What do you get when you cross Littlest Pet Shop with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic? You get this cartoon.
Puppy in My Pocket: Adventures in Pocketville (Italian: "Cuccioli Cerca Amici: Nel Regno di Pocketville"note ) is a 2010-2011 animated TV series based on the titular toys. It features whimsical adventures as Kate (Flo in the original version) and her puppy Magic must help the animals of the Pocket Kingdom make their way to children in the real world and try to get Princess Ava (Ami in the original), who was teleported to the real world by her sister, Eva (Ima), back to Pocketville.
The English dub was directed by Mark Hanna, who also provides the voice for Magic in the UK dub. This show was produced at Cinecittà film studios located in Rome, Italy. It is produced by Giochi Preziosi, Morrison Entertainment Group (MEG)note , and Mondo TV. The series premiered on Boomerang in the United States on January 2, 2012. As of this writing it can also be seen online on the Popcornflix website, Prime Video, and various reuploads on YouTube. As of November 2020, the episodes on Mondo TV's Mondo World YouTube channel have since been taken down, making it harder to find HD screenshots for the show’s wiki.note
This show provides examples of:
- A Girl and Her X:
- Kate and her dog Magic.
- Also applies to every child and their Chosen Pets.
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Nearly all the Pocketville residents wear a collar with a pocket-shaped name tag. Holiday the Rooster even wears a vest, which makes him close to a Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal.
- Accidentally Broke the MacGuffin: Zull accidentally shatters the Friendship Heart in two when he tries to get it for Eva, making Ava end up in Kate's dimension.
- Adoptive Name Change: After Oristolfo gets in Kate's possesssion, he allows her to find another name for him. She renames him Magic, which the dog likes.
- Adults Are Useless: Most of the time it's played straight with Peter (Kate's father) and the other adult characters with the exception of the Pet Buster, as they play no role in helping or hindering Pocketville.
- Aerith and Bob:
- Let's see, there's William, Danny, Mela...and Balloon.
- Not to mention Zull, Gort, Krakia...and Eva.
- Ageless Birthday Episode:
- Both parts of Kate's Birthday for Kate. She is said to be ten years old according to official DVD releases, so this means in this episode she would turn eleven. Her age is not mentioned anywhere in the episode, or the show for that matter.
- Subverted for Caroline in The Friendship Ceremony, as she is only seen receiving a present from her parents in a brief scene at the beginning and eventually wishes for a puppy. Then the attention goes towards the Friendship Ceremonies Ava performs and the incident in which everything of the plot will unfold.
- All Animals Are Dogs: Some of the non-canine animal characters such as cats exhibit some seriously canine actions, like licking people instead of nuzzling like real cats, and a bunch of them growl more like a dog than an actual cat, especially Eva.
- All Animals Are Domesticated: Even wild animals like certain types of birds and dolphins are chosen for Friendship Ceremonies. Take a look at Robbie, a robin who was chosen for a boy who would rather play video games than to play outside with his classmates, and Swimmy, a dolphin chosen for Annabelle so he could help her face her fear of water.
- All Dogs Are Purebred: Subverted. Wallace is a Schnoodle (Schnauzer-Poodle mix) and many Big City stray dogs have ambiguous breeds or are mutts.
- All There in the Manual: Happens with many characters whose names are never said in the episodes.
- The brunette-haired girl with the Girlish Pigtails and the strawberry dress is named Caroline according to the official Amazon description of The Friendship Ceremony.
- The Dalmatian from the same episode is named Dot according to the figurine checklist.
- The Yorkshire Terrier from Nearly! is named Phoebe in the North American release checklist and Amleto in the European Series 2 one.
- The seal from White Paw (Part 1) is named Stella, though its masculine voice...
- Apparently one of the beavers from The Unexpected Guest is named Noce according to the Series 2 figurine list.
- Same goes for the giraffe from Good Manners, who is Raffy according to merchandise.
- The brunette-haired girl with the Girlish Pigtails and the strawberry dress is named Caroline according to the official Amazon description of The Friendship Ceremony.
- Animal Talk: All the animals talk to Kate.
- Animated Adaptation: Of its namesake toyline, Puppy In My Pocket.
