History Main / SummerCampy

* ''TheSimpsons'' has a darker-than-usual example in Camp Krusty, where the kids are used as slave labor. The tie-in video game ''Escape From Camp Deadly'' featured, among other things, a hide-and-seek game where Bart is Team A and Team B consists of everybody else.

** The Season 14 (1982) opening week of episodes, where Big Bird goes to Camp Echo Rock for a week of fun and life lessons. Each episode opens with video of the camp bus on the way to camp, and sound cues of a cheesy, kiddie camp-type song ("Pean-a budda, jelly!") interspersing a banjo-mixed version of the main theme. The scenes themselves represent the traditional summer camp: A wooded area where Big Bird and his new friends – including an Anything Muppet named Rusty – engage in the requisite swimming, hiking, trying new foods, dealing with homesickness, etc. It is implied that Big Bird spends two weeks at camp (as one of the scenes deals with him writing a letter and wondering what's going on back home), although just three full episodes and parts of the other two – Big Bird leaving in Monday's opener, saying goodbye to his new friends on Friday – are devoted to his time at camp. Camp Echo Rock, by the way, was actually Bear Mountain in upstate New York.
*** A children's record, "Camp Oonie Koonie Cha," was released in 1981, while a photo spread and a summary of the "Camp Echo Rock" episodes were published in the June 1983 issue of ''Sesame Street Magazine''.

* ''SesameStreet'': The Season 14 (1982) opening week of episodes, where Big Bird goes to Camp Echo Rock for a week of fun and life lessons. Each episode opens with video of the camp bus on the way to camp, and sound cues of a cheesy, kiddie camp-type song ("Pean-a budda, jelly!") interspersing a banjo-mixed version of the main theme. The scenes themselves represent the traditional summer camp: A wooded area where Big Bird and his new friends – including an Anything Muppet named Rusty – engage in the requisite swimming, hiking, trying new foods, dealing with homesickness, etc. It is implied that Big Bird spends two weeks at camp (as one of the scenes deals with him writing a letter and wondering what's going on back home), although just three full episodes and parts of the other two – Big Bird leaving in Monday's opener, saying goodbye to his new friends on Friday – are devoted to his time at camp. Camp Echo Rock, by the way, was actually Bear Mountain in upstate New York.

* ''SesameStreet'': The Season 14 (1982) opening week of episodes, where Big Bird goes to Camp Echo Rock for a week of fun and life lessons. During the week of shows – each episode opens with a cheesy, kiddie camp-type song ("Pean-a budda, jelly!") interspersing a banjo-mixed version of the main theme – Big Bird meets a new friend (an anything Muppet named Rusty) and engages in the requisite camp activities, such as swimming, hiking, trying new foods and dealing with homesickness. It is implied that Big Bird spends two weeks at camp, although just three full episodes and parts of the other two are devoted to his time at camp. Camp Echo Rock, by the way, was actually Bear Mountain in upstate New York.

* ''SesameStreet'': The Season 14 (1982) opening week of episodes, where Big Bird goes to Camp Echo Rock for a week of fun and life lessons. During the week of shows, the shows open with a cheesy, kiddie camp-type song ("Pean-a budda, jelly!"), Big Bird meets a new friend (an anything Muppet named Rusty) and engages in the requisite camp activities, such as swimming and hiking. Camp Echo Rock, by the way, was actually Bear Mountain in upstate New York.

** They revisit the trope in a later episode called Crippled Summer. The camp is for handicapped children, a boy cheating at all of the tournament events, and oh yeah, Towelie is employed there.

* Pugsly and Wednesday are sent to camp against their will in ''AddamsFamilyValues''.

* Camp Wannaweep in ''KimPossible'' is a SummerCampy in flashbacks (and is responsible for pretty much every one of Ron's neuroses and phobias). By the time of the show, it's no longer SummerCampy and has become an abandoned camp of horrors.
** In a later episode we see Camp Wannaweep reopened and is back to it's SummerCampy status, this time as a cheerleading camp.

