Vengeful Abandoned Toy: Gumball and Darwin discover an old box with all the toys they used to play with as kids.Treacherous Advisor: Grady takes Gumball into the world of imagination so he can rescue Darwin, but is eventually revealed to be in league with Frank and Howdy so they can trap both boys.Stepford Smiler: One of the imaginary creatures from Gumball's childhood is the Tree of Permanent Happiness, who moans 'I wish I could feel other things.'.While it's based on the amount of years the puppets were left alone, DHMIS itself lasted six installments. Lightly referenced in the episode itself when Frank says that he and Darwin can count to 'the funnest number', the one shown is a number seven with eyes. Spiritual Successor: The puppet show part of the episode has many aspects of a (albeit much lighter-hearted) Don't Hug Me I'm Scared episode, being made by the same people.

Things going disturbingly south near the end as the antagonists drop all pretenses of being subtle and go all out on torturing our protagonists.A deliberately repetitive and annoyingly catchy song with anticlimactic lyrics ('.We only have two hats/So those are your only options!') and disturbingly sudden interruptions ('Begin to prepare a second cake/ You did it wrong with that first cake!').Antagonists that pretend to be cheery and helpful, but are really sadistic tormentors trying to subject the protagonists to a Fate Worse than Death.Brightly colored characters and settings that are actually all kinds of horrifying.One can recognize numerous stylistic elements in common with Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, albeit Lighter and Softer. Signature Style: Rebecca Sloan and Joseph Pelling co-wrote this episode and created the puppetry segment that makes up most of the third act.and then its LCD screen displays the words 'CLEAN ME'.

He thinks the batteries in it have run dry, so he throws it back in.

Shout-Out: Darwin finds what's pretty clearly a Tamagotchi virtual pet in the attic.

It would have been better if my voice wasn't so flat. When Darwin starts it up, it breaks a fan and a lightbulb before crashing through the attic window, breaking some power lines, chopping off the tops of some trees and injuring a bird.

My Little Panzer: The 'Mighty Flyz' toy is an exaggerated version of real-life toys like Sky Dancers.

Medium Blending: Darwin and Gumball's childhood imagination is portrayed as a puppet show, and both of them become puppets.

On the other hand, the end of the episode shows Billy picking up Grady, who immediately starts attacking him. On one hand, when they appear to be alive, it's still Darwin puppeteering them, and the final confrontation is stated to be imaginary.

Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's not entirely clear if Howdy, Frank, and Grady are actual Perverse Puppets or just Darwin (and later Gumball's) Imaginary Enemies.

Left the Background Music On: When Grady tries to get Gumball back to the task of tracking down Darwin, Gumball shouts at 'Keyboard Dog' to quit distracting him, causing the jaunty synthesizer melody that had been playing to come to a halt.

Journey to the Center of the Mind: Frank and Howdy take Darwin to the deep recesses of his own imagination, forcing Gumball to put on Grady to follow after.

Incredibly Lame Fun: Frank and Howdy demonstrate some rather bizarre ideas of fun, such as wearing two hats at once, organizing a single spoon, counting to seven (which Frank claims is 'the funnest number'), or standing in 'your favorite corner'.

Evil Brit: Due to their voice actors, the villainous puppets all have different British accents.

Continuity Nod: Among Darwin and Gumball's discarded toys is their Kupock the Barbarian toy from 'The Plan'.

In the aftermath, Gumball mentions that the bus is a total write-off. By the time he realizes what is going on, it's too late to prevent a crash. With Howdy on his hand, Darwin distracts Rocky while he's driving the school bus.

Distracted by the Sexy: Or rather, 'Distracted by the female puppet trying to flirt'.

Gumball uses his imagination to get a 'do-over', with a much louder 'NOOO!' and gratuitous explosions.

Big 'NO!': The puppets let out a muted cry of 'NOOO!' after Gumball and Darwin escape.

Batman Gambit: When Gumball goes into the imaginary world to rescue Darwin, Grady reveals that he's in league with the other puppets, and was actually using Darwin as bait to capture both Gumball and Darwin and force them to play with the puppets forever.

Grady: We'll see if you break when you bend! The fun will never end! Grady: We'll make you eat toenails and grease!įrank: We'll make you wear an itchy fleece! Howdy: You'll smear yourself with worms all night! Grady: We'll make you dance, we'll make you fight!

Tvtropes dont hug me im scared