Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / SugarBowl

Go To

1%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1318817586075500100
2%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
3%%
4[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/Rayman1 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Rayman_world_map_7617.png]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:[[LevelAte Mmm, topography.]]]]
6
7->''"They had flowery meadows and rainbow skies, and rivers made of chocolate, where the children danced and laughed and played with gumdrop smiles!"''
8-->-- '''Creator/SeanPenn''', ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'', [[BlatantLies describing Iraq]] under UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein
9
10A Sugar Bowl is a setting in a story that is lively and happy and where bad events rarely, if ever, happen. Any place with [[CloseKnitCommunity friendly locals (human or not)]], [[SceneryPorn idyllic landscapes]], [[{{Arcadia}} rustic yet hygienic towns]], and NoPoverty is likely a Sugar Bowl.
11
12There is either NoAntagonist or the villains here are [[HarmlessVillain harmless]]. Sometimes you can have a sweet setting with [[VileVillainSaccharineShow unexpectedly creepy and/or evil bad guys]] who may or may not be [[EvilCannotStandCuteness allergic to anything saccharine]], but even in that case, the kind of permanent damage they can do is likely minor. Expect a HeelFaceTurn via CareBearStare and/or DefeatMeansFriendship. There might be a character who finds the place SickeninglySweet.
13
14They're often intended to be a {{Utopia}}, [[BellisariosMaxim so don't worry about the details]].
15
16Be advised that proximity to, prolonged stays within, or merely entering such places may [[FisherKingdom "naturalize" you into a local in body and/or mind]].
17
18Compare with: LevelAte, which covers settings that are ''literally'' made out of sugar. Contrast with CrapsackWorld, the MirrorUniverse of this trope. CrapsaccharineWorld ''appears'' to be this, but turns out to be CrapsackWorld. If a Sugar Bowl used to be a WretchedHive, see HeelFaceTown. Also, SugarApocalypse, where bad things happen to good universes. Not to be confused with SweetnessAversion, which is a ''reaction.'' If sufficiently analyzed and contrasted with a more "realistic" world, it can be a tame variant of EldritchLocation.
19
20Not to be confused with the elusive {{Macguffin}} of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''... whatever it is. Also not to be confused with the UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball game known as the Sugar Bowl; for that, see UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball.
21
22[[SugarWiki/SweetExists We have one of these]]. See the SelfDemonstratingArticle for SelfDemonstrating/SugarBowl for an [[ApocalypticLog in-character description made by a visitor]].
23
24----
25!!Examples
26
27[[foldercontrol]]
28
29[[folder:Advertising]]
30* "Kids and grownups love it so in the happy world of [[http://i55.tinypic.com/2im6mts.jpg Haribo!"]]
31%%%* Same with Creator/FisherPrice
32* "Franchise/HelloKitty, Hello Kitty/ we all think you're, very pretty/We all love to, hug and kiss you/ You make boys and girls so happy when they're with you/ Little Twin Stars, are so charming/ And My Melody, is such a darling/ We all love to, come and see you/ ''In the happy little world of [[https://www.sanrio.com/pages/sanrio-kawaii-corner-home Sanrio!"]]''
33[[/folder]]
34
35[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
36* ''Manga/{{Aria}}'' takes place in the city of New Venice, in a futuristic terraformed Mars.
37* Flognarde in ''Anime/DogDays'', mostly trusting [[LittleBitBeastly Kemonomimis]], [[FriendlyWar war is a sporting event]] [[WarForFunAndProfit important for the country's inner workings]] and overall is [[SickeninglySweet a fluffy fantasy world]]. However, it was KEPT that way, and not [[DarkAndTroubledPast without effort by the inhabitants themselves when]] TheCorruption strikes occasionally. (Said war is used as a LevelGrinding method).
38* This is Freeza's personal IronicHell in ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'' - cocooned and hanging from a tree in a beautiful field, while fairies and magic stuffed animals frolic around him.
39-->'''Freeza:''' Instead of ruling the universe with an iron fist, I was SERENADED BY TEDDY BEARS!
40* The world of ''Anime/{{Hamtaro}}'' is a delightful Sugar Bowl in which talking hamsters, [[Characters/{{Hamtaro}} Hamtaro and his Ham-Ham Gang]], go on suspenseful adventures in which the Ham-Hams overcome fears, misunderstandings and endangered expectations.
41* Creator/HayaoMiyazaki uses such settings for some of his films like ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'' and ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea''. In one way or another, the world is almost absurdly nice to nice people. This trope is averted with his more 'serious' films like ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' and ''Anime/TheWindRises'', with both the natural and human worlds shown as being hostile and dangerous.
42* Jewel Land from ''Toys/{{Jewelpet}}'' is very much a sugar bowl. The most evil thing imaginable in the series, Dark Magic, tends to be locked away somewhere, or be extremely weak in the face of Jewel Magic. Provided it's kept at bay, virtually nothing bad happens.
43* ''Manga/ThePerksOfWorkingInTheBlackMagicIndustry'' features a setting that is actually a very nice place to live. The people are mostly friendly. The air and water is clean. There are serious subjects mentioned and shown, such as suicide and worker oppression, but their occurrence is rare.
44* Many of the later ''Anime/PrettyCure'' movies involve the heroes having adventures in various Sugar Bowls. In addition to that, the alternate worlds that the girls have to save in each season are inhabited by {{ridiculously cute critter}}s.
45* Wherever Witzy lives in ''Anime/SuzysZooDaisukiWitzy'', it appears that the place is gentle and happy throughout.
46* The Wonder Planet in ''Anime/TwinPrincessOfWonderPlanet''. About the worst thing that can happen is hurting someone's feelings.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Comic Books]]
50* The French comic series ''Les Womoks'', a sci-fi parody series about a bunch of sub-par space troopers, features the Albon, an alien Sugar Bowl civilization of {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s. They seldom come out of encounters with the Womoks without getting the business end of an explosion, yet somehow never lose their ludicrously optimistic view of life, even after their world gets invaded by the setting's ProudWarriorRace bad guys. And after their homeworld gets blown to pieces in the following liberation? They happily live on the resulting FloatingContinent Islands, happily enjoying the view.
51* In the [[FrancoBelgianComics Belgian comic]] ''[[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Rameau Olivier Rameau,]]'' the DreamLand setting of Rêverose ("Pink Dream") is very much this; a happy and fantastic place "strictly forbidden to boring people". It isn't entirely devoid of a dark side, though, as some places are governed by nightmares. Nor it is entirely childish, as evidenced by [[InnocentFanserviceGirl Colombe Tiredaile]], the hero's LoveInterest, who has since become quite the sex symbol, thanks to the cartoonist Dany not being shy about drawing her rather au natural.
52* The Smurf Village in ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' started off as {{Mordor}} in the ''ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit'' comic book story ''The Flute with Six Holes'' (later renamed ''The Smurfs and the Magic Flute''), located in what was called The Cursed Land. When the Smurfs got their own series, the village was relocated to a flourishing animal-filled forest until eventually it became a Sugar Bowl. When a prequel story called "The Flute Smurfers" was published in 2008, the forest of the Smurf Village kept the Sugar Bowl look of the comic book series instead of reverting back to its original Mordor appearance. However, this trope is downplayed, as there's still quite a lot of danger, with the forest being destroyed by a fire in one comic book.
53* ''ComicBook/WidgeyQButterfluff'' is a DeconstructiveParody of shows like this, where the attempts by Widgey and her friends to deal with VerySpecialEpisode fodder like adolescence and [[GRatedDrug G-rated drug addiction]] tend to end in surreal disaster.
54* The Fairie Land in ''Mélusine''. The sun is always shining and has a cartoon face on it. Giant lollipops grow up instead of trees. Houses are shaped like cakes. In contrast to Mélusine's witch world, there's no monsters or any dangers.
55* In modern ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' books, Alfheim, home of the Light Elves is depicted as one of these in its natural state. It's described as a peaceful and colorful land filled with cute and friendly gnomes, fairies, and unicorns in addition to the Light Elves. Candy is a crop there too, so the "Sugar" part is literal. However, Malekith seeks to put an end to its Sugar Bowl status by tossing it into the bloodiest war in history.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Fan Works]]
59%%%%%%%%% How is it a sugar bowl?
60%%%%* The Smurf Village in ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'', though with less sugar than its mainstream media counterpart. In fact, the Psyche Master sees it as more of a WretchedHive, hence the creation of his emotionless and pleasureless race, the Psyches.
61%%%%% How is it a sugar bowl? "with its population of winged unicorns and places named after colors. According to most readers, however, it's more of a CrapsaccharineWorld." This previous context makes it sound like it is not an example.
62%%%%* Unicornicopia from ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic'',
63* ''Fanfic/IzukuTheReincarnatedChef'': This is probably the best way to describe the Magical Girl World given how ridiculously saccharine everyone and everything there is, and that's putting it ''mildly''. Adelia explains the current state of that world being the result of the Heart of Light trying to [[HostileTerraforming forcibly convert that world into being 'pure good']]. It got so unbearable for Adelia that she had a RageBreakingPoint and incinerated her former coworkers with a huge fireball.
64* ''Fanfic/NineDaysDown'': Modern-day Equestria is an incredibly safe and welcoming place, where those threats that do occur can mostly be solved through diplomacy and understanding and without anybody truly getting permanently hurt. As a result, modern ponies have only a limited and theoretical understanding of what a war entails and no concept of rape, and Twilight does not even recognize swear words when she hears them. In the ancient past, it was instead a DeathWorld, where small bands of ponies were tyrannized and preyed on by endless monsters and villains. The reason this is no longer the case is because Celestia, Luna and their followers worked very, very hard to make it so. A lot of the story's drama comes from Twilight, who has spent all her life in the sugar bowl of the upper world, becoming trapped in Tartarus, where all the old monsters were banished to and which very much remains a death world.
65* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'': As far as [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix]] is concerned, he is stuck in one; the colorful equine filled [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]]. It is so cutesy and peaceful that [[spoiler: not only is the defendant innocent but everyone else is too; the "murder" really was an accident]]. As far as ''Equestria's'' concerned however, the real one is overseas; a land where ponies and humans coexist.
66* ''Fanfic/AWildBadficAppearedCommentaries'': According to various bits of information from the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Smashers]], the Smash Mansion, the {{Fanon}} mansion where the fighters (and in ''[=AWBfA!=]'' itself, the Assist Trophies and extra characters as well) reside while they aren't fighting, is portrayed as one. It is a big house populated mostly by the multiverse's nicest, kindest, most heroic, well, heroes, resulting in a CloseKnitCommunity where most of the characters are friends or at least care about each other, also comfortably housing hundreds upon hundreds of Franchise/{{Pokemon}} and other creatures, birthday or holiday parties are thrown seemingly every other week ''at the very least'', some of them by [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros the face of gaming himself]], the residents can fight with all manner of lethal weapons and not get hurt whatsoever as long as they are in a designated stage because of magic, nobody ever ages also due to magic, everything is managed by the giant, benevolent, floating hand of a god (and his CloudCuckoolander brother) that cast the spells in the first place and can fix and create anything to their whims, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and there is no school]]. While there ''are'' the villains to worry about, they are ''vastly'' outnumbered by heroic characters (with only two at most being serious threats anyway) and constantly kept under check. It is deliberately implied to be an impossibly awesome place to live (especially to the characters from medieval settings like ''Fire Emblem'', who are still adjusting over a year into their arrival), with businesses to serve the fighters implied to be bustling around it and even TV from our world somehow able to air in it, providing a haven for all manner of [[Franchise/FireEmblem broken soldiers]], [[VideoGame/{{Mother}} children who have lost sight]] [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker of their childhoods]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} heroes who have been alone for a great deal of their lives]], and tired adventurers among their ever-increasing ranks. And don't worry about matters back home; time flows much faster within it, so they are only actually away for a very short amount of time. Granted, since it is once again populated mostly by some of the purest heroes in the multiverse, described by [[AuthorAvatar Erika]] herself as "The video game equivalent of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague or ComicBook/TheAvengers" and "the nicest guys in the multiverse", this is pretty justified.
67* ''Fanfic/YouGotHaruhiRolled'': Chapter 59 deliberately makes the setting of ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' into this trope, as a parody of how Creator/FourKidsEntertainment would have treated the show had it gotten its hands on it. Haruhi's powers are reimagined as the power of [[Memes/SpongeBobSquarePants imagination]], and everyone else in the SOS Brigade is only there to learn about the true meaning of friendship from her. Taniguchi is chaste and SickeninglySweethearts with Ryouko, and even the Anti-SOS Brigade is nice.
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
71%%% This sounds like superlative, "is this to the point of Diesel being afraid of sugar. Sparkle Sparkle."
72%%%* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''
73* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' has Cloud Cuckooland, a utopian society which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin literally is]] a complete CloudCuckooland.
74-->'''Uni-Kitty:''' Here in Cloud Cuckooland, there are no rules! There's no government, no babysitters, no bedtimes, no frowny faces, no bushy moustaches, and no negativity of any kind!\
75'''Wyldstyle:''' You just said the word "no" like, a thousand times.\
76'''Uni-Kitty:''' And there's also no consistency.
77* WesternAnimation/BabesInToyland has Toyland, where everything is supposed to appeal to children.
78* ''WesternAnimation/TheHappyCricket'' is set in a happy-go-lucky fantasy world, where everyone is either absurdly cheerful or absurdly naive.
79* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheSecretDoor'' has the world Zinnia. It's a magical land full of fairies, unicorns, and mermaids, and its entire color palette is very bright and almost like candy. [[spoiler:This is subverted when Malucia drains the entire land of its magic, though.]]
80* [[WesternAnimation/TheMagicRoundabout Doogal]] at the beginning of the film alongside Doogal's love of sugary treats.
81* ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' has Pepperland, which is described as an 'unearthly paradise' and is portrayed as a never-ending Victorian-era garden party. The plot kicks off when the Blue Meanies lay waste to the place, and Old Fred is forced to take the Yellow Submarine and go somewhere - ANYWHERE - to get help.
82[[/folder]]
83
84[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
85* In ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'', the Moors were this when Maleficent was young. Bright colours, flowers everywhere, everyone greets each other happily, and there is no monarchy because the inhabitants are peaceful and don't need a ruler.
86* ''Film/DisneylandDream'', amateur filmmaker Robbins Barstow's sophisticated home movie of his family's visit to Disneyland in 1956, shows Disneyland as this.
87--> '''Robbins Barstow''': For our particular family at that particular time, we agreed with Walt Disney that this was the happiest place on earth.
88%%%%%%% The point of this trope is how the area is a sugar bowl; sugar apocalypse is a differen trope.
89%%%%* Heartland USA in ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Literature]]
93* Ivan Yefremov's ''Literature/AndromedaNebula'' is an attempt to imagine what a realistic utopia might look like, based on the scientific knowledge of the time (1950s). Technological advances have led to advanced machinery and [[WeWillHavePerfectHealthintheFuture near-perfect healthcare]], and society has progressed to the point where there is [[NoPoverty no poverty]] or class distinction. Humanity is guided by governing councils and academies of experts, but is otherwise anarchic.
94* 'The Culture' in Iain M Banks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' is shown as a space-faring equivalent of humanity in ''Andromeda Nebula''. One big difference is that this civiisation is guided by BenevolentAI called Minds, reflecting the Information Revolution that occurred between the writings of ''Andromeda Nebula'' and ''the Culture'' novels. Culture citizens enjoy almost absolute freedom and luxury. They also try to help other civilisations develop to their standard of living, with varying degrees of success.
95%%%%* The Kindar civilization of Green-sky in Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Literature/GreenSkyTrilogy was designed to be this. It ''almost'' works, and has a chance to really work at the end.
96* ''Literature/HappyBirthdayToYou'' is a Creator/DrSeuss story with no conflict whatsoever. It's just about a special Birthday Bird who takes a boy on an exhilarating excursion on his birthday.
97* Even Creator/HPLovecraft has a bit of this in his Dreamlands. Sona-Nyl, Celephais and Aira are all described in these terms. In ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'', Randolph Carter, having just endured innumerable horrors after his ascent of Mt. Ngranek, gets a break as he heads for Thran to catch a ship to Celephais:
98--> Well did the traveller know those garden lands that lie betwixt the wood of the Cerenerian Sea, and blithely did he follow the singing river Oukranos that marked his course. The sun rose higher over gentle slopes of grove and lawn, and heightened the colours of the thousand flowers that starred each knoll and dingle. A blessed haze lies upon all this region, wherein is held a little more of the sunlight than other places hold, and a little more of the summer's humming music of birds and bees; so that men walk through it as through a faery place, and feel greater joy and wonder than they ever afterward remember.
