#and the models never seeing a pac-man machine makes me so old! :o

[britishchick09]

fun facts from samantha, molly and courtney's new character pages! :D

Samantha’s hometown, Mount Bedford, is closely based on the real town of Mount Kisco, in Westchester County, New York. Grandmary’s house is based on a real mansion in Mount Kisco.

The architectural style of Grandmary’s house, where Samantha lives, is Queen Anne Victorian. These popular turn-of-the-century homes have an asymmetrical façade with gables, towers, porches, and balconies.

Samantha was the first American Girl character to be featured in a movie. On November 23, 2004, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday debuted on TV and played several times over the holidays. Nearly every Samantha doll and accessory sold out before Christmas!

In the Samantha TV movie, AnnaSophia Robb played Samantha and Mia Farrow played Grandmary.

Molly was one of the first three characters in The American Girls Collection, along with Kirsten and Samantha, when The Pleasant Company debuted.

The debut season of American Girl Mysteries in 2005 included a Molly mystery novel titled A Spy on the Home Front, by Alison Hart.

Molly and Nanea are the only two historical characters set in the same decade who aren’t part of the same stories like Cécile and Marie-Grace or Julie and Ivy.

In 2006, American Girl released the movie Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front, which starred Maya Ritter as Molly, and a famous Molly—Molly Ringwald—as Molly’s mother, Helen McIntire.

In 1989, a special catalogue focused only on Molly was released.

Molly is the only historical character from American Girl who wears glasses.

After American Girl created a doll of Molly’s friend Emily, illustrations were revised to make the book character look more like the doll.

Many American Girl staff members grew up in the 1980s and brought in pictures and memorabilia for inspiration during Courtney’s development.

Courtney’s teacher, Mr. Garcia, was modeled on author Kellen Hertz’s fourth-grade teacher, who had a mustache, and her 7th-grade biology teacher, who wore suspenders.

Courtney’s fashions were inspired by teen magazines like Seventeen, Tiger Beat, and Teen, and the bold, bright fashions seen in MTV music videos and TV shows like Saved by the Bell. American Girl designers also researched catalogues like Sears, Wards, and JC Penney.

For the photoshoot for Courtney’s book illustrations, the crew brought in arcade games, including PAC-MAN. They had a great time playing and sharing memories of going to arcades growing up. The girl models for the photoshoot had never seen a PAC-MAN machine!

The arcade right across from the food court at the Fashion Fair Mall was modeled on an arcade at the Fashion Fair Mall in Fresno, CA, where author Kellen Hertz often gamed during the summer.

Courtney witnessing the Challenger explode on TV with her class actually happened to author Kellen Hertz, which is a big reason why she wanted to write about it.

Like Courtney’s sister, Tina, author Kellen Hertz had a huge collection of scrunchies, which her little sister was constantly taking and losing!