This was cool enough to be made with great Microsoft Powerpoint skills.note
Paper Puppets is a show created by Yellow Angiru
(Sutton H.) about 19 contestants competing for the grand prize of 1 million dollars. However this show differs from other Object Shows as in the first season it was not animated and instead recorded live-action with crudely cutout, you guessed it, paper puppets.
The following season, Paper Puppets Take 2, switches format to Powerpoint animation, which then later became digital 2D animation, as well as introducing 12 new competitors to compete alongside 10 returnees.
Here are the playlists for season 1 and season 2 if you wish to view the episodes.
This show contains the following tropes:
- A Dog Named "Dog": A brick named Brick, a chainsaw named Chainsaw, a ukelele named Ukelele... you get the idea.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: The season 1 team names, The Mighty Melons and The Blasting Bottles, various episode titles such as "Culinary Catastrophe"and the very title of the show.
- Animate Inanimate Object: This is an object show. It obviously has this trope all over.
- Another Dimension: At the start of season 2, Gold Ingot transports himself and the contestants to another dimension, where the rest of the competition takes place. The shift from the original dimension is illustrated to the viewers by the style change from paper to digital animation.
- Anthropomorphic Food: There's 5 of them - Caramel Cube, Chip, Milk, Loaf and Melon.
- Armless Biped: Yup, it's a thing in object shows.note
- Artifact Title: The show does not use paper puppets, hence the title, anymore since the finale of season 1, over 6 years ago.
- Art Shift: There were some minor ones through season 1, such as the majority of episode 9 being drawn as a comic and when YellowAngiru animated for the first time in Powerpoint animation for the episode "Power to the Point", but the most major change was when Paper puppets switch permanently from live-action with paper cutouts to animation in season two.
- Art Evolution: Recent art style for Paper Puppets is a lot more polished, detailed and brightly-colored than it was originally.
- Audience Participation: The viewers can vote for whoever is up for elimination to be booted out of the show as well as which contestant should receive a prize via polls. As of "Living on the Edge", this has been dropped in favor of contestants voting instead.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: And an extremely funny one as well from Episode 16, "A Ruff Time", of Season 1.
Bag: Wait Before I go, Pan what were you gonna say to me before you got eliminated in episode 10?
Pan: Oh! I was gonna say that I really..., really..., REALLY like you...
Bag: (Gasp happily)
Pan:...topian trees.
Bag: Wait, what?
Pan: Utopian trees. They're one of the rarest trees ever!
- Big Red Button: Prominently shown in "Don't Press it" as the challenge.
- Birthday Episode: Loaf's birthday became a plot point in "All Fun and Games" as Gold Ingot completely forgot about it and had to used the challenge to get him a present.
- Breaking the Fellowship: Chainsaw decided to form his own team with Slipper and Basketball after Treasure Chest bossed him one too many times. Thus,
- Break-Up Song: "All Over Again", the ending theme for "Platinum Puppets", is of the "I Blew It, I Regret It, But It's Too Late to Apologize" kind, reflecting how Gold Ingot's apology to Loaf and Santa Hat failed.
- Breather Episode: "Don't Press It" can be considered this after 3 rather exhausting challenges, including one where the contestants' lives were at stake from murderous monsters, and the drama between Flashlight and Glass Shard that evidently leads to them breaking up, an episode about pressing a button or not is relaxing in comparison.
- Camera Abuse: During Gold Ingot's "business trip" at a golf park, he sends a golf ball flying... Into the screen itself.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The second season starts out comical and lighthearted as it's predecessor, but becomes more and more dramatic and emotional once it begins delving into more serious manners.
- Christmas Episode: The appropriately titled "Christmas Special" from season 1.
- Continuity Nod: Elements from the first season carry over to the second season, such as how Flashlight and Glass Shard are dating.
- Cue the Rain: To cheer up Gold Ingot, Silver decides to take him outside. Before he can even finish going down the staircase, it rains immediately.
- Damsel in Distress: Bottle, Flashlight, and (reluctantly) Chainsaw engage as this for part the challenge in "The Paper Pelican", girly, pink princess outfits and all much to Chainsaw's ire.
- Darker and Edgier: While keeping the typical silliness of the show intact, the second season deals with more serious conflicts and problems, with seemingly higher emotional stakes for the characters.
- Downer Ending:
- "Dungeons and Dimwits" ends with the overtly light-hearted and comedic challenge abruptly ending when Journal runs off due to a panic attack caused by a hallucination of Mr. Hand. Treasure Chest confronts him about his recent behavior and pleads for him to stay, but it fails as Journal not only tells him off for his (alleged) self-centeredness, but runs off anyway... Not without hesitating with a forlorn expression, however. And because Team 47 didn't finish their challenge, they end up being disqualified and put up for elimination once again(with only 2 members remaining at this point, a far cry from the 4 just the episode before). Treasure Chest, exasperated, gives up arguing and resigns to his team's fate.