- Animation Bump: In certain scenes of the episodes, the animation gets smoother and more fluid.
- Animesque: The designs of the characters and settings are not only similar to Winx Club, another animesque cartoon made in the same country, but are reminiscent of most anime from the prior decade.
- Another Dimension: The Pocket Kingdom is this.
- Anthropomorphic Zig-Zag: This occasionally happens among some of the minor characters, where they sometimes appear to be upright instead of on all fours. Also, usually when one of the Pocketville characters raises their paw or grabs something, they have an actual human-like thumb. It is speculated to be a dewclaw, which both dogs and cats have in real life, but it is too close to the other toes, making it look rather like a human thumb.
- Arc Words: "My puppy/Katie and I, together forever! That's all that I want!"
- "Let the Friendship Ceremony...begin!" in the case of said ceremony.
- "Let the spirit of the Friendship Heart light the way to the Magic Fountain!"
- Artistic License:
- Animal Care:
- Numerous times throughout the series, animals are shown eating things that would be bad for them in real life. A good example would be Magic eating a bowl of fruit that contains grapes and Zull and Gort munching on grapes, which are highly toxic to dogs due to the high concentration of tartaric acid and potassium bitartrate.
- In A Bad Fall, while Kate and Vanessa are looking at the horses in the stables, all the horses already have their saddles and bridles on when they're not being prepared for riding.
- Biology:
- Several marine life appear with more human-like features. In both the pilot and intro, a group of jellyfish and clams are seen with faces. In part two of "Sweet Dreams", an octopus appears behind Magic with not only a face, but a nose, making it all the more uncanny (Granted, octopodes do have eyes and mouths albeit the eyes are on the sides of their head and have a beak for a mouth).
- In two episodes do Magic, Zull, and Gort sweat through their fur. In real life, dogs do not have the ability to sweat like humans do, and instead pant whenever they're tired.
- Incorrect Animal Noise: Eva, a cat, growls like a dog rather than a cat, even baring her teeth when she does, and so do Balloon in the final episode and occasionally even other cat characters (with the exception of Mela and Ava). This is averted in the French dub, however. In real life, cats' growling sound more like a low grumble, and they do not bare their teeth when growling unlike dogs.
- Animal Care:
- Ax-Crazy: Eva and the Pet Buster would absolutely qualify.
- Badass Adorable: The Royal Guards. They're adorable little dogs and cats who aren't afraid to kick tail.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Eva, who kept scheming to obtain the other half of the Friendship Heart and to become queen of the Pocket Kingdom, ends up in the Pet Buster’s cage in the final episode.
- Bedsheet Ghost: Downplayed as the sheets are of a different color and don't have eyeholes. Brad and George cover themselves in sheets when they scare Kate, Magic, and the Guards at the abandoned house in White as a Ghost.
- Beware of Vicious Dog: Zull and Gort themselves.
- All the stray dogs of the Big City with the exception of Wallace are known to be very mean to him and Ava.
- Big Bad: Eva is the Evil Twin sister of Princess Ava who sent her to the real world and had her captured to rule the Pocket Kingdom herself, sparking Kate and the Royal Guards to rescue her.
- Big Ball of Violence: In Believe in Yourself, Zull, Gort, Magic, and Frankie get into a fight as they try to get the ball to the goal.
- Big Friendly Dog: Magic, William, and Danny are all members of large dog breeds, and they also happen to be good-natured.
- Big "NO!": Ava has let out a huge "NOOOOO!" in a few scenes of the episodes, when she was about to be teleported to Kate's dimension and when she finds out she was going to be sold in an auction.
- Big Shadow, Little Creature: When Kate enters the Bear Inn, she sees a gigantic shadow of an aggressive bear on the wall. Turns out it was just the bashful head bear chef who showed her an origami flower made out of a napkin.
- Bilingual Bonus: This happens with many characters' names.
- Most characters' Italian names mean something in said language that is related to their character.
- Mela means "apple".
- Amleto, the Italian name for the Yorkshire Terrier (named "Phoebe" in merchandise released in English-speaking countries), means Hamlet in the same language. It is related to how the dog worked in the theatre in Pocketville prior to being sent to Daniel, an actor.
- Nocciolino, the brother of Goldie/Gnam, means "peanut", and is related to both his small size and his love for collecting nuts.
