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A trope about "butterfly life cycle" episodes?

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WileK209 Since: Jun, 2009
#1: Jun 11th 2016 at 2:59:02 PM

I don't believe this is an existing trope, but I think this would be an interesting new one, as I've often noticed this happening in media, especially for kids.

It usually would begin with a caterpillar, or even a whole bunch of them, and by the end of the episode or whatever, the caterpillar would have gone through its' metamorphosis and transformed into a butterfly. Sometimes a fictional butterfly specimen is used, sometimes it will be based off a real one (it's often been done with Monarch butterflies.) More often than not, it will be said a butterfly emerges from its "cocoon," which is scientifically inaccurate. Butterfly caterpillars pupate in a "chrysalis"; only moths make cocoons.

A very famous example of this is Eric Carle's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," but I have seen numerous other instances, sometimes in edutainment shows, sometimes even in regular sitcoms. Here are some more I can think of...

  • The Simpsons featured this as Martin Prince's project in "Dial N for Nerder." There's a pretty cool awe-inspiring sequence where all his Monarch butterflies hatch from their chrysalises.
  • Sesame Street has done a few segments involving this (including a memorable one where the characters put on a pageant about the butterfly's life cycle, with a humiliated Bert as the caterpillar!) and there were also a couple of street stories involving a butterfly hatching from pupation. Episode 3192 had Roxie Marie's butterfly emerge from its' (incorrectly-stated) cocoon, and then Roxie attempts to teach the butterfly tricks, but learns they are happier being free to fly around. Then episode 3896 had a Monarch butterfly pupating on Stinky the Stinkweed's leaf, and Big Bird and the kids attempt to cheer the butterfly to emerge from the "shell" (as they refer to the chrysalis in the episode.)
  • Spongebob Squarepants had an amusing take on this, with the "Wormy" episode when Sandy's caterpillar transforms into a Monarch butterfly, and they all think it's a monster that ate Wormy (with the infamous horsefly closeups, too!)
  • Malcolm in the Middle did this in the episode "Butterflies," where the B-story had Reese, whom was instructed to spread hundreds of Monarch caterpillars everywhere for the exterminator he worked for (who got fired), grows attached to them and nurtures them, to Lois and Hal's disdain. The ending is humorous when the butterflies all emerge, and at first Reese is delighted, but then the hundreds of butterflies begin flocking the room like crazy and freak him out!
  • Little Bill had the episode "Mr. Moth", where Bill and his classmates in Ms. Murray's class are hatching pupas the school had gotten from a butterfly farm. While his friends have butterfly chrysalises, Little Bill has a moth cocoon. He is disappointed his doesn't hatch when the other butterflies do, so Ms. Murray allows him to take his cocoon home so he can see it hatch, if it does so in the evening. He grows more impatient with the cocoon, but when they talk about it during dinner, Little Bill gets a bit more interested (especially since his bigger brother Bobby is into moths.) Then right when he's about to go to sleep, the moth hatches from the cocoon, much to his excitement, and it turns out to be a Polyphemus moth (a very large moth native to North America with eyespots on its' wings), which greatly impresses Little Bill. Then the next day, Bill and his classmates set the butterflies and moth free into the sky. This gets bonus points for actually comparing butterflies and moths, and actually using the proper terms for their pupa stages.
  • Little Bear had an episode where caterpillars are infesting Mother Bear's garden and eating the cabbage, so Little Bear, Duck and the snake No Feet manage to lure the caterpillars away from the cabbage onto some other plant they enjoy eating away from the garden. Overnight, they go into their chrysalises, and the next day, Little Bear and his friends are amazed as the butterflies hatch and fly off. What's interesting here is that the caterpillars are based off the Imported Cabbage Worm, a caterpillar that does indeed feed on cabbage, and turns into the Cabbage White butterfly (which may very well be the most common butterfly in the United States.)
  • The Franklin episode "Franklin's Garden" grow attached to a caterpillar that was initially eating his small garden. He gets angry at it at one point for eating his flowers, and before he can apologize, the caterpillar goes into the chrysalis stage. Franklin checks it every morning, until at one point he looks and sees the empty shell; it's already hatched out! But then the butterfly flies up to Franklin and he recognizes it, and he is delighted.
  • Of course, this is also played with in A Bug's Life, with Heimlich the caterpillar longing to be a beautiful butterfly, but among completing pupation, he still resembles an obese caterpillar but with very tiny butterfly wings.

This is also often done in elementary schools to teach younger kids about the butterfly life cycle, usually using Painted Lady butterflies (a common specimen found everywhere across America that is quite easy to breed), that are then released into the wild among turning into butterflies (this may contribute to their being quite common.)

war877 Grr... <3 from Untamed Wilds Since: Dec, 2015 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
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#2: Jun 11th 2016 at 4:04:59 PM

If you lack confidence that this is a new trope, you should ask in Trope Finder. Otherwise, the better place for your proposal is Trope Launch Pad.

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