Line #201 WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins


1	[[quoteright:331:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/321_Penguins_9161.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:331:You're about to learn that penguins really can fly.]]
3
4	->''"Let's sing a little song\
5	With eight little words\
6	'Bout a rocket ship\
7	And flightless birds\
8	Zidgel! Midgel! Fidgel! Kevin!\
9	Three! Two! One! Penguins!"''
10	-->--''3-2-1 Penguins!'' ThemeSong
11
12	Produced by Big Idea Productions (the guys who made ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales''), ''3-2-1 Penguins!'' chronicles the tale of a young boy named Jason T. Conrad, and his twin sister Michelle Frances Conrad (who is older by five minutes). Both have been shipped off to stay with their very British "[[InsistentTerminology grandmum]]" for the summer, while their parents go...[[CanonFodder someplace else]].
13
14	In the first episode ([[Recap/ThreeTwoOnePenguinsEpisode1TroubleOnPlanetWaitYourTurn Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn]]), Jason mopes around because he would much rather be at Space Camp, and as evening falls on their first day at the cottage, he is bored out of his skull after their television blows a fuse. Michelle, on the other hand, has found a set of porcelain penguins and is rather enjoying herself when Jason happens upon the [[MissingFloor hidden attic]]. Upon investigation, the twins find a bunch of old toys and games, as well as a large telescope. When Michelle hogs the telescope, Jason stuffs her penguins into a toy spaceship and accidentally drops them both. Rather than breaking, the ship bounces around before springing to life. The now sentient penguins, [[AerithAndBob Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel and...Kevin]], "galeezel" Jason into the toy ship and whisk off into space to deal with a distress call.
15
16	In Episode 2 ([[Recap/ThreeTwoOnePenguinsEpisode2TheCheatingScalesOfBullamanka The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka]]), it's Michelle's turn to take a ride with the Rockhopper crew, and from then on, one or both of the twins would join the Rockhopper crew as they traveled through the stars, helping various [[AmusingAlien Amusing]] (and less-than-amusing) [[AmusingAlien Aliens]] with whatever the universe decided to throw at them. [[SarcasmMode Astonishingly]], the solution to each location's problem usually hinges on something Grandmum tried to teach the kids earlier.
17
18	Since the show is targeted at a slightly older demographic than that of ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'', there's a distinct lack of musical numbers in each episode (but not Big Idea's trademark humor). However, at the end of episodes 2-6, the Rockhopper crew attends Amateur Night at the Comet Lounge where they sing a song related to the episode's moral lesson.
19
20	The series was initially a set of six DirectToVideo episodes, released between 2000 and 2003, but after a four-year hiatus, the show was picked up by Creator/{{Qubo}} and has since gained a 20-episode season.
21
22	----
23	!!3-2-1 Tropes!
24
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Tropes A to I]]
28	* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal:
29	** The Lizard King wears nothing more than a hat, gloves, and a belt.
30	** The only articles of clothing the Bandicoot King wears are a crown and a cape.
31	* AerithAndBob: The penguins' names are Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel... and [[OddNameOut Kevin]].
32	* [[AlienNoninterferenceClause Alien Non-Interference Clause]]: Averted, judging how the Rockhopper crew just brings Jason and/or Michelle aboard their ship so nonchalantly without any regard to whatever consequences come with abducting two children from a planet that hasn't developed faster-than-light space travel.
33	* AlienSky: The planets Wait-Your-Turn, Tell-a-Lie, Rigel 13, and Cross-Your-Heart have this. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Lazy Daze''
34	-->'''Midgel:''' Blue grass, green skies, and no ants.
35	-->'''Michelle:''' Don't you mean green grass and blue skies?
36	* AliensOfLondon: The accents that the various aliens have include American (Zidgel, the Gator King), Southern American (Wild Bill Quasar, that yellow cowboy alien that appears every so often), Australian (Midgel, the Bandicoot and Lizard Kings), British (Fidgel, the dart aliens from Tell-a-Lie, the Tiki King), and Spanish (Miso Guapo).
