YMMV / Donkey Hodie

• Accidental Nightmare Fuel: While the original Purple Panda was notorious for scaring children, this show's Purple Panda is dolled up to look more cuddly. However, some people are quick to note that Purple Panda's puppet still looks scary, likely because he has different eyes compared to the rest of the puppets on the show (the black parts of his eyes have no shines in them like the other characters do).
• Adaptation Displacement: Unlike fellow spin-off Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, many people don't seem to realize that Donkey Hodie is a spin-off of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood despite the main titles mentioning this fact, likely because the character it is based on only appeared in 59 episodes of the show. It's gotten to the point where some people have actually questioned why Donkey's friend isn't named Sancho Panda to go with the Don Quijote reference, when the truth is that Purple Panda was a Mister Rogers' Neighborhood character. Funnily enough, Hanna-Barbera already did the Sancho Panda thing.
• Awesome Music:
  • The show's soundtrack in general. It's very catchy and many songs have a 60s pop feel to them. It also has a nice mix of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood songs ("I Like to Take My Time", "I'm Proud of You" and the more obscure "Today is New") and new songs.
  • "Dancing in the Moonlight" from "A Night Out" feature great vocals courtesy of Donkey, Panda, and Duck Duck.
  • "Dancing Under the Golden Rainbow" is widely regarded as THE best song in the show. It is quite catchy and shows how far Donkey and Panda's singing voices have come.
• Broken Base: The series is a major source of contention for fans of Mister Rogers and PBS Kids as a whole. Purists, including Betty Aberlin, despise the show for being overly hyperactive, 'dumbing down' the characters^note Notably, King Friday's sudden character rewrite has received flak for making him nicer as opposed to an eccentric despot and supposedly teaching kids that it's okay to forgive your oppressors, even though Friday was already nice in Daniel Tiger, and Grampy Hodie holding a grudge against Friday would go against everything Rogers stood for and, in their eyes, not having anything to do with Mister Rogers. On the other hand, the show does have its fans because of its zaniness. There's also the spectacular puppet work, Mythology Gags, interesting Canon Foreigners and that at its core, it still promotes Fred Rogers' personal values.
• Covered Up: "I Like To Take My Time" suffered from this trope when it was used in "The Yodel Birds Are Coming!" as a duet by Purple Panda and Duck Duck. This version seems to be more well-known than the original, with one of the top results for the song on Google being "I Like To Take My Time Donkey Hodie".
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Bob Dog's impulsivity, impatience, high energy, and hyperfixation on balls has led to fan theories that he is neurodivergent, specifically having ADHD.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Duck Duck is popular with many fans despite appearing the least amount of times out of the 4 main characters of the show in the first season. It helps that she's played by Stephanie D'Abruzzo, a famous Muppeteer. In fact, when the talking plushies came out on Amazon, the set with Duck Duck sold out first.
  • Dodie Hodie is popular as well, despite only appearing in one episode.
  • Cousin Hodie is arguably one of, if not the most popular side character in the fandom. Even before his episode even aired and as soon as behind the scenes pictures of him appeared, fans fell in love with the character, with some even going as far to draw fanart of him. The creators seemed to catch on quickly, as Cousin would become a recurring character and even receive his own game.
• Fandom Rivalry: Already with the Daniel Tiger fanbase due to their wildly different tones. They're even set in opposite settings: Daniel in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and Donkey in Someplace Else.
• Fan Nickname: Any shot where Donkey's eyelids are visible has been refered to as the "tired eyes" by some fans, as they often appear when Donkey feels tired.
• Fridge Brilliance: At first, it doesn't seem like "The Cow and Potato Bug Opera" has much in common with the original "Cows and Potato Bugs" opera, but it culminates in a disco number about being yourself and not changing for anyone else, which not only reflects the theme of the opera also reflects the themes of the episode itself — listening to everyone else's ideas and letting them thrive instead of trying to control them.
