Unstable Fables

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A 2008 trilogy of computer-animated films from the Jim Henson Company, featuring three separate stories that irreverently and unfaithfully retell classic fairy tales and fables.

Besides taking place in the same fairy tale world, the individual stories are all linked by the common theme of family and getting along peacefully in spite of differences.

Tropes used in Unstable Fables include:

The entire series provides examples of:

• All CGI Cartoon
• All-Star Cast
• An Aesop: Appropriately enough. Importance of family and understanding/acceptance of differences are the main running themes.
• Carnivore Confusion: Oh, don't even get us started.
• Fractured Fairy Tale: In case the title of the series didn't tip you off.
• Furry Confusion
• Groin Attack: Several.
  • 3 Pigs and a Baby has two: First, Musical Comedy Wolf punches a punching bag dummy, which recoils and smacks him in the crotch. Later, Big Boss Wolf gets nailed hard by Dr. Wolfowitz's tail once in the final fight.
  • In Tortoise Vs Hare, a stick figure lands on his crotch during a video for the race.
• Hypocritical Humor
  • Mason Pig objects to "garbage" like candy bars before chowing down on a rusty tin can.
  • Chad the frog scoffs at how "uncouth" the bears' sloppy housekeeping is before slurping up a fly and leaving a huge spot of spit in its wake.
• Interspecies Romance
  • 3 Pigs and a Baby: Lucky openly flirts with the girl pigs in his school on occasion. Justified since he was raised as a pig in an all-pig town. Subverted later when he becomes infatuated with Teen Girl Wolf upon first sight.
  • Tortoise vs. Hare seems to have this between Butch Hare and Crystal Tortoise. (See YMMV page.)
  • Finally, in Goldilocks and the 3 Bears: Young brown bear Junior has a love interest in the form of polar bear Inga. And Goldilocks mentions that she "once had a thing for a kodiac named Teddy."
• Lions and Tigers and Humans, Oh My!: With the introduction of Goldilocks.
• Shout-Out: Several.
• The Verse: The plots of each story don't really have anything to do with eachother outside of the characters sharing the same world.

3 Pigs and a Baby provides examples of:

• All of the Other Reindeer: Lucky is bullied at school for being a "freak", from his first day well into his teen years.
• Ambiguously Gay: Prissy Neat Freak Richard Pig walks the line sometimes.
• Big Eater: Lucky, being a growing teenage boy and a wolf, is often frustrated about there being no food in the whole kitchen; but that's because he ate everything in the whole kitchen.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Dr. Wolfowitz, who sports a tag reading "Evil Scientist".
• Cloudcuckoolander: Sandy
• Door Step Baby: Lucky, as part of a nefarious plan.
• Doting Parent: Richard is this at times.
• Emo Teen: Played for Laughs with Lucky sometimes.

Smooth Cool: "You lost?" Lucky: "Yeah... Lost in this city, in this lonely universe. Lost deep down in my soul... !" Smooth Cool: (Aside Glance) "I had to ask..."

• Evil Is Hammy: "Dr. Wolfowitz, must you always make such a dramatic entrance?"
• Extreme Omnivore: The pigs are more or less this fairytale world's living garbage disposals.
• Has Three Daddies: Lucky
• I Didn't Tell You Because You'd Be Unhappy: A young Lucky refrains from telling his dads that he was bullied all day on his first day of school to keep them from worrying.
• Mad Scientist: Dr. Wolfowitz.
• Meaningful Name: When the pigs first find the cub on their doorstep:

Richard: (to the baby) "Oh, you're so lucky you found this house!" Sandy: "Hey, that's it, bro! We'll call him Lucky."

• • Theme Naming: All the wolves (excluding Wolfowitz) have descriptive labels such as Big Boss Wolf, Smooth Cool Wolf, Wide-Eyed Pacifist Wolf...
    • "Don't forget Musical Comedy Wolf!"
  • Then there's a more subtle example concerning the brick-house pig being named Mason, which literally means "bricklayer".
• Oblivious Adoption: Again, Lucky, almost to the point of parody.