37	* AliensNeverInventedDemocracy: Zig-zagged. The planets that did invent democracy are Wait-Your-Turn (run by a president), Gutt (run by a chancellor), and Cross-Your-Heart (run by a mayor). Conversely, planets like Tell-a-Lie, Wiki Tiki, Kennel, and Mercy Falls have monarchies run by either kings or emperors.
38	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Played straight with most of the aliens, averted with the light-bulb aliens in "Runaway Pride at Lightstation Kilowatt" who speak in R2-D2-ish gibberish and the ear-like lobes in ''Compassion Crashin'' who communicate with "Budda, budda, budda."
39	* AllCGICartoon: Everything is CGI.
40	* AllPlanetsAreEarthlike: Averted, as all of the planets differ greatly from Earth.
41	* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: Zidgel, Midgel, and Fidgel. Kevin is the only penguin whose name doesn't end with "idgel".
42	* AnimalSpeciesAccent:
43	** Bert Bertman has a high-pitched voice due to him being a hamster.
44	** The sheep from Planet Picket in ''The Green-Eyed Monster'' have the "baaa" in their accents.
45	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In the Planet Tell-a-Lie music video, "The Legend of Galaxy Gus", there is a wanted poster with this on it: "Wanted, Honcho Villa, fer bank robbery, cattle rustlin', and not makin' his bed."
46	* ArtificialGravity: Even though it's never explicitly stated whether the Rockhopper has it, the characters not floating around in it is evidence enough of its existence.
47	* AsideComment: In ''Give and Let Give'' Zidgel looks straight at the camera and asks if he mentioned that he was on a peaceful mission.
48	** In ''Oh, Mercy'', the Gator King asks the audience if he knows his Bible.
49	* AsTheGoodBookSays: Grandmum and occasionally Sol quotes from the Good Book.
50	* AteTheSpoon: In the theme song, Fidgel's spoon corrodes after it was used to stir a bright blue liquid.
51	* BaldOfEvil: The Lizard King, [[spoiler: that is, before he is reformed]].
52	* BarefootCartoonAnimal: The Rockhopper crew and some other characters.
53	* BarFullOfAliens: The Comet Lounge serves as this, with its variety of recurring HumanoidAliens and StarfishAliens, as well as its bartender, Sol.
54	* BigNo: In ''Comedy of Errors'', Michelle does this when [[spoiler: Jason sings the song she sings when she's scared at the Comet Lounge.]]
55	** In ''Wise Guys'', Jason does this twice, and both times coupled with a SkywardScream: the first when he discovers that the batteries are not included with the time machine, and another when he is told [[spoiler: that he and his sister are stuck in the future forever]].
56	** In ''Oh, Mercy!'', Zidgel, Jason and the Gator King yell this in slo-mo when the emerald falls out of its case and smashes into many pieces.
57	* BiggerOnTheInside: In the T.V. version, the Rockhopper has more space on the inside than the outside.
58	* BizarreAlienLocomotion: The Wait-Your-Turners (aliens that look like old fashioned electrolux vacuum cleaners) move around via rolling around on their four wheels.
59	* BlackBeadEyes: The human characters as well as a few aliens have these.
60	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs:
61	** In ''Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn'', how the Rockhopper crew describes how hot it is on the planet.
62	--->'''Fidgel:''' Like a sauna.
63	--->'''Midgel:''' Like a barbecue.
64	--->'''Zidgel:''' Like someone's barbecuing in a sauna.
65	** In ''Moon Menace on Planet Tell-a-Lie'', how Fidgel and Midgel describe the chain reaction that could be caused by Tell-a-Lie's moon slipping out of its orbit.
66	--->'''Fidgel:''' A flood.
67	--->'''Midgel:''' A fire.
68	--->'''Fidgel:''' A flood on fire.
69	* BreakingTheFourthWall: In ''The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka'', after Fidgel says "ombudsmen", the episode pauses with a voiceover defining the word. Since Kevin is not affected by the paused screen, he uses a marker to scribble out "men" and replace it with "penguins".
70	** In the same episode, the Rockhopper crew mentions that it was the Lizard King who cheated in the show.
71	** In ''Invasion of the Body Swappers'', part of Zidgel's song lyrics are, "I make them swoon, even for a cartoon!"
