Foreword: This is an extremely old article I wrote it before the second season was even announced, so it is quite outdated. Also, I wasn’t a good writer back then, so I doubt it’s that good. I thought I should post it, at any rate.
Since Brandy Harrington is my favorite character in Brandy & Mr. Whiskers, I decided I would write up this comprehension article to try to understand the most about her character and to explain my own thoughts about the character as well. I understand that many fans of the series also like Brandy’s character so I am hoping that this document can serve as a testament towards her character, but also improve the thoughts of the character’s fans in order to establish the capability of individuals to further their own thoughts on the character and so forth.
Brandy is an interesting character in my personal opinion, while I know that she is arrogant and rude, she was born into a lifestyle that we cannot really imagine. While I know that Brandy’s family was very rich, we do know that she wasn’t as rich as some other families, such as the Turlingtons, in which it was revealed that Tiffany was much better off than Brandy, so it makes me wonder the exact social structure that Brandy belongs in. Still, the Harringtons do seem to be a very wealthy family and that had an effect on Brandy’s livelihood, though I must wonder as to if she truly enjoyed her time there. While it was established that she did love her special treatment and she did enjoy being pampered and so forth, we don’t know much about Brandy’s owners or Brandy’s family, though she did seem proud of her lineage. However, the fact that she wasn’t a real Harrington and was adopted from the Happy Strays Puppy Pound, as explained in Pedigree, Schmedigree, one must wonder if Brandy truly enjoyed her experience because she would have certainly been treated differently than some of her more luxurious family members.
While I admit that I haven’t seen the Christmas special and I am not certain if anything about Brandy’s life was revealed in that episode, other than the fact that she did see her house, I believe that the series should definitely portray more about Brandy’s life. Her picture of her family was lost by Mr. Whiskers in the episode Happy Birthdays and nearly every token of her family has been destroyed by Mr. Whiskers, such as the Harrington Family Dog Dish, but it doesn’t explain much about her family. However, the fact that Brandy did have a dog dish as one of her items does put into question how much exactly Brandy’s social standing is. Despite the fact that Brandy is a Harrington, she apparently would still eat out of a dog dish since she had one, and in Mr. Whiskers’ First Friend, Brandy was on the airplane as storage, not a passenger. While I did find it odd that none of the other Harringtons were on that plane when Brandy was, the fact that Brandy was nothing but storage does put into question her reputation and it seems that dogs are still treated as dogs, despite the fact that they can walk upright and talk to humans, apparently.
While I’m uncertain the exact circumstances behind Brandy’s capability to talk to humans, there have been several episodes where this has been the case. Brandy has talked to humans in the first episode, when she used to cell phone and was apparently finding communication with an individual. In Radio Free Bunny, she also managed to use Mr. Whiskers to communicate with the helicopter pilot and the pilot definitely understood her so it would seem that Brandy can talk to humans. The fact that Brandy always wears clothes and the fact that she has plenty of clothes is also a significant point as it demonstrates how she is different than most dogs, which plays a heavy role in the plot. However, the fact that Brandy always wears clothes may be because it’s typically incorrect for a female character to appear without clothes and Disney likely didn’t want a character such as Brandy to be without clothes; Mr. Whiskers is a male character which is why he has been seen without clothes before. However, female characters such as Margo and the other jungle denizens don’t have clothes as well, but Brandy is more complex than them, but I seriously digress and I suppose this entire point isn’t really known at the moment, though the facts are still interesting, none the less.
Living in the jungle has had quite an effect on Brandy, though she still manages to keep up her image despite the problems. We’ve seen Brandy go to the clearing and the watering hole in order to try to gain social status and she has tried to introduce modern world things into the jungle to get what she wants, though without her friends she really wouldn’t have lasted as long as she did. Even Mr. Whiskers, in which she doesn’t usually get along with, but there have been some episodes where they get along very well, such as the beginning of Tree Huggin’ Bunny and her confession to “Lola” about how Mr. Whiskers is really her best friend in Skin of Evil! Brandy is fortunate to have good friends and I’m wondering how many friends Brandy had before she ended up in the Amazon because she doesn’t really seem to be the type of person to have real friends in the real world, so I’ve always wondered what Brandy would do to her new friends such as Mr. Whiskers if she ever did get rescued, though I suppose such a point cannot be answered until and/or unless there is an episode made where Brandy ever gets home.
Brandy’s character is one of contradiction and complication, she appears to be more than a dog since she is privileged but she is still forced to fly on an airplane as cargo, despite the fact that she can apparently talk to humans, walk upright and sit in a chair properly. She still has a family and yet she also has an owner, which while her family has been explained somewhat in Pedigree, Schmedigree, we still know very little about her actual owners and how they treated her and so forth, since she was adopted after all. Also, how would Brandy treat her family and her owners? Would she do the things most dogs do or would she behave in a completely sophisticated manner? These questions remain to be answered and despite my best attempts to find answers, I really have no idea how to answer these because Brandy’s character is so complex that it’s hard to understand the exact nature of her existence, let alone the little details such as the questions above. However, I’m hoping that the second season of Brandy & Mr. Whiskers will be able of answering some of these questions, or at least providing more insight into Brandy’s character.
Regardless, I am a huge fan of Brandy’s character and I believe she is certainly the best character within the series. The way her character is animated and the superb voice Kaley Cuoco supplies for the character, the brilliant manner in which the character’s personality was handled and the excellent plots in relation to her character, I feel that nearly everything about Brandy Harrington was perfect and I honestly believe she is the main reason I’ve enjoyed watching Brandy & Mr. Whiskers as much as I did. In fact, the first episode I ever saw was Private Antics, Major Problems, and I was just flipping through channels in the middle of the night. However, something about Brandy’s character and the way she was portrayed throughout that episode really appealed to me and from that day I was a huge fan of Brandy & Mr. Whiskers. I’m glad to be a fan of Brandy Harrington and I’m a proud fan of Brandy & Mr. Whiskers; I hope this document helps people understand Brandy’s character some more and I hope that we can discuss her character in the future as I personally believe she is the best character in the series and I absolutely love nearly everything about her character.
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Thu Sep 06, 2007 3:04 pm
