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File:Lazytown-4.jpg

LazyTown is a 2004 children's show produced in Iceland, the brain child of former athlete Magnús Scheving (who also plays the hero, Sportacus). Its primary focus is promoting healthy eating and exercise. It's notable for being both educational and freaking hilarious, and shows some awesome stunts each episode.

Stephanie, our main character, is a new arrival in LazyTown. She quickly befriends the other kids (all puppets), after which they proceed to dance, play, bake cakes, pretend to be pirates and generally make a lot of noise to catchy kiddie Euro-techno music. This pisses off Robbie Rotten, LazyTown's resident Dastardly Whiplash, who can't sleep with all the noise going on. You see, being active is good for kids, and wanting to sleep all the time is bad, so Robbie is the bad guy. So Once an Episode, Robbie kidnaps/captures/tricks the kids, usually by dressing up in ridiculous outfits, until Sportacus does a billion backflips and saves them all. After which there is more dancing. ... it's Better Than It Sounds.

Although the original audio of each episode is in English, the show is filmed in Garðabær, Iceland, and the creator and the majority of the crew are Icelandic, resulting in some cross-cultural weirdness, such as the frequent Stephanie Panty Shots in the earliest episodes.

The current television show is not the first version of the story, though it is the first to be known outside Iceland. The previous versions were books and musicals both on stage and CD, and were all in Icelandic and set in the village of Latibær, meaning "LazyTown". While the basics of each character remained similar between the last Latibær production and LazyTown, several characters were dropped along the way, and those remaining were given more English names for LazyTown. The child characters in the Latibær musicals were all played by Caucasian adult humans.

LazyTown's distribution rights were once owned by Nickelodeon in the US, and it was originally commissioned by them, but it is a LazyTown Entertainment production. The "magazine format" LazyTown Extra (2008) is a co-production with The BBC. On April 18, 2011 PBSKids Sprout announced that it had acquired the rights to U.S. broadcasts of LazyTown, including the full first and second seasons and LazyTown Extra, which had never previously been broadcast in the United States. The network is also airing exclusive content as interstitials as part of its "Super Sproutlet Show" programming block.

A third season, called simply LazyTown 3, has been produced as of 2013, but it does not yet appear to be available in the United States.


Tropes used in LazyTown include:
  • Adorkable: While Sportacus is conventionally attractive, well-muscled and very fitness-oriented, many fans consider him adorkable due to his constant optimism, boyish over-excitement, hopeless naiveté and awkward English. His baby-blue eyes and cheesy grin only help the matter.
  • Aesop Amnesia: It's no wonder the town needs a superhero; No matter how many times Sportacus teaches the kids the importance of eating healthy, exercising often and being kind to each other, they always revert back to their unhealthy, lazy, greedy and generally unpleasant ways. You know, like normal kids.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Robbie Rotten. Despite claiming to hate Sportacus and wanting him to leave the town, Robbie sure spends a lot of time talking about Sportacus, touching Sportacus and jumping into his arms whenever the slightly-above-average hero shows up.
  • Ambiguously Human: Sportacus. He is faster and more agile than any of the human characters and can pull off stunts that most people could only dream of. He also keeps his ears conspicuously hidden under his hat at all times (this was lampshaded in the episode "Sportafake" where Robbie Rotten disguised himself as Sportacus, yet left his ears noticeably uncovered.)
    • To be fair, Magnus Scheving really does those stunts. Besides the constant flipping, we're talking one-handed, one-legged pushups.
    • While nothing has been confirmed on the American show, it's worth mentioning he's an Elf in the Iceland dub and in the original plays. In the U.S. version, Robbie sometimes refers to him as the "blue sports elf," though this is used as an insult.
  • And the Rest: In the episode Defeeted, Sportacus says, "I'd better go practice my move! I don't want to disappoint Stephanie...or anyone else."
  • Animesque: Between Stephanie's male fans and pink hair, and the cartoony world, non-fans have mistakenly assumed LazyTown is Japanese or influenced by anime.
  • Anti Role Model: Robbie.
    • And to an extent, everyone else in the town (excluding Stephanie and Sportacus).
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Played with in the episode Defeeted. As far as Sportacus and the mayor are concerned, the kids not wanting to play outside is just as serious as a natural disaster:
Cquote1

 Sportacus: "Mr Mayor, what's the trouble?"

Mayor: "Well..."

Sportacus: "Flood?"

