Space Tree…the Space Tree…in Space!note
Space Tree is over here.
Space Tree
(YouTube channel here) is a Flash-animated web cartoon started in October 2004 by Ed Atlin, also known for Tea Bros and Wheres My Shoe, and distributed by Keen Toons.
The cartoon is about the adventures of Space Tree. He deals with his crew/classroom, consisting of Commander Uderick Michelle Xander, a dumb teenage boy, and Allon, a fat green kid who gets tossed around a lot. He also has to deal with Mee, a jerkass with teleportation powers, and pinkfrosting88, a humanoid with tentacles and kleptomaniacal tendencies.
Space Tree contains examples of the following:
- Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: In the episode Slave Grave:Space Tree: Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Commander?
Commander: I hope not, because that would burn my nipples right off! - Broken Record: Briefly invoked by Commander in Episode 18, when attempting to sell unauthorized Space Tree Action Figures to Allon.Commander: So how many can I put you down for?
Allon: Zero.
Commander: So how many I can I put you down for?
Allon: ...Zero.
Commander: So how many I can I put you down for?
Allon: ZERO.
Commander: So how many I can I put you down for?
Allon: ZERO.
Commander: So how many I can I put you down for?
Allon: ZERO!
Commander: So how many I can I put you down for?
Allon: ZERO!!!
Commander: So how many I can I put you down for?
Allon: ...two.
Commander: So how many I can I put you-
Allon: I MEAN THREE.
Commander: Three it is! - Butt-Monkey: Allon is regularly put down and injured.
- Caps Lock, Num Lock, Missiles Lock: When Space Tree is pardoned from death row, Allon is sent to his jail cell to free him, which has two buttons: "Door release" and "Firey Excecution!" Allon can't read. He pushes the wrong button.
- Department of Redundancy Department: The full name of the series is Space Tree the Space Tree in Space.
- Easter Egg: Secret scenes and, sometimes, deleted scenes are shown by clicking hidden buttons in the black areas of the end screen. In one case, there were multiple sequential Easter eggs stacked at the end of one cartoon, each accessed by clicking a playing card that goes up by one after each scene plays out.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Commander Uderick Michelle Xander is quick to point out that, even though it's spelt that way, it's pronounced "Michael".
- Egocentric Team Naming: When Reginald replaces Allon in the trio with Mee and pinkfrosting88, he comes up with the team name "The Reginalds". Allon points this out.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- As Tarbob mentions allegations of space president Freely McWheely being part tree, McWheely switches for a single frame to a tree form.
- There are also small words that appear randomly for a few frames in multiple cartoons.
- I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: The Commander gets drunk on non-alcoholic beer and arrested for drunk flying.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: In "Space Tea".Speshdiv Robot: Meelord Marone, you are under arrest, for murder, conspiracy to conceal murder, kidnapping, and treason.
Mee: Oh, come on man, I only did three of those. - Killed Mid-Sentence: The episode in which this happens has the sentence in its page title. Freely McWheely, monologuing and coming up with a scheme, says, "That sounds like a pretty good eye—" before being impaled through the head.
- Laugh Track: Parodied and perpetual in Face Bee the Face Bee In Your Face! with a bee-based pun resulting in unending canned laughter.
- Negative Continuity: For example, the Commander is killed and replaced by a cyborg in one episode, and in another, space itself is destroyed by anti-space terrorists. Both are undone by the next episode.
- Politeness Judo: Subverted in this exchange from "The Sanctity":Space Tree: Hey Commander, you should totally marry that guy.
Commander: Okay! ... Wait a second. No!
Space Tree: Well, I'm out of ideas.
Mee: Don't worry Space Tree, I've got a backup plan that never fails.
Mee: Hey Commander, you should totally marry that guy.
Commander: Okay! ... Wait a second. No!
Mee: It's like he's always one step ahead! - Previously on…: Done three times throughout the course of the series. The first two times were in consecutive episodes and recapped the same events, the first in a lazy cutout style with lethargic voices and the second in a heavily-muscled, over-the-top heroic manner. The third one from some time later is a scene from the first episode redubbed with dialogue relevant to the previous episode.
- Shaped Like Itself: The full title Space Tree the Space Tree in Space!
- Space "X": The first ten episodes all had titles beginning with "Space", and were followed by six more with "X Space"-style titles.
- Taking the Bullet: Subverted in the episode "Kill or Kick": When Space Tree hears that Ghost Spider's plan went off without a hatch, Space Tree executes his plan. With a gun. The Commander leaps in front of Ghost Spider, slow motion, "NOOOO!" and all, but the gun hasn't even fired. Turns out Space Tree's plan was just to kick Ghost Spider.
- This Is Reality: From "Phil":Mee: Plus another great thing about this invisible smoke is if this were a cartoon, the fat lazy hack animating it wouldn't have to draw any smoke. But unfortunately this isn't a cartoon, Space Tree... this is real life. I just hope that one day... you'll be able to accept that.
- Thrown Out the Airlock:
- Mostly done to Allon, and even lampshaded by the Commander the first time he puts Allon in the airlock, saying that he'll throw the switch so he'll "be released into space, and hopefully die".
- When Professor Clerman is disguised as Allon, he attempts to trick all of Allon's relatives into being trapped in the airlock and ejected into space to avoid being found out, but an error forces him to board said airlock up.
- Uninstallment: An interesting case, as after episode 57, the next episode released was numbered 59. However, episode 57 was the first part of a two-parter, being named "They Got Johnny, Part 1", with the second part presumably being the unmade episode 58.
- Who's on First?: Done occasionally with Mee's name.Space Tree: Whoa! Hey! It's me!
Mee: No, I'm Mee.
Space Tree: You're…you?
Mee: No, I'm Mee! If anyone's you, it's you,
Space Tree: W…What were we talking about?
Well, I guess there's nothing left to do but push this button.
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Huh.
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