Lucky: "I wish... I wish you'd never given birth to me!"

• Overprotective Dad: Richard takes on this role.
• The Smurfette Principle: Teen Girl Wolf to the Wolf Pack.
• Super OCD: Richard. Subverted concerning what he eats and how he eats it. He is a pig, after all.
• Surfer Dude: Sandy
• Team Dad: While all three pigs are "Dad" to Lucky, Mason plays this disciplinary role a lot moreso than the other two.
• Team Mom: Richard. Jon Cryer, who voices him, even says that "He sort of makes himself 'the Mommy Pig', just because he worries the most."
• Teens Are Monsters:

Mason: "It's like there's a huge, hairy beast living in our house, with forage fangs and claws like garden shears!" Richard: "Hel-looo? Teenagers!"

• Tough Love: As mentioned, Mason is far sterner and stricter with Lucky than either of his brothers; at one point, he even proposes sending him to "Sergeant Slaughter's School for Wayward Pigs."
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Lucky. Photos show that it was brown when he was younger, so it's a dye job.

Tortoise vs. Hare provides examples of:

• Adorkable: While he generally plays Straight Man to everyone else, nature-nerd Butch definitely has his endearingly dorky moments.
• Berserk Button: Just hearing the words "slow and steady" sends Murray Hare into comical conniptions.
• Dark Horse Victory: And victory goes to TEAM MOLE! ... Wait, what... ?
• Early-Bird Cameo: A literal bird example with the pelican, Jorje, who doesn't have a major speaking role until the next film.
• Follow in My Footsteps: Both Walter Tortoise and Murray Hare want this of their kids Crystal and Butch, respectively.
• Genki Girl: Crystal Tortoise
• Honest John's Dealership: Murray is properly introduced at his job in a used-car lot trying to sell a "Top Secret Spy Car" (an ugly, beat-up scrap of metal on wheels) to an elderly lady.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: On a snowy night, Murray has to resort to holding Walter to keep the latter from freezing to death. The next morning, they immediately agree that it never happened.
• Never Trust a Trope: "Oh, Dad was right! Never trust a tortoise!"
• Only Sane Man: Butch. And Crystal to a somewhat lesser extent.
• The Rival: Murray and Walter both view the other as this.
• Rivals Team Up
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Butch and Crystal
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: Murray misses Butch's science fair to work at his car dealership.
  • His wife is worse, being a Workaholic real-estate agent who never takes off her headset.

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears provides examples of:

• Acquired Situational Narcissism: All three bears experience this, while it's a completely different case with Goldilocks.
• All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Junior Bear starts out mooning hopelessly over Misty Brown. But later, when she suddenly takes a liking to him for his fame, he comes to realize that "Misty's not nearly as cute once you get to know her."
• Alpha Bitch: Surprisingly, Goldilocks is actually a subversion (see below). Misty Brown, on the other hand, is a straight example with absolutely no redeeming qualities personality-wise.
• Bumbling Dad: Mac Bear
• Celebrity Is Overrated: The Bears eventually come to this conclusion.
• Cute but Cacophonic: When the petite, pink-clad little blonde doesn't get her way, her irate, demanding shrieks can literally crack glass.
• Dumb Blonde: Goldilocks, who initially doesn't even know what books are!
• Girlfriend in Canada: Eddie the goose claims to have one. And a supermodel, at that!
• Happily Married: Mac and Ruby Bear
• Heterosexual Life Partners: Junior and Eddie, back since they were toddlers apparently.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Goldilocks becomes this over time.
• Malaproper: Mac.
• Mister Muffykins: Goldilocks' growling, long-suffering little poodle, Doodie.
• Noodle Person: Goldilocks, being a parody of Teen Idols and their associated tropes.
• Romantic False Lead: Misty to Inga, for Junior.
• Token Human: Goldilocks
• Working Class People Are Morons: Mac, the fishmonger, is definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed.