Line #55 WesternAnimation/LittleEinsteins


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/little_einsteins_2223.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''♫ We're going on a trip on our favorite rocket ship... ♫''[[note]]Clockwise from bottom: [[WiseBeyondTheirYears June]], [[SignificantGreenEyedRedhead Leo]], [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold Annie]] and [[TokenBlack Quincy]]. The rocket ship carrying the kids: [[SentientVehicle Rocket]]. Not pictured: [[BigBad Big Jet]].[[/note]]]]
3	->''"Let... the mission... begin!"''
4	-->--'''Leo'''[[note]]Starting in the second season[[/note]]
5
6	''Little Einsteins'' is a preschool edutainment show based on the Baby Einstein brand. It was created by Baby Einstein and Creator/CuriousPictures. It debuted direct-to-video in August 2005 and later on the Playhouse Disney block of Creator/DisneyChannel in October of the same year. The series ended its run in December 2009, quickly becoming one of the most popular shows on the block shortly after its debut with multiple reruns afterwards airing from 2010 to 2019 until it finally settled down as one of the many streamed shows on Creator/DisneyPlus. Little Einsteins focuses on the adventures of four gifted, young children, Leo, June, Quincy and Annie as they travel around the world in their friend Rocket and go on adventures called missions.
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8	Each episode of the show [[StrictlyFormula follows roughly the same pattern]]. The kids would start the episode by introducing the audience to a piece of art and a piece of music which would involve somehow in the plot. The Einsteins would then go on a mission announced by Leo, to solve a problem, help someone, or find something.
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10	The Einsteins would use Rocket to travel to different places, looking for clues and overcoming obstacles. They would then work together to achieve their goal, when Leo would announce mission completion. The show would then go to the curtain call, where the Einsteins would introduce themselves as well as giving the audience one more look at the art and music of the episode.
11
12	The main characters in Little Einsteins are:
13	* '''Leo''': A six-year old boy and the leader of the team. Leo is a gifted conductor and always carries a baton with a flashing ball on the end. He has used this baton to conduct everything from his friend Quincy, to cows, to a sunrise. Leo is the one who announces that the team has a mission and is the main pilot for Rocket.
14	* '''June''': A six-year old Asian-American girl who was born to dance. June is a trained ballet dancer and easily the most athletic member of the team. She's so athletic in fact that she can use her super ballet leap to [[InASingleBound launch herself over ten feet in the air, landing without harm]]. June is the owner of a telescope, which has lead to a few missions over the years.
15	* '''Quincy''': A five-year old African-American boy, who loves to play musical instruments. Quincy is perhaps the most gifted of the four Einsteins. He can play any musical instrument he comes across like a pro, whether he's ever played it before, or not. Quincy has a rather strong fear of the dark, but can overcome it with help from his friends.
16	* '''Annie''': At four years old, Leo's little sister is the youngest of the Einsteins, but don't underestimate her. This cheerful little girl is a wonderful singer, even coming up with song lyrics off the top of her head. Annie's pride and joy is a portable microphone, which she always carries with her. And she's the only person, besides Leo, to have ever piloted Rocket.
17	* '''Rocket''': Rocket is the Little Einsteins' vehicle, who runs on musical notes. He was once a toy rocket on baby Leo's crib mobile. But as Leo got bigger, so did Rocket. Now he is capable of taking the Little Einsteins anywhere in the world and even into space. Rocket has two main special abilities:
18	** The first ability is his various tools, like the Look-And-Listen scope, which can help the Einsteins find important places and clues and the Grab-Nabber, a claw-like device, which lets Rocket grab things and bring them into the cockpit.
19	** His second ability is to shape-shift into different vehicles. During various missions Rocket has become everything from a train, to a boat, to a submarine, to a DrillTank. To put it simply, wherever the Little Einsteins need to go, Rocket can change into a vehicle to take them there.
20	* '''Big Jet''': ''Little Einsteins'' is unusual among preschool shows in that it has a recurring bad guy. This bad guy takes the form of Big Jet, a jet plane who is noisy, selfish and mean. Big Jet first appeared in the episode Hungarian Hiccups, where his engine was so loud, it scared Rocket. Despite this, Rocket was able to beat Big Jet in an air race. Big Jet has been trying to get even ever since, taking things that don't belong to him and pestering Rocket and the Einsteins whenever he gets the chance. Rocket and the Little Einsteins always manage to send him packing though, at least until next time. He appears to be based off a Russian [=MiG-29=].