- Artu and Ginèvra, the names given to the pony in merchandise released by Giochi Preziosi (who's known as Jenny in the English dub of the show), are the Italian names for Arthur and Guinevere. They were the legendary king and queen of Britain from Arthurian Legend.
- Sedano and Karota respectively mean "celery" and "carrot", though Karota has a K instead of a C, and they are the names given to the rabbit. Karota is the name of the rabbit doctor in the show (known as Doctor Copper in the English dub).
- Ami means "friend" in French.
- Felis aulicus (misspelled as "Feles Aulicus" in the show) translates to "cat of the royal court".
- Most characters' Italian names mean something in said language that is related to their character.
- Birthmark of Destiny: Ava has a five pointed star-shaped birthmark on her right paw (which is, strangely, an unrealistic yellow), which is both proof that she is of royal blood, AND that she deserves to be the monarch.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: This happens too much with the prototype English dub, compared to the two official US and UK ones that came later, likely because of the more direct translations from Italian.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the second episode “The Unexpected Guest”, it seems as if William breaks the fourth wall by looking straight at the viewers, telling them “That will make it easier to keep an eye on her”.
- Bright Castle: The Pocketville Castle that is constantly featured throughout the show's episodes.
- Cain and Abel: Ava, the Princess Classic, is Abel, while Eva the Big Bad, is Cain.
- The Cameo: Many animal characters from Mondo TV's other works appear throughout this show.
- Canine Companion:
- Magic is respectively Kate’s own companion.
- Canines Primary, Felines Secondary: Most of the main cast are dogs, such as Magic, William, and Danny, and majority of the Chosen Pets are breeds of dog. However, cats such as Princess Ava, Balloon, and Mela also play a prominent role.
- Canis Latinicus: Subverted. Felis aulicus actually does mean "cat of the royal court" in Latin, but "Felis" is misspelled as "Feles".
- Cats Are Mean: This trope is played straight with Eva, as well as a few of the stray cats in the Big City.
- Cat Stereotype: The Siamese stereotype is played straight with Eva (Ima), but averted with Princess Ava (Ami).
- Also, the Calico sassiness stereotype is averted with Mela.
- Cerebus Rollercoaster: This happens from time to time during the episodes, as the happy-go-lucky theme of Pocketville may turn dark when the antagonists are involved.
- Character Title: The UK title for the episode "White Paw" is "Juno", named after the eponymous husky who becomes the Chosen Pet for Alice.
- Children Are Innocent: Every Chosen Pet from Pocketville is sent to a child, who has called out to the magical land in need of a friend. It is always a child who generates a Friendship Trail rather than an older person because of their innocence.
- Chosen One: All the pets chosen for their respective Friendship Ceremony are one.
- Civilized Animal: This is played straight with the citizens of Pocketville. They have civilized manners like humans, as they are part of a kingdom with a hierarchy, but retain their animalistic behavior. Some of the characters, such as Holiday, Doctor Copper, and Leo even wear uniforms.
- Cute Kitten: Absolutely every single cat in the show is one, especially Ava, Eva, Balloon, and Mela. Even the strays!
- Dark and Troubled Past: Averted for all the characters, as they all have unknown or vague backstories ready for fans to fill in (as they would also do with plotholes). However, Eva may be hinting at a dark past she may have.
- Dark Is Evil: Eva is the main antagonist of the series, and she has a dark color scheme.
- Death World: The Big City is this to Ava, especially with all the unfamiliar and hazardous surroundings she meets.
- Department of Redundancy Department: The Pocket Kingdom is called “Regno di Pocket Kingdom” in Italian. What does it translate to? Kingdom of the Pocket Kingdom.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: The Friendship Song, which happens to be the show's opening theme. It's played (and even sung) during Friendship Ceremonies, from a Magic Drop, at the hidden field of golden flowers, to even a chorus of bats in the Bottomless Cave. This led some fans to speculate that this song may be the Pocket Kingdom's anthem.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: The Friendship Heart's halves belong to two separate groups, Kate's group and Eva's gang, prior to the final episode.
