[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pebble_and_the_penguin.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250: I see four penguins here and one of them [[ToothyBird has teeth]]. And that's only the start...]]

Creator/DonBluth's epic story about a bunch of singing penguins who fight TimCurry.

Adélie penguins engage in elaborate courtship behavior where the male builds a nest of pebbles to attract mates. Tough for [[UglyCute Hubie]], as he has no pebble with which to win the affections of the lovely Marina. After Hubie finds an emerald, his rival [[TimCurry Drake]] 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. Together, the two penguins return to their island home and settle things with Drake.

Perhaps TheWorldWasNotReady for a movie about penguin romance. You wonder how well this could have done in the wake of ''HappyFeet''...
----
!!Tropes used in this movie:
* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: Most of the penguins including Hubie and Marina and those three flying birds
* {{Adorkable}}: Hubie
* AlanSmithee: Upset with the ExecutiveMeddling imposed on it late in its production by MGM, Creator/DonBluth went on to deny director's credit for the movie.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: Adélie penguins actually do use pebbles in their courtship rituals.
* AwardBaitSong: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBp74R6AfYE "Now And Forever"]]
* [[PettingZooPerson Borderline Petting Zoo Person]]: A lot of female penguins including Marina, and the TopHeavyGuy villain, Drake.
* BarefootCartoonAnimal: The penguin wearing a Hawaiian shirt and pants.
* BettyAndVeronica: Hubie and Drake
* CarnivoreConfusion: The penguins, including the heroes, eat fish, but leopard seals are depicted as gigantic, mindless, evil monsters while the only skuas seen in the movie work for the villain.
* CrazyAwesome:[[invoked]] [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Rocko to Hubie, after barely avoiding being eaten by the leopard seal:
--> "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! You're insane! You're, you're ''amazing!''"
* {{Determinator}}: Hubie, once he's got some backbone.
* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: Rocko suddenly learns to fly and saves everyone from falling.]]
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Rocko]]
* 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.]]
* 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.
* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Inverted with Drake, he's probably the most frightening penguin you'll ever meet.
* 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.
* FeatherFingers: All the penguins have either ''arms and hands'' or hands on their flippers instead of normal flippers.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Marina and Drake's whole relationship, especially during "Don't Make Me Laugh". (see FridgeHorror on the Fridge tab) Even as a kid, you suspect there's something very, very strange happening here....
* GoodColorsEvilColors: Referenced in 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''.
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: A few of the penguins, including Drake, are of the shirtless variant.
* 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.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Drake tries to crush Hubie with a boulder, only to have it collapse the cave. Sic transit Drake.]]
* 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."
* IncrediblyLamePun: "Goodness glaciers!"
** "I guess this means we'd put our differences on ice!"
*** For that matter, most of Hubie's part of "Looks Like I've Got Me A Friend."
*** Although Rocko's line "I'd like to put ''you'' on ice!" is a nice recovery/comeback to Hubie's "differences on ice" line.
* 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.
* JerkJock: Drake. In fact, his characterization can be summed up as "[[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]] [[RecycledInSpace as a penguin]]".
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Notably Rocko.
* MeaningfulName: Consider the following - "hubby" is a diminutive for "husband". Which character has a name similar to this word again?
* MineralMacGuffin: The titular pebble.
* MoodSwinger
* NiceHat: Hubie always wears a red hat.
* 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.]]
* OffModel: The animation is ghastly, especially considering that it's a Creator/DonBluth film. There's one scene at the end where they apparently forgot to draw a character's ''head''.
** Also during Hubie's song. His waist is cut off for a few frames.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: TimCurry's attempt at a JerkJock American accent doesnt really hold up.
* PopStarComposer: Just like ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina}}'', Music/BarryManilow ended up doing this one. And just like Thumbelina... Y'know, maybe Creator/DonBluth and Music/BarryManilow ''don't'' make such a good combination.
** In spite of it though, many people who don't like the songs can still admit the first song and 'Don't Make Me Laugh' are actually pretty well done.
*** Don't forget the song Hubie sings to Marina at the beginning of the movie.
* RealityEnsues: Hubie's first attempt at fighting Drake, who's at least three times his size, goes as well as you'd think.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Subverted. Rocko has red eyes, but is one of the protagonists.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Hubie and Rocko.
* SomewhereAnOrnithologistIsCrying: Starting with the penguins who hardly look like penguins and those three little flying birds (maybe they're meant to be Sheathbills, but...)
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Played straight. The women are given curvy figures and big eyelashes and pretty blue eyes. 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.
* [[ThoseTwoGuys Those Three Birds]]: Show up for about three scenes and otherwise the writers kind of forget they exist, sort of like the [[SmallAnnoyingCreature Jitterbugs]] in ''Thumbelina''.
* TimCurry: Plays Drake. Despite the film's highly lukewarm reception, most people agree that he plays the villain nicely. Though he could probably do this kind of role in his sleep.
* 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.
* TopHeavyGuy: Drake.
* TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation
* VillainousBreakdown: Drake has a MASSIVE one after Hubie kicks his ass.
* 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.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Hubie and Rocko at first.
* WelcomingSong: An unhappy example in "Welcome to the Good Ship Misery".
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: At one point, Drake discusses his actions with a pair of skuas, who are never seen in the film again.
** 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.
*** Considering their [[DirtyCoward nature]], it wouldn't be surprising that they ran off during then.
* YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive: [[TemptingFate Wanna]] [[CollapsingLair bet,]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Drake?]]
----