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22	Not to be confused with ''Film/YoungEinstein'' or UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein [[InNameOnly himself]], though the production company does pay a royalty fee for the use of the Einstein name.
23	----
24	!!''Little Einsteins'' provides examples of:
25	[[foldercontrol]]
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27	[[folder:#-F]]
28	* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: Pretty much anything but the Little Einsteins themselves, up to and including Rocket. Most often seen with that episode's token animal or instrument friend(s).
29	* AdamAndEvePlot: The ending to "Knock on Wood" seems to hint at this, as [[spoiler:Tapper and his new (female) friend are likely [[LastOfHisKind the only ivory billed woodpeckers left in existence]]]].
30	* ADayInTheLimelight: They've all had episodes that focus on them every now and then, but special mention needs to go to "Quincy and the Magic Instruments" and "Annie's Solo Mission" which almost exclusively featured the title characters in each one. The former one was even missing Rocket for most of it, whereas the latter had him starring alongside Annie.
31	* AffectionateParody: The show borrows a few story lines and characters from fairy tales or other well-established children's stories, such as ''The Three Little Pigs'' and ''Little Red Riding Hood''.
32	* AllAnimalsAreDomesticated: Though there are exceptions, the team frequently encounters wild animals that turn out to be friendly. This includes a [[BearsAreBadNews polar bear]] in the episode "Flight of the Instrument Fairies", and a '''Tyrannosaurus Rex''' ([[MixAndMatchCritters crossed with a double bass]]) in a different episode.
33	* AnimationBump: The two specials ''Our [[strike:Big]] Huge Adventure'' and ''Rocket's Firebird Rescue''. There's also a subtle one between Season 1 and Season 2, and in the episode "The Christmas Wish".
34	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: In "The Great Sky Race Rematch", somehow the Einsteins make it from the Pacific Ocean directly by boat to the base of the Altai Mountains in Central Asia, and then from there right into the Sahara Desert, which also apparently lies at the foot of the Central Asian mountains.[[note]]The writers either meant the Atlas Mountains in Morocco or the Gobi Desert in China. The former is more likely, as the race goes over a large body of water.[[/note]]
35	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: In the episode "Ring Around the Planet" the team returns a ring to Saturn after it falls off. In [[RealLife reality]], Saturn's rings are just a mass of rocks floating in space. Also, Saturn's rings are bigger than Earth.
36	* AvianFlute: Quite a few episodes feature birds that sing in flutesong.
37	* BeautifulVoid: No other humans are actually shown besides the main characters, and yet the setting is quite peaceful.
38	* BedsheetGhost: The Little Einsteins are troubled by a growing number of these throughout "A Little Einsteins Halloween" and are convinced they want to take their trick-or-treat candy. It turns out [[spoiler:they aren't ghosts at all, just costumed instruments that have been covered in bedsheets with drawn-on eyes, and they have been following the kids because they wanted to come trick or treating with them.]]
39	* BilingualDialogue: Any character that is not one of the four kids - counting Rocket - doesn't talk with words, but with music, though the kids have no problem understanding them. Lampshaded in "He Speaks Music!", as Annie is the only one to understand the baby chimp's music language.
40	%% * BigBad: Big Jet.
41	* BiggerOnTheInside: Rocket. This is especially evident in the OriginsEpisode, where a pullback of Rocket's interior as the kids first walk inside shows him to nearly reach the size of a school bus.
42	* BirthdayEpisode: "The Birthday Balloons" for Annie.
43	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Not an all-female example, but Annie, Quincy and June, and Leo, in that order.
44	* BookEnds: The episodes start with a curtain opening and ends with a curtain call.
45	* BorrowedCatchphrase:
46	** At the end of "Quincy and the Magic Instruments", Quincy gets to hold Leo's baton and shouts out his "Mission Completion!" in honor of him saving the team.
47	** Annie says many of Leo's catchphrases as she prepares to launch Rocket in "Annie's Solo Mission", such as "We've got a mission!", "To Rocket!", "Welcome aboard!" and the "pat, pat, pat" chant. Justified in this case, since she was the only one available to pilot Rocket due to Leo, June and Quincy getting themselves trapped in a giant bubble.