- "Platinum Puppets" kicks this up a notch: Bottle awkwardly tries to apologize to Post-It Note for accidentally listening to Chainsaw, but the latter ignores the former before jumping off the cliff, leaving Bottle reduced to tears at losing her friend. While Gold Ingot's apology to Santa Hat and Loaf fails, leaving Gold Ingot depressed at this and goes back to his cousins.
- Decided by One Vote: Chip's elimination in Season 1 Episode 2 "Now With Music" is a literal example since only one viewer voted.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Of course the first season is chocked full of this. For starters, it was live-action with paper cutouts and the characters were not well-defined.
- Eject the Loser: Eliminated contestants are sent falling off a cliff to the Dark Pit of Despair.
- Eyepatch of Power: Starting with Episode 11, "Rainy Day", Plasma Ball wears one that has a smiley face on it as a result of Milk cracking her face in the previous episode with a bean bag.
- Evolving Title Screen: Starting with Episode 4 of Paper Puppets Take 2, "The Paper Pelican", there's an item referencing the previous episode added to the couch scene before the title card.
- Failed a Spot Check: In "Blue Nightmares", Slipper does not comprehend that there is an obviously scary monster behind her and instead is more concerned about her makeup smudging.
- Failure Montage: The post credits scene in "Subordinate Solvers" consists of Gold Ingot and his attempts to win a golfing competition... With middling results. He gets a Participation Trophy for his troubles.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Starting in the episode "Blue Nightmares", a scene involving Mr. Hand is shown for a split second.
- Gray Rain of Depression: It rains as Treasure Chest tries(and fails) to convince Journal to stay during the end of "Dungeons and Dimwits".
- Hostile Show Takeover: Platinum attempts to do this following Gold Ingot's absence in "Platinum Puppets". Downplayed, as the contestants don't really object to this, and he gets stopped in his tracks by his own cousins before he can fully commit to his plans anyway.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Gamebot Berry doesn't use the immunity token he received as his prize during Team H's elimination in "The Paper Pelican", reasoning that "it's not like the viewers will vote [him] off". Cue him getting the most dislikes and being eliminated.
- Kill It with Fire: In episode 12, "Dungeons and Dimwits", during the game, a flamethrower is unexpectedly used by Chainsaw to defeat the villains his team is fighting.
- Official Couple: Back in season 1, Flashlight and Glass Shard hook up in "Christmas Special" after the latter gave a really thoughtful gift to the former which didn't come apparent until the second season. However, tensions arise between them in said season such that they broke up in "Subordinate Solvers"
- Paper Objects: It's even in the title although this only applies for season 1.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Bronze, Silver, and Platinum became part of the opening couch sequence from "All Fun and Games" onwards.
- Put on the Bus: Bag, Chip, Cup, Fridge, Mirror, Melon, Shuriken and Toothbrush, all of whom didn't make it to season 2, got kicked into the Dark Pit of Despair in "Show On The Road" and hasn't been seen since. However...
- The Bus Came Back: They finally came back onscreen in "Rowdy Runaway" after four whole years alongside the eliminated season two contestants.
- Rejected Apology: In "Platinum Puppets", Gold Ingot goes to the city to apologize to Loaf and Santa Hat for all the abuse he's put them through and telling them that he's trying to change, but they don't want any of it. And Bottle tries to apologize to Post-It Note for eliminating him, but the latter shuts it for this.
- RPG Episode: In Episode 12, "Dungeons and Dimwits", the challenge takes place through Silver and Knight Helmet's favorite tabletop RPG, "Battle Dungeon Ultra".
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- Ace, not wanting to be kicked into the Dark Pit of Despair after his elimination, teleported away to a tropical location where he spent his days relaxing
- Journal leaves the show following the events of "Dungeons and Dimwits" to research more on stopping Mr. Hand. He is barely seen from that point onwards.
- Take Our Word for It: Upon seeing Bubble Wrap and Ukulele's picture in "Picture Perfect", everyone let out a collective gasp, paired with a horrified look on Gold Ingot's face. Nevertheless, the picture was deemed so unsettling that they were put up for elimination.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: All females on the show have visible eyelashes starting from season 2 onwards. (After Episode 12, only Flashlight, Plasma Ball, and Slipper are drawn with eyelashes.)
- Tears of Remorse: Bottle sheds these in "Platinum Puppets" after her friendship with Post-It Note has soured out, and that she listened to Chainsaw over him.
- Tunnel of Love: Bottle and Flashlight ride one together in "All Fun and Games" after Bottle notices Flashlight sitting downtrodden and alone in the ride's seat.
