Stone Quackers is an American animated television series created by artist Ben Jones and airing on FXX as part of their Animation Domination block. A sneak peek of the show was aired on October 27, 2014, alongside a sneak peek of Major Lazer, while the series began its official run on January 8, 2015.
Relying heavily on surrealism, absurdism, non-sequiturs, and utterly random events which have nothing to do with anything, Stone Quackers follows a group of anthropomorphic ducks living on the fictional Cheeseburger Island: slacker best buds Whit and Clay, their obese manchild friend Barf, mentally insane female cloudcuckoolander Dottie, extremely inept authority figure Officer Barry (the object of Dottie's affection), and naive neighborhood kid Bug. Episodes tend to follow a stream-of-silliness structure and rarely stick with any kind of conventional, coherent plot line; for example, one episode ends with the house turning into a demonic snake pit right out of nowhere. Much of the show's humor is derived from how utterly random everything is, as it's usually quite impossible to predict what, exactly, will happen next.
In a sense, Stone Quackers can perhaps be described as being like Regular Show (which was already pretty surreal to begin with) on a heavy dose of acid.
Tropes:
- Antagonistic Offspring: Officer Barry's children, who go as far as trying to kill him for no reason.
- Art Shift: Happens in episode 6 and 7, for some reason.
- Awkward Kiss: A female character randomly kisses Dottie in the episode "Blue Feathers", which is shown in grotesque close-up with copious tongue and drool. While dressed up as women, Whit, Clay, and Barf also randomly kiss each other in the episode "Caress of Steel". Both scenes definitely qualify as awkward, to say the least.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Officer Barry's family in the extreme.Officer Barry's daughter: Hey, dad... want some crack?
- Black Comedy
- The Cameo: Miley Cyrus appears in the episode "A Farewell to Kings", voicing a skateboarding heartthrob that Bug falls in love with. She only actually speaks at the end of the episode, and for less than a minute. Otherwise, the show features no celebrity guest appearances.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Dottie in the extreme. However, the entire cast can be said to qualify as this, particularly Bug.
- Deadly Prank: Whit and Clay's attempts at pranks tend to end this way, although no one is ever actually killed (but they almost are).
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Clay is prone to this.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: Officer Barry is shown eating donuts in several scenes, and showing up at the diner that Dottie works at to order them.
- Eating Pet Food: Inverted. In "Caress of Steel", while the gang is trying to lose weight, Barf looks at cat food in the store, preparing to eat it after hearing that it makes cats skinny. However, he then immediately reaches for the rat poison instead and eats it, landing him in the hospital.
- Eldritch Abomination: The episode "Stone Quackers III" has Clay turning into a monster called "Sticky Man" from the heat.
- Extreme Doormat: Officer Barry, who puts up with all manner of abuse from his family and his co-workers, along with Dottie's insanity - all without ever complaining.Officer Barry's son: I DON'T RESPECT YOU AS A MAN!
- Fat Idiot: Barf.
- Funny Animal: The entire cast.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The entire cast.
- Gainax Ending: It's not uncommon for episodes to end with something completely random and utterly nonsensical.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Whit and Clay, who live together with Barf and Dottie in the same house, where Bug regularly invites himself in.
- Inner Monologue: Every time Officer Barry is on screen by himself, he gives an internal monologue.
- Insane Troll Logic: Many of the decisions made by the characters - especially Dottie and Barf - qualify as this.
- Local Hangout: The diner that Dottie works at.
- Manchild: Barf (and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Whit and Clay).
- Mood-Swinger: Dottie in the extreme.
- Mood Whiplash: The tone can rapidly shift from innocent and light-hearted to very dark and sinister.
- Noodle Incident: "One Last Bad Prank" begins with Whit, Clay, and Barf in a great deal of trouble for a prank attempt, but we never actually find out what they did.
- Oh, Crap!: Seen in many episodes, such as the ending of "One Last Bad Prank".
- The Ophelia: Dottie.
- Police Are Useless: Officer Barry is hopelessly inept as a police officer, usually making the situation even worse than it already was.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: Like other late era Ben Jones shows the show less uses classical music than is written and storyboarded to match up to said music.
- Quarter Hour Short
- Random Events Plot: Most episodes.
- Shout-Out: The episode "Blue Feathers" is a tribute to the David Lynch film Blue Velvet.
- The Slacker: Whit and Clay.
- Spin-Off: The 10-episode Web series Gothball, focusing on Dottie's cat (who is named Gothfield in Stone Quackers).
- Stalker with a Crush: The psychotic Dottie's obsessive love for Officer Barry arguably qualifies as this, with her even going so far as to Photoshop her face onto a portrait of Officer Barry and his wife. However, this is a highly unusual example in that Officer Barry also has strong romantic feelings for Dottie.
- Surreal Horror: It's not uncommon for episodes to suddenly become very dark and unsettling right out of nowhere.
- Surreal Humor: And how.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Dottie and Officer Barry both admire each other, but Dottie's mental illness prevents them from ever fomenting a real relationship. In one episode, the two appear to be preparing for sex when Dottie places a mouse on Officer Barry, which then proceeds to give birth.
- Weight Woe: Dottie believes that she has "morbidly obese wrists" and insists that the other characters also have "severe body image issues" in an episode where the gang tries to lose weight at the local gym.
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Several episodes, especially "One Last Bad Prank".
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Stone Quackers takes place on the fictional Cheeseburger Island, which would appear to be somewhere in the US.
Word of God has stated
that the show is based on the creators' youth in Pleasure Island, Alabama.
