Albedo Erma Felna EDF had an appearance of Dael Valderzha, an otter officer and pilot who is infatuated with Erma, who finds that while he might be a bit flighty, he's still cute and a good social dancer. Later, Dael proves his worth when he cleverly and dramatically breaks up a riot with a minimum of violence by flying his VTOL craft just above the civilian rioters and blowing them off their feet with his engine's thrusters. Looks like he's heroic, not playful.
Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-Life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers. Seems like a Real Life documentary.
Samaki: The Story of an Otter in Africa.Seems like a Real Life documentary.
The Star Wars Expanded Universe has Selonians, a giant humanoid otter species. They have more of a hive structure, with a breeding queen and her several mates producing hundreds or thousands of sterile females who keep the colony running. To those unaware of the deeper intracicies of the race, the Selonians appeared as an outgoing, friendly and charitable species. But are they playful?
In the X Wing Series, Corran Horn once talks about his date with one. It went very well until he turned out to be allergic to contact with her fur, she to contact with his sweat. How is this example relevant to the trope?
The hrossa from C. S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet are described as being something like ten-foot-tall, bipedal, sapient otters. They aren't especially playful, but like dancing and poetry, and are one of the three "unfallen" races, who are free of the tendency to evil and sin that plagues humans. But are they playful?
The Xanth novels have "Otterbes", who live in, you guessed it, Lake Otterbe. Like most Xanthian animals, they can talk, and frequently make use of the word "Otterbe" instead of "Ought to be." They are very friendly, and communal, even taking care of a human baby until she was old enough to find her real family. But are they playful?
In Small Favor, Harry Dresden finds Ivy quietly watching the otters before the chaos of the coming battle. It serves as a reminder that one of the most powerfull magical forces in the Dresdenverse is in the body of a young girl. It's just a mention of otters, not this trope.
Seregil in Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner-Series. Occasionaly turned into an otter for his and reader's amusement. (and it works.) But was he a playful otter?
Jim Henson of The Muppets fame adapted Russell Hoban's storybook Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas into a TV special. One scene has them sliding down an icy riverbank. But were they playful?
Magazines
For a long time, Nickelodeon Magazine had otters as their running gag and unofficial mascot. Was it a playful otter?
Zootles magazine, a spin-off of Zoo Books, features a regular cartoon about the adventures of an otter named Otto and a girl named Allie. Was Otto a playful otter?
Bloom County successor Outland had a British otter character called Tim W. Forty. He was named only in the first strip, and was dumped very early on. Was he a playful otter?
The Compleat Arduin and its successors had the Khai-Shang—basically seven-foot-tall Proud Warrior Race humanoid space otters. Proud Warrior Race isn't "playful
Video Games
Buizel and Floatzel are otter-like Pokemon. They're based on otters, but are they playful?
Oshawott (and evolutions Dewott and Samurott), the water starter for Pokémon Black And White, has joined this trope. Ditto
The South Park episode "Go God Go," which features sea otters at war. The otters reason for war is the other side's use of tables even though "they have perfectly good bellies" to eat on. They're warring, but are they playful?
Happy Tree Friends has Russell the pirate sea otter. Who, strangely, has a beaver tail. He's a pirate, but is he playful?
Louie, Draw Me An Otter! Wut
In the Kim Possible episode, "Mentor of Our Discontent," Artie Smarty frees otters from the Smarty-Mart pet department and is accompanied by them throughout the rest of the episode. Were they playful?
A pair of river otters can be seen swimming past Pocahontas' canoe during the song "Just Around the River Bend." Also, the song "Colors of the Wind" contains the lyrics "The heron and the otter are my friends..." Just a mention of otters, not an example of this trope
Seaweed the Otter is one of many Beanie Babies. She is also a case of Did Not Do The Research as she's depicted munching on... well, seaweed... while otters are carnivorous. Sea otters, in particular, mainly eat marine invertebrates and fish. What about the playfullness?
If you see an example that actually contains a playful otter, please expand it and add it to the page!
P.S.: I applaud the guys who have reworked Playful Otter from a mess into an actual trope! This is just a rather technical fix in an attempt to help the new trope achieve what its creators have intended.
Tweaked the page. Rewrote the description to accentuate the main point of the trope (the "playfullness"), and purged all non-playful examples.
Here's what I purged: (Note: words in bold are my commentary)
Comic Books
Literature
Live-Action TV
Magazines
Newspaper Comics
Tabletop Games
Video Games
Webcomics
Web Original
Western Animation
Otter... er, Other
If you see an example that actually contains a playful otter, please expand it and add it to the page!
P.S.: I applaud the guys who have reworked Playful Otter from a mess into an actual trope! This is just a rather technical fix in an attempt to help the new trope achieve what its creators have intended.