Serious Business/Western Animation

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Serious Business in Western Animation include:

  • In Thomas the Tank Engine, everything on the Island of Sodor is somehow connected to the railway to such an extent that every delivery made on Sodor is delivered by rail.
    • Similarly, racing is something nearly all the locomotives take seriously.
  • The card game in Chaotic is only serious business in parallel universes (two, in fact). On Earth, it is just a very popular game and nothing more.
    • Only popular enough to play it during lunch at school without people thinking you're a total nerd (which most players are)
    • On the episode "Earth To Kaz" tends to avert that as well. Anything Chaotic (actually any TCG) is a brand iron used for nerds.
  • Galactik Football to the point that most of the characters care more about the matches than about the conspiracies, kidnappings and political manipulation taking place. To be fair, their version of football involves the Flux, which itself is a perfect example of Mundane Utility.
  • Much to the dismay of The Omniscient Council of Vagueness, most of the world of Metalocalypse worships the Heavy Metal band "Dethklok" as living gods; allowing them to do anything, including destroying nations.
    • Dethklok are so popular, their fans will go to their concerts despite the ridiculously high risk of dying, some will kill themselves if an album is delayed, a secret agency exists whose sole goal is to kill Dethklok, they have thousands and thousands of workers constantly putting their lives in danger just to serve every single one of Dethklok's (often ridiculously stupid) desires, Florida's governor was killed by rabid fans just for a negative comment about Nathan, people who download their music are tortured (often by Dethklok themselves), and the band themselves are the world's twelfth largest economy. In Metalocalypse, everything Dethklok related is very Serious Business.
      • It's eerily subverted as well, due to the fact that the band members themselves do not take anything seriously and frequently display outward hatred towards everyone who worships them. They are, in fact, in it only for the music, the money, and the sheer decadence that comes from the first two.
    • In fact, Dethklok IS a nation, with the world's 12th highest GDP. And it's just 5 guys and the people that work for them.
    • Dethklok is also a god, their songs have the power to form whirlwinds and summon ancient beings.
  • Would you believe noodles? In the European/Korean animated series Pucca, the noodles made at the local Chinese restaurant are such Serious Business that in one episode, when the chefs believe themselves disgraced because of a just-barely-unfinished bowl of noodles, they go to a Death Course to redeem themselves, while in another, when they split up into three separate restaurants over a fight, it causes a sort of Zombie Apocalypse, with most of the inhabitants of the village wandering as an aimless, lifeless, pathetic mob, mumbling and moaning about the lack of noodles until they reunite.
    • And God help you if you run out of chopsticks. The world will scream.
  • Serious Business was parodied in the episode of Family Guy "E Peterbus Unum". In one of Peter's ancestral flashbacks, the Union won the Civil War with a Drinking Contest.
  • Parodied in Futurama, when the Harlem Globetrotters show up to challenge Earth to a game of basketball. When asked what happens if Earth loses, the Globetrotters reply... "NOTHING! There is nothing at stake, and no threat!" After Earth loses the game, further Lampshade Hanging is done by the commentator, who states that "This is a dark day for humanity. Earth... has been beaten... at basketball." In the DVD Commentary, the creators admit that the entire plot was a jab at the network, who always wanted the stakes to be as high as possible.
  • South Park: Really, at this point making a list of episodes that DOESN'T feature this trope would be much, much shorter.
    • Special mention must be given to Randy Marsh who is so melodramatic and over-the-top, he's virtually a walking example of this trope.
  • In an episode of The Simpsons, barbershop quartet music is Serious Business: Homer and the Be-Sharps start touring around the world, and as Homer's agent put it, "women are going to want to have sex with you". Granted, it was a spoof of Beatlemania, but still.
  • Recess had one jigsaw/card game thing called "Ajimbo", which everyone slowly becomes addicted to, becoming like zombies that literally forget how to play other games like kickball.
    • In one episode, collecting and trading "Monstickers" escalates to the point where it literally became the playground's currency. Everything has a fee, even such activities as laying on the grass. It gets even worse when T.J., driven to become the richest kid on the playground, monopolizes every activity, and even starts charging kids stickers for standing around because they can't afford to play anything (he calls it a "loitering fee").
    • There's also the episode where they find the book of King Morty's rules. In the world of Recess, playground monarchs are serious business.
    • In the episode where the word "Whomp" is branded a swear word, SWAT helicopters come in when the word goes out of control.
  • On paper the games in ReBoot sound like it is serious business, but it is justified because these games are a life-or-death matter for the people inside the computer.
  • The good guys in Get Ed are couriers. The bad guys are evil couriers, bent on ruling the package delivery market with an iron fist.
  • In The Mighty Ducks, the titular Ducks' homeworld of Puckworld (It Makes Sense in Context... sorta), ice hockey is a way of life.
  • Codename: Kids Next Door has quite a few:

Numbuh 5: They have champs in mini golf?
Rupert: The game is called miniature golf!

