-Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Joys of the Season OP
The tale of a group of goats (or sheep or lambs depending on translation issues)and the wolf that tries to catch them Once an Episode. In the style of Wile E Coyote And The Road Runner, said wolf's plans are foiled each episode and the goats go home, free and victorious. The wolf, on the other hand, goes home to endure his wife's epic beatings. That pretty much sums up the whole series, which spans 500+ episodes. Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf is a rather popular cartoon series in China, being one of, if not the, most successful pieces of animation the nation has ever domestically produced. It debuted c. 2005 and airs in China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and as of recent news, New Zealand and Australia. It's also spanned four movies, and the company plans to make a movie for every animal of the Chinese zodiac.Now for a more in-depth look at this epic story by Hwang Weiming. The group of goats live in a village aptly titled "Goat Village." The show focuses mostly on the main group of school-age goats. They are led by Xi Yang Yang/ Pleasant Goat/ Happy Goat/ Weslie, who usually takes center-stage and saves the day against Grey Wolf/ Hui Tai Lung/ Wolffy. Other goats include Mahn Yang Yang/Slow Goat/Mr.Slowy, the village elder/mayor/schoolmaster, Lan Yang Yang/ Lazy Goat/ Lance/ Patty/ Fatty, Fei Yang Yang/ Sparky/ Force Goat/ Fit Goat, his crush, Mei Yang Yang/ Pretty Goat/Tibby, and Luan Yang Yang/ Soft Goat/ Jody, the class president. Let's not forget the ancestors of the goat clan.Other wolves include Wolffy's wife/mate, Red Wolf/ Hong Tai Lung/ Wolnie, his son Little Grey/ Xiou Hui Hui/ Wilie, his nephew, the Vegetarian Carnivore Banana Wolf, and the rest of his pack. Then there's the wolves on his wife's side, including her cousin Shan Tai Lung/ Fragrant Wolf and parents. Of course, there's also Wolffy's grandparents, father, and ancestors.Still, it's a cartoon for children and Pleasant Goat is highly recommended for those who want to improve their mandarin listening skills- it has simple vocabulary and is easy to understand. However, it happens to be one of those kiddy shows with an enormous amount of Getting Crap Past the Radar (by Western standards, at least), complete with lots of Foe Yay, Ho Yay, moments of Does This Remind You of Anything?, alcoholism, attempted suicide, and blatant use of guns (which actually look and act like guns) and knives.Think Wile E Coyote And The Road Runner meets The Smurfs.Here's some info from the other wiki
Anachronic Order: The English dub skipped over 500 episodes. Subverted in the original Chinese, where apparently everything was in order, including Wilie's birth.
April Fools' Plot: Weslie once spent an episode pranking his friends, while Wolffy created a "prank-compelling" potion. The moral was not to prank people since this ended rather badly for both of them.
Happens again when Mr. Slowy pretends to be dying to get back at the goats.
Arch-Enemy: Wolffy and Weslie. In the past, Wu Da Lang/ Martial Wolf (the wolf clan ancestor)and Luang Mie Mie/Soft Sheep (the goat clan ancestor).
Arson Murder And Jay Walking: In Qing Qing, stealing, disturbing the peace, kidnapping, etc. are all illegal, as well as running on grass. This trope also covers most of the wolves' crimes, which really do range from arson to stepping on blades of grass.
Art Evolution: Believe it or not, the simple flash animation did improve over the years
Art Shift: In the second movie, the animation becomes a Mario-style video game when Weslie and Wolffy enter the temple.
The Mario-esque sequences now happen frequently in the show.
Artifact of Doom: The pin of misfortune, which screws over everyone that comes in contact with it. [[spoilers: Also the thing responsible for the death of Wolffy's father, Black Wolf, if Mr. Slowy is correct.]]
Subverted in season 4. It's a pin of fortune- it just brings bad luck before good luck.
Asleep for Days: Purposely invoked by Paddi in an effort to win the Qing Qing world record for the Grassland's best sleeper. He lost out to a fatigued Wolffy, who managed to sleep even longer (and counting).
Asshole Victim: The wolves, usually. Paddi, Sparky, and on occasion Weslie, get their fair share too.
Ass Shove: Sparky shoots Wolffy in the butt with a dart.