99* The philosophical novel ''[[Literature/Ishmael1992 Ishmael]]'' has a bit where the eponymous [[ItMakesSenseInContext gorilla]] attempts to illustrate his main point by making the case for how a world in which people [[ImAHumanitarian eat other people]] could be one of these.
100* ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'': The planet Krikket, one of the most horrific and dreaded places in the galaxy, is a lovely, scenic, beautiful planet whose inhabitants cheerfully spend their days singing mind-bogglingly nice (if, perhaps, a tad too whimsical) songs about peace, justice, morality, sports, and puppies. Just don't look at the sky. It's completely pitch black, because their solar system is surrounded by a thick dust cloud that blocks out the light of every other star. Once the Krikketers learn about the rest of the universe, they come to a conclusion: "[[AbsoluteXenophobe It'll have to go.]]"
101* The Strugatsky brothers' ''Literature/NoonUniverse'' starts off this way - a post-scarcity society with no war and advanced healthcare ''a la Literature/AndromedaNebula''. This is gradually subverted as the series progresses, with the local SecretPolice banning whatever they consider to be 'dangerous experiments', and human diplomats often doing more harm than good in their attempts to 'help' less developed aliens.
102* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' parodies these quite beautifully with a fictitious novel called ''The Littlest Elf''. The reader is told constantly that it would be a better idea to read ''The Littlest Elf'' seeing as the book you are reading is unhappy and therefore should not be read by anyone. ''The Littlest Elf'' is a running gag that even comes up in Lemony Snicket's "Biography".
103* In Daniel Pinkwater's book ''Literature/{{Spaceburger}},'' two boys take a long walk on a pleasant day to be the first to eat at the eponymous fast food restaurant on its opening day. One of the boys has eaten at a location in another city and assures the other that it is far better than any of the other hamburger joints they pass along the way, and it more than lives up to its reputation in atmosphere and food. After their meal and playing in the "weightless room" (a foam pit) the boys head back home singing happily.
104* In Mary Doria Russell's ''Literature/TheSparrow'', the Runa culture could look like this. Conflicts are resolved through endless discussion. Strongly felt anger and unhappiness are believed to cause destructive storms. Equality and fairness are important so that people don't become ''porai'', or heartsick. City-dwelling Runa don't take these values as seriously as rural villagers, and anyway [[spoiler:the whole thing gets demolished when the revolution happens.]]
105* A particularly dark version of this comes about in the book ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity,'' about a fantasy world in which the forces of light have decisively won against the forces of darkness, and tipped the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil way, way too far in their favor. Without darkness, the world becomes more and more of a Sugar Bowl, and will eventually be "consumed by light" (a nice way of saying "wiped out"). While at the start of the book the world has just become uncommonly pleasant and peaceful, it becomes more and more like this toward the end, such as [[TheNightThatNeverEnds nighttime lasting for shorter and shorter periods each cycle.]] [[spoiler:By the end of the book, when the world is on the cusp of destruction, it's bright and sunny at eleven at night, flowers and blossoming over every countryside (even barren cliffsides), there are no shadows ''anywhere'' (even on the inside of peoples' mouths) and even dark colors stop existing. The MainCharacters who are predominantly dressed in black spontaneously find themselves in bright, cheery colors (their sorcerer's raven familiar having even turned bright blue).]]
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
109* ''Series/BabylonFive'''s third season saw the Earth Alliance sliding into fascism since Clark came to office. They've begun a heavy propaganda campaign to portray Earth as "one happy planet" where poverty, homelessness, disease, or conflict don't exist. And anyone who dares say otherwise is charged with sedition and called un-patriotic
110* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' plays with this. The setting was clearly intended to be a Sugar Bowl, but it starts to fall apart almost immediately because of the unplanned presence of a person who isn't as perfect as the rest of the setting's inhabitants and causes chaos with their selfish actions and [[spoiler:the hidden truth that the entire setting is a Hell disguised as Heaven]].
111* ''Series/LazyTown'': While too much sugar in [=LazyTown=] is obviously a bad thing, the town overall is very sweet with fairly harmless conflict.
112* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' plays with this. On the one hand, we're assured that civilization has outgrown savagery, war, poverty and discrimination. However, the longer the franchise goes on, the more we see examples of these qualities come up, largely due to the need for {{conflict}}. For instance, the friendly bickering between the human [=McCoy=] and Vulcan Spock in the original series becomes more explicitly FantasticRacism later on.
113[[/folder]]
114
115[[folder:Music]]
116* Official video from Katy Perry's song ''Chained to the Rythm'' depicts her as she enters and interacts with a colorful theme park where there's plenty of cotton candy, [[LiteralMetaphor social-media rollcoasters]] and at least one 3D cinema, and where every visitor seems [[UncannyAtmosphere overhyped]] and colorfully dressed. The word "{{utopia}}" is mentioned in the lyrics, although that status probably is being [[FalseUtopia put into question]] between lines.
117* The work of Music/AdamAndTheCouchPotatoes is full of life and happiness, and very uplifting.
118* Aqua's 'Lollipop' has music and lyrics fit because its genre is a super sugary brand of Eurodance.
119* Music/KyaryPamyuPamyu's stage persona is very sugary sweet, though with a side of the [[SurrealMusicVideo excessively strange]].
120* ''The Big Rock Candy Mountain,'' a hobo song from TheGreatDepression era, describes a more adult-oriented Sugar Bowl with geographical features like a whiskey lake, fauna like chickens that lay hard-boiled eggs, flora like cigarette trees, and blind policemen.
