Line #48 WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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3	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pebble_and_the_penguin.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:250: There's four penguins here, and one of them [[ToothyBird has teeth]]. And that's only the start...]]
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6	Creator/DonBluth's 1995 epic story about a bunch of singing penguins.
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8	Adélie penguins engage in elaborate courtship behavior where the male builds a nest of pebbles to attract mates. Tough for [[UglyCute Hubie]] (Creator/MartinShort), as he has no pebble with which to win the affections of the lovely Marina (Creator/AnnieGolden).
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10	After Hubie finds an emerald which falls from the sky for... some reason... his rival Drake (Creator/TimCurry), a penguin so pumped full of steroids that his veins should be exploding every time he flexes, steals it from him and attempts to feed him to a Leopard Seal. Hubie escapes and winds up on a ship with the cranky Rockhopper, Rocko (Creator/JamesBelushi). Together, the two penguins must travel 3,000 miles to return to their island home and settle things with Drake.
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12	Perhaps TheWorldWasNotReady for a movie about penguin romance. You wonder how well this could have done in the wake of ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet''...
13	----
14	!!Tropes used in this movie:
15	* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: Most of the penguins including Hubie and Marina and those three flying birds.
16	* ActorAllusion: Creator/TimCurry playing a large, brawny, ObviouslyEvil villain who wants the hero's LoveInterest for himself? Hm, [[Film/Legend1985 why does that sound familiar]]?
17	* ALizardNamedLiz: Rocko the rockhopper penguin.
18	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Subverted with Marina, who very clearly [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan prefers Hubie]]. However, in one scene, when Drake rises out of the water in view of Marina and some female penguins she's with, all the female penguins sans Marina swoon.
19	* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Drake's motive for the movie is to make Marina marry him, whether she wants to or not.
20	* AnimationBump: The sequence with the Killer Whales is one of the only scenes that it makes the film feel almost like a traditional Don Bluth film. It is naturally the most nightmarish and tense scene in the movie.
21	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Starting with the penguins who hardly look like penguins and those three little flying birds (maybe they're meant to be Sheathbills, but...)
22	* AwardBaitSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBp74R6AfYE "Now And Forever"]] To a lesser extent, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40v2D5LV1F0 the "Sometimes I Wonder" reprise sung by Marina]].
23	* BabiesEverAfter: Hubie and Marina are seen with a bunch of children at the very end, [[spoiler:some of which can fly just like Rocko.]]
24	* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Absolutely none of the penguins wear shoes despite being shown to wear hats, jewelry, and even shirts and pants in a couple notable instances.
25	* BigBad: Drake is Hubie's [[LoveTriangle rival for Marina's affections]] and is willing to [[MurderTheHypotenuse go to any lengths necessary]] to get Marina for himself, whether she wants it or not. This makes him the main villain of the film.
26	* TheBigDamnKiss: Between Hubie and Marina after the latter accepts the former's proposal.
27	* BigNo: During the song "Good Ship Misery", this is the captive penguins' reaction to Gentoo asking "Does anyone remember fun?"
28	--> '''Gentoo:''' [[LampshadeHanging Just thought I'd ask...]]
29	* BridalCarry: In the climax, Hubie carries Marina in his arms to get away from the crumbling lair of Drake. He contines carrying her this was while [[spoiler:riding on the back of a now flying Rocko]].
30	* CallOfTheWildBlueYonder: Rocko wishes to fly. At the end of the film, in a way that is both incredibly cliché and against all laws of physics and biology, he achieves it. Still, despite its illogical nature, it's kind of touching, even if it would have been equally touching for him to realize he doesn't need to fly to be happy when he's got such a great friend in Hubie.
31	* TheCameo: If you look carefully during the brief shot of the people on the beach, you can see what appear to be characters from previous Bluth projects, such as [[VideoGame/DragonsLair Princess Daphne]] and an older [[WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven Anne-Marie]].
32	* CartoonPenguin: While most of the cast are Adélie penguins, excluding Rocko the Rockhopper, their designs are a variation on the typical cartoon penguin with black and white faces and yellow beaks with a red tip. Actual Adélies have completely black faces, and although they do have a darker marking on their beak, it's just not red or even shaped like an Albatross beak.
33	* CatchPhrase: "Goodness glaciers!" for Hubie.
34	* CrazyIsCool:[[invoked]] [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Rocko to Hubie, after barely avoiding being eaten by the leopard seal:
35	--> "You idiot! You almost got me killed! What's the matter with you? You risked your life and you're back to that chicken, give her that blasted pebble! You're crazy! YoureInsane You're, you're ''amazing!''"
36	* CurbStompBattle: In the climax Hubie attempts to charge Drake head-on. With Drake being at least three times his size, this results in Hubie being effortlessly sent flying back and being close to unconscious for a good few moments.