Bad Ass: Almost everyone gets a chance to be this.
Bad Ass Grandpa: Old Knife goat once the flower on his head is removed and Mr.Slowy when he finds out the wolves stopped a letter from his ill old flame from reaching him. Both result in Wolffy getting thrashed, along with his home.
Bad Bad Acting: Wolffy forced the goats to make a film with him. This is the result.
Beauty Equals Goodness: For Tibbie, at least. Subverted with the Ling Goat Princess, who stays a Jerk Ass through everything.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Wolffy wastes all 3 of his wishes with Xiao Jing Ling/Little Fairy. He wishes he was outside, then wishes to have the goats with him, which puts him back into the cave, then wishes for 3 more wishes which are against the rules and earns him a whack.
Bedsheet Ghost: Wilie and Wolffy did this in the woods once to scare the goats.
Big Bad: In the first movie, the black bacteria leader. In the second movie, the Tiger lord. In the third movie, the Bitter Gourd King.
Big Damn Movie: And how! The first was about the goats going into the body of Mr. Slowy's snail to fight a bacteria war, the second was about everyone working together to save Qing Qing grassland, and the third is about them saving the moon, the fourth was about them saving ais apparently going to be about them saving a world.
Big Fancy Castle: Wolf castle to an extent. Subverted with the monkey king's castle- it just looks big from a distance; it's actually a cardboard cut out made to look formidable.
Bilingual Dialogue: Random bits of English are thrown in here and there in later episodes.
Bishie Sparkle: Used for laughs but played straight with Wilie.
Birthday Episode: There's been one for all the goats, at least two for Tibbie, two for Wilie, one for Wolnie, one for Wolffy, two for Mr. Slowy, one for the sea turtle, etc.
Body Horror: Mostly happens to Wolffy. He liquefied himself once and regained solidity- then melted when splashed with water, and the limbs went first. He got his head switched with his butt once, and had many unpleasant things happen to his tail.
Broken Aesop: Many episodes teach moral X and the heroes break it just before the end
Brown Note: Wolffy invented a conch to lure the goats to sleep.
Butt Monkey: Wolffy, among the goats and his own family. When the goats are alone, Paddi, and sometimes Mr. Slowy.
Iron Butt Monkey: Wolffy, definitely. A blog activity even counted all the crap he took- he's been his by a frying pan 9,990+ times, been bitten by piranhas 336 times, been electrocuted 300+ times, been trampled by the goats 260+ times, etc. and still keeps coming back for more.
Determinator: Wolffy has come up with 2,000+ plans to catch the goats. He always fails and ends up on the receiving end of physical pain. He still hasn't given up.
In one episode, Patty went on a trek to deliver snow to a southern village, motivated by the fact that if he doesn't deliver the snow, Little Knife Goat will never be able to see snow. Not knowing this, Mr. Slowy, thinking Patty would never do such a thing, decides to let Little Knife Goat come to their village instead. The episode ends with Patty basically calling Mr. Slowy a Jerk Ass.
Does Not Like Shoes: Most of the wolves. Also Brother Tai, Paddi, and several other animals.
Downer Ending: A large amount. Some episodes end with everyone's problems unsolved or just worse for both the heroes and villains. Every damn episode ends on a downer if you root for Wolffy.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Some suggestive scenes here and there. Also, the characters pointing their pinkies at Paddi- he claimed that everyone was "flipping" him off.
Dressing as the Enemy: Weslie and Sparky disguised themselves as wolf cubs once, with the former having impersonated both Wolffy and Wolnie at different points.
Wolffy and Wolnie disguise themselves as goats frequently.
Driven to Suicide: Happens to Paddi, Wolffy (on at least 3 occasions), an unnamed frog. Not that any of them succeeded.
Drunk on Milk: Wolffy and his uncle got drunk on "fruit juice" once- strangely enough, since everyone usually gets drunk on actual liquor.
Dynamic Entry: Little Fragant likes to "surprise" Wilie.
Easy Amnesia: Happens to Wolnie and Sparky once. Happens to Wolffy thrice.
Face Plant: Most of the male cast has been through this.
Faceless Masses: Almost every non-protagonist goat looks the same. In the second movie, they're clearly copies of each other filling up the background. It's even worse for the nameless wolves; they're a mass of identical clones!
