A.N.T. Farm
Created byDan Signer
Starring
Theme music composerToby Gad, Lindy Robbins, China Anne McClain, Lauryn McClain, and Sierra McClain
Opening theme"Exceptional", performed by China Anne McClain
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes43 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Dan Signer
  • Stephen Engel
Camera setupVideotape (filmized);
Multi-camera
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkDisney Channel
ReleaseMay 6, 2011 (2011-05-06) –
present

A.N.T. Farm is a Disney Channel sitcom which premiered on May 6, 2011 as a special preview and continued as a regular series on June 17, 2011.[1] The pilot episode, "TransplANTed" aired after the series finale of The Suite Life on Deck.[2] The series was created by Dan Signer, a former writer and co-executive producer of The Suite Life on Deck and creator of the Disney XD series Mr. Young. In mid-November 2010, Disney Channel green-lit the series,[3] with production beginning in early 2011.[4] The first promo was released during the premiere of Lemonade Mouth.

Taking place in San Francisco, the series stars China Anne McClain, Sierra McCormick and Jake Short are middle-schoolers in a gifted program at their local high school called the "Advanced Natural Talent" or "A.N.T." program.

On November 30, 2011, A.N.T. Farm was officially picked up for a second season, which premiered on June 1, 2012 with two back-to-back episodes.[5]

On October 2, 2012, A.N.T. Farm was officially renewed for a third season by Disney Channel.[6][7]

Plot

A.N.T. Farm revolves around Chyna Parks (China Anne McClain), a 13-year-old musical prodigy, who has just become the newest A.N.T. (Advanced Natural Talents) in the A.N.T. program at Webster High School in San Francisco, California. On her first day, she meets Olive Doyle (Sierra McCormick), an odd girl who has an eidetic memory, and Fletcher Quimby (Jake Short), an artistic genius (but otherwise quite dim) who falls deeply in love with her when they first meet. They soon become her best friends at the high school. They proceed to go on multiple adventures, using their talents to their advantage.

The school's "it" girl, Lexi Reed (Stefanie Scott), proceeds to bully Chyna, thinking of her as competition in being the star of the school. Chyna's bumbling older brother, Cameron (Carlon Jeffery), attempts to avoid Chyna in high school as much as he can, afraid she will be an embarrassment to him. Lexi's best friend Paisley, (Allie DeBerry) and Chyna, Olive, and Fletcher's friend Angus (Aedin Mincks) share a major-recurring role on the series.

Season 3 will take place at a boarding school instead of at Webster High School.[7]

Production

Development

Disney Channel announced on November 11, 2010 that they had green-lighted the show for production, which began in early 2011.[8] The show was first conceived when Dan Signer, creator of the show, saw China Anne McClain. "The girl had so much confidence. She can nail a joke. She can sing. She can play instruments. It's like China was some sort of child prodigy [...] And that's when it hit me: Why not build a show around a child prodigy? Someone who's got all of this natural talent & ability, but is still challenged when she's sent off to high school at the age of 11?" Signer said in an interview.[9] After the first few episodes of the show were shown, Disney Channel bumped up their order of episodes for the show from 13 episodes to 26 episodes for the first season.[9] On November 19, 2011, the series was renewed for a second season which would start filming in early December.[10]

Casting

Sierra McCormick was cast after an audition where she continually talked about tigers. Dan Signer stated "And as I heard her continually talking about tigers, I thought 'That's just how Olive would sound,' because Olive is a fast talking, intelligent student whose talent is memory. Which is how Sierra got that part."[9] Jake Short was the last of the three core characters to be cast.

Characters

Main characters

This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. Please clean it up to conform to a higher standard of quality, and to make it neutral in tone. (December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Lexi ReedOlive DoyleChyna ParksFletcher QuimbyCameron Parks
The main characters of A.N.T. Farm: (from left to right) Lexi Reed, Olive Doyle, Chyna Parks, Fletcher Quimby, and Cameron Parks. Can also use cursor to identify.