Usually, boredom drives all the campers to insanity (if they weren't that way to begin with, as the hero's bunkmate always seems to be). The only fun they have is messing with each other, leading to an EscalatingWar in no time (and brutal hazing if some of the kids are new). If the camp is co-ed, the kids will all wind up with crushes on each other that serve as object lesson in how LoveMakesYouDumb (and nobody ever manages to hook up).

[[/folder]]

Dear Mom and Dad,

[[BlatantLies I am enjoying my summer]] at [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Camp Ikawikkanukabonka]], but I hate the mosquitos. They chase us everywhere, and they form a cloud that's even bigger than Fat Tommy in the bunk bed over me.''

Actually, he's not over me any more, because his fat butt broke the bed, and it fell on top of mine. It was too heavy to move, so our counselor, [[IncrediblyLamePun Stu Pid]], suggested we all get together to move it. Unfortunately, we couldn't agree on who should hold what end, so we wound up punching and kicking each other and giving up. Stu tried to get us pumped up by [[PointyHairedBoss making us all sing the Ikawikkanukabonka Happy Happy Fun Song,]] but I didn't want to and Jake put his fingers in his ears, and Stu said that if we didn't have camp spirit, no wonder we couldn't even lift a stupid bunk bed.

Then Stu said that since he were now one bed short, somebody would have to sleep on the floor, so he suggested [[GenreBlindness that we vote on who that would be.]] We all voted for him, and then he got so angry at us for some reason. I pointed out that it made sense for him to give his bed up, since he's bigger than us and two campers can fit in his bed as long as Fat Tommy isn't one of them. Somehow he didn't understand this and said we were so impossible that we weren't going out for sports today. I'm not sure if this was a punishment, because it's been raining so hard this week that we haven't been able to go out anyway.

We're all getting a little tense, having to stay in a small cabin while it's raining out. Jake's been trying to give me wedgies, and when I asked why, he said "dude, I'm bored." So [[EscalatingWar I stole his PSP, and then he tried to set my backpack on fire with the matches he'd hidden away, and then somebody threw a ball at him and it broke the window.]] Then the mosquitos came flying through the window -- ''in the rain'' -- and we haven't been able to sleep since because everybody's scratching so loudly. Nobody's been able to go the bathroom either, because it's an outhouse on the other side of camp and we can't walk through the rain to get there.

If I'd had bug spray we could have stopped them, but I'd lost it when we joined the girl's camp at volleyball last week. Sarah's a [[GirlsHaveCooties dumb girl]], but I really wanted to talk to her (and [[BelligerentSexualTension she's not cute and don't tell anybody I think she is]]), and she suggested we take a walk in the woods. Then she said to close my eyes and I'd get a big surprise, so [[LoveMakesYouDumb I did.]] I waited and waited, and when I opened my eyes she was gone, and so was my backpack with the bug spray and everything else I brought with me. Can you send me a care package? I know the big kids stole all the previous ones from the camp mailbox, but maybe this one will get through.

You know, this reminds me of that {{Dilbert}} thing you're always talking about. Or of our [[HorribleCampingTrip trip to Yellowstone]]. Maybe I should go to a different camp next year, but Fat Tommy says he's been to weight-loss camp and drama camp and the counselors are [[AdultsAreUseless pretty much the same]]. At least I can laugh at this, unlike my brother. He still hasn't gotten over the [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors place in the woods]] he went to.

[[folder:Non Self Demonstrating Description]]

''Dear Mom and Dad,''

''[[BlatantLies I am enjoying my summer]] at [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Camp Ikawikkanukabonka]], but I hate the mosquitos. They chase us everywhere, and they form a cloud that's even bigger than Fat Tommy in the bunk bed over me.''

''Actually, he's not over me any more, because his fat butt broke the bed, and it fell on top of mine. It was too heavy to move, so our counselor, [[IncrediblyLamePun Stu Pid]], suggested we all get together to move it. Unfortunately, we couldn't agree on who should hold what end, so we wound up punching and kicking each other and giving up. Stu tried to get us pumped up by [[PointyHairedBoss making us all sing the Ikawikkanukabonka Happy Happy Fun Song,]] but I didn't want to and Jake put his fingers in his ears, and Stu said that if we didn't have camp spirit, no wonder we couldn't even lift a stupid bunk bed...''