Faking the Dead: Wolffy did it once to lure the goats into a false sense of security.
Fan Nickname: Xi Di Di/Little Brother Happy or Xiao Xi Ur/Little Happy for Weslie and Hui Da Guh/ Big Brother Grey or Hui Da Xu/ Old Man Grey for Wolffy. The goats (and Wolnie sometimes) tend to be called just by their adjectives (lazy, etc.). Or the goats are called in the same "format" as Weslie's nicknames.
Fountain of Youth: An episode centered on this when the goats needed to save Mr. Slowy from dying of old age (he lied to them as payback for mocking his age) and Wolnie wanted to restore her youth. There was no more water left in it because too many animals drank from it.
Freaky Friday Flip: Happens to Wolffy and Sparky. Then Wolnie became Paddi, Weslie became Wolnie, and Paddi became Weslie in the same episode
Fridge Logic: Why don't the wolves just eat the goats raw? It would save a lot of trouble.
Fridge Brilliance: If they did that, there would be no more episodes.
Fridge Horror: What happened to the humans? It's implied that this is no alternate reality. In the New Year's episodes, Mr. Slowy pulled out a mask of a human face and even told a story about ancient China, distinctly using the word human so what does that mean? Humans are extinct.
Hand Blast: Wolffy randomly gains this ability as a gag in a couple season 6 episodes. (It didn't help him.)
Heel Face Revolving Door: The wolves whenever joining forces with the goats. Especially noticeable in the movies.
Heel Face Turn: The Bitter Gourd, in the third movie and pretty much everyBig Bad and his henchman in the movies.
Heroic Sacrifice: In the first movie, Weslie seems to do this after saving Wilie and appears to be trapped inside the bacteria cave of Mr. Slowy's snail forever. He got out just fine
In episode 499, the whole tribe of goats in the past are under the impression that Wolffy AKA the nameless hero was killed in a brawl with Martial Wolf's pack in an attempt to give them enough time to close their newly built gate. They even erect a statue in his honor, which the goats in the present regularly pay their respects to every year.
In the 3rd season, Wolffy does it again, telling the goats to leave him behind and go back to Qing Qing with the Deep Ocean Pearl so they can change Wolnie and Mr. Slowy back from fish to their original forms, while he's captured by the giant squid that guarded the pearl. Of course, he ends up fine.
In the same season, Mr. Slowy volunteers to be the wolves' meal to save the reputation/well-being of the goats. He lives.
Idiot Ball: Passed around like there's no tomorrow.
I'll Kill You!: Usually said by a wolf to a goat or vice versa; other animals get to use this phrase too. Wolnie's fond of saying similar to Wolffy as well.
Mr. Slowy invented a ray to shrink the goats to bacteria size in The Movie.
Irony: Occurs a lot, but the incident that takes the cake is the founding of the Goat village gate. Wolffy went back in time to ruin Weslie's genes so he would be easier to catch. But since he helped his ancestors catch the goats, goats are extinct in the present. He then has to go back again to stop his ancestors from killing the goats. This time, he saves the goats, tells them how to build their gate, and tries to fend off the attacking wolves single-handedly. That's right, that is the nameless hero's identity.
Jackass Genie: Xiao Jingling/ Little Fairy. He's not so much a Jerk Ass as he is useless and/or a hindrance more often than not, though he does help the characters out once in a while.
Kick the Dog: The wolves do this a lot to the other critters, namely goats and small animals. Wolffy ends up being the kicked dog almost, if not more often than he uses this trope.
Laser-Guided Karma: The wolves' lives run on this. Happens to several of the goats too.
Leitmotif: The goats, and any other friendly group for that matter, have a soothing, peaceful tune accompanying them. When the wolves, and any other antagonistic group, attack, they have a harder, more urgent tune.
Loves My Alter Ego: One of the unnamed goats falls for Sparky in his super costume which was designed for Tibby so it ends up adding curves to him and changing his voice. The goat thought he was female.
Love Triangle: Triang Relations type 5 for Sparky who wants Tibby who is heavily implied to crush on Weslie. Type 12 for Wolnie, married to Wolffy, and still attracted to White Wolf who has no animosity towards Wolffy. Possibly type 4 for Pink Fox, attracted to Wolffy, who's married to Wolnie. Could also be type 7 for Wolffy, attracted to both Wolnie and Pink Fox. Played for laughs with Brother Tai and Sister Tigress- they're in love with each other, but Sister Tigress thinks he's actually in love with Wolffy.