Recurring characters

Guest stars

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
125May 6, 2011 (2011-05-06)April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13)
220June 1, 2012 (2012-06-01)April 26, 2013 (2013-04-26)
317May 31, 2013 (2013-05-31)March 21, 2014 (2014-03-21)

Special episodes

Title Type Air date
"America Needs TalANT" Special episode November 25, 2011
"ChANTs of a Lifetime" Special episode November 23, 2012

Soundtrack

The A.N.T. Farm Soundtrack is a Disney Channel soundtrack from the TV series, A.N.T. Farm. It was released on October 11, 2011. In addition to songs by China Anne McClain and cast members Stefanie Scott and Carlon Jeffery, it features two songs by China and her sisters (The McClain Sisters) leading up to their debut album on Hollywood Records in 2012. The soundtrack has released 2 singles. The first single to be released was "Dynamite". The second single to be released was "Calling All the Monsters". The song was the first single to chart, peaking at number 86 on America and charting in 2 more countries. The third single to be released was "Unstoppable".

Release

Ratings

The sneak preview of the series garnered 4.4 million viewers on its premiere night, ranked as TV’s No. 1 Telecast in Total Day among Tweens 9-14 (441,000/1.8 rating) and was also TV’s No. 1 Telecast among Kids 6-11 (544,000/2.2 rating).[12] Its lead-in, the series finale of The Suite Life on Deck, received 4.6 million.[12]

The episode "The PhANTom Locker", is currently the most watched episode of the series, scoring 4.6 million viewers.[10] It did better than its lead-in Wizards of Waverly Place, which earned 4.1 million viewers.[10] The episode "detective agANTcy", is currently the least watched episode of the series, only scoring 2.2 million viewers.[13]

Awards

Year Award Cateogry Work Result
2011 J-14's Teen Icon Awards Icon To Tomorrow China Anne McClain - A.N.T. Farm Nominated
2012 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favorite TV Actor Jake Short Won
Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV series - Supporting Young Actress Stefanie Scott Won
Best Performance in a TV series - Guest Starring Young Actress Ten and Under Francesca Capaldi Nominated
Best Performance in a TV series - Recurring Young Actress 17-21 Allie DeBerry Nominated

