49 Fun Facts About A.N.T. Farm

What do the letters A.N.T. stand for in the sitcom A.N.T. Farm?

Advanced Natural Talents was a late change: when the series was ordered in 2010 the gifted program was called Accelerated Natural Talent, and its heroine was Chyna Sparks, not Parks.

In the pilot of A.N.T. Farm, the three friends sneak out to a party leaving what behind as decoys?

Wax figures of the trio are left at Chyna's house, but they melt, and her father spots the remains, catches the friends at the party and grounds her for three months.

Which stage of school do A.N.T. Farm's prodigies skip?

Middle school is skipped entirely: the A.N.T. program drops gifted kids into high school three years early, to a lukewarm welcome from some of the older students.

Which high school houses the A.N.T. program for the first two seasons of A.N.T. Farm?

Webster High is home for two seasons; then a one-hour season-three opener sends the A.N.T.s to a billionaire's boarding school, and the old campus is never the setting again.

In which city is A.N.T. Farm set?

San Francisco doubles as a classroom in one episode: when food poisoning empties the school, the principal sends the few healthy students on a scavenger hunt across the city.

Where did A.N.T. Farm originally air?

Disney Channel ordered a second season within months, in late 2011, when the newcomer was television's top-rated series among kids aged 6 to 11.

Street performer Hudson ends A.N.T. Farm as a prodigy in what?

Rapping is Hudson's real gift: Roshon Fegan plays him as a busker faking a tough-guy act to impress Chyna, and by the end he has followed her back to school as the newest A.N.T.

Which teen-genius sitcom shares A.N.T. Farm's creator?

Mr. Young, also from Dan Signer, flips the A.N.T. premise: its hero graduates years early and takes a job teaching high school, while Chyna arrives there years early as a student.

A.N.T. Farm's sneak preview in May 2011 aired straight after the series finale of which sitcom?

The Suite Life on Deck bowed out that night, and the network handed its finale audience straight to the newcomer, whose creator had spent years writing for the Suite Life shows.

In A.N.T. Farm, British prodigy Nigel joins the A.N.T. program from England in what form?

A robot is all the class ever sees of Nigel: he stays in England and steers a wheeled telepresence machine around the room, which doesn't stop Chyna asking him out on a date.

Which A.N.T. has an eidetic memory and loves "interesting factoids"?

Olive Doyle's gift once deserts her: a deafening noise wipes her memory, and the principal threatens to send her from the A.N.T. program to kindergarten unless it comes back.

In A.N.T. Farm's Halloween episode 'mutANT farm', Chyna is reimagined as which monster?

Medusa, snakes and all: the episode remakes the pilot with the A.N.T.s as monsters, so this time it is the older, human students who are scared of the new kids.

In A.N.T. Farm, what is Fletcher Quimby's talent?

Art comes easily to Fletcher, a painter and sculptor, yet one early commission defeats him: a portrait that makes the school's principal look beautiful.

Who plays Fletcher Quimby in A.N.T. Farm?

Jake Short won Favorite TV Actor at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards for the role, carrying off a blimp from a ceremony staged by another network altogether.

In A.N.T. Farm, what running gag involves Fletcher and Chyna?

She is oblivious to his romantic advances, but the crush doesn't last the series: in season three Fletcher finally gets over Chyna and starts dating another A.N.T. instead.

In A.N.T. Farm, who is the school's queen bee and Chyna's vain rival?

Lexi Reed had starred in every school play before Chyna arrived, so she fights dirty: she lets Chyna onto the cheer squad only to wreck her voice before the musical auditions.

In season three of A.N.T. Farm, what hidden talent does Lexi reveal?

She is a math prodigy: Lexi auditions for the new school with a song, then works out aloud why she never upgraded her phone, and it is the sums that amaze the school's owner.

Which girl group, played by China Anne McClain's sisters, invites Chyna on tour?

Trifecta has fired its lead singer, so McClain's sisters Sierra and Lauryn, playing Syerra and Laurin, recruit Chyna for the tour, until the ex-singer comes back for revenge.

When the principal retires in A.N.T. Farm, which relative of Chyna's takes over the school?

Her grandmother Gladys takes the job, but having Grandma in charge goes so badly for Chyna that she is soon trying to get the old principal back.

In A.N.T. Farm, what is the name of Chyna's older brother?

Cameron is no prodigy, just a keen film-maker: in season three he visits his sister's new school and shoots a movie there after its owner refuses permission.

In A.N.T. Farm, why does Chyna's brother avoid her at school?

He fears she will embarrass him, though he manages that alone: he founds an End Hunger Today club at school purely as an excuse to get free food for himself.

Which computer-genius A.N.T. has a crush on Olive?

Angus Chestnut gets a rare win in season three: when the school's owner wants a jingle for a new phone, it is the sound of Angus sneezing, not Chyna's music, that wins him over.

In A.N.T. Farm, who is Lexi's ditsy but kindhearted best friend?

Paisley Houndstooth cheers alongside Lexi, and when she enters a game show with one of the A.N.T.s as her partner she keeps getting the answers wrong.

What is the name of the childlike counselor and tutor of the A.N.T. Farm?

Gibson is childlike enough to get back together with Sophie, his girlfriend from early childhood, without ever grasping that her new home is a prison.

In A.N.T. Farm, who is the school's cheap, iron-fisted principal?

Susan Skidmore is cheap enough to have the A.N.T.s build toys for needy children and then sell them for her own profit, so the students booby-trap the gifts to teach her a lesson.

Which Austin Powers actress plays the school principal in A.N.T. Farm?

