second, you may not realize that she will break the 4th wall every few minutes to tell you that some word or another is “fancy” or “French” for something. I guess it’s meant to stress vocabulary, but my god it gets tiresome.
It’s actually hard to think of many redeeming qualities about the Fancy Nancy TV series in this review. She is generally not likeable. She doesn’t seem to learn any of the lessons that get weakly presented at the end.
Probably the only redeeming concept is the inclusion of an Autistic peer. In, as far as I know, one episode. It is an interestingly underrepresented population in TV, movies, and such considering the number of people on the spectrum.
But alas (that’s fancy for unfortunately) it is a very, very small redeeming factor for the show in general. Otherwise, I award it no points, and we are all dumber for watching such dribble. May God have mercy on the show creators’ souls.
Pros
you learn all kinds of 3rd grade level words and what they are “fancy” for
each segment is about 11 minutes long, which means the suffering has a brief break
Cons
she’s obnoxious
no value is added to the arts, entertainment, education, or any other pursuit
