Bringing this baby home!
T.O.T.S. (Tiny Ones Transport Service) is a Disney Junior show created by Travis Braun (a writer for Vampirina, Puppy Dog Pals, Goldie & Bear, and Muppet Babies (2018)).
The series follows the adventures of best friends Pip (voiced by Jet Jurgensmeyer from Bubble Guppies), a tenacious penguin, and Freddy (voiced by Christian J. Simon from The Amazing World of Gumball and Sydney to the Max), a kind-hearted flamingo. As the only non-stork delivery birds at the titular company, the duo must take tender care of the animal babies that they're delivering, and make sure that they get to their families safely.
T.O.T.S. premiered June 14, 2019 on Disney Junior. It was renewed for a second season before the first season premiered. The show was also renewed for season 3 before season 2
came out. It will feature the TOTS Sky School, as well as a teacher named Mrs. Trunklebee.
On August 25, 2021, it was announced that the show will end after three seasons as the creator was moving on to Pupstruction. Production officially wrapped on or around April 28, 2022 and the series finale aired on June 10, 2022.
The series also has a set of shorts associated with it titled Calling All T.O.T.S. in which Pip, Freddy and K.C. as the "Rock-a-Tots" perform a song for a different baby animal in each episode.
Not to be confused with Tots TV.
This show transports these tiny tropes:
- Absurd Phobia: Bodhi. In "Hiccup Hazard", he is said to be afraid of giant underwear and mismatched socks, and "The Fearful Flier" shows him being terrified of a guinea pig he is supposed to be delivering. More specifically, he is terrified by the squeaking noise that the guinea pig makes.
- Achievements in Ignorance: In "The Fastest Flyer", Bodhi unknowingly wins the eponymous award after flying out from a butterfly that scared him.
- Acrophobic Bird: Part of Bodhi's backstory is that he was scared to fly. He loved the idea of delivering babies for T.O.T.S. so much that he made up a song that helped him get himself over it.
- Actually Pretty Funny: JP almost says this word for word in "A Spooky Delivery" when he accidentally scares Pip and Freddy, who laugh it off.
- Adults Are More Anthropomorphic: Applies to most of the shown families.
- All-CGI Cartoon: Like most Disney Junior shows, it's animated in CGI.
- Always Someone Better: Anything JP does, his older brother, PJ, can do better. Fortunately, PJ reminds JP that he's super duper the way he is.
- Award-Bait Song: "Night Flight" from the episode "Night At The Nursery".
- Alliterative Name: Except for Mia The Kitten note , every baby animal that's delivered has a first name that starts with the first letter of their species namenote . This extends to the some of the episode titlesnote , and even the cafeteria foodnote .
- All There in the Script: The names of the three kids that go on a field trip with Pip and Freddy in "Training Daze" (Zed, Jed, and Red), are named in the end credits.
- April Fools' Plot: "Prank You Very Much" has everyone trying to pull pranks on Captain Beakman.
- Beach Episode: "Surfin Birds" is about Pip and Freddy entering a surfing competition so that they can win a golden surfboard for Sandy the sea turtle.
- Benevolent Boss: Captain Beakman is patient and understanding with her employees, being open to having a little fun on the job, and applauding the use of non-standard solutions.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Freddy, who is tall and lanky, and Pip, who is small in stature.
- Big Shadow, Little Creature: In "The Fearful Flier," the fearsome animal that Bodhi is delivering... a baby guinea pig named Gil, is introduced this way.
- Birthday Episode: "Baby Boogie" takes place on K.C.'s birthday, although her age is never mentioned.
- "The Protective Papa" serves as one for Lucky.
- It's Pip's half-birthday in "The Gift-Mazing Birthday." Also, after Freddy learns that it is the birthday of every baby animal they deliver because they deliver babies on the day that they are born, he becomes determined to give the baby they're delivering that day, Pearl the piglet, the best gift that he can.
- Brainy Baby:
- Defied for the most part, but in "Best Friends Wherever", Mia comes up with quite a few clever ideas to keep her from being separated from her new best friend Chloe the cow, such as constantly readjusting the timer used to to mark how much time their "last game" has when Pip and Freddy aren't looking.
- Lucky the puppy, introduced in "Puppy Problems" is also shown being quite clever in how he outsmarts everyone so he can do whatever he wants.
- Brand X: The FlyPad that Pip carries is a rather obvious one to Apple's iPad line of tablets.
- "Brave the Ride" Plot: "Porcupine Panic" has Pip and Freddy help Petey, the titular porcupine, overcome his fear of the delivery tube.
- Cartoon Penguin: All penguins seen in the series have black feathers, yellow beaks and feet, and white abdomens.