121** You can also find {{Bowdleriz|ation}}ed versions of the song oriented towards kids.
122* The main setting for the Jamster character Music/{{Schnuffel}} is mainly set in a beautiful looking meadow with a castle. It's mostly populated by cute animals including a mouse,pig, and a bee.
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
126* ''Literature/TheBible'' has the Garden of Eden. Plenty of food, ''all'' animals are vegetarians (yes, even lions, female mosquitoes, and fleas), no disease, no guilt, and you never die. Also, everyone is perfectly formed and naked. The next world to come will be identical, after this one's inevitable [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destruction]]. Many Christian offshoots emphasizing [[ApocalypseHow the end of the world]] have a tailor-made second Earth; [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist sects]] ignore the nudity, while indigenous versions, such as the Ghost Dance, tend to ignore the vegetarianism.
127[[/folder]]
128
129[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
130* In the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting ''{{TabletopGame/Planescape}}'', the Outer Plane of Elysium isn't quite this goody-goody, but it's still filled with magical Good-aligned humanimals, brims with bounteous natural beauty, and has an inconvenient habit of turning anyone who stays for more than a week or two (and repeatedly fails their will save) into a blissed-out hippie zombie who has completely forgotten why he came there and has no desire ever to leave. This trait is only shared by the plane's evil counterpart, the Gray Wastes of Hades, an endless plain of gray dust. Except that it doesn't make you happy at all. The only reason people don't just lay down and die is that it's futile, as most of them are already DeadToBeginWith.
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Theater]]
134%%%%%%%%%% How does it fit this trope?
135%%%%%%* ''Theatre/BabesInToyland'' in the play and most film adaptations. Operating word being "most"; the 1934 Creator/LaurelAndHardy version and the late 1980s made-for-TV version featuring a pre-teen Creator/DrewBarrymore and a young Creator/KeanuReeves had their horror moments.
136* ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'' has Arthur serenading Guenevere with a real-estate pitch, basically, to persuade her to marry him.
137-->''The rain may never fall till after sundown\
138By 8:00, the morning fog must disappear\
139In short, there's simply not\
140A more congenial spot\
141For happily-ever-aftering than here in Camelot''
142[[/folder]]
143
144[[folder:Theme Parks]]
145* ''Ride/ItsASmallWorld'' at the Ride/DisneyThemeParks is set in a bright and colorful earth where everyone is together and united in peace, as well as always smiling and singing.
146[[/folder]]
147
148[[folder:Video Games]]
149* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfiniteBurialAtSea'': Episode 2 starts with a leisure stroll down a vibrant and gorgeous esplanade over Seine, Paris, filled with nice, friendly people ([[FriendToAllLivingThings and a little birdie]]). The game being what it is, [[spoiler:it quickly descends into NightmareFuel]].
150* Melodia of ''Videogame/HarmoKnight'' is this, but in a more [[BandLand musical]] way. Everything is in the shape of notes and instruments, but it just looks ''so happy!'' You could even think that this could basically be a musical [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Pop Star]] with more human characters. This place is a musician's dream come true.
151%%%%* Most ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' games are this sort of world. ''A Wonderful Life'' is a little darker, but only in the fact that it deals more with actual real life issues than the other ones do.
152* ''Franchise/HelloKitty Online'', as it extends the [[Creator/{{Sanrio}} Sanrio franchise]] into the world of {{MMORPG}}s. However, to some players, the fact that ever time you step outside of a town you're surrounded by [[EverythingTryingToKillYou hordes of dangerous, aggressive]] ([[RidiculouslyCuteCritter but still painfully cute]]) animals makes it seem more like a CrapsaccharineWorld. One of the buildings in the first town after the starting town is a giant sugar bowl (another building is a giant teacup).
153* ''{{Franchise/Kirby}}'':
154** Dream Land, the main setting of the franchise. Its geography is even named after different types of kid's food. And yet there's enough {{Eldritch Abomination}}s around that it gets darn near a CosmicHorrorStory world. Luckily they have [[KidHero Kirby]] around to keep everything from being destroyed.
155** Then they went and made a world out of fabric in ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn''. Which also had a LevelAte in case you were wondering.
156** Ripple Star from ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' is even more of a Sugar Bowl than Dream Land. It's a smiling heart shaped planet inhabited by fairies, and then Dark Matter [[SugarApocalypse shows up]].
157* ''VideoGame/OlloInTheSunnyValleyFair'', a children's game, surprisingly averts this for the most part. While the backgrounds are colorful, some settings are toned-down and somewhat realistic.
158* ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'', where they think nothing of sending preteens/young teenagers out into the world with no supervision and only a small (if destructive) animal for company.
159** Hearthome City in [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Sinnoh]] is one of the best examples of this trope, having babies everywhere and a park allowing entry only to cute Pokemon.
160** In [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Kalos]] ironically the only characters that are evil, [[spoiler:want to reset civilization (In a Biblical flood sense) because they think the world has gotten too corrupt]] despite Kalos is not only the most beautiful region, filled with gorgeous scenery, lots and lots of atmospheric cafes filled with friendly people, but also has tons of random people giving the player (A complete stranger) helpful items and advice for no reason other than to be friendly, even the street punks are generally well mannered.
161* ''VideoGame/PonyIsland'': At one point, you have to replay a reskinned version of the game with obnoxiously-cutesy graphics and a lengthy ForcedTutorial explaining things the player has already learned from earlier playthroughs. [[spoiler:It actually gets a little ominous when the player pulls out the pony wings before Louie explains how to use them.]]