  • And don't you dare call miniature golf a stupid game, either.
  • "It's not just golf in miniature!"
  • For the titular organization, many kid activities are Serious Business and often threatened by adults. Case in point: the ban on drinking (root) beer in "Operation Pop", a prohibition parody.
  • Also ice cream, in which the search for the true nature of the "fourth flavor" (vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate being the core three) is akin to that of a religious quest.
  • The entire show rests on the premise that childhood is Serious Business. Which is also Truth in Television.
  • Klondike Kat's foe Savoir-Fair is supposed to be a notorious and slippery Gentleman Thief; he rarely steals anything other than food, but then, that seems to be Serious Business in this odd reality.
  • The Beach Episode from Avatar: The Last Airbender hangs a lampshade on such things with Azula, Ty Lee, Zuko, and Mai playing a friendly game of volleyball at the beach. First, Azula confers with her team and points out that a player on the opposite team has a slightly bad leg, probably weakened by a childhood injury, so they should aim at that leg to defeat her. When Azula spikes the ball and scores the game point, she makes the ball explode and completely loses it:

Azula: Yes! We've defeated you for all time! You will NEVER rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!... Well that was fun!

  • As is dating, (and please note, she's only just met the guy and had her first kiss):

Azula: Together, you and I will be the strongest couple in the entire world. We will dominate the Earth! (columns of blue fire burst from her hands)
Chan: Uh... I gotta go.

  • Pretty the entire basis of Fillmore!! is every aspect of middle-school life is overblown to something everyone's life revolves around.
    • Let me reiterate, EVERYTHING is Serious Business, including the Bocci Ball team, Standardized Tests, the School Mascot, a Mini-Golf tournament, Macaroni Art, the world's longest-living Tomagotchi Expy, Baseball Card Forgery, Abstract Art, Graffiti, and tricking kids into stealing scooters so he can look good by giving them to poor underprivileged kids in Russia.
      • MINIATURE GOLF
  • For most of Ratatouille, this is averted, with food only being given relatively reasonable import (it is a movie about chefs, after all, so a little of this is to be expected)... until the climax, when Remy's cooking -- and the revelation of his role as the chef -- are enough to induce a Heel Face Turn in a sadistic critic.
  • In King of the Hill's series finale, meat-inspecting is serious business, or at least the competition Bobby enters is. His teammates go batshit insane when he gets one question wrong despite still making it to the finals, then later at a dinner party, one teammate actually throws pepper in an opposing team's faces. And on the way to the finals, the driver of the bus carrying Bobby's team turns out to be a member of the same opposing team, and parks the bus in a puddle of mud and leaves them stranded there.
    • Hank also treats Propane and Propane accessories as Serious Business. And not in the "It's flammable, so be careful and maintain proper safety when handling it" kind of way. In a "Disrespect or insult it in any way and I'll kick your ass" kind of way.
      • One episode had Peggy and Bobby deciding they like burgers cooked over charcoal. However, at the end Peggy pretends to prefer burgers cooked with propane in order to keep the peace.
    • Everything is Serious Business in Arlen. Going against the majority on anything that doesn't make sense is almost certain to get you branded a pariah, dragged to court or jail, or most likely all of the above.
  • In one episode of the Flintstones small-league baseball was a serious business to the parents, just like in South Park example above. Right to the point that after Fred, who was an umpire, made a decision that resulted in home team loss, kids' parents were threatening him in very serious and disturbing way. And Barney insulted him with a words that are "very hard to forgive". Fred was treating his job very seriously too, and even proclaimed that he is a judge so what he say is saint.
    • This was only the parents though, at the end of the episode the kids from the team came to Fred's house and said they thought he made a fair call and accepted it with no hard feelings.
  • On The Fairly OddParents, the weather is serious business to the people of Dimmsdale, to the point where a Torches and Pitchforks mob chases the weatherman out of town every time he makes an incorrect forecast.
    • Because everyone wants to go fishing.
  • The students of Clone High take everything seriously, including cross-country, film festivals, student council, raisins and litter.
  • Teen Titans: In the episode "Date With Destiny" Starfire has a Cat Fight with Kitten and ends up getting chocolate cake onto Kitten's dress. Kitten's response? "YOU! RUINED! MY! DRESS!!!!!!"
  • Played for Laughs in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants where Spongebob loses his Krusty Krab nametag. Spongebob spends most of the time searching for said nametag while also lamenting his supposed Loss of Identity. At the end of the episode, after telling the story to a bunch of people at a diner, he addresses the waitress by the name on her nametag. The woman corrects him, pointing out that she is wearing another waitress's uniform and nametag because her own was dirty. Spongebob is utterly baffled at how nonchalant she is about it.
  • Mucha Lucha. Lucha Libre has saved the world several times, and the characters center their lives around it. Even the opening theme's lyrics say Mucha Lucha, Mucha Lucha! It's a way of life!. On occasion, the characters refer to "HONOUR! TRADITION! FAMILY! AND DONUTS!" as the motivation behind their actions (yes, the donuts are Serious Business too).
  • The The Penguins of Madagascar episode "Mr. Tux" turned Miniature Golf into this when an armadillo (The Amarillo Kid) showed up demaning Private give him the satisfaction of one last game of mini golf with Mr. Tux (Private's alterego in a former life). Even Mort remarks on the "high stakes" of the situation when the Amarillo Kid threatens to blow up the zoo if Private loses.
  • In the Phineas and Ferb episode "Does This Duckbill Make Me Looke Fat?", Perry (in Candace's body, but that's another story) stops Doofenshmirtz from stealing every fast food restaurant clown figure in Danville. Even though we are talking about a massive theft of property here, it still seems rather silly that both Major Monogram and the local police give this matter top priority.
    • Speaking of Candace, the whole "busting my brothers" dream is practically her way of life.
    • It's pretty much Doofenschmirtz' whole schtick. Often it's lampshaded that he could solve whatever's bugging him quite simply (e.g. moving a chair to another window), but usually dismisses it as "too much hassle" and instead builds is Inators to change everything else (e.g. moving a building blocking his view).
  • Dexter's Laboratory typically had Dad being the progenitor of Serious Business. In one episode he goes to insane lengths to get at his wife's fresh-baked muffins as quickly as possible. In another, he insists that Dexter be able to defeat Dee Dee at a snowball fight because Dad used to be a snowball god until he was defeated by... Mom, who explains that she just playfully lobbed a little snow at him one day and he freaked out, at which point Dad realizes he was making a big deal over nothing.

