History Main / KidsPreferBoxes

* ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'': A comic feature drawn by Dave Berg includes a gag where a mom and dad give their little boy an expensive toy fire engine (big enough for the child to ride on) -- and the last panel shows the kid sitting in the empty box it came in, yelling "CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"

* One ''ComicStrip/ShermansLagoon'' Sunday strip has Sherman give his son Herman an expensive robot toy and goes on about how 'Santa' waited hours in line to get one. When he sees Herman playing with the box, he's understandably upset.
* A ''ComicStrip/{{Cathy}}'' strip describes all the beautiful, expensive, educational toys that Andrea has bought for baby Zenith. The last panel shows that Zenith's favorite toy is an empty toilet paper tube.

* In ComicStrip/{{Frazz}}, Caulfield thinks it's great that while he has broken half his toys, he still has all these empty boxes for his cat. Indeed, he spent most of Christmas vacation juggling the cat from box to box.

* One ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS'' strip has Dennis make a Christmas tree out of boxes instead of playing with the toys that came inside them. Dennis' parents decide that next Christmas, they'll just give him the boxes.

* From ''Blog/AskFlufflePuff'', the short [[http://askflufflepuff.tumblr.com/post/56785799996/just-a-heads-up-i-wont-be-taking-questions-this ''All Boxed Up'']] shows Fluffle Puff playing with a box after throwing away the book it contained, destined to Twilight (and with the mention "last copy ever, handle with care").

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' plays with this trope, as Jack is obsessed with the concept of a "present" (particularly in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''), but doesn't understand that the present is what's ''inside'' the pretty wrapped box with the bow. He clearly has some idea (or realizes later) that the box needs to have an item inside it because the citizens of Halloween Town fill the boxes with scary toys rather than leaving them empty.

* In ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'', Pooh ''intends'' to give Eeyore a jar of honey... and then absentmindedly eats the honey. Eeyore doesn't actually like honey, but he's very happy to be given the empty jar.

* In ''Meet the Muppet Babies'', a book based on ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'', Kermit prepares to play with a cardboard box, but his friends all take turns using it as different things. Fozzie uses it as a bear cave, Gonzo uses it as a space station, Scooter uses it as a computer, Rowlf uses it as a piano, Skeeter uses it as a parade float, Piggy uses it as a castle, and Animal uses it as a canoe. When Nanny comes into the nursery check on the babies, Kermit tells Nanny that the box is his, but now he forgot what he was going to use it for.

* When Ernest from ''Literature/EyeOfAFly'' was little, his mother gave him a present wrapped in red cellophane. Ernest was entranced by the way the light shone through the cellophane and stared at it for hours. Then his mother ruined it by opening the present.

* In an episode of ''Series/ModernFamily'', Claire and Phil mention that their son Luke is like this. One year, they decided to just give him a box for his birthday. Unfortunately, they put it in a nice bag and he spent all day playing with the bag.

* Referenced in ''Series/PowerRangersZeo''. Sprocket begs his parents for a new toy, and Machina points out "But when we got you that ''lovely'' nuclear reactor, you only played with the box."

* Both played straight and inverted in the ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' episode, "Charlie 4, Toby 1", where Amy just gives Toby an empty box for a toy train for his first birthday. While Toby is having a lot of fun playing with the empty box, P.J. asks Amy if she still has the toy train for him to play with.
* An early [[Creator/DisneyJunior Playhouse Disney]] show, ''Series/OutOfTheBox'', had this as the premise-- the hosts, Tony and Vivian, constructed a clubhouse out of cardboard that's somehow BiggerOnTheInside.
* Similar to the Archie Comics example, one episode of ''Series/KenanAndKel'' had the two sell one of Kel's paintings for $5 - only for the buyer to throw away the painting and keep the ornate frame.
* An episode of ''Series/FamilyTies'' reveals that one of Alex's most beloved boyhood playthings was a box, which he called "Ba-ba".

* The Pod, your base in ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'', is made of a cardboard box. It fits with the game's "handmade" style.