72	** In ''Git Along Little Doggies'', while Fidgel was correcting Jason and Michelle's behavior, Kevin passes by in the background twice and waves at the viewers his second time around.
73	* BrickJoke: President No-I'm-the-President's cameo in ''The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka'' and ''The Amazing Carnival of Complaining''.
74	* TheBridge: No spaceship is complete without this, not even the Rockhopper.
75	* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: The Rockhopper crew members all have an emblem of the first letter of their first names on their chests.
76	* CallBack: ''The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka'' features many call backs to ''Trouble on Planet Wait your Turn''. One of them is Midgel trying out the new landing gear after hearing Jason's advice and echoing his statement, "No job's too hard when you use your head."
77	** This one in particular gets [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]:
78	---> '''Michelle:''' Jason was right! You guys ''are'' real!\
79	'''Midgel:''' Either that or you're daydreaming.\
80	'''Kevin:''' Whoa! Deja vu!\
81	''(guitar riff from ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' plays)''
82	** In ''The Amazing Carnival of Complaining'', the call backs to the first episode are Jason wanting to go to Space Camp and the Turbo 3000 being busted.
83	* TheCameo: Larry the Cucumber from ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' appears in the first episode ''Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn'' as a vacuum cleaner.
84	* CaptainsLog: In the direct-to-video episodes, Captain Zidgel does this at the end of the episode. In the T.V. version, he does so at the beginning of the episode.
85	* CatchPhrase: The Rockhopper crew members all have one.
86	** Zidgel: "Doctor Fidgel, Galeezel him/her."
87	** Midgel: "BAN-ZAAAAAAAAAAI!" [[VisualPun (cue a bonsai tree popping out)]]
88	** Fidgel: "Sensors indicate..."
89	** Kevin: "Helloooooo!"
90	* ChubbyMamaSkinnyPapa: In photos from ''Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn'', the twins' grandfather looks tiny in comparison to their grandmother.
91	* CommLinks: The communicators that the Rockhopper crew uses are actually referred to as comm links.
92	* CompanyCrossReferences: In the episode "Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn", Michelle says that she and Jason stopped at Burger Bell on their way to the cottage. Burger Bell first appeared in one of the Silly Songs in ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'', from Big Idea who also created ''3-2-1 Penguins!''.
93	* ContinuityNod: In ''The Doom Funnel Rescue'', the crew gasps towards the horror music in a similar way in which they did when they found out what would happen to Planet Wait-Your-Turn.
94	** In ''Oh, Mercy'', Zidgel screams like a little girl just like how he did in ''Lazy Daze''.
95	** In ''Promises, Promises'', the comic book Grandmum reads at the beginning shows pictures from previous episodes, like ''Lazy Daze'', ''Give and Let Give'', ''Wiki Tiki'', ''Invasion of the Body Swappers'', and ''Git Along Little Doggies''.
96	* CuteIsEvil: [[spoiler:Bert the Hamster inside the Cavitus Suit.]]
97	* {{Cyclops}}: The pig-like aliens from Planet Gutt have only one eye.
98	* DescriptivelyNamedSpecies: The titular penguins look like...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin penguins]].
99	* DistressCall: Sometimes, these appear in the form of papers from FAX machines. Other times, they appear in the typical audio distress signal.
100	* DittoAliens: Thanks to the show's low budget, this trope shows up quite a bit via reuse of the same alien model, whether that alien be walking light bulb, dart, lawn flamingo, gnome, or gator.
101	** Downplayed with the pumpkin-headed kids from ''The Amazing Carnival of Complaining'' whose bodies look identical, but their heads vary a little in shape.
102	* DubNameChange: In the French dub, Jason gets renamed "Elliot".
103	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Meta example. In an early version of the Big Idea website (by early, we mean in 2000), Fidgel's bio states that his favorite color is orange. In ''Runaway Pride at Lightstation Kilowatt'', it's established that he's apparently colorblind, meaning that he can't see the color orange.
104	** The penguins' ship, the Rockhopper, wasn't given a name until the T.V. series first aired.
105	* EnsembleCast: The show has six main characters, the kids and the penguins. Ron Smith even stated in one episode commentary that there isn't one main protagonist.