Dear Mom and Dad,

[[BlatantLies I am enjoying my summer]] at [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Camp Ikawikkanukabonka]], but I hate the mosquitos. They chase us everywhere, and they form a cloud that's even bigger than Fat Tommy in the bunk bed over me.

Actually, he's not over me any more, because his fat butt broke the bed, and it fell on top of mine. It was too heavy to move, so our counselor, [[IncrediblyLamePun Stu Pid]], suggested we all get together to move it. Unfortunately, we couldn't agree on who should hold what end, so we wound up punching and kicking each other and giving up. Stu tried to get us pumped up by [[PointyHairedBoss making us all sing the Ikawikkanukabonka Happy Happy Fun Song,]] but I didn't want to and Jake put his fingers in his ears, and Stu said that if we didn't have camp spirit, no wonder we couldn't even lift a stupid bunk bed.

Then Stu said that since he were now one bed short, somebody would have to sleep on the floor, so he suggested [[GenreBlindness that we vote on who that would be.]] We all voted for him, and then he got so angry at us for some reason. I pointed out that it made sense for him to give his bed up, since he's bigger than us and two campers can fit in his bed as long as Fat Tommy isn't one of them. Somehow he didn't understand this and said we were so impossible that we weren't going out for sports today. I'm not sure if this was a punishment, because it's been raining so hard this week that we haven't been able to go out anyway.

We're all getting a little tense, having to stay in a small cabin while it's raining out. Jake's been trying to give me wedgies, and when I asked why, he said "dude, I'm bored." So [[EscalatingWar I stole his PSP, and then he tried to set my backpack on fire with the matches he'd hidden away, and then somebody threw a ball at him and it broke the window.]] Then the mosquitos came flying through the window -- ''in the rain'' -- and we haven't been able to sleep since because everybody's scratching so loudly. Nobody's been able to go the bathroom either, because it's an outhouse on the other side of camp and we can't walk through the rain to get there.

If I'd had bug spray we could have stopped them, but I'd lost it when we joined the girl's camp at volleyball last week. Sarah's a [[GirlsHaveCooties dumb girl]], but I really wanted to talk to her (and [[BelligerentSexualTension she's not cute and don't tell anybody I think she is]]), and she suggested we take a walk in the woods. Then she said to close my eyes and I'd get a big surprise, so [[LoveMakesYouDumb I did.]] I waited and waited, and when I opened my eyes she was gone, and so was my backpack with the bug spray and everything else I brought with me. Can you send me a care package? I know the big kids stole all the previous ones from the camp mailbox, but maybe this one will get through.

You know, this reminds me of that {{Dilbert}} thing you're always talking about. Or of our [[HorribleCampingTrip trip to Yellowstone]]. Maybe I should go to a different camp next year, but Fat Tommy says he's been to weight-loss camp and drama camp and the counselors are [[AdultsAreUseless pretty much the same]]. At least I can laugh at this, unlike my brother. He still hasn't gotten over the [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors place in the woods]] he went to.

* ''{{Friday the 13th}}'' popularized the Summer Camp settings among the SlasherMovies in the early 80's, with such examples as ''TheBurning'', ''SleepawayCamp'', ''Film/{{Madman}}'' and ''Bodycount'' following the suite.

* ''Friday the 13th'''s Camp setting is revisited in the [[Game/{{Friday the 13th}} NES Game]].

-->--'''Allan Sherman''', ''Hello Muddah Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp)''

-->All the counselors hate the waiters,
-->And the lake has alligators,
-->And [[DrillSergeantNasty the head coach wants no sissies]],
-->So he reads to us from something called {{Ulysses}}.
'''Allan Sherman''', ''Hello Muddah Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp)''

I am enjoying my summer at [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Camp Ikawikkanukabonka]], but I hate the mosquitos. They chase us everywhere, and they form a cloud that's even bigger than Fat Tommy in the bunk bed over me.

* Parodied in the film ''Wet Hot American Summer.''

* The entire premise of ''CampLazlo,'' where most of the humor comes from the main character actually enjoying the place.