- The Cat Came Back: A literal variant happens in "You Gotta Be Kitten Me!". Pip and Freddy deliver a kitten, but her parents are not home. The kitten thinks that Pip and Freddy are her parents, and keeps following them back.
- Christmas Episode: "Santa Baby" has Pip and Freddy trying to deliver Renny the reindeer to her parents, who work for Santa.
- Commonality Connection: In "Pajama Party". After spending most of the episode squabbling, Mia and Lucky finally bond over the fact that they both miss their parents.
- Chaste Toons: Mr. Woodbird's nephew, Wilburt, is introduced in Season 3, but no mentions are made of Wilburt's parents. It can be presumed, however, that Wilburt's father is the brother of Mr. Woodbird due to them sharing the same surname.
- Character Catchphrase:
- Pip has "This penguin's got a plan!" and "Snow cool!"
- Freddy has "Flamin-go!" and "Oh, coconuts!"
- Captain Beakman has "Alright flyers, let's get these tots to their moms and pops."
- Character Development: A surprising amount but one particularly interesting one is Lucky going from bickering with Mia in a stereotypical fashion to moping in an absolute funk when she goes off to school, leaving him alone with Pip and Freddy.
- Cool Big Sis: KC The Koala fills this role, being very kind and caring and still having personal reactions with the babies and the main characters.
- Crowd Song: In "Rock-A-Bye Birdie," KC, Pip and Freddy perform "One in a Million" as the Rock-a-Tots to introduce the bird Mimi as T.O.T.S.'s one millionth baby delivery, with the crowd of T.O.T.S. delivery storks joining as the song continues.
- Delivery Stork: T.O.T.S. is an organization of delivery storks who deliver baby animals. The main characters are the first non-storks at the organization.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: The signal alerting that there's a new baby to deliver is a brief instrumental of the opening of the theme song.
- Disney Acid Sequence: Many of the songs are accompanied by trippy visuals. But most of the time, said visuals fall in line with what the characters sing about.
- Failed a Spot Check: What kicks off the main story of "Junior Flyer J.P.". Up until then, no-one ever noticed that J.P. never passed his "Baby Skills" test, which is a requirement to graduate from being a Junior Flyer.
- Fantastic Racism: In the first episode, "You Gotta Be Kitten Me!", Freddy and Pip are looked down on and given weird looks by the rest of the fliers for not being storks. In subsequent episodes, Ava and Bodhi genuinely get along with them while JP is more judgmental towards them.
- Fat and Skinny: Pip and Freddy, respectively.
- French Jerk: Jean Pierre (J.P. for short) speaks with a heavy French accent, and is extremely egotistical and initially looks down on Pip and Freddy for not being storks.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: With that said, he can also show a softer side, such as in "Bunny Bunanza", where he praises Pip and Freddy for helping him with their bunny deliveries. He is also fully dedicated to his work.
- Female Feline, Male Mutt: Inverted in "Like Cats and Dogs" with Kenny the kitten and Penny the puppy.
- Fun with Acronyms: The show's title.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: K.C. is the most obvious example, though she’s not the only one.
- Four-Fingered Hands: K.C. has these
- Friendship Song: "I Belong With My Best Friend" from the episode "Flight Of The Penguin".
- Given Name Reveal: "The Ring Bear" reveals that Captain Beakman's first name is Candace.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: In the first episode, Captain Beakman states that she personally hand-picked Pip and Freddy to be junior fliers. How the two came to her attention, and what drove her conclusion that they were the best candidates for the job, is left unsaid.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Pip, Freddy, and most of the bird characters.
- Halloween Episode: "A Spooky Delivery" is about Pip and Freddy trying to show JP how fun Halloween is.
- Here We Go Again!: After accidentally sheering Sheera the sheep bald while trying to fix the wool in her eyes, Pip and Freddy fix her baldness by having Bodhi knit the little lamb a sweater out of her own wool. Then just as they're about to deliver her, Freddy notices a loose thread on the sweater; he and Pip proceed to unravel it.
- Hero Worship: Pip and Freddie both idolize JP, wanting to be just like him someday.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Pip and Freddy, who always stick together no matter what, and even deliver babies together.
- Hiccup Hijinks: "Hiccup Hazard" has Pip get hiccups when he drinks a smoothie too fast. All kinds of scaring techniques are used yet they fail. He's eventually cured when he sees Freddy almost get into danger when delivering Didi by himself and crashing into the tower. Freddy himself also gets them in the end, but they're cured quickly.
- Hollywood Chameleons: One of Pip and Freddy's deliveries is Cam the chameleon, who is able to change colors at will, often to match the colors of other animals.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Some sources spell KC's name as "Kacey".
- In-Series Nickname:
- Freddy calls Pip "Pipster", while Pip calls Freddy "Fredamingo" (or more rarely, "Freddo").