106	* EverybodyIsSingle: All six of the main characters are single. Justified with Jason and Michelle since they're only seven.
107	* EveryEpisodeEnding: Most of the episodes ended with the Rockhopper flying off into the night after Jason and Michelle finished praying.
108	* EvilGloating: Baron von Cavitus has a habit of doing this often.
109	** ''The Doom Funnel Rescue!''
110	** ''Moon Menace on Planet Tell-a-Lie!''
111	** ''I Scream, You Scream!''
112	** ''Invasion of the Body Swappers!''
113	** ''Git Along, Little Doggies!''
114	** ''Oh, Mercy!''
115	* ExpospeakGag: In ''Moon Menace on Planet Tell-a-Lie'', Fidgel puts "every time the darts speak, their moon drops" into words like "postulating the definitive correlation between the rate of their verbal utterances and their planet's approximate lunar distance".
116	* ExpositoryThemeTune: Downplayed, part of the theme song says " 'Bout a rocket ship and flightless birds", which gives the viewer a little idea of what the show is about.
117	* TheFaceless:
118	** Grandmum’s face is never actually seen, she is always shown from the neck down. However, the only time her face was shown happens in the episode, ''Moon Menace on Planet Tell-a-Lie''.
119	** Admiral Strap only interacts via speakerphone with the Rockhopper crew.
120	* {{Facepalm}}: In ''More is More'', Zidgel does this when Fidgel keeps saying "Yes, captain."
121	* FantasticShipPrefix: The penguins' ship, the Rockhopper, uses U.F.P.S (United Federation Penguin Starship).
122	* FasterThanLightTravel: The Rockhopper can travel to distant planets in only a few hours.
123	* TheFederation: Who the Rockhopper crew works for. The Federation League of Planets, to be exact.
124	* FlashbackEffects: Whenever a flashback occurs, clouds surround the scene.
125	* FourFingeredHands: Most of the characters have either three or four fingers on each hand, including the human characters. Jason even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] this in ''Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn'' when he holds up all his fingers on one hand and a finger on his other hand to indicate "5".
126	* FreeRangeChildren: Averted, Jason and Michelle do have adult supervision when going on their space adventures, namely the Rockhopper crew.
127	* FreezeFrameBonus: When Fidgel galeezels Jason and Michelle in ''Comedy of Errors'', he can be seen briefly with his eyebrows and his glasses missing.
128	* FreudianExcuse: Cavitus is mean because of how he was treated at [[spoiler: The Academy]].
129	* FrictionlessReentry: Every time the Rockhopper lands on a planet, it is never on fire.
130	* FunWithAcronyms: "B, I, N, G. Beneficial Imprinting Neuralnet Gizmo." "BING!"
131	* FutureSpandex: The Rockhopper crew members' jumpsuits. Enforced, in that the low-budget computer animation wouldn't be able to depict looser clothing.
132	* GenericanEmpire: The Federation League of Planets.
133	* GluttonousPig: Planet Gutt's inhabitants are a bunch of gluttonous one-eyed pigs.
134	* HalfIdenticalTwins: Jason and Michelle.
135	* HighCollarOfDoom: Baron von Cavitus' robot suit possesses a high red collar.
136	* HuddleShot: Occurs in ''The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka'' when Michelle and the Rockhopper crew are discussing whether or not Michelle should play the LARP version of Squid-Tac-Toad.
137	** In ''Moon Menace on Planet Tell-a-Lie'', Jason and the Rockhopper crew gather around to discuss how they should find the palace tower.
138	** In ''Oh, Mercy'', Jason and the Rockhopper crew form a huddle to discuss how they should break Zidgel out of prison.
139	* HumanAliens: The garden gnomes from Planet Sharalike are the closest to these due to the show's low budget.
140	* HumanoidAliens: Thanks to the show's low budget animation, plenty of these appear in order to make up for the lack of HumanAliens and RubberForeheadAliens.