48	* BrainyBrunette: June has dark brown hair, and is shown to be the most "book smart" member of the group; she's very prone to SesquipedalianLoquaciousness and is often the one to answer questions or bring up obscure facts.
49	* BreakingTheFourthWall: A given that this will happen ''a whole lot'', as this is an interactive show after all. The team will frequently encourage the audience to do certain actions with them in order to proceed through the mission.
50	* BritishRoyalGuards: In "A Little Einsteins Halloween," the Little Einsteins are stopped by one when they try to trick-or-treat at Buckingham Palace. They sneak by him by clapping to a beat when music plays and stopping when the music stops.
51	* CallBack: Big Jet's season-changing machine, first used in "O Yes O Yes It's Springtime," makes a reappearance in "The Great Sky Race Rematch" to help him cheat during part of the titular race. Two prior guest characters also make [[TheCameo cameos]] as song contest participants in "Annie, Get Your Microphone."
52	* CameraAbuse: Of a sort, anyway. Various animals have sniffed or breathed on the camera at times, and Big Jet will also occasionally shake it by buzzing by too close. Rocket even ''cleaned'' it, squeegee and all, in "The Birthday Machine."
53	* CaptainCrash: Leo, arguably. Rocket seems to get lodged in a looooot of places (including "space goop", a mountain and an '''erupting volcano''') when he's directly controlling him. Then again, Rocket did it to himself once, in "Rocket Safari"...
54	* CharacterCatchphrase:
55	** Quincy is very fond of magnanimously declaring, "I CAN-NOT... BELIEVE IT!" when something unexpected happens. He says this often enough that it has potential to become annoying if you watch several episodes in a row. On rare occasions he'll change the end of it, in a "I CANNOT BELIEVE that you did that!" sort of fashion.
56	** Leo's various, oft-repeated phrases using the word "mission" are [[CatchPhrase Catch Phrases]] in their own right.
57	*** "We've got a mission!" (when announcing the mission)
58	*** "Mission completion!" (when the mission has been completed)
59	*** "Let...the mission...begin!" (starting in the second season, after announcing the mission of the day)
60	** Annie's "Look, look, look!" counts, similar to Quincy's. She also frequently says "Hold on tight, 'cause here we gooooooooooooo!" as Rocket blasts off.
61	* ChildProdigy: Though any of them could apply (the show is called Little ''Einsteins'' after all), if it's an instrument that can be played, expect Quincy to be able to do so. Besides "normal" instruments such as the piano, french horn, and violin, he's also been seen playing a medieval bugle, a nautical whistle, and even two birthday noisemakers. At ''once''.
62	%% ** June definitely also qualifies. (See WiseBeyondTheirYears below.)
63	* ChristmasEpisode: "The Christmas Wish".
64	* ClassicalMusic: The music of the day, almost always.
65	* CripplingTheCompetition: In "The Great Sky Race Rematch", Big Jet destroys Rocket's flight button to prevent him from beating him again.
66	* DefeatMeansFriendship:
67	** [[spoiler:The episode Show and Tell has Big Jet be as jerky as normal, where he steals the kids' favorite things, which they had been bringing to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin show and tell]] at school. This lasts until the very end, after they've all gotten them back, when he shows up and apologizes for his actions for the first time ever. This leads to a scene with the kids and Rocket.]] Though it was left somewhat open-ended, as that was that character's last appearance before the show went on hiatus, it's implied to be this trope.
68	** The theme also pops up in other episodes, such as "The Song of the Unicorn" and "The Good Knight and the Bad Knight".
69	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: In "Fire Truck Rocket", the Einsteins need to steal a key from a "giant shadow giant".
70	* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Happens on numerous occasions.
71	** The naughty race cars in Monaco try their hardest to stop Carmine the Music Car from winning the Grand Prix, but Carmine wins anyway.
72	** Big Jet constantly used multiple ways to gain an edge in "The Great Sky Race Rematch", beginning with breaking Rocket's fly button and using more and more underhanded means to win, including using three speed boosters to go faster. Rocket still manages to win anyway.
