Salute Your Shorts Turns 25! Here's Everything You May Not Have Known About Your Fave Childhood Show

Camp Anawanna never made us want to fart

By Dominique Haikel Jun 01, 2016 11:00 AMTags
Salute Your ShortsNickelodeon

"Camp Anawanna, we hold you in our hearts..." Don't even act like you didn't just finish the rest of that song in your head. If you're a true '90s kid, you probably enjoyed some Nickelodeon back in the day and know all about Salute Your Shorts. The short-lived show was a Nick masterpiece, and today happens to be the 25th anniversary of when it first aired. That's right! It's been 25 freakin' years since 1991. Can you feel the crows feet setting in as you read this? 

To celebrate, we dug up some facts that you may or may not have known about your fave childhood show. Walk down memory lane with us as we take you back to Camp Anawanna. 

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1. Camp Anawanna is a play on words. Why did it take us all these years to realize this?! If anyone else missed this note, the summer camp in the show is named after the saying "I don't want to." IMDB describes the name as a "slurred homophone" of the phrase. Ah, yes. We get it now. 

2. Reebok hooked them up with their outfits. We know, right!? For season 1, the show's wardrobe was sponsored by Reebok, because, you know, the '90s. Jealous. 

3. The word "fart" plays a special role in the show. Believe it or not, the show is the only one in TV history to use the smelly word in the theme song. Quite the honor, TBH. 

4. Unlike most Nick shows, it was filmed on location. SYS was shot at a number of different Los Angeles locations.  Franklin Canyon Park and Griffith Park were used for outdoor shots, while sets were used to film scenes indoors, Wikipedia notes. 

5. SYS was based on a book. The show's creator, Steve Slavkin, along with Thomas Hill, wrote Salute Your Shorts: Life at Summer Camp. The book is from 1986, and the show began just a few years later in 1991. 

 

6. If you're feeling nostalgic, you can watch it right now. God bless Amazon. Your favorites from both season 1 and season 2 are available for your viewing pleasure. We know what we're doing every night for the rest of eternity. 

7. Dr. Kahn was not played by Ben Stein. Contrary to what the rumors may say, the heard-but-not-seen Dr. Kahn was not played by the actor. It was actually the show's creator, Steve Slavkin, IMDB says, who voiced the mysterious camp leader. 

8. The actual show was short-lived but replays aired until the late '90s. For some reason we totally thought the show went on longer than two measly seasons. That, however, is the exact opposite of the truth. SYS was canceled after only two seasons, ending in 1992. Sad face. Thankfully, they aired reruns throughout the '90s up until '98, according to Tv.com.

9. The series was canceled due to relocation issues. Apparently, SYS was axed because the cast did not vibe on changing filming locations. IMDB says many of the kids had established lives in Los Angeles, and could not get down with relocating the show to Orlando. Other noted reasons? Nickelodeon could not agree on budgets or the future of the show in general. 

10. In case you're wondering, this is what they look like now. Trevor Eyster, better known as Eugene "Sponge" Harris on the show, posted this pic of the cast to his Facebook page. Last year the campers reunited in celebration of the big 2-5, and '90s kids cried tears of joy across the nation. 

Happy 25th, Camp Anawanna! We'll forever hold you in our heart. 

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