141	** The aliens appearing include:
142	*** The penguins, apparently
143	*** [[LizardFolk Lizard Folks]] Lizard King and Wild Bill Quasar
144	*** Green one-eyed pigs with either blue or purple skin depending on their gender
145	*** Aliens wearing tiki masks
146	*** Pig-like aliens
147	*** Gator-like aliens
148	*** Sock monkeys with Scottish accents
149	* InCharacterCommentaries: ''Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn'', ''The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka'', and ''The Amazing Carnival of Complaining'' have commentaries by Ron Smith, Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel, and Kevin.
150	* InformedSpecies: The Bandicoot King looks less like a bandicoot and more like a cross between a dog and a kangaroo.
151	** Downplayed with Zidgel. He's apparently a rockhopper penguin, as one of the DVD extras said, but he doesn't have the same hair color as Fidgel, who's a macaroni penguin, which is a crested penguin.
152	* InsaneAdmiral: Averted with Admiral Strap, who is portrayed as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure.
153	** Downplayed, however, in ''More is More'', when Admiral Strap just tells Zidgel to go on a mission without allowing him to tell him that they caught Cavitus.
154	* IntelligentGerbil: The sheep from Planet Picket, the chickens from Planet Henpecked-A-Lot, and the cow captain from ''In the Big House''.
155	* IntergenerationalFriendship: Jason and Michelle, two seven-year-old kids, are friends with Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel, and Kevin, who are all adults.
156	* InterspeciesFriendship: Jason and Michelle, two humans, are friends with Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel, and Kevin, four alien penguins.
157	* IntroductoryOpeningCredits: This show's opening credits shows the main characters (with the exceptions of Jason and Michelle, who are still present in the opening credits) appearing with their names being shouted out.
158	* ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: A ''lot'' of stuff.
159	** The Cutting-In-Line bug causes Planet Wait-Your-Turn to cut in front of the other planets in its solar system. It even drags the planet straight towards its sun.
160	** Lying causes the moon of Planet Tell-A-Lie to move closer.
161	* ItsAlwaysSpring: The entire duration of the show takes place during the summer. Justified in that it does take place during Jason and Michelle's summer vacation after all.
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Tropes J to Z]]
165	* JesusTaboo: Averted, as the Bible is mentioned, albeit nicknamed "The Good Book".
166	* JudicialWig: In the court scene of ''12 Angry Hens'', Zidgel wears a long, curly white wig when he assumes the position of judge.
167	* LandDownunder: Space Base Bullamanka, location of the Colossal Aussie Colosseum and where the Lizard and Bandicoot Kings live.
168	* LaughingAtYourOwnJokes: In ''The Green-Eyed Monster'', Zidgel laughs at his "Nice to meet ewe" pun and explains it.
169	** He does this again in ''Git Along, Little Doggies'' after he says how that cow can really mooooooove.
170	** He does this for a third time in ''Wise Guys'' after he remarks that he thought his crew had a heavy duty mission when it seemed rather light to him. (Light as in their next mission involves light bulbs)
171	* LeanAndMean: The Lizard King.
172	* LightbulbJoke: In ''Runaway Pride at Lightstation Kilowatt'', Zidgel asks Kevin how many penguins does it take to change a lightbulb.
173	** He tries to make these jokes again in ''Comedy of Errors'', variations including "How many lightbulbs does it take to change a lightbulb" and "how many lightbulbs does it take to change a penguin". It doesn't work out too well.
174	* LizardFolk: The Lizard King and Wild Bill Quasar.
175	* LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces: This show's got penguin aliens, lizard aliens, vacuum cleaner aliens, those pumpkin-headed kids, walking light bulbs, talking darts, alien sheep, one-eyed pig aliens, lawn flamingos and lawn gnomes, walking ear lobes, tiki-looking aliens, a different species of pig-like aliens, alien chickens with holographic heads, gator aliens, and sock monkey aliens.
176	* LookBehindYou: In ''Oh, Mercy!'', Zidgel says, "Hey look, it's Elvis!" in an attempt to distract the Gator king and his guards from arresting him.
177	** Baron von Cavitus uses the same excuse above in ''In the Big House'' to distract Zidgel long enough for him to gain the upper hand.
178	** In ''The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka'', Lizard King tells Michelle that there's a didgeridoo behind her and one of his hench-koalas plays said instrument loudly behind her, allowing for him to cheat at the game they're playing.
