On a generic day, the Princess is looking at a cardboard box with a crank sticking out. The narrator asks what's in the box, but the Princess doesn't know. The Maid enters, so the Princess asks her, but the Maid doesn't know. What she does know is that it's for the King.
She gives it to him, and it turns out to be a music box. The music box has a little doll playing a trumpet, which causes the Princess to want a trumpet as well. She asks the King for one, but he's too distracted by the music to reply.
The scene changes to the Princess using the potty in the hallway, and sulking. The narrator asks what's wrong, and she replies that the King is too easily-distracted by his music box to give her the trumpet she wants. She decides to search her toy box for a trumpet, but finds none. Meanwhile, Scruff gets a rubber duck accidentally tied to his butt.
The Princess goes to the Gardener, but he doesn't have a trumpet either. She goes into the kitchen, where the Chef is searching around. He's too busy to be of any help, so she searches through the cupboard, eventually finding a kitchen funnel and mistaking it for a trumpet. The Chef shoos the Princess out, but she keeps the funnel.
In her room, the Princess tries to play her "trumpet", while Scruff keeps accidentally squeaking the rubber duck when he tries to sit down, and Puss tries to turn the duck's squeaks into music by playing the maracas. The Princess isn't very good at playing it, even when she removes a stuck pea, but she enjoys the "music" anyway.
She plans to play it to the King, but he's busy showing the music box to the General, so she goes off to practice some more. Meanwhile, the music box breaks. The Princess practices in the hallway, but accidentally startles the Queen into dropping her ice cream. Then, the Princess practices in the kitchen, but the Chef shoos her out again, so she goes into the laundry room and startles the Maid into dropping her laundry.
Deciding she's practised enough, the Princess asks the King and General if they want to hear her "trumpet", but they're too busy taking the box to the Gardener to fix. The Queen then sends the Princess outside to play.
She goes outside, but doesn't play; she broods instead. The narrator asks her what's wrong, and she replies that nobody likes her "trumpet". Meanwhile, the Gardener manages to fix the music box and the Princess realises that he hasn't heard her "trumpet". He likes it, not as an instrument but because it scares the birds who were stealing his carrots.
One of said birds then steals the doll from the music box, then the Princess plays the kitchen funnel, startling the crow into dropping the doll into the King's hands. Thus, everyone is happy.
This episode provides examples of
- Chekhov's Gunman: The crows that were stealing the Gardener's carrots at the beginning of the episode later become a plot point when the Princess gains popularity by scaring them with the kitchen funnel.
- Dramatic Irony: The Princess never finds out that her "trumpet" is just a kitchen funnel.
- Everything Is an Instrument:
- Zigzagged for the Princess. She's using a kitchen funnel as a trumpet because she thinks it really is one.
- Also zigzagged for Scruff. He's not trying to play music with the rubber duck that's attached to his butt; he's just trying to sit down, but Puss tries to turn it into music by playing the shakers. Puss also exploits this trope, as he seems to be making money out of the "music", if the cap full of coins next to the pets is anything to go by.
- Insult Backfire: When the Princess accidentally startles the Maid with her "music", the former asks, "Don't you like music?". The Maid replies, "I like it when I hear it," but the Princess's only reply is, "Perfect— I think I've practised enough!".
- Not Listening to Me, Are You?: The Princess checks if the King is paying attention by asking for ice cream for breakfast.
- Quacking Up: A running gag in this episode is Scruff having a rubber duck accidentally tied to his butt.
- Snark Ball: The Maid is usually quite refined, but when the Princess startles her with her bad music and asks, "Don't you like music?", she delivers the burn, "I like it when I hear it."
- Spelling for Emphasis: When the Princess asks the Chef for a trumpet, he says, "Can't you see I am busy? B-U-S-Y! Bus-y".