- Distinguishing Mark: The birthmark Ava has on her paw as mentioned from above, which proves she is one of the two Felis aulicus, though it is not seen anywhere else except for when it was mentioned. Eva’s beauty mark is also distinguishable, though nobody points out she has it.
- Dog Stereotype: Magic (original name, Oristolfo) is a protagonistic German Shepherd. Also, Zull the Rottweiler and Gort the Pitbull are sidekicks to the main villain, Ima.
- Dub Name Change: Two of the three English dubs did this, possibly because of localization.
- Flo was changed to Kate.
- Ami was changed to Ava.
- Ima was changed to Eva.
- Spot was changed to Wallace.
- Clelia (the Persian cat teacher of the Pocketville School) was changed to Claudia.
- Cippy (the robin from the episode “New Friends”) was changed to Robbie.
- Ginevra (the horse from “A Bad Fall”) was changed to Jenny.
- Lindo (the pig from “The Bargain”) was changed to Oriliam.
- Ear Worm: The Friendship Song.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The Friendship Heart merges back into one piece, Ava safely returns to Pocketville, Eva ends up being the one captured, and Kate and Magic are given the Friendship Heart while Ava is bestowed a new jewel called the Ocean of Friendship.
- Eldritch Location: The Ever Grey Swamp.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Animals or breeds are sometimes used as insults.
- In “New Friends,” Balloon tells Zull and Gort “come and get me, poodles” so she can distract them. Both dogs, who aren’t poodles, take offense to that.
- Gort tells Zull in “In the Cove of the Cat” that the mud he is covered in makes him look like a Cocker Spaniel.
- In part two of “In the Cove of the Cat,” Zull insults Gort by calling him a baboon.
- In "Heads Up", a rabbit tells Pia, a beagle, that she doesn't seem guard material because she isn't a larger breed such as a Doberman.
- Animals or breeds are sometimes used as insults.
- Fate Worse than Death: This is what happened to Eva: she wanted the Friendship Heart to herself and become the new monarch of the Pocket Kingdom so badly, and then she ended up in her sister Ava’s place as the Pet Buster’s new prisoner.
- Feather Fingers: Krakia and Holiday grab items using their wings, which is very unrealistic as the bones in birds’ wings in real life are too weak to lift up items. If anything, they should be using their beaks!
- In some instances their wings sometimes even resemble human hands.
- Sudden Thumbs: This show's signature. Several of the animal characters are seen with thumbs when they raise their paws to gesture, and even have the dexterity that human hands have to offer when grabbing things.
- Female Feline, Male Mutt: Ava, Eva, Balloon, and Mela are female, whereas Magic, Zull, Gort, William, and Danny are male.
- Filling the Silence: Kate in the US dub surprisingly has a lot of dialogue, especially when she does certain actions.
- Fisher King: Most of the Pocket Kingdom appears to be orderly but peaceful while Ava is reigning, and if Eva successfully steals the title from her twin, then the whole kingdom may turn into something reminiscent of a dystopian world.
- For the Evulz: Eva's negative thoughts about her sister have no backstory whatsoever, as Eva claimed she was always immoral (which is not realistic by any means, as people in reality are taught to be cold-hearted, so Eva could be either lying or have amnesia).
- Friendship Song:
- The literal opening theme is called the Friendship Song. It’s often heard throughout the show, not just in the intro.
- Also, the ending theme "My Little Puppy" is sung in the points of view of a girl and her puppy and is about their friendship.
- Fun Size: All the citizens of Pocketville are tiny cute animals including dogs, cats, and other animals. Despite this, it throws any realistic factors out the window as they all appear to be the same size and height regardless of breed (In real life, many dog breeds like Golden Retrievers and Mastiffs are much larger than most cats).
- Furry Reminder: Most Pocketville denizens are able to both speak and make their respective animal noises.
- Generic Cuteness: Almost all the characters look adorable, with the exception of the Pet Buster.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Between Ava and Eva.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: In Season 2, Eva states she wants to become queen of the Pocket Kingdom instead of princess, which could allude to this trope.
- The Good Kingdom: The Pocket Kingdom has an almost peaceful society and is reigned by Ava, who would be The High Queen if she was known as a queen rather than a regent princess.