179	* [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Maybe High Tech, Maybe Mundane]]: It's never really specified if the kids' adventures are just daydreams or are actually happening. Both are hinted at.
180	* MisterBig: Baron von Cavitus is a hamster named Bert Bertman, but he wears a robot suit to disguise it.
181	* MobileSuitHuman: The recurring villain in the T.V. version Baron von Cavitus is actually a hamster in a mechanical suit named Bert Bertman.
182	* MoralityBallad: The songs the Rockhopper crew sings at the Comet Lounge.
183	* TheMoralSubstitute: The show originally served as a Christian Moral Substitute to ScienceFiction cartoons.
184	** Averted, as Christianity is never mentioned after the first 6 episodes, and later, when it was syndicated for national broadcast, all references to Christianity were removed.
185	* MorphicResonance: Happens whenever the characters get turned into something else.
186	** In ''The Amazing Carnival of Complaining'', Zidgel and Midgel still retain their hairstyles in seed of discontent form.
187	** In ''Kennel Club Blues'', when Michelle and the penguins get turned into hamsters, they all retain their hairstyles and their basic body shapes.
188	* MotorMouth: The Lizard King, although this trait disappears in his second appearance in which he speaks.
189	* NamedAfterTheirPlanet: Planet Tell-a-Lie has its tell-a-liars.
190	* NegativeSpaceWedgie: The Doom Funnels of Space Colony Double-Wide.
191	* NeverSayDie: Averted twice.
192	** In ''Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn'', when Jason accidentally pulls down the stairs to the attic and nearly hits Michelle, she tells him, "You almost killed me!"
193	** In ''The Doom Funnel Rescue'', Zidgel, upon noticing a giant fuel tank near a gas station, shouts, "Sweet spawning salmon! We're all gonna die!"
194	* NoodleIncident: Since episode 1's Turbo 3,000 scene was removed for television broadcast, this makes every mention of the game console later in that episode and later episodes this.
195	* NoEnding: The show never ended with either Cavitus being caught, or the kids leaving their Grandmum's place for the summer.
196	* NoFocusOnHumans: The show focuses mainly on the eponymous penguins and the various aliens whom they assist. The only important humans that appear are Jason, Michelle, and Grandmum.
197	* NoHuggingNoKissing: None of the main characters have any onscreen romantic relationships.
198	* NoSeatBelts: Averted, the Rockhopper crew always buckles up for landing.
199	* NumberedHomeworld: Rigel 13.
200	* OddNameOut: Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel, "keh-VEEN".
201	* OneFederationLimit: Averted. Besides the Federation League of Planets, Zidgel mentions a Border Collie Federation in ''Practical Hoax''.
202	* OneGenderRace: The Lobes are all female.
203	* OnlyOneName: None of the Rockhopper crew's last names or even middle names, save for Zidgel's middle name, are ever revealed.
204	* OurDoorsAreDifferent: Some of the Rockhopper's doors are triangular in shape and all of them are automated and make a whooshing sound when they're opened.
205	* PenguinsAreDucks: The eponymous penguins have yellowish-orange rounded beaks and orange webbed feet like a duck's.
206	* [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace Penguins Can Breathe in Space]]: Most of the characters, including the human kids.
207	* PieEyed: The pumpkin-headed kids from ''The Amazing Carnival of Complaining'' have these eyes.
208	* PigMan: Two species of pig-like aliens appear in this show.
209	** In ''More is More'', the cyclops pig-like aliens are portrayed as gluttonous.
210	** In ''Hogs and Kisses'', the pig-like aliens look more like anthropomorphic pigs.
211	* PlanetOfHats: Subverted with the inhabitants of Planets Wait-Your-Turn, Tell-a-Lie, and Gut, as their hats were put on by outside forces. I.E. a cutting-in-line bug caused the Wait-Your-Turners' hat to be impatience, [[spoiler:the king pressing the button that caused Tell-a-Lie's moon to fall and him telling the tell-a-liars to constantly lie]] caused the tell-a-liars' hat to be dishonesty, and [[spoiler:cereal]] caused the one-eyed pigs' hat to be gluttony.