* ''VideoGame/{{Littlewood}}'': One of the furniture options is a cat tree. If it's examined, the FlavorText calls it "not as fun as an empty carboard box".
* As mentioned under the Animated Films folder, ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' [[PlayedForDrama plays this trope for drama]] in the [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Halloweentown]] world. When Sora and company visit the world for the second time, they discover that someone has been stealing presents from Santa's workshop and fear that Jack Skellington might be behind it--but it turns out that it's actually a massive Heartless known only as the Experiment. At one point, the Experiment throws one of the stolen gifts at the group while escaping, and Jack steps on the teddy bear that was inside to pick up the box instead, remarking that ''this'' is the "present" part of the gift. Jack and the Experiment have this in common, as the latter tries to take as many boxes as possible, regardless of whether or not something's inside. [[WomenAreWiser Sally]] eventually figures out what the Experiment was up to--a present is a way of showing someone that you care for them, which, in a way, is like giving someone your heart. Since the Heartless...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin lack hearts]], the Experiment thought it could somehow become whole by taking the gifts for itself.

* Raccoons Prefer Bubble Wrap: Sandra from ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'' gives her pet raccoon Woo a [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2009/10/15/0103-the-new-toy/ cardboard box full of bubble wrap]] as a gift.

* Referenced in [[http://thisisindexed.com/2012/12/aww-yeah-cardboard a pie chart]] from ''Webcomic/{{Indexed}}''. The amount of fun had by the toddler with the actual toy is much, much less than the fun had with the box it came in.
* ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'': [[http://www.shortpacked.com/comic/joke Seen in a strip,]] except instead of a "kid" it's Shattered Glass-Ravage (an excitable, [[Website/{{Twitter}} Yatter]]-obsessed robot cat).

* A ''Website/BabylonBee'' parody claims that [[https://babylonbee.com/news/biblical-scholars-claim-jesus-ignored-gold-frankincense-myrrh-just-played-with-the-boxes-they-came-in baby Jesus just played with the boxes that his gold, frankincense, and myrrh came in.]]

* This is the punchline to Creator/{{Pixar}}'s short ''WesternAnimation/TinToy''.

* ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'':
** In "[[Recap/RugratsS2E18MeetTheCarmichaelsTheBox The Box]]", Stu orders a ridiculously complex playset called the "Kiddy Karnival" and spends the entire episode trying to simply build the damn thing. The set is never assembled. Angelica, of course, doesn't get why the babies ''are'' having so much fun with it and tries to ruin their fun. When she rips the box to pieces, the babies pause for a few moments, and then just pick up the various bits of cardboard and play with those, leading to Angelica, completely fed up, shouting the quote at the top of the page. Eventually, Stu decides (as a toy inventor) to give up on the Kiddy Karnival and market a line of cardboard boxes, after seeing how much fun the babies are having with it.
** In "[[Recap/RugratsS3E24KidTVTheSkyIsFalling Kid TV]]", Stu is struggling to invent a flying toy and is up-shown by a lavish commercial. In a rage, he throws his half-finished invention at the TV, destroying it. He then tries to look for the TV's box to return it under warranty, but the only box he can find is just barely too small. While he searches for another box, the babies cut a hole in the bottom and pretend it's a television, hosting their own shows as the others watch.
** A non-box variation of this trope appears in "[[Recap/RugratsS1E7GrandpasTeethMommaTrauma Momma Trauma]]", where a man is trying to sell some toy robots, but the kids are only interested in the ball which comes as an accessory.
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'':
** In "A Boy and His Ed", the Eds hear that Kevin has a box of jawbreakers and ask him for some. Kevin replies that they are too late and tosses them the empty box, and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Ed]] proceeds to crawl inside it ("Hey, free box!").
** In "Urban Ed", the Eds build an entire city out of nothing but cardboard boxes, and even Kevin is impressed.
-->'''Kevin:''' Hoo-rah, the dorks did something cool for once.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' has Beezy bribe Heloise with a box of gold. She takes it, [[WorthlessYellowRocks then dumps out the contents]] to play in the box.
* On ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig'''s ChristmasEpisode, George got a fancy electronic toy racing car as his gift but ended up playing with the box instead after his parents took too long to get it set up.
* PlayedForDrama in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode "Boxing Daria". After seeing an old refrigerator box at the beginning of the episode, childhood memories beginning to re-emerge as Daria begins to remember some rather traumatic events concerning her [[SnarkKnight unique personality as a child,]] accumulating to her remembering how her parents would fight amongst themselves due to her behavior in school. To escape it all, she would hide in a refrigerator box in her room.
* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'': Pepper gets a new prop in the mail. The second after she takes it out, the other pets enthusiastically start playing with the box.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'':
** In the prologue to the episode, "[[CourtroomEpisode Read and Flumberghast]]", as Arthur shows the features of his family's new refrigerator to the viewers, D.W. shows the viewers the many things the box the refrigerator was shipped in could be, including an elevator, a rocket ship, a mobile home for birds, a motorboat, and a submarine. Being older than her, Arthur doesn't get what D.W. sees in the box. In the actual episode, David builds an office for D.W. from the box, which is what sets the episode's main plot in motion.
** In the episode, "Some Assembly Required", the Read Family orders a new playground for D.W. to play in. While David and Jane assemble the playground, D.W. goes on an imaginary adventure with Emily and Bud, pretending the box it was shipped in is a rocket ship.
* In "Franklin's Big Box" from ''Literature/{{Franklin}} and Friends'', Franklin's Aunt T tries to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this by sending Franklin a large decorated box in the mail with nothing in it. At first, Franklin and his friends think maybe she just forgot to put in a gift and decide to go visit her place to ask her about it. Along the way, however, they have fun with the box, and by the time they've reached Aunt T's, Franklin's decided to thank her for just sending the empty box.
* In "Project: Boxes" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Floogals}}'', the Floogals decide to investigate the boxes that have just arrived at the human household, wondering why the mother was so excited about their arrival. They have fun with the boxes and are disappointed when they learn that it wasn't the boxes themselves that the mother was excited about, saying that sometimes the humans just don't think the same way they do. Then the kids of the household take the boxes to make a space station with and the Floogals realize that the kids do get excited about the boxes themselves.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' episode, "I Want My Muppet TV", when the TV in the nursery breaks, the babies make a TV out of a cardboard box and act out their own TV shows with it. By the time Nanny fixes the TV, the babies continue wanting to play with their cardboard box.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E4NastyPattyIdiotBox Idiot Box]]", [=SpongeBob=] buys a big television set, and immediately tosses it in favor of spending the entire episode playing with Patrick in the cardboard box that the television was packaged in. Squidward, of course, is perplexed by the concept, but he doesn’t question the free big screen TV he gets from the ordeal... [[YourTelevisionHatesYou which just so happens to give him shows about boxes every time he flips the channel]]. (And yes, this includes [[VisualPun championship boxing]].)