Mindy Sterling, Austin Powers' Frau Farbissina, plays the principal as a schemer who keeps exploiting her gifted students for her own gain.

In A.N.T. Farm, what is the job of Chyna's father, Darryl Parks?

Police officer Darryl Parks brings work home: wrongly suspecting Chyna of shoplifting a designer bag, he sends a colleague into her school undercover as a student to spy on her.

In A.N.T. Farm, what does Chyna's mother Roxanne do for a living?

Kids' party entertainer Roxanne takes the job seriously: in one episode she holds auditions for a princess to appear at a child's birthday party, and two cheerleaders try out.

What is the name of the school mascot in the first two seasons of A.N.T. Farm?

Wacky the Wolf does more than cheer: when a has-been artist passes off a student's painting as his own, the mascot joins the A.N.T.s' team to take it back.

In A.N.T. Farm, which restaurant does Hippo own?

The International House of Whatever, or IHOW, spoofs a pancake chain; Hippo opens it after quitting music and then movies, and one of the school's cheerleaders lobbies to be its singing waitress.

Which athletically gifted A.N.T. has an explosive temper and a crush on Fletcher?

Violet, a sports prodigy, is the rare A.N.T. who isn't afraid of the older students, so it is one of the big kids who ends up ordering Chyna to keep the newcomer well away from her.

Which company runs the boarding school the A.N.T.s attend in season three?

Z-Tech builds the school after a student hacks its security system and so brings the A.N.T.s to the notice of its billionaire boss, a former child prodigy himself.

Which billionaire builds the boarding school the A.N.T.s join in season three?

Zoltan Grundy is a former child prodigy himself; in one episode Chyna dreams that his teenage self arrives from 1986 in a time machine and refuses to go home without her.

In A.N.T. Farm, Zibby Allen plays a pop diva who is a parody of which real singer?

Lady Gaga is the target: the diva is called Madame Goo Goo, and when she gives Chyna her phone number, Chyna loses it among a batch of fortune-cookie fortunes.

In A.N.T. Farm's third season, Kumiko Hashimoto enrols as 'Kennedy Van Buren', claiming to be a prodigy in what?

Debate is her cover: Kumiko is a plant, sent by her father to sabotage the phones the school's owner sells.

In A.N.T. Farm, what kind of business does Kumiko's father run?

A soda company is only the start for Mr. Hashimoto: when the phones sold by the school's owner start exploding, he takes over the company that runs the school.

Who guest-starred in A.N.T. Farm as Sequoia Jones, a movie star who takes researching a role too far?

Zendaya, then starring in Shake It Up, plays Sequoia shadowing Chyna for a film and even dangling her over a shark tank; the part she was researching was a girl who steals a prodigy's life.

Which comedian visits the A.N.T.s' school as himself, hoping to adopt a special pet for his daughter?

Chris Rock walks in on chaos: a classmate's talking duck has just been fed to an alligator, and Chyna is frantically trying to teach a replacement duck to speak.

Like Riverdale's Vanessa Morgan, who plays her, the model girlfriend of Chyna's brother comes from which country?

Canada is home to the character as well as the actress: Chyna's brother first dreams up a dance date from her picture on a catalogue cover, so Chyna tracks down the real model for him.

In one A.N.T. Farm episode, the principal steals the A.N.T.s' personalities using which machine?

A frozen yogurt machine does the stealing, and when Chyna sets out to rescue her friends' minds she only makes things worse, with the attempt ending in accidental body swaps.

In A.N.T. Farm, two of the older students start training for the Olympics in which sport?

Curling is their loophole: they have no Olympic dreams at all and take up the sport purely in the hope of being excused from P.E.

Which two Star Wars characters appear as special guest stars in the A.N.T. Farm episode 'scavANTger hunt'?

R2-D2 and C-3PO turn up on the students' scavenger hunt in an episode first shown on November 2, 2012, the same week the show's parent company announced it was buying Lucasfilm.

Why does Chyna's family drive to a Hollywood talent final in A.N.T. Farm?

Her father fears flying, so the family goes by road and ends up in Solvang, harassed by a walrus and locked in a windmill jail, before Chyna reaches the show just in time.

What is the title of the A.N.T. Farm theme song, sung by its star China Anne McClain?

Exceptional was co-written by McClain and her sisters Lauryn and Sierra, and in a later tribute episode Chyna rewrites it to honour Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and Janet Jackson.

Which China Anne McClain song from A.N.T. Farm reached the Billboard Hot 100?

Calling All the Monsters reached number 86 after McClain sang it in the show's first Halloween episode, and two days later Shake It Up borrowed it for a Halloween episode of its own.

Whose hit 'Dynamite' did China Anne McClain cover on the A.N.T. Farm soundtrack?

Taio Cruz's hit is Chyna's rescue act in the pilot: after she and her friends wreck the sound system at a high-school party, she wins the crowd back by singing it.

When a teacher quits in A.N.T. Farm, the principal puts one of the A.N.T.s in charge of which class?

History is handed to the A.N.T. with the perfect memory, who is told to show the class who is boss and hands out detentions until Chyna and her arch-rival team up to get rid of her.

Which A.N.T. Farm cast member recorded 'Pose' for the soundtrack and starred in Frenemies, the TV movie that used it?

Stefanie Scott recorded it with castmate Carlon Jeffery, and in Frenemies she plays Julianne, a science-project partner who comes between a boy and his beloved dog.

Where does Fletcher move in the series finale of A.N.T. Farm?

New York City offers Fletcher a fellowship, and taking it costs him the girlfriend he had only just found: the two break up as he leaves the other A.N.T.s behind.