The Princess is heading off for lunch. She's very excited, until the Chef serves her salad, which she thinks looks gross. The Chef goes to get some mayo to improve the salad, but the Princess hides her salad and pretends to have eaten it. She gets served cake and runs off, but the salad falls out of her dress and the Maid slips on it.
Outside, the Maid confronts the Princess, then the scene cuts to the kitchen. The Queen tells the Princess not to "waste good food", but the Princess is adamant that she doesn't want it. The Chef is offended that the Princess doesn't like his "cooking", but the Princess says, "It's not cooking— it's raw!". The adults say that the salad is high-quality, but the Princess only frowns, so the Maid suggests showing her where it came from.
In the vegetable garden, the Gardener shows the Princess some seeds that he grows plants from. She asks how the plants "fit" in the seeds, but he cryptically says, "Ah, the wonders of Mother Nature". The Princess asks if she can grow a plant, so he sets up a plant pot. The Princess then spends the rest of the day waiting for the plant to grow. She continues to wait for a few days, until finally the plant sprouts.
Some time later, the plant has grown into a full-size tomato plant and the Princess enjoys playing with it. The narrator asks how you play with a plant, so we get a montage of the Princess taking her plant for a walk in the dolls' pram, for a "swim" in the pond, reading to it, and dancing to music with it.
She goes to play with the plant again, only to see the Chef planning to harvest the tomatoes. She gives a loud scream, then asks, "What are you doing to Tommy?!". He replies that he wants to make the tomatoes into salad, but she doesn't let him. She then waters "Tommy", but a tomato falls off, making her scream again. The Gardener tells her this is normal, so the Princess steals a bunch of pillows and blankets and surrounds the plant with them.
The remaining tomatoes fall off, but the Princess catches them. The Queen demands that the Princess hand them over to the Chef, again berating her for "wasting good food". The Chef takes the tomatoes, then the Princess cries.
At dinner, the Chef serves up the salad but the Princess is still sad. She perks up, however, when the King and Queen tell her that she looked after the plant so well that the tomatoes are especially yummy. The Princess reluctantly tries a tomato, then asks what the seeds are. When informed, she decides to grow some more tomato plants and eventually makes her own salad.
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Puss wears earmuffs when the Princess plays the radio, then later he wears a bib.
- Ahem: The Maid loudly clears her throat when she's presenting the lettuce leaf to the Princess.
- Artistic License – Biology: Puss reads at one point. In reality, cats' blurry day vision would make reading impossible.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When the Chef says, "You do not like my cooking?!", the Princess replies, "It's not cooking; it's raw!".
- The Admiral mistakes the tomatoes on the Princess's plant for being sunburnt.Princes: "It's a tomato! It's supposed to be red!"
- Companion Cube: The Princess plays with her plant the way most kids would play with a doll, and she names it Tommy. She even calls it her best friend.
- I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: The Princess thinks she doesn't like tomatoes, but enjoys them when she gets to actually taste one.
- A Lizard Named "Liz": The Princess names the tomato plant "Tommy".
- Mundane Made Awesome: The Princess thinks her tomato plant is the best thing ever.
- Plot Hole: The Princess reads to the tomato plant, even though it's established she's illiterate.
- Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: The Chef says, "Chop" over and over while chopping the tomatoes.
- Shout-Out:
- The narrator says, "Blistering barnacles!", which is the catchphrase of Captain Haddock from Tintin.
- The Princess reads The Princess and the Pea to the tomato plant.
- Stock Animal Diet: A rabbit is seen stealing a carrot.
- Stock "Yuck!": This plot relies on "kid won't eat vegetables".