162* In the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' series, Primp Town is very bright and colorful, and according to ''Fever 2'' lore, is said to have pleasing climate and good harvest in spite of being secluded by terrain. If any sort of conflict happened, it was resolved quickly with no effect on the town.
163* ''VideoGame/{{Rakuen}}'': In contrast to the dull, gray confines of the hospital, Morizora's Forest is a beautiful, colorful world full of welcoming creatures and little danger. The most the inhabitants usually have to worry about is a grouchy bear ruining their vegetable gardens, the Envoy causing mischief around the village, and a mysterious culprit eating all the food from the sky mansion's fridge.
164* ''Videogame/RazesHell'' is set on one such world inhabited by CuteIsEvil creatures who decide to slaughter everyone who is ugly. The protagonist is a survivor of said attacks who is then forced to cause a SugarApocalypse.
165* ''VideoGame/StyleSavvy''. You're an up-and-coming designer in the cutthroat fashion industry, struggling to succeed amidst the pettiness, politics, and backstabbing of-- wait, no. Everyone is utterly sweet, polite, and encouraging. You could create the most horrific outfit on the face of the planet, and the worst someone might say to you is that it's not really their style, but thanks so much for your time! The worst possible criticism you can get during a fashion contest is along the lines of "Your outfit didn't fit the theme, but you have potential -- keep trying and your skills will shine through!" No matter how badly you fail a contest, your model will do her best to cheer you up and express her faith that you'll win next time.
166* Troy from ''VideoGame/{{Struggling}}'' goes through one of these during a MushroomSamba. It's full of bright colors, happily singing mushrooms, and ...one rainbow-farting unicorn. [[NintendoHard It's still as dangerous as the rest of the game.]]
167* The entire ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series could probably qualify. The Mushroom Kingdom is an idyllic land where Toad people romp happily and the only real problem the kingdom ever seems to have is Bowser's penchant for kidnapping the Princess. This is a problem Mario consistently resolves in short order. Then they all go [[GoKartingWithBowser go-karting or play sports together]].
168* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'':
169** Apparently this is how [[spoiler:The Pyro]] sees the world. [[spoiler:Melee weapons are lollipops, the other team is cherubs, and fire is rainbows. Ammo crates are presents and Health packs are cakes/cupcakes too.]] Unfortunately, it's a bit of a CrapsaccharineWorld as well- Mayor [[{{Unicorn}} Balloonicorn]][[note]]Mayor? Don't be ridiculous. We're talking about an inflatable unicorn here. He's the Municipal Ombudsman.[[/note]] is an alcoholic with a hair-trigger temper, appears to be in debt, has a bit of a nicotine addiction, and his wife's cheating on him. [[http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lZNrdr0dL._SX425_.jpg But isn't he the cutest thing ever?]]
170** With special googles, provided by the same company that also made [[spoiler:Pyro's mask]], every class can experience it.
171* Subverted with the hardmode biome Hallow in ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}''. It has a paster-colored fairytale look, RainbowsAndUnicorns, and is also one of the more dangerous biomes. It also spreads, just like Corruption and Crimson, the evil biomes.
172* Played for laughs with ''{{VideoGame/Toonstruck}}'s'' Cutopia, ruled by a giant smiley face.
173* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Once you get past the [[BulletHell customary greeting]], Gensokyo could very well qualify. Nobody ever dies ([[MemeticMutation except that one bat]]), all the notable locals are cute girls, and whenever something goes horribly wrong, inevitably the {{Miko}} and the CuteWitch save the day and [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriend]] whatever was causing the problem.
174* ''Vigilante 8'' on the N64 has a bonus map called Super Dreamland 64, a ludicrously cartoony fantasy kingdom that would feel right at home in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' (and which intentionally feels out of place compared to the realistic settings from the rest of the game). Even the music is wacky and upbeat.
175* In ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'', the final major DLC is ''Blood and Wine'' set in a duchy called Toussaint, reminiscent of the vineyards of southern France. Compared to the grim-dark setting of the rest of the game, Toussaint comes across as this.
176[[/folder]]
177
178[[folder:Web Comics]]
179* ''Webcomic/{{Blindsprings}}'' has Tamaura live in one of those at first; a nice green forest with beautiful flowers, where Tamaura is friends with all animals.
180* ''Webcomic/HelloCthulhu'' is about [[CosmicHorror Lovecraftian horrors]] trapped in Sanrio's Sugar Bowl. Dagon, for example, runs a fish-and-chips shop.
181* The cute art-style and bright color palette of ''Webcomic/HeroesOfThantopolis'' certainly lends itself to this trope, but the city is actually a pretty cheerful (and clean) place considering that everyone is dead.
182* The below quote from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is some kind of inversion of this trope: the place Belkar is calling "Happy Fun Sunshine Land" is actually a city where it is not odd to walk down the street carrying a corpse with your dagger still in it. He calls it that because he's feverish and delusional from the Mark of Justice curse, and has no idea what's actually going on. The magical fairy part is the only accurate part.
183-->'''Belkar:''' Be very quiet, Mr. Scruffy! If we make any noise, the magical Cart Fairy might not take us on the enchanted trip to Happy Fun Sunshine Land!
184* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''
185** During the "Dimension of Pain" Saturday story arc, the Dimension of Pain was taken over by a sneaky angel who managed to briefly turn the Dimension of Pain into the Dimension of Fun. The demonic hordes became Franchise/{{Care Bear|s}} parodies of themselves and the Demon King was turning into [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood Mister Rogers]]. Fortunately, Lord Horribus returned from his exile and managed to make the angel Fall and become demonic, allowing the Dimension of Pain to be restored to its original evil. Yay!
