History ComicBook / LePetitSpirou

* AdaptationalExplanation: In the comics, Spirou and his family wore bellboys uniforms on a daily basis (and sometimes sleep with their cap on) with absolutely no other explanation than RuleOfFunny. Here, for adults, it's because it is/was their job. Sometimes the grandfather wears his old jacket by nostalgia but he's mostly in civilian (albeit still red) clothes, just like Spirou and his mother when she's at home. For Spirou, it's due to the fact he must be enrolled soon in a bellhop school where such uniforms are compulsory. To enjoy the glamour of the uniform, he tries it in his present school. [[spoiler: In the end, he decides to keep the costume even though he won't be a bellboy -- because he likes it and it impressed his girlfriend. It explains why his adult self wears it on a daily basis despite not working in a hotel.]]

* GagNose: In an effort to get Spirou to come quietly to get a wart removed, his grandfather tells him he has a wart so big everyone thinks it's his nose. In retaliation, Spirou loudly asks if the doctor can cure "the [[GagBoobs two giant warts]] on that lady".

* ComicBookTime: An interesting variation: when the Spirou series started out, Le Petit Spirou was supposed to be about Spirou's youth, thus the nostalgic atmosphere (Spirou's grandfather having fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, for starters), but as the series went on, modern elements (one strip features cellphones that were decades ahead of what the early series could have dreamed of but laughably outdated by today's standards) kept finding their way in.

* DirtyOldMan: Spirou's grandfather has quite the PornStash, though his current paramour is his age and jealously guarded by her own children.
** Several strips feature both Spirou and his grandfather trying to get at the PornStash without being found out by the parents.

** Played straight, however, in an early version by the same authors, a 1983 short story named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_jeunesse_de_Spirou "La jeunesse de Spirou" ("The youth of Spirou ")]]. Spirou's best friend was already Fantasio, Seccotine and Zantafio were in the same classroom than them, Count of Champignac was the teacher, Poildur the local bully. Spip was found in the same story by Spirou up a tree. In fact, [[DirectLineToTheAuthor it even includes people from the real world]] such as Mr Dupuis (the editor) as the main monitor, and previous Spirou's authors such as Rob-Vel, Jijé, Franquin and Fournier as Spirou's others teachers. Plus Spirou was here a DoorstopBaby, found and adopted by a couple of bellboys (hence his costume). The differences with the [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness current version]] are explained by the fact that this story is told by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27oncle_Paul Uncle Paul]] (another "Journal of Spirou" character), hinted to be an UnreliableNarrator.
* ExpandedUniverse: ''Le Petit Spirou'' could also arguably be considered a prequel to ''Spirou'' — some gags acknowledging his heroic destiny — but other than that, there are no references nor even cameos between the two comics.

* GoingCommando: Done by a ''nun'' of all people.
* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: One [[http://natu.jgana.fr/images/bd/gd/spirou_2930_08-06-1994.jpg short]] has the girls stealing Spirou and Vertignasse's clothes as they are bathing in the river. They are able to escape some time later by stealing Abbott Langelusse's clothes (which they thought belonged to a scarecrow) while ''he'' was swimming elsewhere.

** Whereas the woodshop teacher's class consists exclusively of enamored girls, to the boys' disgust... [[{{Hypocrite}} as they head for their Hot Teacher-taught class: sewing.]]
* HotLibrarian: Subverted. The school librarian is a hideous old crone, [[AbhorrentAdmirer hopelessly in love]] with the equally repulsive gym teacher Mr. Mégot. Somehow, the hunky shop teacher is insanely in love with her, but she refuses his advances.
--> '''Shop Teacher (begging on his knees):''' Aphrodite, looks aren't everything! Only the depths of my feelings count!\\
'''Librarian (not even looking at him as she spies on Mégot):''' Cease harassing me, you libidinous dandy! My heart is set on another!

* {{Hunk}}: The woodshop teacher.

* MsFanservice: Damn near every woman in the series, from Spirou's mother to the teachers (especially Miss Claudia, who is the main source of fanservice).

* NoAccountingForTaste: Miss Chiffre's fiancé is a tiny accountant-looking man, while the ridiculously handsome woodshop teacher has the hots for an incredibly ugly librarian (herself Mégot's AbhorrentAdmirer). Mégot himself occasionally goes on dates with a supermodelesque lady only to screw it up somehow, yet she keeps going out with him.

* PuppyLove: Spirou and Suzette have a bit of a SlapSlapKiss DirtyKid variant of this going on. They swing between flirting and fighting, trying to reenact what they've seen adults in relationships do, and attempt (usually unsuccessfully) to see each other naked.
* RunningGag:
** In strips about sports class:
--> '''Mégot:''' Who said [snarky comment about the day's activity]?\\
-Everyone points to Spirou\\
-Mégot gives him detention with a snark of his own.-
** Spirou tells a story about something traumatic that happened to him while he was a baby, treating it more like an old war story (sometimes with an "and I still have the scars" comment at the end).