- Gotta Catch Them All: Kate and her animal friends will need to obtain the other half of the Friendship Heart, as well as over twenty Magic Drops.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Some of the Pocketville residents wear some sort of uniform at their respective workplaces.
- Hollywood Genetics: Some of the children have parents with a completely different hair color than them, such as Emily's mother being a blondie rather than having black hair and Molly being a redhead whereas her parents both have dark brown hair.
- Hollywood Giftwrap:
- One containing Caroline's doll appears in "The Friendship Ceremony".
- Kate finds one on her doorstep left by her mother in "Kate's Birthday (Part 1)". It is unknown what gift she got.
- Several of these appear throughout Holiday's festive shop in both parts of "A Gift for Ava", including a depiction of Holiday opening a gift box on the shop's sign.
- Hong Kong Dub: This is one of many noticeable issues in the show, though it depends on what dub you watch. Sometimes the dialogue doesn’t begin or end at the same time as the characters’ mouth movements, and sometimes they say something without even opening their mouth at all.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Eva occasionally makes this type of schemes.
- Human Ladder: More like "Animal Ladder".
- In the episode “New Friends”, Zull and Gort form a ladder to get out of the hole they were tricked into falling in, until they realized they can’t escape successfully without one of them ending up still in the hole.
- In the episode "Heads Up!", Zull and Gort form some variation of a ladder to cross the huge hurdle.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The Ever Grey Swamp and the Valley of No-One.
- Inescapable Net: Happens so many times in the show that it's considered a Running Gag.
- In "A Big Responsibility", Kate, Magic, and the Royal Guards get caught in a net trap suspended by tree branches, which were set by Eva and her gang. They eventually escape thanks to a sheepdog named Toby.
- In "Kate's Birthday (Part 2)", at the amusement park Kate and Magic visits, Ava gets caught in a net thanks to the Pet Buster.
- In a Nightmare Sequence, both Kate and Magic are trapped in a net by Eva, who happens to steal the Friendship Heart from them despite the holes in the net being way too small for the bracelet to go through (see Artistic License – Physics).
- In "Finally Free (Part 2)", after getting caught by Kate, Magic ties a net around the Pet Buster after he breaks in their house.
- Informed Flaw: Ava being sent away by Eva is treated as a horrible event that must be fixed. Despite this, everybody in Pocketville seems to be doing just okay, considering their own monarch is missing and her Evil Twin is rapidly gaining power.
- Inter Species Romance: Ava and Wallace's friendship grew to be this, especially when they both share a kiss (even though dogs and cats in real life can't move their lips independently). However, their romance did not last for long in the final episode.
- Keep It Foreign: This is the case with a lot of foreign dubs of the series. Many dubs such as French, Spanish, and Chinese use the English title of the show (except for the subtitle Adventures in Pocketville, which is changed to their respective languages) with the exception of the Italian dub, which obviously uses "Cuccioli Cerca Amici".
- Knight of Cerebus: The Pet Buster. Although Eva caused many problems in Pocketville already, this man caused even more things to take a dark turn in this saccharine series.
- Land of One City: Pocketville. Sometimes Pocketville is said to be the entire kingdom instead of the actual Pocket Kingdom.
- Level Ate: Most of the buildings in Pocketville resemble giant fruits and vegetables. The Pocketville School looks like a pumpkin, the hospital resembles a cabbage, the School of Manners a melon, the gift shop a squash, the Lost annd Found an apple, and the list goes on.
- Lip Lock: The UK dub is terrible with this. The replacement voices for the US dub somehow improve, though much of the UK dub's acting is retained.
- Living MacGuffin: It was revealed that the Friendship Heart had, in fact, a soul.
- Loony Laws: The Pocket Kingdom is riddled with them.
- In Believe in Yourself, William explains that if a challenge is accepted, nobody can object, not even authorities such as the Royal Guards.
- In Sweet Dreams, it is stated that contracts must be held with high regard unless an irregularity is present. Therefore, there would have to be witnesses to prove it, but if there is none, then Capture the Banner of all things determines who wins the argument.
- As stated in Together Forever, all criminals are pardoned during a holiday.
- MacGuffin: There are four: the Friendship Heart, Magic Drop, Never Alone Flower, and Pocketpedia.
- MacGuffin Melee: This occasionally happens between Kate and her animal friends and Eva's gang.