73	* DisembodiedEyebrows: While the girls have OddlyVisibleEyebrows and Quincy's are very definitely on his head, this trope applies to Leo, whose eyebrows (one at least) are visible even when viewed mostly from the back. The one farthest from the camera is floating partially off his head, and in the baby pictures spotted in "[[OriginsEpisode How We Became the Little Einsteins: The True Story]]" they're floating several ''inches'' above his head.
74	* ADogNamedDog: A rocket named Rocket.
75	* DontWakeTheSleeper: In "The Mouse and the Moon", the team had to sneak past a sleeping owl intent on taking Little Mouse's present. Also in "Rocket Safari" when Leo and Annie had to sneak past a sleeping rhinoceros.
76	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
77	** During the first season, the art and music weren't said by their name until the end of the episode and only referred to the art's artist and the music's composer.
78	** Annie wore a green shirt and blue overalls for the first season.
79	** "Curtain Call" wasn't given lyrics until Season 2.
80	** The Pat sequence was longer during Season 1.
81	* EekAMouse: Rocket gets spooked by one in "Hungarian Hiccups"; [[DeusExMachina that is, coincidentally, what scares his hiccups away.]]
82	* EpisodeTitleCard: The episodes use title cards in the form of a cardboard craft project lowered over the top of the stage, as it is read by either Quincy or Annie.
83	* EveryEpisodeEnding:
84	** The aforementioned "Curtain Call" has gone through some changes, but it always consists of the characters celebrating themselves and the audience, and featuring the art & music of the day one more time.
85	** Before such sequence, Leo would wave his baton and announce, "Mission Completion!" and the curtain closes.
86	* EvilIsPetty: Big Jet's ''entire'' antagonism of Rocket and the team is because he was narrowly defeated in a race during his premiere episode.
87	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Many of the episode titles, unsurprisingly. Also Quincy's "silly song" from the episode "The Northern Night Light", which is indeed very silly.
88	* ExtraLongEpisode: The premiere movie "Our Huge Adventure" (later split into the episodes "A Brand New Outfit" and "The Missing Invitation"), as well as "Rocket's Firebird Rescue".
89	* FaceYourFears: In "The Northern Night Light", Quincy helps the gang face theirs with a silly song as they work to rescue a baby reindeer in Lapland.
90	* FakeInteractivity: A staple of every episode, a la ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer''.
91	* FloatingInABubble: In "Annie's Solo Mission", Leo, June, and Quincy decide to make a huge Super Bubble while Annie is away getting her camera. The result: Leo, June, and Quincy get trapped and blown away in their own giant bubble while they can only helplessly watch, forcing Annie to pilot Rocket all by herself and save them.
92	-->'''Quincy:''' ''[after he, Leo, and June get trapped in their own bubble]'' Uh-oh... I think we made this bubble a little ''too'' big!
93	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The ghosts that follow the team in "A Little Einsteins Halloween" have a few visual hints they are not really out to steal their candy and want to trick-or-treat with them. For starters, they don't attempt to attack the kids in any way, and don't even attempt at anything to steal their bucket. Also, note the ghosts appear every time the kids finish trick-or-treating at a castle.
94	* ForgotAboutHisPowers: Many episodes would have been made a lot shorter if they had remembered that Rocket is a rocket ship and simply flown past their obstacles.
95	* FourFingeredHands: The four Einsteins all have four fingers on their hands.
96	[[/folder]]
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98	[[folder:G-Z]]
99	* GoToSleepEnding: The episode [[InsomniaEpisode "A Galactic Goodnight"]] ends with Rocket falling asleep and the Little Einsteins wishing him goodnight.
100	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: The main antagonist of ''The Song of the Unicorn'' is an evil queen who shows up and turns the Conductor Unicorn into stone.
101	* GrowlingGut: Rocket's tummy growled ''7 times'' in the episode "Rocket Soup" as he was hungry for the titular soup while the Little Einsteins were looking for its ingredients.
102	* {{Hammerspace}}: Rocket employs this frequently, mostly for his tools and transformations; Big Jet is also an occasional user, such as in the episode where he dropped a cage '''much''' larger than himself on top of Rocket. The other kids will also use it from time to time. But Quincy makes "reach just off-camera/behind the back and pull out large item" an ''art form''.
