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The Ghost and Molly McGee

The Ghost and Molly McGee is an American animated supernatural comedy television series created by Bill Motz and Bob Roth[1][2] that aired on Disney Channel from October 1, 2021 to January 13, 2024.[3] The series features the voices of Ashly Burch, Dana Snyder, Jordan Klepper, Sumalee Montano, Michaela Dietz, and Lara Jill Miller.

The Ghost and Molly McGee

Bill Motz and Bob Roth

Bill Motz and Bob Roth

  • Michael Kramer
  • Allie Feder

"The Ghost and Molly McGee Main Title Theme"
by Ashly Burch and Dana Snyder

United States

English

2

41 (78 segments)

Britta Reitman

Mercury Filmworks

Tony Molina (season 1)
John Royer (season 2)

22 minutes

Disney Television Animation

Disney Channel

October 1, 2021 (2021-10-01) –
January 13, 2024 (2024-01-13)

A sneak peek of the show's theme song was first shown on May 1, 2021, during the network's "Halfway to Halloween" event.[4][5] On August 31, 2021, more than a month before it premiered, the series was renewed for a second and final season,[6] which premiered on April 1, 2023.[7][8]

Synopsis[edit]

In the Human Realm, 13-year-old[9][10] optimist Molly McGee arrives in her new hometown of Brighton, only to discover that her new house is already occupied by a grumpy ghost named Scratch. Scratch curses Molly in an attempt to scare her away; however, this backfires, forever binding him to her. While initially antagonistic toward her, with time, Scratch opens up to Molly, and their friendship strengthens. The two go on wacky misadventures together and help each other through the good and bad in their lives (and afterlives).[11]


In the second and final season, Scratch is named the new Chairman of the Ghost Council. Meanwhile, a ghost-hunting family, the Chens, moves in across from the McGees. Molly's family plans to keep the existence of ghosts a secret from the Chens while trying to maintain their friendship.

Molly McGee (voiced by ) is an optimistic 13-year-old[9][10] girl who lives to make the world a better place, describing it as "enhappifying". Her father, Pete, is a city planner, forcing her family to move a lot throughout the course of her lifetime, until they finally decided to settle down in their "forever home" in Brighton, where she meets Scratch. She later makes a human friend at school named Libby, who eventually learns about Scratch's existence in the episode "Scratch the Surface". She also has a crush on Ollie, a neighboring boy around her age, who reciprocates her feelings, and is in a family of ghost hunters. She eventually helps him learn to trust ghosts in the episode "Frightmares on Main Street". In the Season 1 finale, "Molly vs. the Ghost World", Molly discovers how to separate her spirit from her body as a wraith. In that form, she is able to bring joy to anything she touches in the Ghost World. In the episode "Out of House and Home/Home is Where the Haunt Is", the curse tying her and Scratch together is broken (as her family temporarily moved out of the house), but the two still stay good friends.

Ashly Burch

Scratch (voiced by ) is a grumpy ghost who accidentally cursed himself to be alongside Molly for all eternity.[12] He isn't seen by any humans except the McGee family, Libby (since the episode "Scratch the Surface"), Ollie (since the episode "Frightmares on Main Street"), June (since the episode "Welcome to NecroComic-Con"), Ruben, and Esther (since the episode "Jinx vs. the Human World"). His job was to scare people as assigned by the Ghost Council (until "The Jig Is Up/Molly vs. The Ghost World"), but he liked spending his time being with Molly instead.[12] Scratch glows a fluorescent cyan while visible but is able to render himself invisible at will. He can shift his appearance at will, as well as distort his surroundings, typically to scare humans. He also has the ability to teleport between the Human Realm and the Ghost Realm at will. In "Out of House and Home/Home is Where the Haunt Is", after the McGees are forced to leave the house, he and Molly are no longer cursed to stay together, but Scratch still stays with the McGees after they move back in. In Season 2, Scratch is named the new Chairman of the Ghost World due to Molly's actions in the Season 1 finale. He also has a ghost friend named Geoff, who annoys him at first, but Scratch eventually learns to like him. In the series finale, "The End", Scratch is revealed to actually be the wraith of a human named Todd Mortenson, and in the end, decides to return to his human life and travel the world, and reunites with his first friend, Adia Williams.