International release

Country / Region Channel Series premiere Title in country
 United States Disney Channel USA May 6, 2011 (Sneak peek)
June 17, 2011 (Premiere)
A.N.T. Farm
 Canada Family May 23, 2011 (Sneak peek)
June 24, 2011 (Premiere)
 Australia Disney Channel Australia
Saturday Disney
August 15, 2011
May 19, 2012
 Argentina
 Bolivia
 Chile
 Colombia
 Ecuador
 Mexico
 Peru
 Uruguay
 Venezuela
 Panama
Disney Channel Latin America August 21, 2011 (Sneak peek)
September 16, 2011 (Premiere)
Programa de Talentos (Talents Program)
 Brazil Disney Channel Brazil
 France Disney Channel France October 5, 2011 Section Genius
 Quebec VRAK.TV August 29, 2012 Section Genius
 United Kingdom
 Ireland
Disney Channel UK and Ireland September 16, 2011 (Sneak peek)
October 7, 2011 (Premiere)
A.N.T. Farm
 Italy Disney Channel Italy October 7, 2011 A.N.T. Farm: Accademia Nuovi Talenti (A.N.T. Farm: New Talent Academy)
 Singapore Disney Channel Singapore A.N.T. Farm
Arab League Arab World Disney Channel Middle East November 19, 2011 النمل مزرعة
 Denmark
 Finland
 Norway
 Sweden
Disney Channel Scandinavia October 21, 2011 A.N.T.- Akselerert Naturlig Talent (Accelerated Natural Talent) (Norway)
A.N.T. - Accellereret Naturtalent (Accelerated Nature Talent) (Denmark)
A.N.T.- Avancerad Ny Talang (Advanced New Talent) (Sweden)
 Spain Disney Channel Spain November 11, 2011 A.N.T. Farm Escuela de Talentos (A.N.T Farm Talent School)
 Austria
 Germany
 Switzerland
Disney Channel Germany
Super RTL
November 17, 2011
March 17, 2012
A.N.T.: Achtung Natur-Talente (A.N.T.: Attention Natural Talents)
 Portugal Disney Channel Portugal November 25, 2011 A.N.T. Farm: Escola de Talentos (A.N.T Farm: Talent School)
 Bulgaria
 North Macedonia
Disney Channel Bulgaria December 10, 2011 Фермата Г.О.Т. (Farm G.O.T.)
 Cyprus
 Greece
Disney Channel Greece Παιδιά- τσακάλια (Kids- Geniuses)
 Czech Republic
 Slovakia
Disney Channel Czech Republic Farma R.A.K.(Farm R.A.C.)
 Hungary Disney Channel Hungary Zsenipalánták (Little Geniuses)
 Moldova
 Romania
Disney Channel Romania Bobocii isteti (Smart Kids)
 Poland Disney Channel Poland Nadzdolni (Over-talented)
 Turkey Disney Channel Turkey Yetenek Çiftliği (Talent Farm)
 Ukraine Disney Channel Ukraine Табiр О.С.А. (Camp B.E.E.)
 Netherlands
 Belgium
Disney Channel Netherlands and Flanders December 23, 2011 (Sneak peek)
January 13, 2012 (Premiere)
A.N.T. Farm
 Israel Disney Channel Israel January 26, 2012 החרשנים
 Japan Disney Channel Japan January 28, 2012 天才学級アント・ファーム (Genius Class A.N.T. Farm)
 Russia Disney Channel Russia March 3, 2012 Высший класс! (The Upper Class!)
 Taiwan Disney Channel Taiwan March 16, 2012 天才學園 (Genius School)
 South Korea Disney Channel Korea 2013 개미 농장 (Ant Farm)

References

  1. ^ Gorman, Bill (May 12, 2011). "A.N.T. Farm To Premiere June 17 On Disney Channel USA". TV by the numbers. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
  2. ^ "Disney Channel and Disney Junior May 2011 Program Highlights" (DOC). The Walt Disney Company. April 22, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  3. ^ Hibberd, James (November 11, 2010). "Disney Orders Live Action Comedy 'Ant Farm'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 13 November 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2010. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (November 11, 2010). "Disney Channel Picks Up Comedy 'A.N.T. Farm' To Series". Deadline.com. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  5. ^ "A.N.T. Farm Season 2 Final". Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  6. ^ Bibel, Sara. "'A.N.T. Farm' Renewed by Disney Channel for Third Season". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Weisman, Jon (October 2, 2012). "Disney Channel renews 'A.N.T. Farm'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012.
  8. ^ "Disney Channel Greenlights Live-Action Comedy Series "A.N.T. Farm"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  9. ^ a b c "Dan Signer talks about developing the Disney Channel's newest hit, "A.N.T. Farm"". Jim Hill Media. June 21, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  10. ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (June 27, 2011). "Friday Cable Ratings: TNT Movie, 'American Restoration' Lead Cable; 'Smackdown' Steady + "A.N.T. Farm," "Phineas and Ferb" & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  11. ^ http://www.tvguide.com/News/Disney-ANT-Premiere-Date-1062200.aspx
  12. ^ a b Friday’s Series Finale of “The Suite Life on Deck” and Sneak Peek of “A.N.T. Farm” Stand as TV’s Top 2 Telecasts in Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14
  13. ^ "Friday's Cable Ratings: "Gold Rush" Returns on Top for Discovery". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

House

Chyna's house used in A.N.T. Farm is in the same neighborhood as the Full House house as seen in both shows. It is possible that both shows take place in the same universe. In the Full House intro you can see Chyna's house.