103	* HeelFaceTurn:
104	** The Mean Queen from "The Song of the Unicorn" has a change of heart when apologizing to the Conductor Unicorn for turning him into stone and joins the orchestra of animals.
105	** In ''Rocket's Firebird Rescue'', after the Firebird is freed, she spreads her music power everywhere, including on her former captor Katschai the matryoshka ogre, who turns from detesting music to loving it.
106	** The Grumpy Wizard in "Sleeping Bassoon", after Quincy frees Princess Bassoon from the spell he put her under; she sings her happy song (Mendelssohn's Wedding March) for the residents of the instrument kingdom, and he is shown to be enjoying it too.
107	** [[spoiler:Big Jet gets his in "Show and Tell", when he apologizes to the team and Rocket for causing so much trouble to them. He is about to leave the classroom, sad because he has nothing to present to Show and Tell until Rocket cheers him up with two sombrero hats for the two of them to wear and play in.]]
108	* HiccupHijinks: The episode "Hungarian Hiccups". Unusual in that it was ''Rocket'' who had the hiccups.
109	* IdiotBall: The show is about kids whose early exposure to classical music and art have turned them into child prodigies, but thanks to FakeInteractivity, they're still obligated to show less observational prowess and problem solving ability than your typical four-year-old.
110	* IncredibleShrinkingMan: "The Incredible Shrinking Machine" had the titular machine, named the Big-and-Small Machine by the team, malfunction and shrink everyone before breaking. Rocket was also not spared from the sudden malfunction.
111	* IntelligibleUnintelligible:
112	** Rocket's the one seen most often, obviously, but in short the only characters that speak understandable English are the Little Einsteins themselves. Everyone else either [[SpeakingSimlish communicates with music]] or, in Big Jet's case, engine noises. This is usually translated by one or more of the kids.
113	** This is lampshaded in "He Speaks Music" when Annie is the only one who understands the baby chimp's music language.
114	* InvisibleParents: Exaggerated in that none of the kid's parents are ever seen or even mentioned, even in the Christmas special.
115	** However, it's implied their parents may be shown offscreen when the Little Einsteins are on stage during the Curtain Call.
116	* ItsQuietTooQuiet: Invoked by June and Quincy in "Annie, Get Your Microphone!" while the team is traversing through the unnervingly quiet Amazon Rainforest. Right after June and Quincy note of the silence, Big Jet traps them in a set of cages.
117	* {{Jerkass}}: Big Jet, a blue [=MiG-29=] visual portmanteau, who hates losing and is also fond of stealing soup. [[spoiler:At least until the episode Show and Tell.]]
118	* TheKiddieRide: Rocket has been immortalized as a ride. The other characters? Only as decals on the ride.
119	* LastOfHisKind: Defied in "Knock on Wood"; Tapper, an ivory billed woodpecker is assumed to be this, but the group is determined to find him a friend of his own species. [[spoiler:They succeed]].
120	* LaterInstallmentWeirdness:
121	** The Blast Off sequence is shortened throughout most of the second season, where some of Leo's lines are rerecorded, and they removed the scenes of him saying "June is patting...Quincy's patting...Annie's patting...but we need more power!" and Rocket's jets firing up, skipping right to the part where they start to blast off.
122	** Also in Season 2, after Leo announces the mission of the episode, he announces: "Let... the mission... BEGIN!"
123	* {{Leitmotif}}:
124	** June commonly has a flute sounding alongside her whenever she says "Dancey dancey dance" and spins, although it's also used when she opens an episode after the curtain rises. Heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zYH6N8hneQ here]] at about 1:45.
125	** Rocket also has one, which is linked with the blast-off music and used most there. The first part of it will also play during some actions of Rocket's.
126	** There is also the "We've got a mission" fanfare the Little Einsteins have as a whole.
127	* MakeAWish: The Christmas Wish Boxes in "The Christmas Wish" can grant any gift the owner wishes for, complete with a jingle the owner needs to sing to open it.
128	* MediumAwareness: A given, with the nature of the show. But besides the frequent acknowledgment of the viewer, the characters will also mention and direct the soundtrack (such as in one episode, Leo comments on a dramatic change in music with "Whoa, that music makes me feel worried"). Rocket even takes his power from the beat of the {{BGM}}.