Mayor: "No."

Sportacus: "Fire?"

Mayor: "No."

Sportacus: "Earthquake?"

Mayor: "No."

Sportacus: "Thunderstorm?"

Mayor: "Actually...it's that nobody wants to go outside and play!"

Sportacus: "What?! That is terrible!"

Cquote2
  • Ask For A Little Help: Stephanie. In "Rottenbeard", she yelled for help almost CONSTANTLY, causing Sportacus to think she was in trouble, but it turns out that she pretended to be in trouble because she and her friends were playing Pirates and she had to walk the gangplank.
  • Anvil on Head: - literally. In one episode, Robbie attempts to knock Sportacus out by putting a small anvil on one side of a seesaw and catapulting it at him, but misjudges it. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Badass Mustache: Sportacus.
  • Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: Robbie Rotten. Even one of his songs is called "Good to be Bad."
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: Robbie.
  • Bizarrchitecture: Just try to find a building, door, window, or structure that isn't curved, bent, or warped in some way.
  • Blithe Spirit: Stephanie is theoretically responsible for helping to get everyone exercising again (at least, according to the theme song). That she's just as likely to have the lazy ball in a given episode is apparently irrelevant.
    • Also, Sportacus is new to the town at the beginning of the show and wants to inspire the kids to eat healthy and become fit.
  • Bob Haircut: Stephanie.
  • Bottle Episode: Pixelspix and LazyTown's Greatest Hits are examples.
    • Then there's "Sportacus on the move", which is just a bunch of re-used clips from earlier episodes
  • Brilliant but Lazy: Robbie is the epitome of this trope. He prides himself in being lazy, and even schemes to make the rest of the town as lazy as he is, yet he is easily the most brilliant person in the entire town and is able to create anything out of anything. He even has a microwave that makes inventions for him.
    • Ironic, seeing that due to Robbie's constant attempts to make Lazy Town lazy via elaborate traps, machines, and costumes, he becomes one of the most active residents.
  • Brats with Slingshots: Trixie in the original stage version.
  • Can't Argue with Elves: Partially subverted in the original Latibær plays. Íþróttaálfurinn (Sportacus) doesn't exactly lecture the humans on how to live better, healthier lives. Instead, he teaches them.
  • Catch Phrase:
Cquote1

 Sportacus: "Someone's in trouble!"

Stephanie: "There's always a way!"

Robbie Rotten: "I meant to do that!"

