Outside, the Gardener is polishing his spade, the Prime Minister is oiling his trike, and the General is combing Nessie. The Princess holds Gilbert up and pretends that he is speaking and she isn't there. Using a toy plane, she pretends that Gilbert is a pilot and throws the plane with him on it.
Gilbert falls out, then it's revealed that he has a makeshift parachute made from a pair of bloomers. He blows along in the wind, then lands on the Admiral's face. The Admiral, in surprise, leans back and falls over, then the Princess retrieves Gilbert and throws him again. He lands in the Maid's laundry basket, so the Maid tells the Princess to "take more care" of Gilbert so he doesn't end up in random places. The Princess, however, refutes this by saying that Gilbert "likes it".
Later, the Princess takes Gilbert into the bathroom with her, which the narrator finds a bit odd, but she explains that she's afraid he'll be "lonely" since he "hasn't got anyone else to play with". However, when the Maid calls the Princess down for dinner, the Princess accidentally drops Gilbert in her potty, prompting the Maid to take him down to the laundry room. The Princess is opposed to this, but he gets washed anyway.
When the Maid gives Gilbert back to the Princess, she says, "Next time, be more careful". The Princess tells Gilbert that she is careful, but then finds a loose thread and pulls it, causing his leg to fall off. This makes her scream, show the adults, and then demand an ambulance be called.
The doctor says that Gilbert needs sewing up, then the Princess goes home and tells the Admiral, who wonders if Gilbert is a pirate as he now has one leg. The narrator notes that the Princess plays with Gilbert every day and she tells him (and, through montage, us) what she does with Gilbert: walks him in her dolls' pram, taking him "sailing" at the pond, taking him for rides on her trike, using him as a tool to reach things, catapulting him into the air to see if there are any baby birds who might wake up, and sleeping next to him.
The doctor then gives Gilbert back, but the Princess puts him on the windowsill. She's decided not to play with him in order to be "careful", and to play with Puss instead. However, he hates the dolls' pram ride, gets nauseated on the toy boat, is scared of riding on the Princess's trike (and thus clings onto the Princess's face, making her unable to see), gets told off by the Chef while trying to help the Princess reach a cookie, and at bedtime, the Princess tells him to "go floppy".
The next morning, Puss has run off and hid in the laundry room, so the Princess searches for him, wanting to look for chicks. The Maid enters, and suggests the Princess take Gilbert. The Princess points to Gilbert on the windowsill and notices that he's dusty.
The Maid says that "all bears need playing with to keep them happy", then shows the Princess that the Prime Minister needs to ride his tricycle lest it go stiff and creaky and the General "needs" to exercise Nessie. She explains that some things have things that need to be done to them on a regular basis, and Gilbert is one of those.
Thus, the Princess is back to playing with Gilbert, and she dresses him up as a pirate and catapults him into the air.
This episode provides examples of
- Artistic License – Biology: When Puss gets motion sickness, the fur on his face turns green. Needless to say, that's not what happens when a cat has motion sickness.
- Artistic License – Medicine:
- When the ambulance is called about Gilbert's detached leg, it actually arrives. In reality, if you called an ambulance about a toy's detached leg, you'd be brushed off if you were a kid and fined for wasting time if you were an adult.
- Gilbert's electrocardiogram beeps and shows a zigzag, even though he has no heart.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: The Admiral says, "Whatever next?" twice in this episode, even though that's normally the Maid's line.
- Comically Missing the Point: When the Admiral asks if Gilbert is a pirate due to having one leg, the Princess replies, "He's a bear!". The Admiral thinks that Gilbert is a pirate bear.
- Death Glare: The Maid briefly glares at the Princess when the latter claims that Gilbert "likes" ending up in random places.
- Denied Food as Punishment: The Chef says, "Bad cat! No supper for you!" when he thinks Puss is stealing a cookie.
- Dressed to Plunder: The Princess dresses Gilbert in a headscarf and eye patch to play "Flying Pirates".
- Flatline: Inverted. Gilbert is a stuffed toy, so his electrocardiogram should logically show a flat line, but it beeps and shows a zigzag anyway.
- Green Around the Gills: Puss's face turns green when he gets nauseated on the boat.
- Insane Troll Logic: The Princess says, "But he's furry!" when telling the Maid not to wash Gilbert. Even more nonsensical, she then tells the Maid to wash Scruff instead, who is also furry.
- Pet Dress-Up: When the Princess takes Puss for a ride in her dolls' pram, she puts a baby bonnet on him.
- Questioning Title?: The episode title is a question. The answer is "his leg is detached".
- Sea Dog Peg Leg: Referenced when the Admiral wonders if Gilbert is now a pirate since he has one leg.
- Slapstick:
- The Maid falls over and ends up with her laundry basket on her head.
- The Princess crashes her trike when Puss covers her eyes.