186** The "Dimension of Lame" is naturally like this, even if it looks more like our world.
187--> '''Torg:''' Why the '''[[labelnote:BLEEP]]Yes, the dimension has naturally occurring censor bleeps.[[/labelnote]]''' does it smell like flowers down here?\
188'''Alternate Zoë:''' It's a sewer, silly!
189[[/folder]]
190
191[[folder:Web Original]]
192* ''Website/UniCreatures'' is set in one, right down to their being ''no carnivores'' (that big scary lion on fire? He eats fruit.) to avoid the violence and pain of creatures hunting each other.
193* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVFdAJRVm94 "He's Barack Obama!"]] portrays the newly-elected President as a superhero who transforms Iraq from a gun-bristling wasteland to one of these, including rainbows, bunnies, ice cream, flowers, and a ruined mosque restored and turned into a Whole Foods.
194[[/folder]]
195
196[[folder:Western Animation]]
197* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'': True, they live in a pretty happy [[MedievalStasis Medieval world]] standard to the trope, but they are the last remnants of their once great race/civilization on Earth (the European part of it anyway) with a certain amount of sadness and {{Zeerust}} thrown in as well.
198* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has "Gothapalooza" turned into this briefly by one of the Reality Gems. The protagonists were understandably shocked.
199* ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'' has the Land Of Dreams, in contrast to the desolate Land Of Nightmares, the former is colorful utopian [[MedievalStasis Medieval World]]. The majority of it's civilians are perpetually cheerful and sparse on jerkish or cynical traits, usually their only wrathful actions are towards Zordrak and the Urpneys which even then are [[AmusingInjuries rather leniant cartoony punishments]].
200* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': ''Saturday Morning Fun Pit's'' ''Purpleberry Pond'', the ''Strawberry Shortcake'' meets ''Smurfs'' spoof.
201* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ProjectGeeKeR'': Geeker, Noah, and Lady [=MacBeth=] are chased into a [[AmusementParkOfDoom run-down amusement park]]. They encounter interactive holograms that adapt to the visitor's "play setting" -- with adorably goofy, brightly-colored cartoon bunnies being the default mode. [[spoiler:(That is, until Lady [=MacBeth=]'s short temper triggers their "battle mode".)]]
202* The ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' appear to inhabit one of these until you [[BloodyHilarious keep]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice watching]].
203* ''Toys/{{Lalaloopsy}}'' (the TV series) is one of these. The characters are all very friendly and helpful with each other (despite a few times where they don't always help right away), the worst problem seems to be running out of ingredients for each characters' [[TrademarkFavoriteFood favorite food(s)]] or a Little (Sister) getting lost. Everyone leads happy lives in a low-tech setting (they use can-and-string as phones!) with no need for paying back another character's helpful deed or even asking for favors in return for doing the deed. There's no villain and no monsters (except the various Pet animals each character has, but they are always as nice as their owner).
204* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' has a reputation for this given entries like the cartoons for the G3/G3.5 toyline, but the pilot specials, TheMovie, and the original ''My Little Pony and Friends'' show had the ponies frequently dealing with supernatural threats to their peaceful lives, ranging from rampaging monsters to wicked witches to {{Evil Overlord}}s.
205** In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' [[JustifiedTrope the world is largely forced to run along sugar bowl lines if it is to remain habitable and safe]]. If ponies hate each other, they'll attract windigos which will cause an unending blizzard. Fighting brings about the MadGod Discord or at least hinders the ability to fight him off. Even jealousy or resentment can power dark magics that will corrupt even the most powerful alicorns into monsters like Nightmare Moon. There are some interpersonal conflicts, but they're simply not allowed to grow any larger than that.
206* Parodied by Meap's home planet on ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. The Meaps' society is explicitly based on cuteness, and the harshest legal punishment they have is a fifteen minute time out. [[BadassAdorable This does not stop them from having an effective military force]].
207* ''WesternAnimation/PBAndJOtter'', to those who don't have fond memories of watching the show. The show's cheeriness and overload of songs create cavities to the ninth degree.
208* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': Him tricks Bubbles with one of these in "All Chalked Up". Clever -- who would suspect a place like this of secretly being the creation of an evil, manipulative demon?
209* In the world of ''WesternAnimation/RabbidsInvasion'', humanity has put an end to war and world hunger, crime exists but is rare and rarer still is anyone actually injured by it, and even the world's greatest supervillain isn't much more than an annoyance to most people. The only problem is that humanity has to share it with [[ChaoticStupid the Rabbids]].
210* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
211** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E10FlamingMoes Flaming Moe's]]", Homer, bitter over Moe stealing his mixed drink recipe and getting rich off of it, sarcastically invokes this trope.
212-->'''Homer:''' Oh, look at me! I'm making people happy! I'm the Magical Man from Happy-Land, in a gumdrop house on Lollipop Lane!
213** ''The Happy Little Elves'', a ShowWithinAShow seen in some early episodes, seemed to be an example of this trope.
214* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs''. While [[VileVillainSaccharineShow Gargamel's motive to eat the Smurfs is horrifyingly gruesome if one thinks about it]], and many other occurrences in the show are much more terrifying than you'd expect from a show fitting this trope, there is never any permanent harm to the Smurf Village and everyone ends up fine at the end of each episode.
215* ''Westernanimation/StrawberryShortcake'' and its Strawberryland, a happy, sunny, sweet place inhabited by all sorts of cute creatures.
216* Imaginationland from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is most definitely this, until [[SugarApocalypse the terrorists broke down the wall that was keeping evil imaginary characters in]]. [[spoiler:It's up to Butters to save the realm from being destroyed.]]