37	* DarkReprise: Hubie's song "Sometimes I Wonder" gets a rather saddening reprise from Marina later in the film in which she indicates just how much she misses him and is hoping and praying more than anything for him to still be alive and successfully make it back home as she works to repair the heart formation made of pebbles he'd made for her at the beginning of the film.
38	* DavidVsGoliath: The final battle of the film involves the comparatively weak and flabby Hubie against the taller, stronger, and ridiculously more muscular Drake.
39	* DespairEventHorizon: The whole "Good Ship Misery" song segment is one. All the captured penguins have given up hope of ever returning home since being in captivity and tell Hubie the sooner he accepts that, the better off he'll be.
40	* {{Determinator}}: Once he grows some serious backbone from being trained by Rocko in how to fight, Hubie utterly refuses to give up in his final confrontation against Drake. And even before then, he proves willing to do whatever it takes to make it back to Antarctica in time for the full moon ceremony to prevent Drake from taking Marina for himself.
41	* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: Rocko suddenly learns to fly and saves everyone from falling.]]
42	* DeviousDolphins: The orcas are portrayed as extremely dangerous, monstrous predators.
43	* DisneyAcidSequence: A rare example of a musical animated feature outside of Fantasia to apply this trope to '''the opening number'''!
44	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Rocko goes missing after the orca attack and Hubie assumes the worst, but a few scenes later he turns up alive and well.]]
45	* DisneyVillainDeath: Subverted, [[spoiler: while Hubie does send Drake falling a good ways, he turns out to still be alive and comes back for one last attack. Which causes his lair to collapse and kill him.]]
46	* DomesticAbuse: Drake ''reeks'' of this in all his interactions with Marina, especially during his VillainSong, which is peppered with threats of physical violence whilst also demanding her hand in marriage.
47	-->'''Drake:''' Don't make me laugh so hard that ''you'' begin to ''ache!''
48	* TheDreaded: The Killer Whales. Rocko is able to stand up to humans, and even a leopard seal at one point, and teaches Hubie to fight back Drake, and overall, unafraid of anything. But he is absolutely terrified of Killer Whales, and when they do show up, Rocko's fear is completely justified.
49	* DuetBonding: Subverted with Looks Like I Got Me A Friend: A song in which Rocko is initially reluctant to participate, but when Hubie holds his breath in and nearly kills himself, Rocko finally gives in and admits that he has a little bit of a liking for Hubie.
50	* EnhancedOnDVD: The 2007 Family-Friendly Edition of the film fixed most of the errors that plagued the original theatrical release. It helped that Gary Goldman was supervising this release, as, see OffModel below, he and Bluth walked off the original project after the Hong Kong studio Media Assets took over and hired Creator/AFilm to finish the film as quick as possible.
51	* EntitledToHaveYou: Drake has this attitude when it comes to Marina, regardless of her feelings towards him (or lack thereof, in her case), and even has a whole VillainSong [[IfICantHaveYou threatening harm on her]] [[MurderTheHypotenuse and Hubie]] [[IfICantHaveYou should she refuse him]].
52	* EvilIsBigger: Drake is the primary antagonist and, as seen in the image, towers over the other penguins.
53	* EvilOverlooker: Drake in the poster, as seen above.
54	* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Drake gets squashed by a falling rock. If you freeze-frame, you can see his cape and some of his crushed body still sticking to the rock as it rolls away.
55	* FeatherFingers: All the penguins have either ''arms and hands'' or hands on their flippers instead of normal flippers.
56	* FlyingFlightlessBird: On his introduction, Rocko tells Hubie that his wish in life is to fly, despite the fact that he is a penguin. [[spoiler:Near the end of the film, he actually does and teaches other penguins how to fly]].
57	* FriendshipSong: "Looks Like I've Got Me A Friend" is this for the film.
58	* GoodColorsEvilColors: Referenced in Creator/RogerEbert's [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950412/REVIEWS/504120302/1023 review]] of the film. In fact, that's pretty much the ''entirety'' of his "review" — just him ranting about this very trope, with only one paragraph that's actually ''about the freaking movie''.
59	* GreaterScopeVillain: Drake may be the main antagonist of the film, and most of the movie is spent traveling and Rocko teaching Hubie how to fight back, but the Killer Whales that show up demonstrate how terrifying they were built up to be, and Hubie never even attempts to fight them unlike the Leopard Seal, and barely escapes them. Considering how Killer Whales are in real life, they are the most dangerous threats to Hubie and Rocko ever.
60	* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: A few of the penguins, including Drake, are of the shirtless variant.
61	* HartmanHips: All of the female penguins, bordering on HumanoidFemaleAnimal. Said hips, as you can see in the poster, are way the hell up where Marina's wishbone should be.
62	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Drake tries to crush Hubie with a boulder, only to have it collapse the cave. Sic transit Drake.]]