- K.C. calls the babies under her care "little nuggets".
- Ava often calls Pip and Freddy "Junior dudes".
- Interspecies Adoption:
- While only two cases have been shown (Mia the kitten by Captain Beakman and Penny the puppy and Kenny the kitten by a cow), Mia's episode features KC singing a song about how T.O.T.S. enables this trope, even singing that love is the key to making a family.
- The season 2 premiere "Puppy Problems" has Lucky the puppy adopted by JP.
- Invisible Parents: Pip and Freddy's parents were never seen or mentioned until the series finale when they were shown in a flashback.
- Ironic Fear: In "Swimming With Seals", Sebastian the seal is terrified of water, despite it being his species' natural habitat.
- I Work Alone: J.P. likes to maintain that this is the case with him, though he'll often budge with persuasion.
- Literal-Minded: Freddy, most of the time.
- Lost Voice Plot: "Baby Freddy" has Freddy contract laryngitis from singing nonstop.
- Lovable Coward: Bodhi is a pretty nice guy even when he's scared of almost every little thing.
- Merchandise-Driven: The show is accompanied by a big toyline which sells multiple versions of the baby animals in the show, as well as playsets for the figurines of them.
- Modesty Shorts: K.C. wears green shorts under her skirt.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Repeatedly in "Baby Breakdown", as Pip and Freddy's efforts to fix the conveyor belt end up making things worse.
- No Antagonist: The series has no major villain whatsoever. The closest things to an antagonist are JP and Professor Peacock, which aren't saying much
- Oblivious to Hatred: "Hatred" is a strong word, but Pip and Freddy are completely unaware of JP's initial disdain for them.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. Two characters named "Hank" have appeared on completely separate occasions, the first being Hedy The Hedgehog's father in "Daddy's Day Delivery" and the second being a legendary TOTS flier and appears in "Grandpa's Great Adventure"
- The One Who Wears Shoes: Most of the characters in the show are barefoot. Freddy and K.C. are exceptions, with Freddy wearing blue boots, and K.C. wearing orange sneakers.
- Papa Wolf: In the climax of "The Super Duper Brother", JP freaks out when his son Lucky runs into a cave and falls into a hole.
- Parental Obliviousness: J.P. seems to be utterly incapable of noticing Lucky's mischievous side.
- Picky Eater: The episode "Koala Kuisine" has K.C. dealing with Henry the baby hippo, who won't eat anything she gives him unless it's Hippo Ohs. She eventually gets him to at least try to eat new foods until he finds something he likes.
- Picture Day: The episode "Say Cheese" has Pip and Freddy trying to keep JP's son Lucky clean so as to take a proper picture for picture day.
- Polar Penguins: In "Back to Cool", Freddy and Pip the penguin take Penn (who is also a penguin) to Iceberg Alley, where it is always frozen and snowing. Pip marvels over how nice the snow is.
- Precious Puppy: The episode "Diggity Dog" focuses on one, named Pablo, who kickstarts the plot by finding and burying several of the characters' possessions.
- Prized Possession Giveaway: In "Lost Lovey", Mia is distraught when her stuffed rabbit Lady Foo Foo ends up falling down a waterfall. Freddy, however, decides to let her keep his old stuffed monkey Mr. Muffins.
- Propeller Hat of Whimsy: In "Toy Trouble", one of the old belongings Mia the Cheerful Child kitten is not pleased about donating is her propeller hat, which she calls her "nyow-nyow".
- Proud Peacock: "The Great Robot Race" features Professor Peacock, an Insufferable Genius inventor who feels the need to brag about all his accomplishments during his introduction.
- Rail Enthusiast: "Porcupine Panic" involves a porcupine named Petey who is this, but is afraid to go down the delivery tube into his cradle to get delivered. Pip and Freddy manage to solve it by connecting with him on his level, turning the delivery tube into a train game with him being the caboose.
- Raised by Grandparents: Sandy the sea turtle is delivered to her "Tutu", who is clarified to be her grandmother and who is clearly the sole person in charge of Sandy's upbringing.
- Reused Character Design: With a few exceptions (such as Mia), multiple babies of the same species tend to share the same character model, with different fur color often being the only visible difference.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Captain Beakman fills this role, being very encouraging to the main characters in how they can do anything.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Freddy is easily excitable and is silly and caring, while Pip tends to be calmer and more thoughtful.
- Remembered I Could Fly: While trying to catch up with Chase the Cheetah in a game of tag, Pip and Freddy fall off of the T.O.T.S. base of operations, with Freddy forgetting one detail:Freddy: We're falling, we're falling! We can't stop! We can't stop!!Pip: Freddy!Freddy: Yes?!Pip: You can fly!Freddy: [After looking at his own wings] Oh yeah...[Freddy carries Pip on his back and they fly back to base]Freddy: *chuckles* I knew I was gonna be okay. I wasn't scared.
