Toopy and Binoo is a Canadian children's television series created by the Quebec-based studio Spectra Animation (also known for Teletoon shows like Fred's Head and Kid Paddle) for Treehouse TV. It is based on a series of children's books by French-Canadian author Dominique Jolin, originally titled Toupie et Binou.
The show centers around an anthropomorphic mouse named Toopy and his best friend, a mute plush cat named Binoo. Each episode follows the playful, nonsensical adventures created out of Toopy and Binoo's imaginations. Toopy is the only character that speaks. For the most part, he provides enthusiastic descriptions of their adventures.
Individual segments are approximately five minutes in length but are frequently grouped as one thirty-minute episode, both on television and DVD releases.
An 80-minute theatrical film based on the franchise was announced in 2021.
It was released in Canadian theaters on August 11, 2023, and later in the year aired on Treehouse TV on Boxing Day.
This Work Contains the Following Tropes:
- Ambiguously Gay: Toopy and Binoo show shades of this, particularly when crossdressing.
- Cartoony Tail: Toopy has one. Depending on how kind you're feeling, it looks like a tiny rattlesnake's tail or a prolapsed rectum.
- Christmas Episode: The show had four Christmas-related episodes: "Santa Toopy" where he and Binoo dress up as Saint Nick and deliver slippers to everything in their house, "Christmas Eve" where the two try to invite all of their friends to a Christmas party, "Toopy's Present" which has Toopy bringing Christmas to the summer to give Binoo a new water wing, And in the 22-minute mini-movie. "Big Bad Christmas", the two help The Three Little Pigs deliver a present to the grumpy Big Bad Wolf who hates Christmas.
- Conjoined Eyes: Toopy's eyeballs are connected in the middle.
- Cute Kitten: Binoo is a living toy cat who is adorable.
- Dream Walker:
- In "Diaper Dream", Toopy enters Binoo's dream to figure out what's causing his nightmare.
- In "Dreamland", Toopy enters Binoo's dream to figure out what's making him so happy.
- Gag Nose: Both "Toopy's Nose" and the "Magic You" segment "Nose Switch".
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Toopy wears a shirt, but no pants.
- Keet: Toopy is excitable and talkative.
- Living Toys: Binoo is a sentient stuffed cat.
- Name and Name: Toopy and Binoo.
- The Noseless: Happened in five episodes, four times to Toopy:
- "Toopy's Nose" (also happened to Binoo)
- "Magic Mirror" (one that was doing a trick the real Toopy can't do)
- "Cloud Gazing" (a reused scene and an original scene later)
- and the two "Magic You" segments, "Nose Switch" and "Bunny Ears", the former had the Ms. Polar Bear, Mr. Snowman, and Mr. Elephant characters missing their noses, and the latter not just Toopy missing his nose, but also, his right ear and his tail.
- Rodents of Unusual Size: Toopy is much larger than the average mouse.
- Sentient Stars: One appears in "Night Light", chased by Toopy and Binoo who are seeking to have it be a night light for Binoo. It doesn't speak, but Binoo had figure out it wants Toopy and him to follow it.
- Solid Clouds:
- In "Toopy's Bed", one of the beds Toopy tries out is a cloud in the sky. It's after he settles down on the cloud that he realizes he misses his old bed and goes back to it.
- In "On and Off", one of Toopy's hiding places is inside a cloud. Binoo and the furniture happen to be on another cloud floating towards the one Toopy is hiding in.
- The Speechless: Pretty much anybody who isn't Toopy in the original episodes. However, the half-hour specials and the theatrical movie have other speaking characters.
- Title: The Adaptation: The movie is just called Toopy and Binoo: The Movie.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: There are a few episodes where Toopy and sometimes Binoo would play dress-up and assume female roles, such as a princess and finding the best dress to wear for a ball. The show doesn't treat this as anything out of the ordinary.
- Worm in an Apple: In "Worm Circus", an entire worm circus is located inside an apple. Toopy and Binoo join the clown act by juggling.