Lull Destruction: Silence is replaced with constant grunting, giggling, etc.
Mr. Fanservice: There is a book in China called All Women Love Grey Wolf as well as a popular internet slogan: "Marry a man like grey wolf." That is all.
Happened to Wolffy in-universe as well in one played-for-laughs episode. He created a chip to make himself the perfect wolf for Wolnie, and successfully caught all the goats in a Curb-Stomp Battle. Weslie's plan to save his friends? Promote Wolffy to all the women in the forest. Cue female carnivores lining up at Wolffy's door, and a brawl with Wolnie- then Weslie freed his friends
Played straight in-universe with Bien Zuai Luen/ Flat mouth luen, a duck celebrity/singer that every female character and some males adores.
Scooby-Dooby Doors: Happens once in wolf castle, when Wilie and Paddi are running from some thugs chased by Master Pao Pao for stealing his hat.
Series Continuity Error: Wolnie gave birth to four cubs in the third movie but in the seasons following that movie, Wilie is still an only child. There's also the matter of Wolffy's scar- the 3rd movie showed him with it when he met Wolnie, the series showed him without it in the first years of their marriage. Not to mention their marriage itself- the early seasons implied that had dated before it was retconned by The Movie into an arranged wedding.
Wolffy and Wolnie were terrified/shocked at seeing a tiger in an early episode (actually Patty, Sparky, and Weslie in disguise), which raises some questions since they don't seem to mind Brother Tai and in season 3, Wolffy was seen being bullied by a tiger in his childhood.
Weslie's mother had a cameo in the second movie. She looks noticeably different in the third one.
Ship Sinking: Sparky and Tibby, sunk as often as it's teased, frequently with Tibby shouting "I hate Sparky!", then forgiving him, then saying the exact same thing again. The frog princess and Wolffy, not that anyone cared. Brother Tai and the Tigress Teacher.
Ship Tease: So so much! Weslie/Tibby, Weslie/Paddi, Weslie/Sparky, Weslie/Jody, Weslie/Wolffy, Weslie/ Frog Princess, Weslie/Anyone, Sparky/Paddi, Sparky/Tibby, Wolffy/any goat, Wolffy/Pink Fox, Wolffy/Night Wolf, Wolffy/Fragrant Wolf, Wolffy/ Frog Princess, Wolffy/Leo the shark, Wolffy/Brother Tai, Wolffy/ all the female carnivores of Qing Qing in one ep., Wolffy/a spider, Paddi/Tibby, Jody/Banana Wolf, Wolnie/White Wolf** And there's probably more... Season 4 now brings Wilie/Xio Shun Shun (Little Fragrant)
Theme Tune Cameo: Many characters have been humming or outright singing this.
Theme Tune Roll Call: The first OP. The English dub subverts it by completely replacing those lyrics.
Third-Person Person: Wolffy and Brother Tai are prone to this for emphasis. They do it even more in Chinese, and even the goats and Wilie do it at times (it's not considered as hammy an act in madarin).
The Clan: Many of them. The Qing Qing grassland goats, the wolf pack, the blue grassland goats, etc.
Ungrateful Bastard: Wolffy, Wolnie, Night Wolf, sometimes Patty. Little Fragrant had her moment too, snapping at the goats for saving her from falling off a cliff.
Unusual Euphemism: Fried rice plays a heavy part in the wolf couple's life. Wolnie once baited Wolffy with a plate of fried rice if he promises to catch goats, the other option was getting whacked with an even bigger frying pan. He takes a long time debating it, drooling/panting over the rice with flushed cheeks.
Wolffy: I love your fried rice!
Vague Age: Nobody's age has actually been officially confirmed.
Villain Episode: Loads. Even the live action movie is wolf-centric.
Vocal Evolution: Practically all the main characters. Weslie's voice went from a reasonably low-pitched voice to a higher, more effeminate one. Wolffy's went from ranging between deep and higher-pitched nasally to settling on the lighter one. In short, their voices are getting progressively higher.
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