- Inverted in the episode "Slippery When Wet" when Pip slips off Freddy in the rain and finds himself flying only to remember that penguins can't fly.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: All the baby animals are cute by virtue of being, well... baby animals.
- Running Gag: "Diggity Dog" has one, in which Freddy mentions how it’s a mystery that a character’s belonging is gone (Pip’s FlyPad, K.C.’s guitar, etc.), then calling it "The Case of the Missing [character’s item]", followed by him performing an overdramatic musical cue ("Bom-bom-BOOOOOOOOOMMM!").
- Scout-Out: While the organization is not seen, the episode "Far Far From Home" has KC mention how she used to be a part of the Campfire Critters.
- Sibling Rivalry: Penny the puppy and Kenny the kitten display a big case of this; Pip and Freddy have to teach them to share because the duo's fighting makes transporting them in the same container impossible.
- Sick Episode: "Nursery Schooling" has Pip and Freddy fill in for K.C. at the nursery when she comes down with the Koala Ka-choos.
- Smelly Skunk: "A Stinky Situation" focusing on Pip and Freddy delivering a skunk who has a hard time making friends because of his smell.
- Spelling Song: "You're Precious" from the "Calling All T.O.T.S. Short "Precious The Panda"''"P" is for playful, as playful as can be,
"R" is you really really are,
"E" is for your eyes that shine like the twinkling stars,
"C" is for Cuddly and cute, so cute that
"I" just can't get enough of you, no you that
"O" you're the one and only
"U" in the Universe,
"S" you're sweet as true and that spells Precious... - Taught by Experience: Captain Beakman in "Prank You Very Much". After being pranked many, many times over the years by her sister Cora, she is now able to recognise and avoid practically any prank.
- Thanksgiving Episode: "Totsgiving" is about Lucky ruining TOTSGIVING, and that Pip, Freddy, and KC have set out to save the holiday.
- They Just Dont Get It: In "Loveys on the Loose", Professor Peacock once again tries to replace something with robots (believing his creations to be superior), despite his previous attempt not working out at all.
- Three-Month-Old Newborn: It is explicitly stated that the delivery storks deliver babies on the day they are born. However, all of the babies look and behave more like toddlers.
- Might be justified, though, as we were never shown where the babies come from - it is possible that they are not born naturally.
- Title, Please!: A strange variant in which episode titles are spoken, but not shown on the screen, a practice that is becoming increasingly common amongst Disney Junior shows since mid-2018.
- Token Minority: Played straight with K.C., being the only mammal working on the company. Downplayed with Pip and Freddy, being the only non-stork delivery birds.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Following the events of "Bunny Bunanza", JP starts to treat Pip and Freddy with a little more respect.
- "Puppy Problems" shows this further since it's revealed that he happily adopted Lucky the puppy.
- Two Shorts: Each episode has two segments, each 11 minutes long.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Cheese, for Freddy
- Vague Age: Pip and Freddy sound like they could be anywhere from 10 to 14.
- Official materials state that Pip is 13, and Freddy is 11.
- KC looks and sounds like she could be 15-20.
- Valentine's Day Episodes: "The Valentine Spirit / Shell Games" premiered on January 24, 2020.
- Walking Swimsuit Scene: In "Back to Cool", all the penguins in Iceberg Alley wear swimsuits.
- "Where? Where?": In "Monkeying Around and Around," K.C. tells the babies that "it's off to meet your brave fliers." "Where?! Where?!" asks Freddy and Pip tells him that it's them, that they're the brave fliers.
- Wingdinglish: Any place that would have text written out is replaced with random symbols.
- You Mean "Xmas": One episode has the characters celebrate "Totsgiving".
- You Were Trying Too Hard: In "The Fly-Along", Pip and Freddy are joined on their latest delivery by Captain Beakman. The two are so intent on impressing her (and getting a "Fly five" from her") that they keep making mistakes. It's only after they stop worrying about looking good and complete their delivery that Captain Beakman gives them the accolades they were hoping for.
- Vocal Evolution: Pip and Freddy's voices sound noticeably deeper in later episodes due to their voice actors hitting puberty.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Ava has an unexplained accent that seems to be either Mexican, Brazilian, or Italian.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: "Freddy's Never-Ending Birthday".
- Chained Heat: "Birds Of A Feather, Stuck Together".
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: " Super Duper Switcheroo", which focuses on JP and Lucky switching places.
- Retcon: In "Bringing This Family Home", Kyla is introduced as KC's cousin, but in " Messin' Around", the latter refers to the former as her niece. Whether this was an error or not is unconfirmed.