Cquote2
  • Chest Insignia: Sportacus' '10'.
  • The Chew Toy: Robbie.
  • Clark Kenting: Many of Robbie's disguises are rather flimsy. Yet somehow always fool everyone until his hat, wig, or moustache fall off.
    • Taken to the extreme in "Play Day" where his hat falls off and not one person yells "Robbie Rotten!" like they usually do.
  • Clip Show: "Dear Diary" and "Laziest Greatest Hits"
  • Cool Airship: Sportacus' airship.
  • Costume Test Montage: In "LazyTown's New Superhero", Stephanie tries on new superhero costumes.
  • Crying Wolf: In one episode, Ziggy was playing pranks by saying untrue things, such as there being a monkey playing trumpet outside or Trixie having a spider on her shoulder. The other kids get sick of it, and decide to ignore him, then, when he stumbles on Robbie plotting out loud in a cow costume, they refuse to believe he saw a talking, evil cow with a catapult. Kind of a Broken Aesop, in that it would have been a pretty reasonable thing for them to doubt anyway, even without Ziggy losing their trust by telling lies. (Though this is the same town where a Man disguises himself a sports elf...)
  • Cultural Translation: The BBC partly re-dubbed the show, with British voice actors speaking for puppet characters originally voiced by Americans. However, the human characters' American and Icelandic accents were untouched. Additionally, they seem to have left them all alone for LazyTown Entertainment/BBC co-production LazyTown Extra.
    • Heck, the entire show underwent a massive overhaul when it hit American shores. For example: the town itself was made brighter and more colorful, most of the live-action characters were turned into cute puppets (and some were gotten rid of alltogether), Sportacus was changed from an Elf to a superhero, and so on. While the show still retains some of it's weird/strange foreigness, its got nothing on the original Icelandic plays.
  • Dastardly Whiplash: Robbie Rotten may not have the loftiest of goals (he just wants the kids to be lazy so they won't be running back and forth across the roof of his subterranean lair all day - one might suggest he move, but it's probably rent-controlled), but he more than makes up for it with the kind of elaborate costumes and schemes that define this trope.
  • Dawson Casting: Stephanie is eight years old (nine by the time of LazyTown Extra), while the actress who played her was a young teen.
    • And if rumors are to be believed, LazyTown is returning in 2011 and might even have Julianna reprise her role as Stephanie...despite the fact that she is now 20 years old and will still be playing an 9 year old.
      • Turns out the show is filming new episodes now in 2012, with a new young actress playing the part of Stephanie.
  • Descriptive Ville
  • Determinator: It's a wonder why Robbie Rotten even bothers with his schemes to get Sportacus to leave LazyTown anymore, since he has failed so many times before. His plans might not be up to scratch, but you can't fault his determination.
  • Disguised in Drag: Robbie disguised as "The Birthday Fairy" and "Miss Roberta".
    • You can also see a variety of ladies dresses in Robbie's disguise chambers that he is yet to wear.
  • Dub Name Change: Both the show and characters names were changed for an English audience:
    • Latibær to LazyTown - Literal translation
    • Glanni Glæpur (Reckless Crime) to Robbie Rotten
    • Solla Stirða (Solla Inflexible) to Stephanie
    • Halla Hrekkjusvín (Halla Prankster) to Trixie
    • Siggi Sæti to (Siggi Sweet) Ziggy
    • Goggi Mega to Pixel
    • Nenni Níski (Nenni Cheapskate) to Stingy
    • Íþróttaálfurinn (The Sports Elf) to Sportacus
    • Stína Símalína (Stína Phoneline) to Bessie Busybody
    • Bæjarstjórinn (The Mayor) to Mayor Milford Meanswell
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: Unexpectedly, this show has gained a rather large fanbase of older women who regard both Sportacus and Robbie Rotten as sex symbols. Magnús Scheving has expressed surprise and happiness over the fact.
  • Expository Theme Tune: Welcome to LazyTown/A place where you'll wanna stay/You'll meet Robbie with his Rotten plan/ And Sportacus saving the day/Stephanie is new in town/And soon she and Ziggy are friends/
  • Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: Robbie.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: For Robbie Rotten's schemes, natch.
  • Fan Service: One might argue that the outfits worn by Sportacus and Robbie are a little too tight (especially in the crotch area) than particularly necessary on a kids' show. Many female fans would disagree.
    • Then there's Stephanie's short pink dress, though that might not be intentional considering she is supposed to be eight years old.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Robbie Rotten can build anything out of anything he has in his lair. He even has a Microwave which creates the inventions for him.
    • Pixel is able to build almost anything, from hovering cameras, to a device that transports people into storybooks, to a remote control which can control literally everything, including random electronic things he has in his room to people. In Secret Agent Zero, the 007 parody Episode, he played the role of Q. And he is 9 years old.
  • Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Sportacus has a pair of wide, friendly baby-blues that appear almost photoshopped in their blueness. On the other hand, Robbie not only has pale grey eyes, but also sports highly-arched eyebrows and heavy purple eye-shadow to emphasize the fact that he is indeed the villain.
  • Good Hair, Evil Hair: Oddly, inverted by the hero Sportacus, who wears a pencil mustache so sharp it looks like it could double as a scalpel.
    • This is further inverted by Harmless Villain Robbie Rotten, who is clean shaven to the point you wonder if the actor isn't wearing a rubber mask (actually, he kind of is). His otherwise meticulous grooming is also a bit off on the evil-dress-o-meter, but being in a dark purple color scheme helps.
  • Happy Dance: "Bing Bang"
  • High-Class Glass: Robbie Rotten sports it for his "Meansbad" disguise in "Secret Agent Zero."