129	* MediumBlending: Between 2D/Flash animation and CG. There's also many RealLife shots.
130	* MickeyMousing: Perhaps obviously, music is often used for sound effects, especially when animals or puzzles are concerned.
131	* MinimalistCast: The core four plus Rocket. Not only this, but the kids are the only humans to be seen, not any other.
132	* MundaneWish: In "The Christmas Wish", while the rest of the team wish for something useful, Annie's wish is to just be with her friends on Christmas Eve.
133	* MusicForCourage: Similar to the ThemeMusicPowerUp note below, the episode's theme music will also kick in when things look bad.
134	* MusicalThemeNaming: Leo is named after conductor Leopold Stokowski. June is named after choreographer June Taylor. Quincy is named after musician Quincy Jones. Annie is named after jazz singer Anni Rossi.
135	* NeverSayDie: "Knock on Wood"; June makes a point about how Tapper is "not just any woodpecker" because he's an ivory billed woodpecker. The group repeatedly notes how important it is for him to find a friend of his own species and "not be all alone"...and never once is the word "extinct" mentioned in the episode, leaving any viewers who aren't well versed in obscure ornithology utterly perplexed over what could possibly be so special about this ''one'' woodpecker finding a friend. For bonus points, Tapper does find a friend...who happens to be a ''female'' ivory billed woodpecker. [[AdamAndEvePlot Let the implications fall where they may]].
136	* OncePerEpisode:
137	** The introduction and re-introduction of the Music/Art of the Day, the latter in the form of the curtain call mentioned above. There's also the blast off sequence with Rocket (most oddly used at the end of the episode "Quincy and the Magic Instruments", which Rocket had been absent/stuck for the most of and ''still'' included a blast off), some sort of [[TheStinger stinger]] after the curtain falls and before the credits, and in the second season we have powering Rocket up into Super Fast.
138	** We also get the team's talents: Leo's conducting, Quincy's instruments, and June's ballet moves. Annie's singing (see WithLyrics below) is ''almost'' OncePerEpisode, but there have been a rare few where this is missing for one reason or another.
139	* OriginsEpisode: "How We Became the Little Einsteins: The True Story" documents the origins of the team, their very first mission, how Rocket eventually returned to Leo, and how the Rocket found his new home.
140	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: There's at least two. One in the episode "Go Team!!" that less resembles a dragon than it does an iguana with wings, and one in the firebird special that could change its size with a crescendo.
141	* PrimalFear: Quincy's afraid of the dark.
142	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: To be expected when there's a given piece of classical music that's involved in the plot of every episode.
143	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "Let... the mission... BEGIN!", starting in Season 2.
144	* RaceAgainstTheClock:
145	** In "Hungarian Hiccups", there's only a matter of time for the kids to stop Rocket's hiccups before the Great Sky Race begins.
146	** In "Sleeping Bassoon", Quincy has to play Princess Bassoon her happy song to wake her from the sleeping spell before the giant hourglass's purple pebbles run out, and she'll be asleep forever.
147	** In "The Song of the Unicorn", Leo has until the leaves fall off the tree to break the Mean Queen's statue spell on the unicorn, when the spell becomes permanent.
148	** In "The Puzzle of the Sphinx", the team has to find the three puzzle pieces for the Sphinx before the hourglass runs out, or the puzzle won't do its magic.
149	* "The Glass Slipper Ball" has the titular ball starting at 12 o'clock. When the Little Einsteins first hear about the ball, it's eleven. As a result, they have to hurry to get Rocket and June to the ball in one hour.
150	** "Rocket Soup" features Rocket's hungry-meter which rises each time his stomach growls. The team thus needs to get all of the ingredients to make Rocket Soup and feed the soup to Rocket before he gets a hungry emergency. Although the meter does reach the top, there's no immediate bad effects and it's just an indicator to warn the kids they have very little time left before Rocket runs out of energy.
151	** "Annie, Get Your Microphone" featured a bunch of other contestants (Big Jet included) in front of Annie in a singing contest. Big Jet tore Annie's song to three pieces and threw them out of a window far away, forcing the team to scramble to reclaim them all and hurry back before it's Annie's turn.
