The Mighty B! facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Mighty B!
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Amy Poehler Cynthia True Erik Wiese
Directed by	Erik Wiese Larry Leichliter Alex Kirwan Eddie Trigueros Bill Wray
Creative director(s)	Erik Wiese
Voices of	Amy Poehler Dee Bradley Baker Andy Richter Dannah Feinglass Megan Cavanagh Grey DeLisle Jessica DiCicco Sarah Thyre
Theme music composer	Amy Miles Michael Robertson
Opening theme	"The Mighty B! Theme Song"
Ending theme	"Boys and Girls" by Jean-Jacques Perrey
Composer(s)	James L. Venable (first episode only)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	40 (74 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Amy Poehler Cynthia True Erik Wiese
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Paper Kite Productions Polka Dot Pictures Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Original release	April 26, 2008 (2008-04-26) – January 16, 2010 (2010-01-16)

The Mighty B! (written in all capital letters) is an American animated TV show. It was created by famous comedian Amy Poehler (who was on Saturday Night Live), Cynthia True, and Erik Wiese for Nickelodeon. The show is about Bessie Higgenbottom, a super energetic Honeybee scout. She thinks she will become a superhero called The Mighty B if she earns every single Honeybee badge.

Bessie lives in San Francisco with her mom, Hilary, her brother, Ben, and her dog, Happy. Amy Poehler is the voice of Bessie. The character of Bessie was inspired by a character Amy Poehler used to play in comedy groups before she joined Saturday Night Live.

The Mighty B! first aired on Nickelodeon from April 26, 2008, to January 16, 2010. Then, it moved to Nicktoons on November 6, 2010, and finished on June 18, 2011. The show was very popular, with millions of viewers. In 2008, it was one of the top five animated shows on TV.

In September 2008, Nickelodeon ordered a second and final season of 20 episodes. These new episodes started airing on September 21, 2009.

The Mighty B! was nominated for many awards, like the Annie Awards and Daytime Emmy Awards. It won one Daytime Emmy Award for its amazing animation.

What the Show is About

The story of The Mighty B! takes place in San Francisco, California. It follows the exciting adventures of Bessie Higgenbottom, who is 9¾ years old. Bessie is a very positive and determined Honeybee scout who always wears her uniform. She truly believes that if she collects every single Honeybee badge, she will become a superhero named The Mighty B. When the show starts, she still has 4,584 badges to go!

Her loyal younger brother, Benjamin "Ben," wants to be her sidekick. Happy is a stray dog with a torn ear who becomes Bessie's pet and best friend. Bessie and Ben live with their mom, Hilary, who owns a coffee shop called Hilary's Café. Bessie also has an "imaginary friend" named Finger, which is just her index finger with a smiley face drawn on it.

Many other characters appear in the show. These include other Honeybee scouts:

• Penny is Bessie's best friend. She is a bit clumsy and loves taffy. Even though she's Bessie's best friend, Penny is also loyal to Portia and Gwen.
• Portia is a spoiled and snobby Honeybee scout. Her mom is the troop leader.
• Gwen is Portia's friend and is very interested in hip hop music and fashion. Portia and Gwen often try to cause trouble for Bessie.
• Bessie is also friends with Rocky Rhodes, an older, cool skater who works part-time at Hilary's Café.

Characters

Main Characters

The main characters: Ben, Bessie, and their dog Happy.

• Bessie Kajolica Higgenbottom (voiced by Amy Poehler): Bessie is a 9-year-old, smart, and energetic "Honeybee Scout." She wears glasses and is known for being super active and always working hard. She also has an imaginary friend named Finger on her right index finger.
• Happy Walter Higgenbottom (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker): Happy is Bessie's beloved pet dog.
• Benjamin "Ben" Higgenbottom (voiced by Andy Richter): Ben is Bessie's 7-year-old younger brother. He has a teddy bear named Mr. Pants.
• Hilary Higgenbottom (voiced by Megan Cavanagh): Hilary is a 41-year-old single mom. She is a bit of a hippie and is the mother of Bessie, Happy, and Ben. She owns and runs a coffee shop called Hilary's Café.

Other Characters

• Penny Lefkowitz (voiced by Dannah Feinglass): Penny is Bessie's best friend. She is a bit awkward and not always the brightest.
• Portia Gibbons (voiced by Grey DeLisle): Portia is Mary Frances' daughter. She often tries to annoy Bessie.
• Gwen Wu (voiced by Jessica DiCicco): Gwen is one of Portia's best friends. She loves hip hop culture, music, and fashion.
• Mary Frances Gibbons (voiced by Sarah Thyre): She is the leader of the Honeybee troop and Portia's mother.
• Millie Millerson (voiced by Grey DeLisle): Millie is a Honeybee scout who talks very slowly. She loves shiny things like tinsel.
• Rocky Rhodes (voiced by Kenan Thompson): Rocky is a skater who works part-time as a waiter at Hilary's Café.
• Hippie (voiced by Matt Besser): A nameless hippie who wanders around town without a care.
• Mr. Wu (voiced by Keone Young): He owns a Chinese restaurant and is Gwen Wu's father.