212	** Averted with the penguins themselves, one of the only things they have in common is that they're on one ship.
213	* RecycledSoundtrack: In general, every single made-for-TV episode re-uses music from episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 (as well as a couple [=VeggieTales=] episodes), with very few new original tunes created for those episodes (and even when new tunes play for one episode, they get re-used for later ones). As for some specific examples...
214	** The music played in the action scenes from ''The Amazing Carnival of Complaining'' gets played again in ''The Green-Eyed Monster'', ''Give and Let Give'' and ''Between an Asteroid and a Hard Place''.
215	** The music played during Jason's speech in ''The Amazing Carnival of Complaining'' gets played in ''More is More'', ''Promises Promises'' and ''Between an Asteroid and a Hard Place''.
216	** Perhaps more egregiously, the music played as Michelle tells the Lizard King about playing by the rules in ''The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka'' is used at least OncePerEpisode, except for ''Lazy Daze'' and ''Wise Guys''.
217	* RevisitingTheRoots: ''12 Angry Hens'', ''Kennel Club Blues'', ''Oh, Mercy'', and ''Promises, Promises'' had only one of the twins going on the mission like they did in the direct-to-video episodes instead of both of them.
218	* {{Revival}}: After the show got cancelled in 2003, it got renewed in 2006 and ran for a 20-episode season before it got re-canceled.
219	* RhymeThemeNaming: The Rockhopper Crew is made up of Captain Zidgel, First Officer Midgel, Doctor Fidgel and [[OddNameOut Kevin]]
220	* RunningGag: Increasingly bizarre forms of landing gear.
221	** "BANZAI!!!" [[VisualPun (cue bonsai tree)]]
222	** "Either that or you're daydreaming."
223	** The Galeezel's exaggerated kick-back
224	** "gasp!" "Gasp!" "''Gasp!''"
225	** President No-I'm-the-President (the vacuum that got flung into space when the planet abruptly stopped in the first episode) flying by the ship during spaceflight segments OnceAnEpisode.
226	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: In ''Lazy Daze'', Captain Zidgel screams a scream identical to Michelle's scream when [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant ants]] ruin a picnic.
227	** He does this again in ''Oh, Mercy!'' when Cavitus attempts to fire a marshmallow blast at him.
228	* ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/ThreeTwoOnePenguins See here.]]
229	* ShrinkRay: The galeezel, which is used to bring Jason & Michelle aboard the toy-sized Rockhopper.
230	* SingleBiomePlanet: The biomes shown on the planets include all-desert, all-pasture, and all-purple ground.
231	* SkySurfing: In the music video for ''Runaway Pride at Lightstation Kilowatt'', "Space Surfing Superstar", Zidgel and Kevin ride these in space.
232	** Those same sky surfboards make a comeback in ''Wiki Tiki'' after [[spoiler: the Rockhopper crew uses the volcano to make a beach front]].
233	* SpaceCadet: Jason and Michelle Conrad.
234	* SpaceCadetAcademy: The Federation Academy is implied to be this.
235	* SpaceFriction: Whenever the Rockhopper's engines stop, so does the Rockhopper.
236	* SpaceWhaleAesop:
237	** In ''Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn''.
238	--->'''Jason:''' Having to go first all the time only leads to trouble! Like getting burned up by the sun! [[LampshadeHanging Now, the consequences are not always so extreme,]] but good things come to those who wait.
239	** If you ever complain, you'll be literally transformed into a seed of discontent and be used to depopulate a planet.
240	** Remember, kids, it's wrong to lie. Because if you do, the moon will flatten you and your planet [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask-style]].
241	** Don't ever feel envious, or else literal green-eyed monsters will pop up and start eating all your shit.
242	** You need to know when to say "enough", so a giant space tornado won't threaten to suck up your planet.
243	* StarfishAliens: Some of the aliens encountered include sapient vacuum cleaners, pumpkin-headed children, light bulbs with arms and legs who communicate with clicking and beeping sounds, darts who constantly lie, spring necked lawn flamingos, and ear lobes with arms and legs whose vocabulary consists of one word.
244	* StarfishLanguage: The light bulb aliens from ''Runaway Pride at Lightstation Kilowatt'' communicate through beeping and clicking sounds. Kevin was able to understand and translate their language.