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'' episode "Caillou Computes" ends with Caillou deciding that the box his new computer came in is better than the actual device itself after having issues with learning to use it.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiddlemostPost'': The short "Unboxing" concerns Parker receiving a package, but he prefers to not unbox it immediately and have some fun with the box first, despite Angus' protests. Among many other things, [[CompanionCube he takes it to the cinema, showers with it, and pushes it on a swing]]. When he eventually does open it, he finds out that there's ice cream on the inside that has since gone bad.

-->-- '''Angelica Pickles''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', "The Box"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'':

A common gag in comedies with small children, and a case of TruthInTelevision for a lot of parents. See also MundaneObjectAmazement, MyNewGiftIsLame, UnwantedGiftPlot, and WorthlessYellowRocks.

* ''WesternAnimation/SummerCampIsland'': In "Glow Worm", Oscar's therapist Dr. Shark gives him memory goggles and shows him a memory of when he and Hedgehog were babies and Hedgehog's EducationMama gave her a telescope and Oscar the cardboard tube it came in. She's not happy when Hedgehog shows much more interest in the cardboard tube Oscar is playing with.

* ''WesternAnimation/SummerCampIsland'': In "Glow Worm", Oscar's therapist Dr. Shark gives him memory goggles and shows him a memory of when he and Hedgehog were babies and Hedgehog's EducationMama gave her a telescope and Oscar the cardboard tube it came in. She's not happy when Hedgehog shows much more interest in the cardboard tube Oscar is playing with and he lets her play with it.

* ''WesternAnimation/SummerCampIsland'': In "Glow Worm", Oscar's therapist Dr. Shark gives him memory goggles and shows him a memory of when he and Hedgehog were babies and Hedgehog's EducationMama gave her a telescope and Oscar the cardboard tube it came in. She's not happy when Hedgehog shows much more interest in the cardboard tube.

* ''WesternAnimation/SummerCampIsland'': In "Glow Worm", Oscar's therapist Dr. Shark gives him memory and shows him a memory of when he and his friend Hedgehog were babies and Hedgehog's EducationMama gave her a telescope and Oscar the cardboard tube it came in. She's not happy when Hedgehog shows much more interest in the cardboard tube.