* SinisterSchnoz: Monsieur Mégot, the sport teacher has a large nose due to his drinking.
* SpaghettiKiss: One strip has Spirou and suzette kissing each other after sharing spaghetti. Spirou's grandfather then tries to do the same thing with his girlfriend, but she loses her dentures before the kiss happens.
* SpinoffBabies: Apart from Spirou there are no younger versions of the other characters from the original to see.

* StrippingTheScarecrow: Invoked in one [[http://natu.jgana.fr/images/bd/gd/spirou_2930_08-06-1994.jpg short]] that has the girls stealing Spirou and Vertignasse's clothes as they are bathing in the river. They are able to escape some time later by stealing Abbott Langelusse's clothes (which they ''thought'' belonged to a scarecrow) while ''he'' was swimming elsewhere.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Spirou and Vertignasse's attempt at disguising themselves as an adult to watch an adult movie fails. Not because they somehow comically messed up as one would expect, it's just obvious that they are two children, one on top of the other, wearing an oversized trenchcoat, plus Spirou still has a child voice.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Mancholat is apparently known for eating pretty much anything, but ''even he'' draws the line at rice pudding. [[spoiler: When Spirou get's splatted in the face with Rice pudding, he licks some, and likes it]].
* FirstKiss: The end of "How to survive a love interest" has Suzette kissing Spirou. His second kiss from her is not even ten seconds later when it [[GilliganCut Gilligan cuts]] to the two in the cinema.

* LoveInterest: Suzette is this for Spirou. It's a central theme in a few episodes.
* LoopholeAbuse: In "How to survive a love interest", After striking a deal with Leopold in that he'll lay off Suzette if Spirou does his homework, he realises mid-gym session that Leopold never said anything about doing the homework [[ExactWords ''correctly''.]][[spoiler: It doesn't work, as he immediately goes back on his word, but because the homework was incorrect, he get's more homework to do]].

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Eléanore in the comics had a very big nose, but understandably, it could not be recreated here. [[PuppyLove Nicolas even gets to like her]], despite she "enslaved" him for a month.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Spirou's mother is blonde instead of red. Maybe it's for the best as it avoids the LookalikeLovers that were Spirou's parents in the comics. Also, Mrs Chiffre now have chestnut hair instead of black.
* AdaptationExpansion: The comics was mostly one page-gags. The movie keeps a SliceOfLife structure for that reason. But, the scenario follows a story arc that is, Spirou not wanting to follow family traditions by going to a bellhoping school, and if he must, staging a local "round the world trip" before, which necessitate the fabrication of a special vehicle.
* AdaptationalExplanation: In the comics, Spirou and his family wore bellboys uniforms on a daily basis (and sometimes sleep with their cap on) with absolutely no other explanation than RuleOfFunny. Here, for adults, it's because it is/was their job. Sometimes the grandfather wear his old jacket by nostalgia but he's mostly in civilian (albeit still red) clothes, just like Spirou and his mother when she's at home. For Spirou, it's due to the fact he must be enrolled soon in a bellhop school where such uniforms are compulsory. To enjoy the glamour of the uniform, he tries it in his present school. [[spoiler: In the end, he decide to keep the costume despite he won't be a bellboy, because he likes it and it impressed his girlfriend. It explain why his adult self wear it on a daily basis despite he does not work in a hotel.]]
* AdaptationalHairstyleChange: Suzette either wear braids or loose hair, but never her usual pigtails. Nor her iconic polka dot blue dress (albeit she have different hairstyle and more modern clothes in newest comics).
* AdaptationalJobChange: Miss Chiffre , in the comics, mostly teached maths , and Abbott Langelusse was the monitor of out-of-school activities, in line with the fact that ecclesiastics supervised such activities until the TheSeventies. Here she is implied to be a 5th grade teacher, and the Abbott is the choir teacher in particular.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Abbott Langelusse was, in the original story, a SadistTeacher who seemed to punish kids just for the pleasure, and a giant {{Hypocrite}} who was implied to be André-Baptiste real father and quite interested in carnal pleasures despite his job. It's still implied here that he have an illegitimate son. But when the later report on the others children, the Abbott tends to not believe him and reluctantly go after the kids, admonishing André-Baptiste for CryingWolf. Abbott Langelusse is also now a MetalHead, playing rock and roll and often quoting metal singers, making him way cooler overall.

