A CGI trilogy from the Jim Henson Company, featuring three separate stories that irrelevantly and unfaithfully retell classic fairytales and fables: ''3 Pigs and a Baby'', ''Tortoise vs. Hare'' and ''The Goldilocks and the Three Bears Show''
Besides taking place in the same fairytale world, the individual stories are all linked by the common theme of family and getting along peacefully in spite of differences.
The entire series provides examples of:
- Big Bad:
- Breaking the Fourth Wall:
- In "Three Pigs and a Baby" Big Boss Wolf turns to the viewer and tells them "You're the audience!" He also tells Musical Comedy Wolf "We don't have the budget to make this a musical!"
- In "Tortoise Vs. Hare", The stork announcers, Bob and Rex, stand outside the tortoise and hare homes, and speak to the viewer about "the new tortoise and hare team."
- In "The Goldilocks and the Three Bears Show", Jay Weasel declares that Goldilocks's fixed win in the talent show will be "the greatest upset since the tortoise took down the hare!" He then faces the viewer and adds "Which, by the way, is available now on DVD!"
- Fairy Tale Free-for-All: The plots of each story don't really have anything to do with each other outside of the characters sharing the same world.
- Several characters appear across the stories, making either cameo or background appearances.
- Other fairy tale characters are briefly mentioned by the main ones of the stories. For example, Big Boss Wolf mentions that his son Big Bad Wolf could have accomplished Operation Red Riding Hood without Red having to go with the "What big eyes you have Grandma!" routine and Eddie Goose mentions a cousin of his has started laying golden eggs.
- Furry Reminder: Lots of jokes revolve around this: the pigs getting their food from the town's garbage truck, the roof of Walter J. Tortoise's house resembling a turtle shell, Chad Frog using his tongue to catch a fly...
- Groin Attack:
- 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 Adoption:
- 3 Pigs and a Baby: has the three pigs adopt Lucky, a baby wolf.
- Goldilocks and the 3 Bears: has Goldilocks adopted by the three bears.
- Interspecies Romance:
- 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, the only human in the all-animal cast.
- Toilet Humor: Tons: Lucky soiling his diaper, Butch spitting in order to know in which way does gravity work while trapped in a snowball, Mac Bear burping...
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Lucky is smitten with Teen Girl Wolf, and Junior (eventually) falls for Inga; Both girls are about a head taller than they are.
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.
- 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.
- Bullying a Dragon: The bullies at Pigville academy harass Lucky all the way into his teens, despite the fact that he's noticeably taller than they are by then. Once Lucky becomes aware of his wolf heritage, he quickly puts them in their place.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Dr. Wolfowitz, who sports a tag reading "Evil Scientist".
- The Diaper Change: Lucky gets this as a baby, even being accompained by a Visible Odor.
- Doorstop Baby: Lucky, as part of a nefarious plan, is dropped by the Three Pigs' doorstep as a baby.
- Extreme Omnivore: The pigs are more or less this fairytale world's living garbage disposals.
- Herr Doktor: Dr. Wolfowitz is a Mad Scientist that speaks with a German accent.
- 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.
- 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."
- Organ Autonomy: Wolfowitz's tail seems to have a mind of its own, constantly tapping him on the shoulder, and doing the bulk of the fighting against Big Boss Wolf during the climax.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Two wolves are sent to spy on the pigs and Lucky. One hides in a garbage can, while the other just stands around with a mailbox on his head. The pigs never notice them, not even when Mason goes to get the mail and almost yanks off the wolf's nose.
- The Smurfette Principle: Teen Girl Wolf is the only girl in the Wolf Pack.
- Stuffed into a Locker: The school bullies shove Lucky and his best friend Hamlet into a locker. After Lucky finds out he's a wolf, he pays them back in kind.
- 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, says that "He sort of makes himself 'the Mommy Pig', just because he worries the most."
- Theme Naming:
- All the wolves (excluding Wolfowitz) have descriptive labels such as Big Boss Wolf, Smooth Cool Wolf, Wide-Eyed Pacifist Wolf...
- Then there's a more subtle example concerning the brick-house pig being named Mason, which means "bricklayer".
- Tinkle in the Eye: Lucky pees on the pigs while getting his diaper changed in one scene.
- 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."
- Wrong Side of the Tracks: There's a literal set of tracks serving as a boundary line between the pigs' city and the wolves'.
Tortoise vs. Hare provides examples of:
- Berserk Button: Just hearing the words "slow and steady" sends Murray Hare into comical conniptions.
- Early-Bird Cameo: A literal bird example with the pelican, Jorge, who doesn't have a major speaking role until the next film.
- 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.
- Misplaced Wildlife: Lake Infinity has sharks and octopi.
- Somewhere, a Mammalogist Is Crying: A news reporter refers the race as "Rodent Vs. Reptile". Tortoises are reptiles, but hares are lagomorphs.
- 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:
- 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."
- Butt-Monkey: The bears' neighbour, Chad Frog. His car is constantly getting damaged or dirty.
- 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!
- Fun with Acronyms: The GARBAGE (Gossip, Allegations, Rumors, and Baloney About Generally Everyone) Show.
- Hated Item Makeover: Goldilocks and her crew refurbish the Bear family's home by making them a new house made out of candy. They are rather put-out by this; Mac thinks the bed that's made out of gelatin is too wobbly, and Junior thinks it's disgusting to use a toilet that's made out of donuts.
- Male Gaze: The first shot of Ruby is focused on her big bear booty, shakin' her tail off to "We Are Family".
- Parental Abandonment: Goldilocks. She spent her thirteenth birthday alone.
- Shout-Out:
- The talent show judge, Simon Owl.
- The opening of the reality show resembles the opening of The Real World.
- Token Human: Goldilocks is the only human in the all-animal cast.
- Unconventional Food Usage: A sugar-hyper Goldilocks makes a house out of candy for the Bear family (much to their dismay). It results in several bugs coming and eating the house.
- Verbal Tic: That's Eddie Goose for you, HONK!
- Working-Class People Are Morons: Mac, the fishmonger, is definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed.