- This also happened between Kate and the Pet Buster, though it didn't get physical at all.
- Magic Mirror: In the second episode, the Royal Guards use a handheld mirror to keep an eye on Kate and Magic while they were in a separate room from them.
- Magical Land: The Pocket Kingdom is also this, as there are aspects there that would conflict with real-world science such as the Magic Fountain crystallizing its water, the phenomena of the Friendship Trail and Pocketpedia, etc.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": All the pets’ reactions when Ava accidentally gets teleported to the Big City.
- Meaningful Name: Many of the characters happen to have this.
- Ava’s original name "Ami" means "friend" in French, and she happens to be in charge of the Friendship Ceremony and the former bearer of the Friendship Heart.
- Magic was named by his owner Kate after she explains that "magical things have happened" ever since she teleported to Pocketville.
- Eva is a female given name, but it could also refer to how the character is "evil".
- Merchandise-Driven: Well, not quite. The Pocketville-themed toys are based off the show, not the other way around. However, the series is a part of a toyline made up of several animal themed "...in My Pocket" lines of toysnote .
- Mineral MacGuffin: The Friendship Heart.
- Moral Myopia: In "Operation Princess" Ami objects to stealing a mook's keys to rescue Ava because stealing is wrong. However, it's apparently okay to take his keys if he accidentally leaves them on a counter and you return them after using them to break in.
- Mood Whiplash: A lot of episodes end with Kate and Magic joyfully uniting a pet and a human child, and everybody in Pocketville cheering... then immediately cutting to Ava scared and alone in the human world... then the happy and upbeat outro music plays.
- Multi-Part Episode: A few of the Season 1 episodes are part of a two-parter, but all of the Season 2 episodes make up 13 two-parters.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Kate has this moment after she attempts to free Ava from the abusive shelter the Pet Buster owns...and gets caught by her own father of all people...and gets grounded.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast:
- Eva. Say her name and the Pocketville denizens run for the hills.
- The Pet Buster. Every stray in the Big City fears this man.
- Narnia Time: Time is different between Pocketville and the Big City.
- National Animal Stereotypes:
- Played straight with Koty, as he is a koala who speaks with an Australian accent.
- The Winged Guards also count, though their accent certainly does not match. When someone would expect them to speak with grandiose American accents, they instead all speak in over-the-top British accents. However, they are all bald eagles who behave much like what people would think of army soldiers.
- National Anthem: Since the Friendship Song seems to be important to the Pocket Kingdom, it's likely that it's the kingdom's national anthem.
- Never Say "Die": Somewhat subverted, as the characters don't use the words "dead" or "death" in the literal tense. Instead they use them metaphorically, such as "You scared me half to death!" or something about the environment being dead (as in "barren" or "empty").
- Never Trust a Trailer: In the prototype trailer of the show, the Dalmatian is sent to Kate, and Magic already wore a copy of Ava’s collar. However, in the actual show, Magic obtains the collar after Ava disappears, and the Dalmatian is sent to a different girl.
- Nightmare Sequence: Kate has a nightmare about Eva capturing her and Magic via a net trap and stealing the Friendship Heart from herself.
- Obviously Evil: Eva. Just watch her hostile mannerism in the first episode, and you won't be fooled into thinking she's not the main antagonist.
- One-Word Title: "Frisbee", "Patience", and "Nearly!"
- Only One Name: Kate's parents Peter and Maria, and also Kate herself (though Magic calls her "Katie"). They do not have a confirmed last name.
- Only the Pure of Heart: This is pretty much how Pocketville is when it comes to outsiders (visitors from another dimension, to be exact) calling out to their denizens.
- However, there is one scene in the first episode where at first Ava tries to make her pupils narrow, but then they widen to the point Ava is making Puppy-Dog Eyes.
- Operation: [Blank]: "Operation: Princess", which also happens to be the title of a two-parter in the second half of the series. Kate and Magic form this plan to free Princess Ava from the hands of the Pet Buster, and nearly failed thanks to Krakia's clever tricks.
- Orphaned Etymology:
- Despite the Pocket Kingdom’s currency implied to be golden coins, William says "I bet a pound to a penny", which is referring to the UK's currency, the pound sterling.