  • Holding Out for a Hero: Sportacus came to the town with the aim of helping the kids live more healthy and active lives, but he seems to be the only form of law enforcement in the town and ends up spending most of his time rescuing the kids from dangerous situations.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Robbie may be one of the the most active people in LazyTown due to his schemes, despite supposedly being the laziest.
  • Idiot Ball: Robbie Rotten has one goal and one goal only: Get rid of Sportacus and return the town to its original lazy state. So when he gets his hands on a genie's lamp, what doesn't he wish for? Sportacus to disappear!
    • Admittedly, Robbie eventually did use his final wish to get rid of Sportacus, but he's too fast for the genie, and he accidentally makes Robbie Disappear instead.
  • It Is Always Spring: Stephanie is apparently staying for the Summer. So, the show takes place in Summer, right? Well, there's two winter-themed episodes, and an episode where they go to school. Looks like Steph is staying longer than we thought.
    • Either that, or she's convinced her family to move to LazyTown.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: There's an Episode where Robbie switches Sportacus's shoes with fake shoes that make his feet go crazy. The Title? Defeeted.
  • Invincible Hero: Sportacus. He has no character flaws, never fails at anything he tries and is hero-worshiped by everyone (except Robbie Rotten). The only thing that keeps him from being a Mary Sue is that he's as naive as everyone else in the show (except, again, Robbie) to the point where it becomes Adorkable.
  • Jackass Genie: In the episode "The Lazy Genie", Robbie acquires a genie (by ordering it), and his first two wishes are for all the fruit and vegetables and all the sports equipment to disappear, but he forgets to specify a duration, and they return not 5 minutes later. Robbie then uses his final wish to get rid of Sportacus - but the Genie gets rid of Robbie instead because he found him "annoying".
  • Kangaroo Court: One episode featured Robbie Rotten stealing a cake and framing Sportacus. In a trial where Robbie acted as a prosecutor, he asked Sportacus questions like if it was true nobody saw him not eating the cake. In the end, he played the judge (Mayor Meanswell) like a puppet (sure, unlike Sportacus, Stephanie and Robbie, all characters are literal puppets but still).
  • Kryptonite Factor: Sportacus' is sugar; eating any sugary food renders him immediately comatose, and fresh fruit (which contain quite a bit of sugar.) or vegetables (a classification that includes a handful of "sugary" foods, most prominently the sugar beet) are required to restore him.
  • Lampshade Hanging: "Secret Agent Zero" is just lousy with this. "That's not real. It's a puppet!"
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: Robbie has a really big chin that he's quite proud of, but he's not at all 'manly' in other ways... and he's a villain.
  • Lazy Bum: Subverted with Robbie, whose efforts to get everyone else to stop doing things (or just ruin their day), actually take a lot of work; this was lampshaded at least once.
  • Limited Social Circle: LazyTown proper had four episodes with characters besides the nine above, and those characters are a genie, a Robot Dog, a wind-up dancing marionette, and four foreign kids who are on-screen barely 2 seconds.
    • Not to mention the fact that the mayor also doubles as the town's librarian, school principal, postmaster, banker, shopkeeper, etc. Presumably because the rest of the town's citizens are too lazy to do their jobs.
    • Sportacus also seems be the only form of law enforcement in the town, though the only people who ever seem to get into trouble are the other eight main characters.
    • LazyTown Extra has Ziggy visiting local kids, and interviewing them. Everybody else is at home in LazyTown, though Stephanie has somehow wound up with multiracial back-up dancers.
  • Limited Wardrobe: It is not totally unexpected that this applies to a show where 2/3 of the characters are puppets, but all the puppet characters have had other costumes, while except for disguises Robbie never wears anything but his suit or his pyjamas and robe, and Sportacus has only ever worn something else (even to bed) when he changed shoes, or added a scarf on a cold day. Well, and that time Robbie de-aged him, and he had to borrow Pixel's clothes because his were too big. (strangely, said clothes were not Pixel's usual ones, but fairly generic pre-teen boy's clothes, and also too big for Pixel if we're taking puppet size literally.)
  • Literal Genie: In one episode, Robbie acquires a genie, and his first two wishes are for all the fruit and vegetables and all the sports equipment to disappear, but he forgets to specify a duration, and they return not 5 minutes later. He fails to wish away Sportacus.
  • Meaningful Name: The only two of LazyTown's nine recurring characters this doesn't apply to in some form are Stephanie and Ziggy.
  • Mythology Gag: References back to the Icelandic plays in the television show.
  • Names to Run Away From: Robbie Rotten.
  • No Export for You: Despite having been available in other markets since 2007, a number of episodes have never been broadcast in the United States. On April 18, 2011, PBSKids Sprout announced that it had acquired the U.S. broadcast rights to both seasons of the program.
  • Noodle Incident: In the first episode, the Mayor is lamenting how awful the town is, and notes that when the town was previously in trouble, they would call for help from a guy with a big number 9 on his shirt. He manages to reactivate the signal-machine and Sportacus shows up soon after. "Are you Number Nine?" the Mayor asks. "No," says Sportacus, pointing at the back of his jersey, "I'm Number Ten." There is no explanation for what any of this means.
    • Of course it could just be that by this time Sportacus is the tenth elf to be the town's hero, with the Mayor recalling the previous one.
  • Not Allowed to Grow Up: In season 2 Stephanie, despite very visible growth in the season break, is still played as a young girl. However, there are limits — in 2013, for season 3, Julianna Rose Mauriello (now in her 20s) was replaced by the much younger Chloe Lang.
  • Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Robbie:
Cquote1