* AllPartOfTheShow: When a bunch of [[GangOfBullies bullies]] chase after Spirou's CoolBike, Suzette assume that he staged a high-speed pursuit, just like he staged the local trip around the world. [[OhCrap Except he did not.]]
* {{Bowdlerize}}: Spirou is still [[DistractedByTheSexy distracted]] by the low-cut neckline of Miss Chiffre, spy on Vertignasse's sister with a telescope, and say that his grandfather learnt him how to watch under girls's skirts. But that's pretty much it, the DirtyKid side was soften. He also lost the habit to smoke away from prying eyes he had in first albums.
* CallForward: The movie makes clear that this child version of Spirou will become the one known in comics (while the original story could be vague on this). Not only a FortuneTeller predict him he will be an adventurer but Suzette comes to this conclusion when [[spoiler: his CoolBike, already fast like the turbotraction, manage to fly, reminding of engines such as the [[JetPack fantacopter.]] ]] Also, the squirrel patch on the back of Spirou's jacket reminds of Spip.
* ChainOfDeals: Spirou and his friends need [[BookDumb Masseur]]'s father garage to make their CoolBike in. To let them in, the latter needs his homework to be done by Eléanore, the best student. She accepts if one of the boys will be her slave for a month. Nicolas agrees [[FoodAsBribe in exchange of his friends's desserts.]]
* CompositeCharacter: In the first issue of the comics, Spirou see two differents [[FortuneTeller fortune tellers]]. The first, young and named Irma, make pretty accurate predictions [[note]]She describes Spirou threatened by Zorglub, shot by Zantafio, pursued by wild animals from Africa and Palombie, flying with the fantacopter or falling from a crashing plane [[/note]]. Spirou leave totally traumatized while Vertignasse assures that she is a PhonyPsychic. The second, old and named Hilda, make accurate predictions too, but [[{{Fainting}} faint]] when Spirou bluntly ask her if his future involve [[DirtyKid hot women]]. In the movie, there is one FortuneTeller, young and named Hilda. Her first prediction is short but accurate (she describe wide open spaces). The second time she assures that [[BlatantLies she sees Spirou as a bellboy]], but on his grandfather demand ([[MayDecemberRomance whom she is dating]]). Feeling that these predictions were phony, Spirou comes a third time and she makes accurate predictions again, seeing criminals [[note]][[MadScientist Zorglub]], [[TheGeneralissimo Zantafio]], [[TheDon Vito Cortizone]], you name it[[/note]], a ferocious beast [[note]]Very likely the marsupilami[[/note]] and a FemmeFatale [[note]] Either [[RobotGirl Cyanure]] or [[DaddysLittleVillain Luna Cortizone]][[/note]].

* CustomUniform: The bellboy uniform was played straight in the comics, but here, Spirou spend the first scenes in a civilian attire. Then he tries the uniform played straight at school. Some people find it classy, but three bullies snark him, asking if it means [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he shall carry their schoolbags]]. Spirou then go on wearing a customized version that drop the cap, include a hooded jacket worn under the regular one and a pair of tennis shoes. It reminds of the customized version [[https://ibb.co/r4YX5mD the adult version wore in comics]] in TheSeventies (the jacket open on a white pullover and no gloves or cap, at last indoor).
* FollowInMyFootsteps: Everyone is a bellhop in Spirou's family from father to son since apparently a long time, so he's expected to do the same. However the latter is tempted to ScrewDestiny, without hurting his parents in the process.
* TheGlassesGottaGo: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Nicolas, André-Baptiste and Eléanore gain glasses they did not have in the original.
* HiddenDepths: Mr Mégot was a former cycling champion, and is really sad to feel rejected by Mrs Chiffre who stood him up. Spirou forged the latter love letter as part of a scheme to get the garage's keys back, but feel bad in front of his gym teacher's disappointment.
* IllTakeTwoBeersToo: When [[DrowningMySorrows Mr Mégot]] is heartbroken at the bar, a remorseful Spirou comes to speak with him. Mr Mégot order two beers and Spirou object he can't drink it, but the teacher answer that the two are for him.
* IronicFear: Spirou turn out to have [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes claustrophobia]], explaining his panic to be in a lift, and his lack of enthusiasm to have to work in these for the rest of his life.

* {{Malaproper}}: Mr Mégot use the wrong suffix nearly every time he speaks. Also, later, Suzette who's mad at Spirou assures that whatever he would ask her (going with him in his "world tour"), her answer is no and it is "set in sand". She obviously meant stone, but it fits as she'll finally change her mind.