Dad: Dexter, since the dawn of time man has gone fishing. And not just for our little aquatic friends, but fishing for answers! For understanding! For meaning! So awake, my son, and join your old man in the quest... for KNOWLEDGE!

  • In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "Winter Wrap Up" is Serious Business to the denizens of Ponyville, as noted by Twilight Sparkle.
    • And in "Green Isn't Your Color", we see that secret keeping is Serious Business to Pinkie Pie, so much so, that she will break the laws of physics to enforce it.
      • On that note, "The Last Roundup" is a stark reminder that if you value your continued existence, you never ever EVER EVER EVER break a Pinkie-Promise.
    • The whole show treats the whole "custodians of nature" thing the ponies have going on incredibly seriously. The forest just outside of town seriously freaks the ponies out because hibernation, seasons, weather, and nature in general get on with things, completely devoid of pony assistance. Also it's home to a number of dangerously mythological creatures, but that's just, you know, wildlife. Trees grow! On their own! What the heck is up with that?!
    • Cutie Marks are treated as serious business. This also works recursively since cutie marks are an indication of what the bearer considers serious business, be it apples, fashion or even popping balloons.
      • By the fans, I suppose, but the only ones who obsess really are the CMC. I mean, yeah, it's awesome when you get it, but they're the only ones who actively seek them and freak out about not having them.
    • Studying is Serious Business to Twilight Sparkle. Before you say "but studying is important in Real Life too!" keep in mind that Twilight Sparkle honestly believed that she would be sent all the way back to Magic Kindergarden for just ONE late homework. It's bad enough that she decides to MAKE a problem if she can't find one, which ends up in her accidentally brainwashing the whole town, requiring the intervention of the Physical Goddess who also happens to be her teacher, and nearly gets her in trouble FOR REAL.
  • Reshelving Day
  • Bit of a meta example, but the Episode "Feeling Pinkie Keen" sparked major FlameWars. What were they about? Science vs. Religion. On My Little Pony. I'll let that thought sink in for a while.
  • In The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, Apple Cider for Rainbow Dash. Hell, she's willing to torture Pinkie Pie, who beats her in line every year for its sale, with the elusive nector.

Rex: I don't get this much respect when I save the world!

  • The Daffy Duck featured in The Looney Tunes Show takes everything way too seriously like he thinks that getting his newspaper is more important than anything (he doesn't read it he makes his car with it) and thinks that if it doesn't arrive one day that means someone stole it, and he nearly ends his friendship with Porky Pig because he took some fries from his basket, the fries were for everyone.
  • In Regular Show, anything and everything can be serious business, Rock paper scissors summoning an Eldritch Abomination, Death's preferred method of gambling for souls being arm wrestling, posting viral videos being grounds for an And I Must Scream. Most of the plots start with something harmless before snowballing into a Cosmic Horror Story.
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