63	* HypocriticalHumor: After being informed of Hubie's unique plight on the 'good ship Misery', Rocko exclaims, "If he had any guts he wouldn't have let them take him alive," despite he himself having been successfully taken alive even after putting up a comparatively decent fight against them.
64	** Drake mocks Hubie's stutter early in the movie, but when gloating to a pair of seagulls later on, starts to stutter himself, and in a manner that doesn't seem to be intended to mock Hubie.
65	* IAmVeryBritish: The royal penguin on the Good Ship Misery has a posh accent.
66	* IfICantHaveYou: Drake's VillainSong includes him threatening to have Marina killed along with [[MurderTheHypotenuse Hubie]] if she doesn't marry him.
67	* InformedAttribute: The Narrator calls humans worse than the Leopard Seal. Hubie and Rocko promptly gets away from them rather easily, with another/the same(?) Leopard Seal antagonizing them later in the movie.
68	* InformedSpecies: The narrator specifies that the penguins of Hubie's colony are Adélie penguins, but they look nothing like them. Most have gray and white faces, as opposed to the Adélie's entirely black face, and their beaks resemble seagull beaks (yellow with a black tip) while Adélie beaks are pink and covered with feathers except the tip.
69	* JerkJock: Drake. In fact, his characterization can be summed up as "[[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]] [[RecycledInSpace as a penguin]]".
70	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Notably Rocko. He is grumpy, hot-tempered, and occasionally rude but he is good-hearted and cares deeply about Hubie.
71	* TheJuggernaut: Being 'Twice as big, and twice as fast, and twice as mean' as the rather large, terrifying leopard seal, the Killer Whales prove to be unstoppable threats by plowing through ice floes, and a ''freaking harpoon''. When Rocko tries to distract the orcas by tackling it, the much smaller penguin bounces off them.
72	* LargeHam: Drake is not at all subtle in his dialogue or actions, and is unashamedly open and over the top in his behavior. One gets the feeling that Creator/TimCurry was having a lot of fun with the role.
73	** The penguins on the Good Ship Misery are also rather melodramatic, particularly in the ship's titular song.
74	* LoveInterestVsLustInterest: Hubie is the Love Interest to Marina, being a [[NiceGuy kind-hearted, selfless]], if somewhat [[EndearinglyDorky dorky]] penguin who treats Marina like a person and is willing to try and earn her affections. Meanwhile, Drake is a [[PlayedForHorror terrifying]] example of a Lust Interest; he only wants to marry Marina because he believes that [[BabyFactory their children]] will be [[DarwinistDesire strong, smart, and beautiful]] and has no problems with threatening to [[IfICantHaveYou murder Marina if she rejects him]].
75	* MeaningfulName: Consider the following - "hubby" is a diminutive for "husband". Which character has a name similar to this word again?
76	* MineralMacGuffin: The titular pebble looks more like a dodecahedron shaped emerald than an ordinary pebble, and it is what Hubie hopes to use as an engagement pebble for asking Marina to be his mate.
77	* MonstrousSeal: The leopard seals who try to eat the main protagonist in multiple scenes are portrayed as vicious monsters that all the penguins (with the exception of Drake) greatly fear. One such instance even provides the page image!
78	* MoodSwinger: Drake can go from a smarmy jock, to a far more vicious and angry monster in a second, and easily switches back to a proud, narcissistic penguin.
79	* NiceGuy: Hubie is a kind, lovable sweetheart, hence Marina's [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan preference for him]] over [[JerkAss Drake]].
80	* NonMammalMammaries: Marina has noticeable breasts despite being a bird.
81	* NoNonsenseNemesis: Compared to the leopard seal, or even Drake, the Killer Whales are unquestionably this. They do not play around with their target prey, and always will gang up on them, and are large, fast, and powerful enough to plow through even a harpoon. It is only with quick reflexes and a sacrificial distraction from Rocko, that Hubie got out alive from that encounter.
82	* NotQuiteDead: After [[spoiler: Drake falls from a spiral staircase in what appears to be a DisneyVillainDeath, he later appears prepared to throw a huge boulder at the heroes. He's quickly pancaked by his tower coming down on top of him.]]
83	* OffModel: In "The Good Ship Misery", there is at least two point where some penguins move, but the others are frozen in place.
84	** The reason for this was because when Don Bluth and Gary Goldman walked off the movie, already all of the pencil art and 70% of the coloring was completed beforehand. At this, MGM sent the movie to a [[Creator/AFilm Hungary studio]] to hastily finish off the movie in time for its theatrical release. [[EnhancedOnDVD Most of the errors were fixed for the 2007 2-Disc 'Family Fun Edition',]] where the movie was nominated for a Satelitte Award for Best Youth DVD.
85	** At the end of the movie, when everyone is cheering for Hubie, you'll see the animation on Rocko is either slowed down or frozen in place.
