Big Time Cartoon is an episode from Season 4 of Big Time Rush.
Gustavo plans on expanding BTR's entertainment by giving the boys a choice of either making their own cartoon or video game. When the boys pick the video game, a mix-up involving wearing motion capture suits puts them at the center of attention for an extraterrestrial story.
Meanwhile, while Buddha Bob does repairs as Katie watches The Fairly OddParents!, an accident causes him to believe he's Cosmo.
Tropes:
- Band Toon: The suggestion to expand the merchandise, which is the main focus. The boys pick the video game instead, but go back to the cartoon in the end.
- Identity Amnesia: The subplot has Buddha Bob have an accident and believe he's Cosmo from The Fairly OddParents.
- Irony: In the original pitch for the cartoon, the boys don't even sing their own theme tune. This was the last straw that drove them to switch to the video game.
- Never Trust a Trailer: The promos heavily featured the cartoon sequence when that doesn't technically happen until the last third of the show.
- Take That!: The cartoon premise that Butch Hartman initially pitches is one towards Hanna-Barbera, particularly their work in the 70s.
- Wanting Is Better Than Having: BTR learns the video game is rather complicated, so they pick the cartoon instead which is much better.
Tropes applying to the animated sequence:
- Animorphism: The Lizardians' machine can turn their victims into their monkey slaves. It backfires and turns James into a duck, donkey and Pterodactyl, and the other three become bears.
- Mood Dissonance: BTR trying to evade the Lizardians, which is ironically set to their song, "Song For You".
- Prehensile Tail: Snort Snort can grow his tail to press the button and free the boys from their cell.
- Team Pet: Snort Snort, the guys' pig.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The reason the boys have to take a plane to their concert is because Carlos is afraid of water.