217* ''WesternAnimation/SuperWish'': The show is set in the Happy Land of Birthdays, which appears to be the world birthday magic comes from. It's a whole world made up of party favours and birthday treats, populated by [[AnthropomorphicFood living birthday treats]] and [[AnimateInanimateObject living party objects]]. The main evil comes from Balloonicus, who wants to ruin birthdays for everyone. [[TheProtagonist Jesse]] and his friends Sadie and Xander, and his cousin Winnie, end up there after Jesse tries to use his super wish to get rid of his less-than-expected birthday party. Now they have to travel through the land to find the super wish and use it to get back home.
218* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode [[Recap/TeenTitansS1E6Nevermore "Nevermore"]], Beastboy and Cyborg stumble upon a bright and cheery area complete with floating strawberries. Beast Boy quips, "This must be where air fresheners come from." It's a JustifiedTrope because it's the realm of [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind Happy!Raven]].
219* ''[[WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985 ThunderCats]]''
220** The Ro-Bear Berbils seems to be space-colonists from the Sugar Bowl and true to their nature, they've set up a little piece of Sugar Bowl right in the middle of the mutant-infested swampland of Third Earth. A place filled with houses shaped like giant, pink mushrooms, where candy-canes grow in orchards. They also talk like Smurfs, and all have names starting with a B. Isn't that right, Ro-Bear Bill? Berbil-fruit, anyone?
221** In the [[ExpandedUniverse ThunderCats UK comic]] we saw that Sugar Bowl was a deliberate choice. They used to be cyborg-Bears rather than cyborg-Teddy-Bears, but they are trying to be SpaceAmish while still having the SuperweaponSurprise technology in their underground facilities. They intented to rebuild themselves in their spacefaring warlike image. At one point they showed a [=ThunderCat=] a hologram of what they used to look like, and he instantly agreed to help them restore their façade of cute harmlessness.
222* ''WesternAnimation/{{Unikitty}}'' has the Unikingdom, which is as sweet and saccharine as it gets. Averted with the other side of the world, Frowntown, which is dark and dreary.
223* ''WesternAnimation/WordParty'' is set in a location where conflicts are generally petty if nonexistent.
224* ''WesternAnimation/LeagueOfSuperEvil'': Doomageddon, the team's pet/mascot; a pan-dimensional Doomhound (Originally HellHound before the censors noticed) once lost a tooth, causing the hole left behind to suck everything into another dimension. Doktor Frogg saw the other dimension briefly, but the viewers couldn't, except that it was mentioned as a "Land of endless nightmares" Later on when everyone does end up within, the "Land of endless nightmares" is a world of rainbows, singing mountains, candy, and Unicorns. To an evil mad scientist like Doktor Frogg, this is Hell.
225* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Parodied by the Candy Kingdom, which as the name implies is populated by [[AnthropomorphicFood people made of actual candy]]. Despite the saccharine imagery, the Candy Kingdom is threatened by [[ZombieApocalypse at least two zombie outbreaks]], a magical plague accidentally caused by the Ice King, being eaten by mutant "hyoo-mans", [[WalkingWasteland the Lich]], and more weirdness found in the Land of Ooo. Also, later episodes reveal that Princess Bubblegum is a (mostly-benevolent) tyrant who [[BigBrotherIsWatching spies on her citizens]].
226* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Weirdmageddon 2: Escape from Reality", Bill Cipher traps Mabel in a LotusEaterMachine that creates a "perfect world" for Mabel. This manifests in the bizarre, cutesy, and wildly-colorful "Mabeland", which is populated by talking animals, living plushies, and AnthropomorphicFood, and features rainbows that include "colors only bees and art students can see".
227* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freaktown}}'': The kingdom of Sweetlandia, which happens to also be the area surrounding the titular town. A bit of a subversion though as to the monsters of Freaktown, it's the worst place imaginable.
228* ''Franchise/CareBears'' live in a cloudy heaven with rainbows as streets and cars made of clouds.
229* ''WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite'' as the name implies it's about a world of bright colors and rainbows. The villains are quite the opposite; black and white and hate colors. In an odd inversion, the OriginsEpisode shows it wasn’t always this way- the world was a total CrapsackWorld before Rainbow came along to fix everything.
230* ''WesternAnimation/StarStreetTheAdventuresOfTheStarKids'' is a Dutch cartoon about the anthropomorphization of the WesternZodiac signs. They live in a star-shaped planet with star-shaped houses, cloudy streets and bright colors.
231* Dragon Land on ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'' seems to be a Sugar Bowl because the worst problem that's appeared in an episode is Max's tendency to hit someone when frustrated. Quetzal reminds him that the "first rule" in Dragon Land is "Use your words, not your fists." Besides that the dragons that are native to the land are shown to always live in peace and harmony with any problems being of a social nature, and resolved very quickly.
232* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Sleepy Time", Pearl's dream takes place in a candy-colored [[FluffyCloudHeaven Fluffy Cloud Heaven]].
233* ''WesternAnimation/HappyNessTheSecretOfTheLoch'' features a land of friendly Loch Ness Monsters, the leader of them representing happiness. It's like a mix of ''My Little Pony'' and ''Care Bears''.
234* The Treeborhood in ''WesternAnimation/WorkItOutWombats'' is a bright and happy place, filled with friendly technicolor animals who have nonstop fun. They're not perfect and they do get into arguments occasionally, but they're always resolved by the end of the episode. The worst things that can happen are losing a favorite toy or ice cream melting.
235[[/folder]]
236

Top