* ''{{Peanuts}}'' did this every summer, sometimes with insane specialized camps like Sally's "Beanbag Camp" (where all you do is lie in a beanbag, watch TV, and eat junk food) and even a fundamentalist Bible camp. The biggest example may be when all the gang are filling out applications for not going to camp. Everyone's application is accepted. Except, of course, for Charle's Brown's. He gets the letter saying that since his application has been turned down, "therefore, you are to report to the bus stop at 0800 hours."
** The TV special ''It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown'' takes place at summer camp.
** The feature film ''[[RaceForYourLifeCharlieBrown Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown]]'' has the gang attending camp and getting involved in a river raft race against a gang of {{Jerk Jock}}s.
* ''MadMagazine'' has also done this every summer. One old piece from the 70s had a camp where the only medical supplies are asprin and calamine lotion, so every sick and injured camper goes untreated...until we meet a lucky boy who's "got poison ivy, and a terrible headache from worrying about it." A more recent strip had ButtMonkey Monroe sent to a camp that made him long for the CrapsackWorld back home.
* ''TheSimpsons'' has a darker-than-usual example in Camp Krusty, where the kids are used as slave labor. The tie-in video game ''Escape From Camp Deadly'' featured, among other things, a hide-and-seek game where Bart is Team A and Team B consists of everybody else.
** Also Homer and Marge met eachother for the first time as kid on two neighbouring summer camps, but because of mistaken identity, didn't realize it until later.
* Camp Whispering Rock in ''{{Psychonauts}}'' has the bad food (Ford ''really'' can't cook), cheesy arts-and-crafts, the JerkJock bully, and more preteen hormones running rampant than you can shake a stick at... But since the counselors are frackin' super spies out to teach the children how to utilize their psychic powers, that pretty much makes up for everything. Including the pyrokinetic cougars in the woods.
* The entire premise of ''SaluteYourShorts.''
* The entire premise of ''CampLazlo,'' where most of the humor comes from the main character actually enjoying the place.

* The novel ''I Want To Go Home'' by GordonKorman is about a HeroicSociopath who we root for because he's the only smart person in his comic-opera summer camp. The entire place is flooded on ''visiting day'' because of a beaver's dam. When the waters subside, the PointyHairedBoss says "and so, another successful visiting day draws to a close." One of the counselors can't believe he's hearing this, and the head counselor explains, "that's his visiting day speech. He only has one, and it doesn't cover floods."
* An obscure example: the off-off-Broadway kids musical ''Everything About Camp (Almost)'' is a {{Troperiffic}} look at everything that can go wrong at camp. In a typical scene, the new kids are sent on a SnipeHunt, and one of the kids is suspicious. He discovers that not only is he required to go anyway, but he's required to pay for the privilege of going. As with most examples of SummerCampy, it's played entirely for comedy.

* ''SouthPark'' has a weight-loss camp where Cartman is the OnlySaneMan who isn't impressed by the dancing mascot and his perky teenage sidekicks. Unusually, the ending suggests that even though the camp is stupidly run, they mean well and should be supported.

* ''{{Psych}}'' combines SummerCampy with a SerialKiller plot that also makes fun of horror movie tropes.

* Camp Wannaweep in ''KimPossible'' is a SummerCampy in flashbacks (and is responsible for pretty much every one of Ron's neuroses and phobias). By the time of the show, it's no longer SummerCampy and has become an abandoned camp of horrors.

* ''Camp Runamuck'', a short-lived '60s sitcom.
* The classic novelty song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp)", by Allan Sherman, is a boy's letter to his parents where he complains about his stay at Camp Granada, sung to Ponchielli's ''Dance of the Hours''.
** Ultimately subverted. Once the rain and hail end, the boy ends the letter with, "[[spoiler:Muddah, Fadduh, kindly disregard this letter!]]"
* "Flappy Bob's Happy Camp Learnatorium" from ''TheFairlyOddparents'' is this, with two overly-eager counselors that are obsessed with making normally fun things as boring as possible.

** ''Les jolies colonies de vacances'' is basically the summer camp anthem, in which a child writes home to explain how AWESOME summer camp is (the food sucks, the counselors are drunkards, they all swim in the river where industrial waste is being dumped...)

** Also Homer and Marge met eachother for the first time as kid on two neighbouring summer camps, but because of mistaken identity, didn't relise it until later.