152	** "The Great Schubert's Guessing Game" features the titular game giving three clues to Annie about what Schubert's favorite ride is, but a gust of wind blows the clues away. As a result, the team must go all around the carnival to find them, with the added challenge of the game having a time limit before it shuts down, represented by a set of light bulbs indicating how much time is left.
153	** "Show and Tell" features Big Jet stealing all of the kids' favorite things, forcing them to get them back fast before school starts.
154	* {{Retcon}}: The episode "Super Fast!!" shows the kids learning how to use Rocket's different speeds, while "Annie, Get Your Microphone!", is an episode that shows how Annie first got her microphone. Annie already has her microphone in the former episode, while the kids know how to use Rocket's speeds in the latter, which leaves a plot hole.
155	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Possibly. In 2005 an episode called "Knock on Wood" was released, featuring a male ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas. In 200''4'' there were reports (which were published in 2005) of a male woodpecker [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory-billed_Woodpecker#2004.2F2005_Arkansas_reports sighted in Arkansas]]. It's either this trope or a giant coincidence.
156	* SceneryPorn: There's a surprising number of real world shots in an animated show like this, and they're almost all ''ridiculously'' beautiful. The show's renditions of these real locations when it switches to a more animated look tend to be very true to form, and just as pretty.
157	* ScoobyDoobyDoors: A variation, one in pathways in a garden in the firebird special.
158	* SelflessWish: In the ChristmasEpisode, Annie uses her wish box to wish that she could spend Christmas with her friends. This has to be about the most selfless wish ever since she was wishing for something she ''already had'' -- she was already there with all of her friends.
159	* SequelEpisode:
160	** "The Great Sky Race Rematch" is Big Jet's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rematch]] with Rocket for his defeat in "Hungarian Hiccups," the first time we see the Great Sky Race. Despite Big Jet's [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat numerous attempts to cheat]] (starting with ''disabling Rocket's ability to fly'' and only getting worse from there), [[ForegoneConclusion Rocket still wins]].
161	** "Melody and Me" follows a rescue mission of Leo's pet named Melody from "Melody the Music Pet" after she was carried away by a hot air balloon alone during a party dedicated for her.
162	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: June, at least when compared to the other three kids. She's the most likely to use much larger words than the others do, and she employs them frequently.
163	* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: Leo has red hair and green eyes and is the leader of the group.
164	* ShipTease: Even though it's a preschool show, there have been some speculation by older viewers that there is young love blossoming in the team. Example, Leo x June: In the episode Ring Around the Planet, June gives Leo a big hug after thanking him for bringing Saturn's Ring back to Saturn. Another includes Quincy x Annie: they include Annie looking very seductively at Quincy playing his instruments sometimes (like in Whale Tale), or when Annie said Quincy was very brave with using his Christmas wish box in the episode "The Christmas Wish" to wish for a drum to play the rhythm of the toy soldiers and get pass them.
165	* ShoutOut:
166	** Leo's pet Melody looks remarkably similar to [[Anime/MyNeighborTotoro Totoro]].
167	** Leo again. [[StayingAliveDancePose His arm movements]] when he dances are [[Film/SaturdayNightFever very familiar]].
168	** A few of the episode titles also qualify, such as "[[Theatre/AnnieGetYourGun Annie, Get Your Microphone]]" and "Go West, Young Train."
169	** From ''Firebird Rescue'': "Spiders!" "Mosquitoes!" "Bats!" "And bears!" "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Oh my]]!"
170	* SigningOffCatchphrase: "See you on the next mission!"
171	* SoProudOfYou: The phrase shows up in at least two different picture books from the show ''Quincy's Dream'' and ''Annie's Solo Mission'', and possibly in the episodes they're based on as well.
172	* SongsInTheKeyOfLock: Often used as part of the problem.
173	* SpeakOfTheDevil: Big Jet is the one used most often, but even in episodes with other antagonists this can still come into play.
174	* StandardSnippet: Given the show's use of classical music, you'll hear many of these, often more than one in the same episode.
175	* StockFootage: The blast-off and Super Fast sequences, with any [[GuestStarPartyMember guest characters for that episode]] edited in where necessary.
176	* StudioAudience: During the aforementioned Curtain Call, offscreen cheering and applause sound effects can be heard.