• Friendly Fandoms: Many older fans of the show seem to like Elinor Wonders Why, which also airs on PBS Kids and involves animals. There's also a few adult fans of Donkey Hodie who happen to like Pretty Cure, as well as a big overlap with fans of Bear in the Big Blue House.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Purple Panda wearing a beard and singing Jingle Bells. ^Explanation In "The Masked Veggies", Purple Panda worries he will mess up and do something silly while on the titular game show, claiming he will wear a Santa beard and sing Jingle Bells at one point, which he actually does. Many fans like posting this scene out of context because of how bizzare it is.
  • Donkey Hodie's failed kick dance. ^Explanation In "Hoof Dancing Is Hard", Donkey Hodie can't seem to get parts of the hoof dance right and has to practice them one by one. When practicing the kicking move, she accidentally falls down. People have edited the scene so it seems like she kicked something else instead, usually a villain.
  • Donkey Hodie dabbing. ^Explanation In "Planet Purple Party", Donkey raises her hands above her head during the second takeoff in Panda's rocket. Fans often point out that this pose resembles the dabbing dance move.
  • Another meme related to the show involves people recording videos of failed attempts at making froyo in the Donkey's Froyo Stand game.
  • "Stephanie, Duck Duck lives at a duck pond in Someplace Else on Donkey Hodie. Good thing the pond is fake. If it were a real pond, Duck Duck would swim in it, and puppets soak up a lot of water. You don’t want Duck Duck to soak up a lot of water. The tv show guys don’t want that." ^Explanation On Twitter, a fan of the character Duck Duck said this to Stephanie D'Abruzzo, the person who plays her. This post has become an inside joke among the Muppet community.
  • "Squibbit, squibbit!" ^Explanation In the episode "Squibbit", a penguin keeps interrupting Danda Ponkey's band practice by yelling this phrase.
  • Donkey's scream when she falls off the lemon in "A Lot Of Hot". ^Explanation In "A Lot Of Hot", Donkey tries to get juice out of a giant lemon, but fails when it rolls away and sends her flying through the air. This scene is a very popular clip on websites like YouTube.
• Misaimed Marketing: Mild example: For the 2021 Halloween season, the PBS Kids app showcased their characters wearing costumes for Halloween. Among these, the icon for Donkey Hodie showcased her in a lobster costume. It turns out to be this trope because of why she was wearing it in-universe - in the episode "Spooky Shadow Swamp", Donkey wears it to face her fear of shellfish while in a museum, and Panda later implies that Donkey is still afraid of shellfish. She also wears the same costume in a Halloween message posted on the Instagram account for the show.
• Moe:
  • Donkey Hodie and her friends can all count as this due to their huggable designs and energetic demeanor.
  • Cousin Hodie. 'Nuff said.
• Older Than They Think: Many people tend to believe that Purple Panda is an original character and should have be named Sancho Panda to fit with the Don Quixote pun when he originated on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and searching for the Fred Rogers song "I Like To Take My Time" on Google has the Donkey Hodie version recommended as a result before the original.
• Periphery Demographic:
  • The show has a fanbase of people older than the target demographic of children 3 to 5 because of how bright and happy the show is, having several funny moments and catchy songs. It also got adult size T-shirts on the PBS Kids web store for the show.
  • It also seems to have a big following with children ages 0 to 2. Case in point: Many of the featured kids on the social media accounts' "Pal of the Month" feature have been babies.
• Refrain from Assuming:
  • Most people think that the title of the song in the episode "Hoof Dancing Is Hard" is called "Practice", because the chorus uses that word a lot. According to the credits, its' actual name is "Grampy's Secret Recipe".
  • The song many people call "Blow Your Troubles Away" is officially titled "Take A Deep Breath".
  • In "Purple Polka Dot Party," during some of Panda's flashbacks, a older panda with a bowtie appeared. Some fans thought that this was Panda's dad, his current whereabouts on the show being unknown. However, according to the captions, the panda is actually the same Uncle Panda that appeared in "Bobbly Ball."