Dana Snyder

Pete McGee (voiced by ) is Molly and Darryl's Irish father, and Sharon's husband. He is a City Council member, civil engineer, and former ice skater. Pete married Sharon with an unofficial wedding.[6] He tends to act dimwitted at times but means well.

Jordan Klepper

Sharon McGee

[6]

Darryl McGee (voiced by ) is Molly's mischievous younger brother.[6] Darryl has a pet tarantula named Heidi Hairylegs and claims to get hook ups, calling himself "a man with many connections". After his sister, he is the second character seen to become a wraith, as shown in the episode "Double, Double, Darryl & Trouble".

Michaela Dietz

Libby Stein-Torres[14] (voiced by Lara Jill Miller) is Molly's best (human) friend. Libby has a love for turtles. She suffers from frequent slapstick comedy, as she is shown to be rather unlucky. Libby hides her head in her turtleneck collar when she is nervous. She knows about historical people, as they are people that passed away a long time ago. Libby was unaware of Scratch's presence until the episode "Scratch the Surface", when she learned about his existence. Later on, she became friends with him after they worked together to save Molly when she got trapped in a compost machine.[15]

[13]

Shorts[edit]

Chibi Tiny Tales (2021–23)[edit]

Shortly after the series premiere, The Ghost and Molly McGee became the latest to join the Chibi Tiny Tales series.

Production[edit]

The animated series was first conceived by co-creators Bill Motz and Bob Roth in 2007. The two of them had worked at Disney for years, with their first ever script being an episode of Darkwing Duck. At the time, the series was known as The Curse of Piper McGee and initially focused on the titular girl's family moving to Transylvania where she was cursed by a vampiric ghoul simply named the Count.[90] This version of the show was initially first pitched to Nickelodeon who passed on it. After fourteen years, the duo had completed work on Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures when Disney signed them an overall deal. They re-pitched the series, with the new title of The Curse of Molly McGee, where it got a positive response this time.[91]


On July 23, 2019, Disney Channel greenlit the series, which was to be produced by Disney Television Animation, and executive-produced by Motz, Roth, and Steve Loter.[92] On September 24, 2020, Ashly Burch and Dana Snyder joined the series in its lead roles.[12] The same day, the series was retitled The Ghost and Molly McGee.[12]


The crew used several songs as inspiration from the series.[93] Motz released a playlist featuring those songs throughout 2020 and part of 2021.[94]


On January 14, 2024, one day after the final episode aired, Motz revealed that despite getting an order for ten season three scripts, Disney chose to end the show due to low ratings on Disney+. Motz and Roth were granted an additional episode to give the show a proper send-off.[95] Sixteen days later, eighteen scripts and outlines for the cancelled season three were posted online in their entirety to the Internet Archive.[96]

Music from The Ghost and Molly McGee

October 1, 2021

2020–2021

Soundtrack

4:44

Walt Disney

Release[edit]

The Ghost and Molly McGee premiered on Disney Channel on October 1, 2021.[5] The first five episodes of the series were added to Disney+ on October 6, resulting in episodes 3-5 being released prior to their televised premieres.[99] The first episode was uploaded to YouTube on October 2, 2021.[100] The second and final season premiered on April 1, 2023, with the first five episodes of the season being released on Disney+ the following day.[101][7]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Kate Robertson of Stuff described the main characters as a pair forming an "unlikely friendship" who help each other evolve, describing Molly as "an optimist [...] who just wants to make the world a better place" and Scratch as a "pessimist who hopes for the worst", and stated that the series is "funny, charming and an all-round joy to watch".[102] Ashley Moulton of Common Sense Media rated the series 4 out of 5 stars and depicted it as a "funny ghost-girl buddy story...[with] mild ghoulish scares". She also stated that younger kids will be spooked when ghosts transform, but older kids will not, stated that ghosts are "a bit rough around the edges" and there is some cartoon violence. However, she stated that human characters act in a more positive manner, stated that the show's protagonist, Molly, is a "great role model", compared the series to Monsters, Inc. but called it a "charming, sweetly spooky animated series".[103]

Official website

Production website

at IMDb

The Ghost and Molly McGee