Minor Characters

• Miriam Breedlove (voiced by Niecy Nash): She is the person who founded the Honeybees.
• Sissy Sullivan (voiced by Amy Poehler): Bessie's pen pal from Boston, Massachusetts. She sounds just like Bessie.
• Ronnie (voiced by Grey DeLisle): A young Beaver scout who leads his group. His finger, Digit, is a rival to Bessie's finger, Finger.
• The Beavers: A group of boys in blue uniforms with big front teeth and beaver tails.
• The Dragonflies: A group of mischievous girls from Oakland, California. Their leader is Cherry (voiced by Maya Rudolph).
• The Butterflies: A group from Berkeley, California who enjoy wholesome activities like picnics.
• The Gorillas: A tough boys' troop from Southern Canada.

Voice Actors

Amy Poehler, a famous comedian from Saturday Night Live, voices Bessie Higgenbottom. Amy Poehler describes Bessie as "super optimistic and a super spaz," and "a bit bossy, but with good intentions." Bessie is based on a character Amy Poehler played in comedy groups. Amy Poehler also voiced Sissy Sullivan in the episode "Boston Beean," who sounded exactly like Bessie.

Dee Bradley Baker voices Happy, Bessie's dog. Bessie found Happy at the harbor in the first episode. Andy Richter voices Ben Higgenbottom, Bessie's younger brother. Andy Richter also voices Mort on another Nickelodeon show, The Penguins of Madagascar.

Dannah Feinglass voices Penny, Bessie's sidekick. She is also one of the writers for the show. Grey DeLisle voices Portia Gibbons, another Honeybee scout. Megan Cavanagh voices Hilary Higgenbottom, Bessie and Ben's mom. Jessica DiCicco voices Gwen, Portia's best friend.

Many other talented actors voice supporting characters, including Sarah Thyre, Kenan Thompson, Matt Besser, Keone Young, Jessica Chaffin, and Kevin Michael Richardson. Famous guest stars have also appeared, such as Jill Talley, Jackée Harry, Rob Corddry, John Ross Bowie, Brian Posehn, Zachary Gordon, Paul Butcher, Niecy Nash, Maya Rudolph, Dan Schneider, Audrey Wasilewski, and Mike O'Malley. Amy Poehler's husband at the time, Will Arnett, also guest starred in the episode "Tour D'Alcatraz."

How the Show Was Made

Before The Mighty B! first aired, Amy Poehler and people at Nickelodeon wanted to create an animated TV show with a strong female lead. Amy Poehler said they wanted the show to be about a girl who is at that "great age" where she isn't focused on boys or being mean to other girls. She found this kind of enthusiasm "fascinating."

The Mighty B! was first planned as a pilot episode in early 2006. It was called Super Scout back then. Amy Poehler, Cynthia True, and Erik Wiese created it together. Brown Johnson, who was in charge of animation at Nickelodeon, was very excited to have such a talented comedy team create this new character. Amy Poehler said she was "thrilled that the world will finally meet the funny and sweet girl-tornado that is Bessie Higgenbottom."

Bessie's character was inspired by a character Amy Poehler used to play in comedy groups. She also based Bessie on girls she admired when she was younger. Amy Poehler described Bessie as a "feisty, plucky, bossy, Honey Bee scout" and called her "our hero." Bessie goes on many adventures to collect all her badges. Amy Poehler said the show had "double the action, triple the adventures and quadruple the awesomeness."

When asked if the show was also for adults, Amy Poehler said she wanted it to be like SpongeBob SquarePants. She explained that SpongeBob is fun for adults to watch, but kids like it because it doesn't talk down to them. She said, "We wanted to do a show that had a strong female character who didn't have too many rainbows and unicorns."

DVD Releases

A DVD with some episodes, called We Got the Bee, was released on February 24, 2009. It had 8 episodes, behind-the-scenes videos, an early animated version of the episode "Bat Mitzvah Crashers," and a karaoke music video.

Another DVD, named BEEing Bessie Higgenbottom, came out on December 8, 2009. This one was sold only on Amazon.com. It had 3 episodes and another karaoke music video. On December 8, 2020, the entire series was added to Paramount+ (which used to be CBS All Access).

Images for kids

• List of The Mighty B! episodes

See also

In Spanish: The Mighty B! para niños