 "They want me to be nice

They want me to be good

But I’m a simple rotten guy

Who’s just misunderstood"

Cquote2
  • Oh Wait, This Is My Grocery List: Parodied in the episode "Rottenbeard" where Robbie Rotten, disguised as a pirate, pulls out his grocery list instead of the treasure map.
  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Both Sportacus and Robbie sometimes slip into Icelandic accents.
    • Sometimes? Sportacus doesn't even seem to be trying to hide his accent...though this is most likely because he hails from "an island in the North Sea."
  • The Other Darrin: Julianna Rose Mauriello was the original Stephanie, playing the role from 2004 to 2010 (up to 2008 on camera, up to 2010 doing live events). With the production of Season 3 in 2013 (when Mauriello was 22) a new Stephanie was cast, Chloe Lang.
  • Our Elves Are Better: Sportacus was a traditional Icelandic Elf named Íþróttaálfurinn ("The Sports Elf") in the original Latibær plays. In addition to being amazingly fit and agile, he also had magical powers. To make the character more universal, he was changed into a superhero for the TV series.
    • Although it hasn't been confirmed, it's possible he is still an Elf in the TV series. His ears are always covered, he owns a magical crystal and can apparently grant wishes, he leads a very hidden life and it would certainly explain why he is able to perform such amazing feats in every episode.
      • It's worth mentioning that he's still an Elf in the TV Series dub in Iceland.
  • Panty Shot: No comment.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: No-one ever realises the person causing trouble who looks like Robbie Rotten in a silly outfit is, in fact, Robbie Rotten in a silly outfit. This is especially hilarious because his cover is blown at the end of EVERY episode, yet the townspeople will still fall for his Paper-Thin Disguise in the next episode. (And yet, Robbie Rotten himself thinks his disguises are amazingly awesome and calls himself "The Master of Disguise.")
    • Subverted in the episode "Defeeted" where the mayor recognises Robbie straight away, even though the villain is wearing one of his better disguises: a superhero outfit. The characters have fallen for lesser disguises in the past.
  • Perverse Sexual Lust: Just ask 4chan about Stephanie.
  • Pimp Duds: Robbie Rotten isn't a pimp, but his standard outfit looks somewhere between a pimp outfit, a spandex catsuit and that of a refined 1890s gentleman. Then there's the origianal Icelandic stage play, where he wore the full pimp outfit, complete with cane.
  • Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Stephanie and Sportacus.
  • Pirate: The episode "Rottenbeard" fits this trope to a tee.
  • Plucky Girl: Stephanie.
  • Race Lift: The English language of the show turned the Icelandic Latibær plays' red-headed hellion Halla and pale computer Geek Goggi into Asian (and slightly less wild) Trixie and black (and possibly more computer-obsessed) Pixel. The mayor's skin also darkened several shades, but given he's closely related to a character who stayed white, and not very dark (and a puppet, so actor race gives no clues), it's unclear if he too had his race changed, or if he's just meant to be tanned.
    • In the original play, Goggi was a white baldling wearing green glasses and pyjamas!
    • And Sportacus was an Elf, so it's a species-lift as well.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense: Stingy
  • Power-Up Food: The "sports candy", particularly if eaten by Sportacus, but sometimes characters will also benefit from eating them.
  • Robot Dog: Robbie built one of these. The dog attacks when the word 'trouble' is uttered. There's even a song about him.
Cquote1