177	* TakenForGranite: In "The Song of the Unicorn", the Mean Queen used her magic mirror to cast an evil spell on the Conductor Unicorn by turning him into a stone statue out of [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]]. Because of this, he cannot even conduct anymore. The only way to break the spell is to have the animals sing together but they cannot sing together without him. So Leo have to conduct the animals but he has to hurry before the last leaf falls or the unicorn will permanently become a stone statue. The Little Einsteins successfully breaks the spell from the unicorn.
178	* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Happens whenever exposition gets in the way of something that needs to be finished quickly. A variation is the easing up into Rocket's Super Fast speed, as by the end of the time it takes for Rocket to speed up all the way, the given event would be over in real time. Naturally, he always makes it just in time in-episode.
179	* TechnicolorEyes: If one looks real closely, the kids' scleras, mostly June's, are a few shades darker than the usual white, making them appear silverish.
180	* TemptingFate: Leo is a repeat offender. If he warns the others ([[NoFourthWall or the viewer]]) to be careful for one reason or another, you can bet something bad is about to happen. In one episode this got the entire group separated, and on several instances this has brought Big Jet into the picture.
181	* ThereAreNoAdults: Combined with InvisibleParents. We don't see any of the team members' parents, let alone any other grown-ups.
182	* ThemeMusicPowerUp: An episode's given music is often used to save the day.
183	* TitleDrop: This happens. A lot. The title itself is also something of a [[TheNamesake namesake]], as the phrase "Little Einsteins" was coined by June at the end of their first mission.
184	* TokenHuman:
185	** The four kids are, in fact, the only humans present onscreen - their parents are never seen, nor any other humans.
186	** However, it's implied there are other humans in this universe, but we only hear them offscreen. Examples would be the crowd at the song contest in "Annie, Get Your Microphone", and the students at the team's school in "Show and Tell".
187	* ToothStrip: All of the Einsteins have undivided strips of teeth.
188	* TravellingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: Distance and even ''reality itself'' are no problem for the team. Rocket can travel into pictures, across the globe, and even ''into space'' at the drop of a hat.
189	* TruckDriversGearChange: The theme song pitch-shifts from A to a higher C.
190	* TrueCompanions: The group is very dedicated to each other, and will go great lengths for another member. Though this is seen at several times throughout the series, it's never more evident than in the climax of "Rocket's Firebird Rescue", when each of the kids give up what they gathered throughout the earlier parts of the special to help Rocket save the day.
191	* UnexpectedKindness:
192	** In "The Birthday Balloons" when the team visits a jungle, they are followed by a snake; when said snake catches up later, he starts singing Annie's balloon song, causing Annie to realize the snake is friendly and he saw where her balloons went.
193	** Twice in "Knock on Wood" when the team is trapped, they encounter a rattlesnake and an alligator coming toward them. Once out of danger, said rattlesnake and alligator go past them and meet another of their kind, revealing they weren't chasing them, they were just finding their friends.
194	** In "A Little Einsteins Halloween", the team is followed by ghosts as they go trick or treating at various castles, thinking they're here to steal their treats. At the final location, Leo takes a closer look at the ghosts and reveals they were actually costumed instruments who wanted to come trick or treating with them.
195	%% * ViewersAreGoldfish
196	* WiseBeyondTheirYears: June. Besides the SesquipedalianLoquaciousness touched on above, she's often the one to answer questions, come up with obscure information, or just act the most adult in general. Her elegancy also plays into this, and all of this can make her seem much older than six. This occasionally even pushes her into TeamMom territory, especially with the guest characters. That in and of itself can be seen most in the episode "The Blue-Footed Booby Bird Ballet" where she mentors a baby [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin blue-footed booby bird that's a member of her bird ballet troupe]].
197	* WithLyrics: The music of the day usually gets lyrics added to it by Annie. For example, in the episode "Fire Truck Rocket", half of the lyrics added to the 1812 Overture are simply, "la la la la la la la la, la la!"
198	* YourSizeMayVary: Rocket and Big Jet are the [[IncrediblyLamePun biggest]] victims of this trope, although it can also occur with certain guest characters. The size proportion between Jet and Rocket will also change, sometimes within the confines of the same episode.
199	[[/folder]]
200	----
201	-->''Mission Completion!''

Context WesternAnimation / LittleEinsteins