Monkey with a tool belt!note
Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt is an American children's animated web television series based on the books by Chris Monroe. The series was developed by Bob Boyle (Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, Yin Yang Yo!), Michael Goldberg, Kurt Mueller, and Gabe Pulliam. It was first released to Netflix as a 10-episode season on May 8, 2020.
When things go wrong in the town of Blunderburg, the only call to make is to Chico Bon Bon, monkey with a tool belt (Robbie Daymond), and his Fix-It Force. In no time at all they race to the scene to save the day using a variety of tools, STEM smarts, and simple machines. Chico Bon Bon and his friends Clark the elephant (Anthony Tedesco), Rainbow Thunder the cat (Dayci Brookshire), and Tiny the mouse team up to solve any problem and get Blunderburg’s residents back up and running.
Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt contains examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: The mayor to Chico Bon Bon in the first episode.
- Aerith and Bob: Clark is a much more normal name compared to Chico, Rainbow, and Tiny.
- Ageless Birthday Episode: We never learn how old Clark turned in "Musical Meltdown".
- Alliterative Family: The Ostrich family. Neil, his wife Nell, and their daughter Nina.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: A blue elephant, a pink cat, a purple mouse, and that's barely scratching the surface.
- Ambiguously Gay: Elkin John is very obviously a parody of Elton John (who himself is openly gay), and acts like it too.
- Animated Adaptation: Of the Monkey With a Tool Belt books. This series sports a vastly different art-style and many new characters besides Chico and Clark, who appeared in the books.
- A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: The series is set in the modern-day, yet Captain Squirrelbeard, the local pirate, behaves like he's still in the 19th century and displays many pirate stereotypes.
- Badass Adorable: While all of the main characters can apply for this, special mentions go to Rainbow and Tiny. Rainbow is a daredevil kitty and Tiny is a minuscule mouse who is skilled in martial arts.
- Big Blackout: In "Blunderburg Blackout", there's a blackout that occurs in Blunderburg as a result of too much electricity being used.
- Birthday Episode: It's Clark's birthday in "Chico Bon Bon and the Musical Meltdown".
- Black Bead Eyes: Tiny has black dots for eyes, which make her stick out like a sore thumb amongst the other characters.
- Captain Colorbeard: The local pirate is named Captain Squirrelbeard. He's a squirrel pirate.
- Character Catchphrase:
- Chico's "Blazing bananas!"
- Rainbow Thunder's "Pow pow, meow!"
- Clark's "Peanuts!"
- Another catchphrase Clark has is "YAY, (insert thing here)!"
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The episodes all follow the format of "Chico Bon Bon and the X". On the Netflix episode guide, they are shortened; so "Chico Bon Bon and the Underwear Parade" becomes simply "The Underwear Parade".
- Character Narrator: Neil Ostrich narrates "Very Berry Holiday".
- Character Title: "Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt"
- Chaste Toons: "Extreme Hogwash Machine" shows that Rainbow has a nephew called Ricky, who's a pig.
- Chekhov's Skill: At the start of each episode, the gang learns about a STEM topic at their home base. Later, that topic becomes useful when the Fix-It Force is helping someone.
- Christmas Episode: "Very Berry Holiday", where the characters celebrate Blunderberry Day, which is basically Christmas. It's a half-hour episode and is released separate from the main show.
- Cool Train: The Choo-Choo Express is definitely this. Clark is a huge fan of the locomotive.
- Cute Kitten: Everything about Rainbow screams kawaii, although she's technically an adult cat.
- Cute Mute: Tiny may not speak, but that doesn't make her any less adorable.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Barry the Berry Bear, the universe's equivalent of Santa Claus. Try saying that five times fast.
- Dodgy Toupee: "Blunderburg Blackout" reveals that Neil Ostrich's hair is actually a toupee to cover his bald head.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Isn't sung by the characters in-universe (except for the part with Mr. McFluster), but the ending, in particular, has Chico and his crew building the show's logo as Chico reads out "monkey with a tool belt!".
- Edutainment Show: The show is designed to teach children STEM topics.
- Elephants Are Scared of Mice: Inverted. Clark the elephant is afraid of almost everything except his friend Tiny, who's a mouse.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Chico Bon Bon has this Once an Episode where he doesn't know what to do. A character will suggest that he takes a Banana Break, and upon eating the banana, he'll recap the events of the episode and then brainstorm an idea.
- Everything's Better with Rainbows: Rainbow Thunder has a rainbow-themed helmet and boots.
- Fat Comic Relief: Clark has the biggest belly of the Fix-It Force and is often used for comic relief.
- Friendly Pirate: Captain Squirrelbeard is a nice pirate who enjoys helping the Fix-It Force. He has a great friendship with Sprinkles the Sea Monster, and one episode is dedicated to him attempting to deliver a cupcake to her as a testament to their strong friendship.
- Furry Confusion: Neil Ostrich is a bird, but there are non-anthro birds shown often. The same goes for Captain Squirrelbeard and the non-anthro squirrels.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: The Fix-It Force: two guys (Chico and Clark), two girls (Rainbow and Tiny).