• Signature Scene:
  • Purple Panda wearing a Santa beard and singing Jingle Bells while on The Masked Veggies.
  • A penguin constantly interrupting Donkey and Panda's band practice by yelling "Squibbit, squibbit!".
• Suspiciously Similar Song:
  • The opening theme sounds similar to the 2003 The Berenstain Bears theme.
  • "Take a Deep Breath" sounds like "It's All Right" from Soul.
  • "Happy Birthday, Mama Panda" is similar to "Woodstock Chella Palooza" from the Nature Cat episode "Onward and Songward". It helps that both shows have the same production company, Spiffy Pictures.
  • In "Superhero Squabble," the song "Are We Still Friends?" features the lines "Ya dah dah dee, ya dah dee, ya dah dah," which sounds similar to "You'll Be Back" from Hamilton. "Are We Still Friends?" had its' music composed by Bill Sherman, who also produced "You'll Be Back."
• Tear Jerker:
  • Donkey injuring her hoof and having to miss Cheesy Con in "Cheesy Con". It's pretty sad seeing the series' main character in such a situation, and one can't help but feel sorry for Donkey.
  • The song "Are We Still Friends?" from "Superhero Squabble", since it comes shortly after Donkey and Panda decide not to be friends anymore. After seeing Donkey and Panda together for so long in the series' run, it's pretty heart-wrenching.
  • The normally easy-going Clyde the Cloud feeling sad for unknown reasons in “Clyde’s Cloudy Day” and the pals desperately wanting to help him feel better, but not knowing how.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The show has gotten this reaction from some die-hard Mister Rogers' Neighborhood fans due to the modernization of the characters and the rapid-fire pace. Also from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood fans, due to Daniel being more calm and down-to-earth than Donkey Hodie.
• Toy Ship: Donkey/Panda. They're best friends and Donkey hangs out with Panda the most. Panda is very reliant on Donkey and undyingly loyal to her. In "Donkey's Bad Day", Panda lets Donkey rest her head on his shoulder, and she says that his fur is soft. They also shared a bed in "Super Duper Sleepover", prompting Sleep Cute. In "A Night Out", Duck Duck offhandedly mentions that she placed Donkey's sleeping bag right next to Panda's. The fact that Duck Duck just had to point that out makes her seem like a Shipper on Deck.
• Unexpected Character:
  • King Friday appears in "The Royal Hosts" in puppet form. This was very unexpected for four reasons: Friday is a human unlike the Funny Animal cast, he's from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, he's already a character on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and he kicked out Grampy Hodie and his windmill, sparking the founding of Someplace Else. To top it all off, Friday's arrival in that episode opens the door for more Make-Believe denizens to appear on Donkey Hodie, like X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, even Daniel Tiger. Surprisingly (or not, considering Mister Rogers teaches us to not hold grudges and forgive others), Friday and Grampy are on good terms.
  • Even more surprisingly, King Friday is performed by Matt Vogel. Like show creator David Rudman, Vogel is already busy performing with The Muppets (as Kermit the Frog) and Sesame Street (as Big Bird) so how he had time to perform in this show is anyone's guess.
• Viewer Gender Confusion:
  • Donkey herself is mistaken for a boy at times, likely because the original Donkey Hodie on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was male.
  • The penguin in "Squibbit" sounds and looks like a boy, but is actually female according to the official description of the episode. Not helping matters is that she lacks the eyelashes that the other female characters have. To add to the confusion, a very similar penguin who also plays the accordion was seen in another episode, although this penguin was referred to as Penley, a masculine name.
  • The Moustro from "Hidden Orchestra" also lacks eyelashes and has a male-sounding name, but is actually female.
  • The Amazing Radish was confirmed in "Ruff Night" to be female, but lacks eyelashes.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The show's backdrops/locations are absolutely stunning, as they look like a cartoon come to life. The series frequently shows the lower thirds of the puppet characters (so you can see their feet if they decide to dance) and uses a very convincing green screen (like for Clyde the Cloud).