- Christmas is mentioned by Mela despite living in a fictional kingdom with presumably fictional traditions and beliefs.
- Magic in the prototype English dub comments that Daniel's performance wasn't exactly Oscar material.
- Danny says "gosh" in one episode even though there isn't an "Oh my God" to derive it from.
- The Pocketville Olympics.
- The "Tibetan bridge" is mentioned by Balloon despite living in a world separate from the real world.
- Plot Hole: The number of unexplained moments, plotlines that are never resolved, and cliffhangers are surprising for a 52-episode cartoon.
- Pounds Are Animal Prisons: The setting of the Pet Buster’s house, which appears to be some sort of pound that stores all the dogs and cats he finds on the streets, gives off a prison-like vibe, at least to Ava. Just look at all those iron bars.
- The Power of Friendship: It's blatantly obvious as the Friendship Heart is known to grant any wish as long as it's shared between friends.
- Precious Puppies: Again, when the Limited Animation doesn't create any bizarre expressions.
- Quirky Town: Pocketville is literally one. It's full of playful young animals, some waiting to be sent to a friend in another dimension.
- Real-Place Background: Although the Big City is a fictional city (though it is inspired by the real-life New York City), the city of Tuscany, which is located in Italy, is mentioned in the show. However, it is possible that the Big City is inspired by American cities such as San Francisco and New York City.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Ava. She is the monarch of the Pocket Kingdom and she presents Kate and Magic with an award after rescuing her: the Friendship Heart itself, since she now has a new jewel of her own called the Ocean of Friendship.
- Recycled Animation: Several animations are reused, including that of the characters talking with the exact same lip movements.
- Reflective Eyes: When Eva is looking at whatever image appears on her half of the Friendship Heart, a reflection of that image sometimes appears in both her eyes.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Every animal in Pocketville is one. Not even the villains can help but be adorable.
- Rule of Cute: Also applies to all the Pocketville denizens.
- Running Gag:
- Eva trying to snatch Kate's half of the Friendship Heart.
- An Inescapable Net being dropped on one of the characters.
- The Friendship Ceremony. Especially the Friendship Ceremony.
- Same Language Dub: An odd case in that there are not two, but three English dubs. The "original" dub is overall more faithful to the Italian version but has more stilted acting (relatively speaking - neither dub is exactly Oscar material) and some questionable voice choices, while the other, "US and UK" dubs (one has its cast completely speak with British accents while the other has some characters' voices replaced with American ones) are a bit looser with the translation but have slightly better acting and better voices for most of the characters.
- Scenery Porn: The backgrounds of the show look surprisingly well-made. Sure, it isn't Ghibli-quality, but it's passable.
- Schizo Tech: Even though Pocketville looks quite rustic and a bit baroque, there are many modern things there such as a motorboat, modern medicine, electric lights, and other aspects relating to The New '10s.
- Series Continuity Error:
- More of a visual one, but at the very end of The Friendship Ceremony, Kate is seen wearing a pink paw print patterned outfit with a matching bandanna, but in The Unexpected Guest, this outfit is dropped for a different one: an orange shirt with a yellow paw print decal, and khakis.
- Somehow Princess Ava already knows Magic's new name despite never being told it. Even in the flashback, "Oristolfo" is swapped with "Magic".
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Eva is the "yin" sibling, while Ava is the "yang" sibling. Eva is the tougher, tomboyish, and devious sister while Ava is the gentler, girly, and kindhearted sister.
- Sick Episode: Patience (Part 2), where Kate gets a fever from getting seriously exhausted.
- Sound Stone: A Magic Drop can produce the theme song when Kate listens closely as she holds one.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Kate can speak to animals as long as she wears the Friendship Heart.
- Species Equals Gender: The majority of the dog characters are male while most of the cat characters are female. This is averted in several fanfictions.
- Spell My Name With An S:
- In the Amazon Prime descriptions of the episodes, Zull's name is spelled as "Züll".
- Robbie's name is sometimes spelled as "Robby".
- Koty's name is sometimes spelled as "Koti" by some fans.
- Stock Animal Behavior: Hoooo boy, here goes…
- Dog characters show this a whole lot (not even William is a stranger to this), from just barking, growling, howling, and licking someone on the cheek, to straight-up chasing balls and frisbees whenever they see one moving or eating messily and straight out of bowls.
