The characters of PB&J Otter are home-schooled and self-taught.
The show presents a Slice of Life of kids ranging from about 3-8 years old and yet there's one element almost always found in other shows of this type that's conspicuously absent - school! Of course, this is never discussed even in passing on the show itself, as the idea of homeschooling is completely taboo to mention on any mainstream U.S. network.
- Or, it could be a "very long" summer vacation. And let's face it. To some, school is boring which is most likely why it is left out.
- The latter is somewhat more likely, as installments are set in all seasons.
Flick's father is dead.
It's a children's show so Never Say "Die" is in full force. However, there may be subtle hints. All the other kids live with both parents, except for Munchy. (But at least his father is mentioned as living "on the other side of the lake" and Munchy even talks about the presents his father has gotten him, such as a toy boat.) If Flick's father died, that explains why his mom is so permissive and why everyone is upset when they think Flick is missing. It's also why Flick is constantly seeking attention or trying to prove himself to be brave. He doesn't have a father figure around to discipline him or set a good example.
- Most likely due to a divorce.
All the citizens of Lake Hoohaw are the result of a failed U.S. military experiment
After a higher-up in the U.S. Military read a lot of Xenofiction material, he had the idea of making super-soldiers out of animals for use in warfare in case the United States was close to being conquered conventionally by an enemy force (and if that didn't work, Contingency would have to be aired over all stations, pronto). The (rather ridiculous) idea was tried and an experiment conducted, but all the soldiers created were either failures (Ernest Otter's only superpower was gaining a Hammerspace Body Pocket as seen with him finding a missing walkie talkie in his "pocket" in "Trading Places" *cough cough*Pinch, Peanut and Jelly also have body pockets*cough cough*, and Aunt Nanner and Scootch were considered too dangerous for use in warfare due to their personalities), were not fit for combat (either physically like Opal and Peanut or mentally like Pinch and Munchy) or were otherwise completely useless (as demonstrated by Flick, the Snooties, and Cap'n Crane). All of the creatures were sealed in a hangar at Area 51, but the U.S. government thought they could easily escape by way of a solution found during a occurrence of the dreaded "noodle dance". So the military created a top-secret community for the beings to keep them happy so they would not attempt an assault on human society, giving them material to homeschool the children so they could learn about various subjects and airing propaganda productions such as Mallard Man and Baby Lovey to attempt to make the citizens of Lake Hoohaw see things our way. Lake Hoohaw is a micronation.
This would explain the Economy Cast and the lack of any (competent) law enforcement aside from the Watchbirds, why Dad's General Store appears to be the Only Shop in Town, and why most Fanon material insists that Mayor Jeff has been mayor for quite some time. The kids represent each of the seven deadly sins.
WMG theories for SpongeBob SquarePants and LazyTown respectively speculate that each character represents each sin. And given Jim Jinkins' religious works, some of the PB&J Otter kids could also represent the sins too (Jelly and Baby Butter aren't included, which would make them not represent any sins.)- Pinch Raccoon is pride, as she is very proud of her Girly Girl status,
- Flick Duck is envy, as he is envious of certain people,
- Munchy Beaver is gluttony, since he can't stop his obsession with wood,
- Peanut Otter is sloth, because he doesn't like doing the Noodle Dance,
- Scootch Raccoon is wrath, due to his rambunctious behavior and tendency to destroy things,
- Ootsie Snootie is greed, due to his obsession with wanting to have things,
- And Bootsie Snootie is lust, due to her lust for being beautiful.
Lake Hoohaw is a lake near Bluffington after years of pollution from Bluff Co.
Jim Jenkins created both this and Doug so it’s not unreasonable to think they share a universe. In Doug's 1st Movie a major plot point was Doug and Skeeter discovering a “monster” in their town’s lake. They eventually find out that the so called monster was a result of mutations due to Bill Bluff’s company dumping waste in said lake. Mayor Dink gets involved at the very end of the movie and they discuss the matter offscreen, heavily implying that the dumping will stop. However knowing Bill Bluff he’ll just find a loophole and start dumping in an area where the Mayor has no authority, and given his wealth he probably lobbied the Governor to look the other way. After decades of pollution the local wildlife mutate and gain intelligence, given the state of the local environment in PB&J Otter it looks as if the animal people were able to stop the pollution and the local ecosystem bounced back.