Wonder Pets

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Turtle Tuck: "A baby animal! She's in trouble!"
Ming-Ming Duckling: "This is serious!!!"
Linny Guinea Pig: "We have to help her!"

And pretty much every parent who watches television with their child could probably recite the rest by heart.

"Wonder Pets" is a Nick Jr. series about three cute little baby animals who go on adventures to save other cute little baby animals. The animation is created with cut-out photographs and all the important dialogue is delivered operatically.

Tropes used in Wonder Pets include:
  • Artistic License: Biology: Ducks don't urinate. At least, not the way the show portrays they do.
  • Aside Glance: Linny always gives a wink to the audience at the end of each story.
  • Be Yourself: Tuck is told this when he wants to play with a pink toy car, but he's the only one. The lesson is later used to help a lion cub.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: The costume box sequence in Save the Nutcracker:

Linny: I'm a mouse!
Tuck: I'm a king!
Ming - Ming: I'm a mouse king!

  • Captain Ersatz: Ollie and his Thunder Pets.
  • Cartoon Physics: The Wonder Pets' flyboat can go anywhere in the world in the time it takes for them to sing their "we're on our way" jingle. It can also magically enter picture books, dioramas, posters and other art projects in their schoolhouse.
  • Catch Phrase:
    • "This is sewious!"
    • "Good eye, Tuck!"
    • "To the flyboat?" "To the flyboat!"
    • Catchphrase Interruptus: Yes, thank you, Ollie, for trying to help.
  • Chekhov's Skill: Once an Episode, The Pets have to solve a minor problem before they can get on their way, and the method they use fits the needs of the larger quest with insane precision.
  • Christmas Episode: Save The Nutcracker; Save the Reindeer. (Seperate episodes)
  • Cross-Dressing Voices: Tuck is voiced by Teala Dunn.
  • Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Ming-Ming. Well, she's about five. So it's not really her fault. It's also a Throw It In that carried over from the audition process.
  • Ending Theme: An instrumental version of the leitmotif.
  • Freudian Trio: Linny (ego), Tuck (superego), and Ming-Ming (id).
  • Furry Confusion: In the circus episode.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: "Celewy is great after a good pee!" "You can say that again!"
    • Rhyming "poofies" with "roofies" in "Save The Poodle!"
  • I Am Not Weasel:
    • Linny, whenever anyone refers to her as simply "pig," or some other type of rodent, such as "hamster."
    • Numerous eBay listings refer to Linny incorrectly as "hamster," "hampster," and even "hedgehog."
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ollie is impolite and more than a little bit irritating during his appearances. This has the added affect of making his philosophies as unappealing as he himself is.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Tuck and both of the girls.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: For example, the song about celery is delivered with all the gravitas worthy of a Wagnerian epic.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: In one episode they saved a band of insect musicians called The Beetles. (Three of which were voiced by Lenie Colacino, one of the stars of the musical "Beatlemania.") In another episode they meet three rats named Sammy, Dino and Blue Eyes. And in one episode they rescue a hound dog whose father is a canine version of Elvis Presley. These also count as Parental Bonus.
  • Once an Episode: Being a kid's show, it happens a lot.
  • Potty Emergency: "There's a puppy, and he has to pee-pee, but he can't... because he's stuck in the house!"
  • Regular Caller: "The phone, the phone is ringing!" "The phone, we'll be wight there!"
  • Sewious Business: Ming-Ming's stock in trade. Eventually parodied during an episode where they need to give a baby blowfish the encouragement to go to preschool.

"This isn't sewious!"\

"But-we-still-have-to help him!"

  • Shout-Out: To The Beatles, Fiddler on the Roof, and the Rat Pack, to name but a very few.
  • Straw Character: Ollie, whether it was deliberate or not. In one memorable episode, Ollie gloats about how he can solve the problem of the week by himself, only to wind up making the situation worse as a result of attempting the mission solo. Cue the trio gloating at his expense.
  • Strictly Formula: "Save the Duckling!", "Save the Nutcracker!" and "Save the Rat Pack!" all subvert this.
  • Sugar Bowl: The Wonder Pets' world is teeming with cute overload, and the animals are mostly of the cute and fuzzy kind.
  • Super-Hero Speciation: To a ridiculous degree. You know as well as we do that baby ducks are born swimmers, but because Tuck Turtle is already the Designated Swimmer, Ming-Ming is the team's resident... flyer. Because ducklings can fly. Before they know how to swim. Sure.
  • Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: An aversion, which is where the Viewer Gender Confusion comes from. Baseball caps are the usual "male" signifier, but Linny is female and has one.
  • The Load: Ollie the Rabbit, who is guaranteed to either screw up the rescue when he comes along and/or require rescuing himself. He's also a Jerkass. Notably, Ollie tends to attempt things on his own before he screws things up and/or requires rescuing. One wonders if he was deliberately thrown in to reinforce the show's Aesop.
  • Theme Tune: Oddly separate from the actual theme song, which is actually the Ending Theme and leitmotif
  • The Power of Friendship: "What's gonna work? Teeeeeeamwork!"
  • Trademark Favorite Food: "Let's celebrate with some celery!" And apparently every species loves celery.
  • Whoa, Bundy!: After every rescue.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Wonder_Pets?oldid=1478393"