86	* OminousOperaCape: Drake is the bad guy and wears a long red cape. Visible in the image.
87	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Creator/TimCurry's attempt at a JerkJock American accent doesn't really hold up.
88	* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: Marina's two suitors: the shy, innocent Hubie whom lives in a humble abode and the villainous JerkJock Drake whom lives in a castle shaped like a skull.
89	* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Hubie and Rocko.
90	* ShallowCannotComprehendTrueLove: The other female penguins don't see why Marina is interested in Hubie due to him being a wimp, when compared to Drake, who is considered by the other females to be a hunk, with none of them realizing that Marina likes him for his personality, and isn't interested in Drake, despite his many efforts to try and get her to be his mate.
91	* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Marina returns Hubie's feelings for her, and isn't interested in Drake whatsoever.
92	* ShownTheirWork:
93	** Apart from the Adélies, the penguin species have the proper plumage, including the ''Eudyptes'' penguin crests and the Magellanics' "horseshoe" plumage.
94	** Also, leopard seals are, in fact, the chief predators of penguins, and the killer whales are indeed, extremely dangerous pack hunting predators in the ocean.
95	** The killer whales are seen bumping into, splashing waves over, and jumping on icebergs to force the penguins into the water, which are all tactics killer whales have been known to use in real life against their prey (both penguins and seals).
96	* SpeechImpediment: Hubie has a stutter. It's portrayed rather realistically, becoming more pronounced when he's nervous or self-conscious and disappearing when he sings.
97	* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Played straight. The women are given curvy figures and big eyelashes and pretty eyes. When Marina walks, she looks like she's wearing a dress. But the male protagonist is given eyes that are so sugar-coatedly girly and cutesy that with another voice actor he could probably pass as a woman.
98	* TookALevelInBadass: Hubie, who at the start of the movie is afraid of leopard seals, can easily defeat one later on.
99	* ToothyBird: Drake could probably bite through a coconut with his ridiculous looking chompers. All of the penguins have eerily humanlike prominent teeth, but Drake's the toothiest of them all.
100	* TopHeavyGuy: Drake has some truly impressive man tits and arms, but his legs are ridiculously tiny.
101	* {{Tsundere}}: Rocko is a platonic version towards Hubie. He actually likes him, but is too proud to admit it until the very end of "Looks Like I've Got Me A Friend."
102	* VileVillainSaccharineShow: While Drake is rather intimidating, with hints of domestic abuse and a more feral nature, he is rather enjoyable over the top with his evil, and ends up handled rather easily once Hubie gets his bearings. The Killer Whales on the other hand, are portrayed as ferocious, highly intelligent, and completely unstoppable threats far more deadly than any other obstacle encountered. Hubie outright abandons the pebble that he would risk his neck for against a Leopard Seal, just to barely escape from being eaten after one plows through a harpoon. These antagonists are also the only ones to truly terrify Rocko.
103	* VileVulture: Well, vile stylized skuas or giant petrels, but Drake keeps about carnivorous seabirds that very much look and behave the part.
104	* VillainousBreakdown: Drake has a MASSIVE one after Hubie kicks his ass.
105	* VillainousCrush: Drake has a massive one on Marina. His goal is to marry her, even though his feelings are completely unrequited. He's willing to threaten to kill her and Hubie if she doesn't comply.
106	* VillainSong: "Don't Make Me Laugh". Tim Curry does the singing, so it's no surprise that it's the most fun song in the film.
107	* VitriolicBestBuds: [[FireForgedFriends Hubie and Rocko]] at first.
108	* WelcomingSong: An unhappy example in "Welcome to the Good Ship Misery".
109	* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: The other female penguins seem to have this opinion of Marina and her preference of Hubie over Drake.
110	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: At one point, Drake discusses his actions with a pair of skuas, who are never seen in the film again.
111	** While we're on that, the three penguins who appeared with Drake in every other scene are nowhere to be seen during the final battle.
112	*** Considering their [[DirtyCoward nature]], it wouldn't be surprising that they ran off then.
113	* YellowEyesOfSneakiness: The killer whales have animalistic yellow sclera, which is a bit inaccurate. Their sclera is actually ''[[RedEyesTakeWarning red]]'' in real life.
114	* YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive: [[TemptingFate Wanna]] [[CollapsingLair bet,]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Drake?]]
115	* YoureInsane: A heroic example. After escaping the Leopard Seal, Rocko yells this at Hubie because he had gone back to get the pebble. It’s {{subverted\|Trope}}, though, as Rocko ultimately praises him for it.
116	-->'''Rocko:''' You idiot! You almost got me killed! What's the matter with you?! You risk your life to get back to that chick and give her that blasted pebble! You're crazy! You're insane! You’re… you’re ''AMAZING!'' (''laughs'')

Context WesternAnimation / ThePebbleAndThePenguin