A Whale Of A Tale
What should be a relaxing early-morning trip to the beach turns into a race against time to save a baby whale that has become stranded on the shore.
Tropes in “A Whale Of A Tale” include:
- Artistic License – Marine Biology: In an In-Universe case of this, both Turner and Elliot are shown to think that whales are fish; Dr. Ortega knows better, and explains the truth to them.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: When Elliot sees the baby whale that’s become stranded on the beach:Elliot: Whoa, is that a whale?
Turner: Well, it’s not a goldfish. - Beach Episode: Manny and the tools head to the beach for a relaxing day off, but end up having to help return a beached baby whale to the water.
- Brick Joke: Early in the episode, Mr. Lopart is seen struggling with a folding lawnchair. Later, after he and Kelly arrive on the beach:Mr. Lopart: I decided a little fresh air couldn’t hurt after all. As long as I stay away from any folding chairs.
- Continuity Nod: Elliot is the beach’s lifeguard.
- Funny Background Event: When Kelly arrives at the beach, Mr. Lopart can be seen also arriving… and clonking himself in the head with a beach umbrella.
- Improvisational Ingenuity: Manny and the tools, needing to get a baby whale back into the water, end up constructing an improvised “stretcher” for it out of a beach towel, beach umbrella poles, and fishing line.
- Malaproper: Squeeze does this when trying to correct Elliot after the latter calls the whale a “fish”.Squeeze: He’s not a fish, he’s a camel!
Turner: A mammal, Squeeze. He’s a mammal. - Murphy's Bed: Mr. Lopart can be seen having very similar problems with a lawnchair; first he can’t get it open, and when he does get it open Fluffy promptly jumps on it and causes it to fold up on him.
- On Three: Wherever Manny, the tools, and Dr. Ortega try to move the whale, they always do it on the count of tres, whether that’s just pushing it, rolling it onto a macgyvered stretcher, or moving the stretcher to the water.
- Parrot Expo What:Dr. Ortega: I’m a marine biologist.
Pat: A mina-whatagist? - Pun-Based Title: If something is “a whale of a tale”, it’s an amazing story; after this episode, Manny and the tools will be able to tell an amazing story about the time they saved a baby whale.
- Rhyming Title: It has one.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: This bizarrely inverted; the baby whale has rather visible eyelashes, and yet is consistently referred to as being male.
Julieta’s Loose Tooth
Manny goes to Señor Sanchez’s house to repair a leaky faucet; while he’s there, Julieta loses a tooth- down the sink’s drain!
”Julieta’s Loose Tooth” provides examples of:
- Audible Gleam:
- Felipe emits one after Manny cleans some wax off of him.
- One shines on Abuelito’s belt buckle after Manny polishes it.
- At the end of the episode, when the Tooth Mouse appears with a coin for Julieta, one shines on the coin.
- Continuity Nod:
- Abuelito has a fish on the buckle of his belt, and is explicitly mentioned as loving fishing.
- Mr. Lopart is shown wearing his exercise suit from “Gopher Help”.
- When the Tooth Mouse is brought up, Rusty mentions being afraid of mice, a fact established in “Kitty Sitting”.
- This one is possibly accidental, but after Squeeze accidentally turns the water on instead of off while Manny is working on the faucet, he reminds her that everyone makes mistakes.
- Covered in Gunge: Felipe ends up with wax stuck on him after accidentally falling in to a tub of wax.
- Furry Confusion: Mr. Lopart is seen using an inanimate wrench while working on his bike.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When Mr. Lopart seemingly manages to attach his new bike flag to his bike.Mr. Lopart: What’d I tell ya, Fluffy, no problem.
(His entire bike falls apart) - I've Heard of That — What Is It?: Pat does this when Manny tries to show him the picture on Abuelito’s belt buckle… when the picture is too dirty to make out.Pat: Pretty! (beat) Uh, there’s no picture.”
- Loose Tooth Episode: Juleita has a loose tooth, and ends up really losing it when it falls down the drain of her bathroom sink. Fortunately, Manny is able to retrieve it from the trap fairly easily.
- Real After All: The Tooth Mouse (a version of the Tooth Fairy found in various Spanish-speaking cultures, and a few more European ones beyond that) turns out to be this in the ending, as it’s seen delivering a coin to Juleita.
- Tooth Fairy: Julieta believes that the Tooth Mouse will bring her a coin for her tooth when she loses it; upon hearing this, Squeeze brings up the more traditional Tooth Fairy. Oh, and the Tooth Mouse turns out to be Real After All in the episode’s ending.
