YMMV / Ginger Orphan Playhouse

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Does The Salesman really care about Cooper, or is it all an attempt to weed out a potential dissenter, and maintain the status quo in the basement?
  • Similarly, despite Hank and Carole's efforts to find Co-uh, "Little Mitts," it's unclear if they'd actually care about him like he was their own child, or simply like the idea of having one. Their determination to find him suggests the former, but their rejection of an orphan for simply liking food, and Carole fondly referring to Cooper as "blank slate," suggest the latter.
• Anti-Climax Boss: Despite being a feared force among those in the basement, even The Salesman, Cooper is able to kill King Parrot with a single vacuum swing. Possible Fridge Brilliance, however; Despite how intimidating he is, King Parrot's still just a bird.
• Awesome Music: Considering the sheer amount of songs this series has, where does one even start?
  • Living Life Underground is such an upbeat little tune, that it's hard not to get into it. Doubles as Funny, considering both the orphans' enthusiasm at their quite frankly awful situation, and when the song briefly turns into an impromptu rap for no real discernible reason.
  • Saltrot's Shanty, being a catchy and enjoyable sea shanty with a satisfying chorus provided by the parrots, while still being a genuinely saddening retelling of Captain Trinkett's death.
  • Dying Alone. It's a genuinely sad song perfectly able to embody the despair faced by Cooper's mother.
  • Every song in The Trial of Cooper.
• Broken Base: The art/animation style of the show. Some people have voiced their distaste for it as it comes across as too cheap or off-putting. Other people have praised it for the same exact reason, as it helps give the show it's own unique identity and that many scenes would not have worked as well without it.
• Catharsis Factor: Cooper finally standing up for himself in the Grand Finale.
• Growing the Beard: "Living Life Underground" is when the show begins to pick up. What with the catchy song, the animation getting more dynamic, and the hints of future plotlines.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Madame Trinkett, despite her pleasant behavior, is still a serial kidnapper who's locked Lord knows how many orphans in her basement. However, it's hard not to feel bad for her losing her husband, and subsequently her mind. Her situation's made worse in the finale, where she gets stranded on an island, with little to no hope of escape, all after attempting to find her husband again.
  • As of the finale, The Salesman certainly qualifies. Make no mistake, he is not a good person, by any means, but him being abandoned by his own father at an early age, combined with his fear of being alone, can certainly invoke a bit of pity.
  • To a lesser extent, some of the more unpleasant orphans, on account of being, well, orphans, trapped in a clearly undesirable situation.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The Parrot-sites. It's not much of a stretch to say that everything about them is creepy; From their grotesque appearance, to the odd sounds they make, to them quite likely being contagious. However, what's arguably creepiest is that unlike most of the weirdness throughout the show's run, which could be dismissed as the results of the characters' strange behaviors, there's basically no explanation to what these things actually are. They're just brought up, act weird, and are forgotten about just as quickly.
  • The Salesman's a friendly, if odd, Vacuum Salesman. At first. But, over time, both the audience and Cooper learn just how scary he can be, between his unnervingly apathetic attitude towards the safety of the orphans, the strange, demonic gaze he can put on without warning, to him previously killing and continuing to kill who knows how many people, and you get a character who'd probably be horrifying if he wasn't so chipper. And when he's not...
  The Salesman: What did I say about interruptions?

• • Hell, his friendly attitude arguably makes him more terrifying. It'd be one thing if he was outwardly cruel and malicious, but the charming, nearly Cool Uncle-like attitude he puts on around the orphans, combined with his outbursts whenever anything doesn't go his way, sets up an uncanny, almost creepy tension whenever he's onscreen, and firmly establishes the idea that this man cannot be trusted.

  • The Hell Hotel seen in the Distant Prologue that seems to make everyone commit suicide. Are they killing themselves because they are suicidal? Or is the building itself making them do it? Made even worse by the fact that we know virtually nothing about this place by the end of the show.
    • One particularly disturbing sequence at this location occurs when a much older Vanessa slides down a hallway, passing by rooms filled with blood. This culminates in an entire room being absolutely caked in the stuff, all the way up to the ceiling. This would be disturbing on its own, but remember that those who arrive at this place die via suicide. What the hell did the person in there do to themselves?
    • Of course, it's possible that there's nothing supernatural about the hotel at all. Dwell on that.
  • While it's nowhere near as morbid as the above examples, the entire tone of the series can count. See, while the animation style and absurdity of the characters makes it seem similar to a regular "wacky" cartoon, certain aspects of the setting, like the parrots not being anthropomorphic despite their behavior, the police keeping track of the kidnappings as well as the Salesman's murders, the absurd actions of the characters having a physical impact on the world, like the orphanage, to even the fairly grounded, monochrome color scheme can implant the idea in a viewer's head that this location has a level of reality to it, creating a weird dissonance between how the world seems fairly normal, but is seemingly intruded on by lunatics. Granted, this simultaneously makes the show absolutely hilarious at times, so how much this bothers you is up to your own feelings.
• Tear Jerker: The Finale, multiple times, especially the ending. The basement door being closed by Prince Parrot during the finale. The Splash of Color fades away and everyone despondently closes their eyes in sadness, not even uttering a word. This is somewhat rectified by the Distant Prologue heavily implying that they do escape and the fact that the police are closer than ever to solving the missing orphans case, but that same prologue doesn't imply good things for them in the future.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: The Salesman after the finale. Yes, him being abandoned by his own father is saddening and was clearly trauma-inducing for him, and it was nice to see accepting Cooper's friendship and being redeemed, but it can ring a bit hollow considering that he willingly and remorselessly murdered who-knows how many women and children in cold blood, the latter murders having likely continued for over two decades.
• The Woobie: There's a few examples, which is unsurprising considering most of the main characters are orphans.
  • Cooper. The poor kid starts off with dead parents, grew up in a horrible orphanage where he had to sell candy just to stay warm, gets kidnapped and locked in Madame Trinkett's basement, has to be around The Salesman 24/7, and is forced to participate in nonsensical tasks and activities not even for a chance to escape, but just the chance to try. And that's just the first few episodes.