  I love my purple ball of fluff / I’ll flip a switch and turn him off

Cquote2
  • Rose-Haired Girl: Stephanie
  • Save the Villain: Sportacus will usually do it for Robbie Rotten. In at least one episode, "LazyTown's New Superhero," Robbie then betrays that help by trying to leave Sportacus stranded on top of the billboard hiding the entrance to his lair, the same one that he was trapped on top of.
  • Schemer: Robbie.
  • Self Fanservice: Oh, the things the fandom does to Sportacus and Robbie Rotten... The extreme athletecism of the former and... suspicious bulge of the latter may be bordering on Parent Service. Either way, the Periphery Demographic has made some... interesting things of both of them. And, from an entirely different quarter, Stephanie.
  • Silly Walk: Robbie's trademark walk.
  • Sorry I Left the BGM On: In the episode "Rockin' Robbie", when Robbie is moaning about how the others are listening to a music we hear his signature theme playing in the background. He then yells stop the music, which then stops and we cut to the speakers shaking (as though they have just stopped).
  • Spandex, Latex, or Leather
  • Spoiled Brat: Stingy
  • Spot the Imposter: Partially subverted amusingly when Robbie Rotten impersonates Sportacus. The other characters can't tell the difference despite Robbie being, among other things, 4-5 inches taller and a lot less muscular. Stephanie suggests a race to tell them who is the real Sportacus, and Robbie wins because Sportacus is forced to forfeit the race halfway through to rescue Bessie. Stephanie realises that the one who forfeited to rescue Bessie must be the real one, says so, and unmasks Robbie by pulling his false moustache off. The tag would be a very touching Aesop on friendship if it wasn't for the simple fact that Robbie and Sportacus look nothing alike, and they should have been able to tell them apart by looking at them.
    • Then there's the episode 'Double Trouble' where Robbie impersonates the mayor, and once again everyone falls for it, despite the fact that Robbie looks nothing like the mayor.
  • Starring Special Effects: The majority of the main cast are puppets.
  • Sugar Bowl: Come on, who wouldn't want to live in LazyTown?
    • Quite a few people, actually.
    • Though sugar is a prohibited substance, so LazyTown should be more accurately referred to as a Fruit Bowl.
      • Nope, not "prohibited" at all, since Ziggy has copious supplies of candy available at all times.
        • Additionally, Bessie Busybody regularly bakes cakes.
        • And fruit has a lot of sugar in, anyway. Maybe it's an Artificial Sweetener Bowl?
  • Suppressed Mammaries: Julianna Rose Mauriello has had to have her breasts taped down since puberty, as Stephanie is supposed to be 8 years old (or 9 now, since one year's passing has been acknowledged). She was 17 during the last filming.
    • That said, 'Stephanie' (Solla Stirða) was played by actual adult women in all the original Icelandic plays from before the TV show, and one of them was quite busty with no attempt to do anything about it; while Julianna definitely had grown between seasons and doesn't really look any bigger in out-of-character shots from the same era.
  • Talk Like a Pirate: YOU AAAAARE A PIRATE!
  • Team Spirit: While many of LazyTown's episodes revolve around the values of working together, there is one in particular that focuses on teamwork, complete with a song:
Cquote1

 "Teamwork, do it together / Teamwork, friends forever,

We're all for one and one for all / We'll help each other stand tall,

With teamwork!"//

Cquote2
  • The Cast Showoff: Sportacus showcases Scheving's amazing stunts and talent as a gymnast, to the point where the character won't simply walk anywhere - instead he'll flip, somersault, walk on his hands, cartwheel, etc. just to get to wherever he needs to be. Granted, the show was created by Scheving himself, but still...
    • This troper remembers a particularly hilarious scene in which Sportacus made the simple act of writing a letter look like an exhausting gymnastic workout.
  • The Fair Folk: Although he got downright cuddly in later adaptations, the forerunner of the character who became Sportacus is damn scary, though technically good, in the first play. There are times this troper finds herself wondering if Áfram Latibær's moral isn't actually supposed to be "behave, or the big bad scary Sports Elf will get you".
  • The Something Song: Stingy has a song referred to by fans as "The Mine Song". (It is also known simply as "Mine".)
  • Token Human: Stephanie is the only human child, and the only female human, even though her uncle and every other townsperson is a puppet. The other two humans are the hero and the villian. Extra points for being the new kid, totally unfamiliar with the puppets' weird ways.
  • Training Montage: Played with when Sportacus was training Ziggy to be a hero like him. The music even vaguely sounded like the Rocky music.
  • Treasure Map: YOU ARE A PIRATE!
Cquote1

 We got us a map

That leads us to a hidden box

That's all locked up with locks

And buried deep away

We'll dig up the box

We know it's full of precious booty

Burst open the locks

And then we'll say "Hurray"!

Cquote2
Cquote1

 "You are never alone / Even though someone tossed you aside.

You are never alone / Because you have me."

Cquote2
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