* NoSmoking: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Grand-papy who still smoke the pipe, and [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] with [[MeaningfulName Mr Mégot,]] who smoke electronic cigarettes instead of regular ones.
* PassingNotesInClass: In the very beginning, Spirou pass a note to Suzette, making it circulate in all their classmates's hands [[ComplexityAddiction despite she is sit at the same desk than him]]. Suzette open it, hoping for a LoveLetter, but it is just written on it that [[BaitAndSwitch she let her pen fall on the floor.]]
* {{Prequel}}: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Like the rest of the movies inspired from Dupuis comics, it has no ties with ''Film/TheAdventuresOfSpirouAndFantasio'' that came out the year after . It's confirmed, despite the SharedUniverse, that the Spirou from this movie won't become the adult depicted in the second one. In it, Spirou suffered ParentalAbandonment, and wore a bellboy uniform for the first time in his life as an adult, given that he needed to infiltrate an hotel. He states that [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Spirou is a nickname]], while it is the last name of this family in ''Le petit Spirou.'' Plus the shade of the uniforms are not the same, for the reason explained in RealIsBrown below.

* TieInNovel: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. A comics was released at the same time than the movie. The cover (depicted here) was inspired by [[https://fr.web.img4.acsta.net/pictures/17/07/12/10/33/047891.jpg the movie poster]], with the comics characters drawn in the exact same positions and attitude than the actors. But the album itself is not a retelling of the movie. It's just a collection of interviews of the actors, sliced with a selection of gags published before, about the character in question.
* UnseenNoMore: In the comics, Spirou's father was TheFaceless, very likely because he would have been (judging by his looks from behind) [[StrongFamilyResemblance his son in adult form spitting image]]. In the movie, he does not show often, but it's because [[AdaptationalExplanation he's stated to have a night service]]. And while he's still visible only from behind in person, the photo of his face is seen clearly on the family tree's poster (and on class photos, but younger). [[note]] Quite likely because he averted StrongFamilyResemblance anyway. The actor hired to be the father was not the same (Thomas Solivérès) that was adult Spirou in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfSpirouAndFantasio'', nor he ressembled him. [[/note]]

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Ruining a pullover with Jam, Flour, Mustard and... a Carrot.

* ArchEnemy: Spirou's gym teacher, who is a sleazy, cynical, unhealthy asshole.

* GagNose: In an effort to get Spirou to come quietly to get a wart removed, his grandfather tells him he has a wart so big everyone thinks it's his nose. In retaliation, Spirou loudly asks if the doctor can cure "the two giant warts on that lady".

* HandsomeLech: The attractive woodshop teacher is called one by the (incredibly ugly) recipient of his SingleTargetSexuality.
--> Cease harassing me, you libidinous dandy! My heart is set on another!

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every book is titled after a different StockPhrase of parents everywhere (You'll understand when you're older, Can't you act your age, It's for your own good, etc.).

* TheInspectorIsComing: One strip has the school inspector quiz the students on incredibly obscure facts, but they answer with ease. The final panel reveals the inspector's son gave the kids the answers to the questions in exchange for a piece of the take (a large amount of candy paid by the teacher).

** Miss Chiffre (number) is a math teacher.

* MsFanservice: Damn near every woman in the series, from Spirou's mother to the teachers (especially Miss Claudia who is the main source of fanservice).

* PrimalScene: Subverted: One strip has Spirou under his parents' bed as they're playing "hide the banana", but he isn't affected.

** A repeated gag is the kids trying ogle naked women, from buying porn mags to Vertignasse's older sister in the shower or the teacher skinny-dipping.

** Combined with FutureMeScaresMe and FreudianExcuse when one kid imagines himself as a GeneralRipper, dictator or even Sith Lord]... before Spirou gives him back his teddy bear, stolen by the local bully.

** Played straight, however, in an early version by the same authors, a 1983 short story named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_jeunesse_de_Spirou "La jeunesse de Spirou" ("The youth of Spirou ")]]. Spirou best friend was already Fantasio, Seccotine and Zantafio were in the same classroom than them, Count of Champignac was the teacher, Poildur the local bully. Spip was found in the same story by Spirou up a tree. In fact, [[DirectLineToTheAuthor it even include people from the real world]] such as Mr Dupuis (the editor) as the main monitor, and previous Spirou's authors such as Rob-Vel, Jijé, Franquin and Fournier as Spirou's others teachers. Plus Spirou was here a DoorstopBaby, found and adopted by a couple of bellboys (hence his costume). The differences with the [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness current version]] are explained by the fact that this story is told by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27oncle_Paul Uncle Paul]] (another "Journal of Spirou" character), hinted to be an UnreliableNarrator.
* ExpandedUniverse: ''Le Petit Spirou'' could also arguably be considered a prequel to ''Spirou'' — some gags acknowledging his heroic destiny — but other than that there are no references nor even cameos between the two comics.