245	** The Lobes' (basically walking and talking human ears) language from ''Compassion Crashin'' consists entirely of the word "Budda".
246	* StreamingStars: Averted most of the time. Played straight in ''The Doom Funnel Rescue'' when B.I.N.G. presses a button that cause the Rockhopper to travel at a speed of [[Franchise/StarTrek Warp 10]].
247	* SubspaceAnsible: The fact that the Rockhopper crew is able to communicate with anybody quickly, no matter how far away they are, points to this existing.
248	* SwivelChairAntics: Zidgel tends to spin around in his captain's swivel-chair. He even tries to spin around in it as many times as he can in one minute in ''Between an Asteroid and a Hard Place''.
249	* ThemeNaming: The penguins, except for Kevin.
250	* ThemeTwinNaming: Averted with Jason and Michelle, as their names don't have a lot in common with one another.
251	* ThemeTuneRollCall: Half the theme song lists the names of the penguins.
252	* TitleThemeTune: The show's theme song drops the show's title.
253	* TokenHuman: Jason, Michelle, Grandmum, and the twins' parents are the only humans in the entire series.
254	* [[ToothyBird Toothy Penguin]]: All the penguins are shown to have teeth. Justified in that they are alien penguins, after all.
255	* TopHeavyGuy: Zidgel's and Midgel's upper bodies are longer than their legs. Justified in that they are penguins.
256	* TractorBeam: Baron von Cavitus uses this.
257	* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: The Rockhopper travels as fast or as slow as the plot demands, as this conversation in ''The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka'' shows.
258	-->'''Michelle''' (''who has been on the Rockhopper for about three minutes''): Wow, so let's get on with the mission. Buckle up for landing, everyone! \
259	'''[[TheCaptain Zidgel]]''': Woah, slow down there, missy. I don't think you have a full appreciation of the demands of space travel...space travel can take hours, days, even, uh, several days. [[ThisIsReality It's not like in those T.V. shows where they just go zipping around]]- \
260	'''Midgel''': Coming up on Bullamanka. \
261	'''Zidgel''': [[InstantlyProvenWrong Uh, buckle up for landing, everyone]].
262	* TruckDriversGearChange:
263	** "Space Surfin' Superstar" starts in B and ends in C.
264	** "Spaceship Drivin' Man" goes from E major to F major and finally to G major.
265	** "The Legend of Galaxy Gus" starts in A minor and ends in B♭ minor.
266	* UnnamedParent: Jason and Michelle's parents are never referred to by their first names.
267	* VagueAge: It's never explicitly stated or even implied how old the penguins are. Since they're penguins, their ages can't be determined by their appearances alone. If their ages are determined by their voices and how long it's been since Bert Bertman graduated from the Federation Academy, their ages would be from late twenties to early thirties.
268	* VisualPun: "'''''BANZAI!'''''" Cue a bonsai tree popping up.
269	** Midgel holds a picture of ham when Zidgel sings his second solo in "Fair and Square". Ergo, he's saying that Zidgel is a LargeHam.
270	** In ''12 Angry Hens'', Midgel stops the ship due to a literal fork in the road. Technically speaking, it's a fork floating in outer space, but it still applies.
271	* WeWillNotHavePocketsInTheFuture: Fidgel's uniform is the only uniform that has pockets of any form. (Midgel's uniform doesn't have pockets, he carries two pouches on his belt.)
272	* WidelySpacedJailBars: In ''Give and Let Give'', the cage Jason and Michelle are in has bars far apart for them to just escape if they tried.
273	** Zig-zagged in ''Do Unto Brothers''. The bars are narrow enough to prevent the penguins from escaping, but not the kids. As Michelle puts it.
274	--->'''Michelle:''' This cell was built to hold penguins, not kids.
275	* {{Zeerust}}: Used intentionally in designs such as the penguins' uniforms, the exterior and interior of the Rockhopper, and the communication devices, which all take a cue from how the 1960s (and a little of the 1950s) viewed the future.
276	[[/folder]]
277

Context WesternAnimation / ThreeTwoOnePenguins