- Krakia is sometimes seen stealing things, whether it's Ava's collar or simply a hair from Kate's scalp.
- The Winged Guards soar up the air with a majestic flair when scouting, as it is their job of course.
- Funnily enough, the cat characters seldom show feline behavioral traits, and seem to behave more like dogs including canine growling and licking someone on the face.
- Stock Footage: Several scenes from the sequence of the Friendship Ceremony are reused again and again in so many episodes, including the scenes of four background pets and the Royal Guards cheering with the latter including Off-Model name tags.
- Sugar Bowl: Although the villains have some seriously dark motifs, the show overall is very bright and colorful.
- Swamps Are Evil: The Ever Grey Swamp is known to be a dark, dreary, mucky place, and serves as a hideout for Eva and her lackeys.
- Talking Animal: All the Pocketville residents are capable of human speech as long as the Friendship Heart is worn.
- Talking in Your Sleep: More like "screaming in your sleep", but after the Nightmare Sequence, Kate is heard yelling in her sleep, alerting Magic to wake her up. Surprisingly, her dad didn't even come in the room if she screamed that loud.
- Terrible Trio: Eva, Zull, and Gort were briefly this until Krakia joins them.
- Theme Tune Extended: Throughout some portions of the episodes, the extended verses of the theme song are heard. Luckily, someone on YouTube compiled the clips up to make the full theme song despite some slightly jarring cuts.
- Title Theme Drop: A music box rendition of the ending theme "My Little Puppy" sometimes plays throughout the episodes.
- Toyless Toyline Character: Kate is the only human character who has a doll made of her.
- Also, many of the minor characters such as Steel Wool, Holiday, the gift shop hens, Doctor Schwartzer, and the Puppy Trotters do not have toys made of them.
- Trapped in Another World: This is what happened to Ava. After a mishap happened at the Magic Fountain, she was accidentally teleported to the Big City with no magic to get her back.
- Trickster Twins: Brad and George from White as a Ghost.
- Two Halves Make a Plot: Kate and the others will have to find a way to claim the other piece of the Friendship Heart and merge them back into one jewel in order to bring Ava back, as long as sending other pets to Kate's dimension to be with other kids.
- Two Shorts: Originally produced as a 15-minute series, this is how it aired on TV in the United States.
- Unholy Ground: The Valley of No-One is the place where Eva performs the Unfriendliness Ritual, and it is said that not many are brave enough to approach said area.
- Vague Age: The show does not state the ages of the characters except for Kate, but the others are implied by some fans.
- Kate is said to be 10 according to an official DVD description and 11 in others. This could mean that Kate was 10 in the beginning of the series but turned 11 in the episode Kate's Birthday. This implies that Kate could be in fifth grade.
- Although animals age differently, Ava and the Royal Guards are implied to be around young-adult aged because of their occupations and adult voices.
- The Chosen Pets' age range would be from tween to young adult, depending on their voices and jobs they had prior to being sent to their rightful owners.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Eva is a devious Siamese cat who plans on usurping her sister and becoming Queen of the Pocket Kingdom herself once she snatches the other half of the Friendship Heart. She is implied to have attempted to kill her sister in a flashback scene by intentionally breaking off a tree branch in front of Ava. Thankfully, Ava was fast enough to only leave a hind paw injured. Meanwhile, the Pet Buster is a nasty old man who kidnaps stray pets, mistreat them, and sell them in auctions.
- We Will Meet Again: Eva after her plan is foiled by her numbskull lackeys.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Eva seems to be this, as she can manipulate others to do her bidding and can even do harm, just so she can get to the Friendship Heart.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: It's never established where exactly the Big City would be located in. Some have speculated that the Big City is, in fact, New York City because of its views having an uncanny resemblance to Times Square and Central Park, while others speculated that the Big City is San Francisco or even somewhere in Europe such as England or Italy. If the Big City were an American city (which it probably is), then this would mean that Martina is an immigrant child.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: In the second episode, William mentions that time is different in the Pocket Kingdom, which could mean that one year there may be equal to one week in Kate’s dimension. However, it may or may not have been retconned.
