Meeper is the janitor at the "Ale-E Inn", a bar for aliens somewhere out there in the depths of space. Meeper has dreams of singing karaoke on the bar's stage, but after he accidentally electrocutes the club singer, he is fired, and literally thrown out of the bar.
Just as Meeper is taking stock of the situation, an alien who looks suspiciously like Jar-Jar Binks shows up and, right before he collapses, warns that "The ChubbChubbs are coming!" Meeper, who sees some terrifying monsters approaching on the horizon, tries to warn the patrons of the bar, but is thrown out again for his troubles. Finally he's left trying to protect some cute little furry hamster/chick creatures huddled outside the bar from the approach of the hulking, monstrous ChubbChubbs.
Was followed up by a sequel called The ChubbChubbs Save Xmas in 2007, directed by Cody Cameron.
Tropes:
- Actually Quite Catchy: One of the monsters start to sing "Why can't we be friends" along with Meeper. He stops when the others look at him disaprovingly.
- Bar Full of Aliens: The Ale-E-Inn has various creatures, most of them the same species as Meeper, but also many other well-known sci-fi characters, for example Darth Vader and Yoda arm wrestling.
- Big Beautiful Woman: In-Universe for The Chanteuse. She is a rotund and voluptuous singer who the bar patrons are clearly attracted to, but to most human viewers she is more likely to be a Butter Face.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Implied. When every other alien around flees, Meeper is the only one to help what he thinks are a bunch of helpless creatures from an oncoming threat. In actuality, these cute little critters are the feared ChubbChubbs, however Meeper's act of kindness is not lost to them and they become protective of him for the rest of the short.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The titular creatures are furry and hamster-like... until they reveal several rows of sharp teeth.
- Fluffy the Terrible: "ChubbChubb" is a bizzare name to call an army of large, hulking, orc-like creatures with weapons and battle armor. Subverted because the ChubbChubbs are actually the small and furry chick-like creatures that Meeper tried to save, which are adorable but also really bloodthirsty.
- Grotesque Cute: The ChubbChubbs seem to be an alien combination of cute fuzzy hamsters and chickens, with soft fur and big blue eyes. Until they bare their mouth full razor teeth and eat everything in their path, anyway.
- Harbinger of Impending Doom: The whole plot, as first the fleeing Gungan warns Meeper, and then Meeper repeatedly tries and fails to warn the bar.
- Imagine Spot: Meeper's daydream of singing on the stage goes awry when he gets carried away and accidentally electrocutes The Chanteuse.
- Killer Rabbit: The ChubbChubbs. They're small and soft and cute and furry and they like cuddling and karaoke. Until you get them mad, which leads them to open their mouths filled with razor teeth and eat you alive.
- Last-Second Word Swap: Meeper's "Holy—shoot!" upon seeing the lumbering army of ChubbChubbs approaching.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: The ChubbChubbs have multiple layers of teeth.
- Music Soothes the Savage Beast: Averted. Meeper's rendition of "Why Can't We Be Friends?" succeeds in pleasing one of the savage ChubbChubbs, but just confuses the others. Though to be fair, they aren't the ChubbChubbs at all.
- Punny Name: The "Ale-E-Inn".
- The Reveal: The hulking, club-wielding monsters aren't the ChubbChubbs, the cute little baby hamster-chicks are. The hamster-chicks bare their mouths full of terrifying spiked teeth and proceed to eat the monsters.
- Rule of Three: Three times Meeper manages to maim the nightclub singer—once by electrocuting her, once by slamming the door on her as he makes a dramatic entrance, once by coming in through the ceiling and landing on her.
- Shout-Out: Many. Various customers in the bar will look familiar ti sci-fi fans: Darth Vader and Yoda can be seen arm-wrestling at a table. E.T. and Elliott are among the patrons of the bar who flee in panic when the ChubbChubbs arrive. The Jar-Jar character even talks in the infamous Gungan accent for a moment before dropping into an RP British accent to say "Oh for heaven's sake, the ChubbChubbs are coming!"
- The Stinger: After the credits roll we see Meeper and the ChubbChubbs performing "Respect" badly on the stage. After they're greeted with Chirping Crickets, the ChubbChubbs growl and bare their teeth again, whereupon the petrified patrons start clapping.
