Written by John Semper, Jr.
Directed by Hugh Martin
Song: "Imagination Celebration"
With a terrible rainstorm outside, Savannah suggests that on a day such as this, Herky, Tracy, Jay Jay, and Snuffy use their imaginations to play a game of "pretend." The planes LOVE using their imaginations and realize they don't have to wait for rainy days to use it.
"Three Little Planes" provides examples of:
- An Aesop: It's fun to use your imagination, and you don't have to wait to use it.
- Big "NO!": This is what Jay Jay, Tracy and Herky (as the Three Little Planes) say to Snuffy (as the Big Bad Plane) after he decides to come in following his Heel–Face Turn.
- Bowdlerise: Like most adaptations of the story done on preschool shows, the part where the wolf falls into the boiling pot of water is cut.
- Call-and-Response Song: Done a lot during "Imagination Celebration", where Jay Jay sings a line and someone sings that line back to him, usually Snuffy.
- Continuity Nod: The song makes brief offhand mentions of being pirates and catching dinosaurs respectively.
- Jay Jay's first line in said song has the phrase "We ___ the key."
- Heel–Face Turn: Snuffy's character does this after he runs out of puff and promises to be good from then on.
- "I Am Great!" Song: "Imagination Celebration", sung by Jay Jay and his friends.
- Interactive Narrator: Herky, at the start of the story, is surprised to hear that he is one of the three little planes. Snuffy also does this as he is getting used to his role as the villain.
- Fairy Tale Episode: The kids imagine themselves into a twist of "The Three Little Pigs", aircraft style.
- Fantasy Sequence: Used as the main point in the episode-while Savannah narrates, Jay Jay and friends imagine themselves into the story.
- Friendship Song: Used as a message during the closing song:Jay Jay: I can't imagine anything better with a friend.
- Shout-Out: "The Three Little Planes" story is a pun on the famous fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs".
- Temporarily a Villain: While Jay Jay, Tracy and Herky are the heroes of "The Three Little Planes", Snuffy is the villain. He turns good at the end.
- Unreliable Narrator: Savannah is the narrator for most of the episode.