- Gentle Giant: Clark may be the largest of the Fix-It Force, but he's very kind and has a timid personality.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Rainbow Thunder loves rainbows and glitter, but she also loves performing badass stunts.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Chico only wears a sweatband, a toolbelt, tube socks, and shoes. Clark and Rainbow are fully clothed (even though Clark does not have shoes) but Tiny is completely naked.
- Hidden Depths: Tiny knows how to play the keytar.
- Help, I'm Stuck!!: In one episode, a bird burps so loud that is destroys almost everything in town, luckily Chico invented Grippy Glue, but the glue was so powerful, people got stuck and formed a giant ball, at the end of the episode, Chico invents a new Grippy Glue, but when he and his friends do a high five, they get stuck again.
- Honorable Elephant: Clark is a very heroic elephant, despite his shortcomings.
- I Was Quite a Fashion Victim: "Mountain of Lost Socks" shows us that Chico used to wear Nerd Glasses and Pubescent Braces when he was in middle/high school.
- Kent Brockman News: Neil Ostrich is a local news reporter.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: "Tool Belt Test" has the gang go their separate ways; Rainbow helps Yuri Yikesman with his car, Clark helps Mayor Murphy, Tiny helps Herb, and Chico takes his toolbelt test.
- Making a Spectacle of Yourself: Elkin John's odd-looking, retro-futuristic shades.
- Meaningful Name: There is a group of construction beavers that are collectively named the Dunderheads. "Dunderhead" means "a stupid person", which fits them because they aren't very bright.
- Mr. Fixit: Chico and his Fix-It Force go around Blunderburg solving problems and fixing things. Chico is the leader, Tiny is the tool manager, Clark is the math and science expert, and Rainbow is the blueprints master.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Mr. McFluster has a new job pretty much every time he appears, from crossing guard to pizza delivery man.
- Nice Mice: Tiny is a mouse and one of the heroes.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Elkin John is an effeminate British elk who plays piano ballads. Sound familiar? Elkin John appeared in 3 episodes of season 1 but hasn't been seen since then. Maybe Elton John's lawyers
meddled in. - No Mouth: Tiny does not have a mouth.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Rainbow is a girl who is pink. Clark is a guy who is blue.
- Premiseville: The series takes place in the mechanically-challenged town of Blunderburg.
- Purple Is Powerful: Mayor Murphy, the mayor of Blunderburg, is a purple poodle.
- Rainbow Lite: The stripes on Rainbow Thunder's clothes have only three colors: pink, yellow, and blue. Not a complete rainbow. Incidentally, these are also the colors of the pansexual pride flag
. - Saving Christmas: "Very Berry Holiday" focuses on the Fix-It Force saving Blunderberry Day after Barry the Berry Bear fails to deliver the traditional Blunderberry cakes on Blunderberry Eve.
- Self-Demonstrating Song: Elkin John tends to do this a lot, but especially the song where the team try and pull him and his piano up a ramp.
- Shout-Out: In one episode, Rainbow does the AKIRA bike slide.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Of a sort - Chico has red/orange fur and green eyes, and is the star of the show.
- The Speechless: Tiny does not speak, and does not have a visible mouth either.
- Spear Counterpart: In "Spatula Showdown", Rainbow Thunder has a male counterpart named Stormcloud Lightning, who is blue, southern, and has a lightning bolt across his eye.
- Stealth Pun:
- Elkin John has a pet dog, as shown in "Doggy Dilemma". His name? Bernie.
- Herb the Hermit Crab is shown as cranky and irritable. You could say he's crabby.
- Elkin John has a pet dog, as shown in "Doggy Dilemma". His name? Bernie
- Stock Animal Diet: Chico loves bananas, Clark loves peanuts, and Tiny loves cheese.
- Strictly Formula: Every episode follows the same pattern. The gang is minding their own business, and learn about a STEM concept. The banana phone rings and Chico answers it. The person in need calls to say that they need the Fix-It Force to help them with whatever problem they have. The gang enters Tool Force One via the tubes and drive to where the person is. After multiple failed attempts to solve the dilemma, Chico has a nervous breakdown until he is advised to take a banana break, where he brainstorms an idea, usually relating to the topic he and the others learned at home. The gang solves the problem and everyone is happy. The end. Oh, and you can count on Neil Ostrich to report the news as the gang is in action.
- Title Theme Tune: "Chico, Chico, Chico Bon Bon" / "Monkey, monkey, a monkey with a tool belt..."
- Totally Radical: The skateboarding hamster kids from "Skate of Emergency" use stereotypical skater slang. Rainbow Thunder tries to get through to them by speaking their language.
- Under the Mistletoe: Subverted in "Very Berry Holiday". At one point, Chico, Rainbow, Clark, and Tiny all end up under what appears to be a mistletoe, but they high-five instead of kiss. Justified, as they are just friends.
- Vague Age: Chico and his friends all seem to be young adults (they have their own repairs business, and Chico has at least graduated high school if the picture in "Mountain of Lost Socks" is any indication), but their exact ages are unknown.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Clark is afraid of heights. He ostensibly gets over this in "Musical Meltdown", but it returns in "Tower of Goo".
- You Mean "Xmas": Blunderberry Day from "Very Berry Holiday" is Christmas all but in name.
