Zoey McMullen/Tropes

Zoey McMullen is an animated series created by The Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken, and his first-non Cartoon Network show. It follows the adventures of a sassy yet responsible PPG-like character who lives on her own in the Funny Animal town of Theodore Street, accompanied by a jackalope, an elephant, a coyote and (later near the end of Season 2) a cabbit.

To be basic, this is The Powerpuff Girls, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers and Friends all rolled into one show.

The series premiered on Disney XD in September 17, 2009 for three 20-episode seasons, ending on July 26, 2012.

Tropes

 * Absent-Minded Professor: Dr. Slithers.
 * Acid Reflux Nightmare: In "Big Girl Zoey", Zoey develops eating habits from eating deep-fried donuts, and a few days later after her obesity, she has a nightmare where the donuts are alive and are forcing her to eat them. Due to the way the donuts are depicted in her nightmare, she is actually scared of them.
 * Adorably Precocious Child: Zoey is a 6-year old girl who lives on her own and mostly acts like a responsible teenager.
 * Adorkable: Zoey at times.
 * Affectionate Parody: The episode "Zoey in the House" is this to the Disney Channel anime live-action show Cory in the House.
 * All Just a Dream: The episodes "Nightmare Frightmare", "Where Did Everybody Go?" and "All Sketched Up" turn out to be this.
 * Animation Bump: Episodes animated by Rough Draft Studios tend to resemble the animation from Season 5-6 episodes of The Powerpuff Girls, while episodes animated by Toon City and Synergy Animation are more fast-paced and fluid.
 * Art Shift: Zoey's nightmare in "Nightmare Frightmare" is animated in a Robot Chicken-esque stop-motion style courtesy of Screen Novelties.
 * Artistic License - Biology: In the episode "Babyslither", Zoey agrees to babysit Annieconda Slithers' baby, who happens to be inside of an egg placed in a crib. Anacondas in reality do lay eggs but they do it inside their body, not outside.
 * Babysitting Episode: "Babyslither" and "Boobysitter".
 * Badass Adorable: Zoey can be quite tough, whether provoked or unprovoked.
 * Perhaps her most notable example is in the Season 2 episode "The New Friend", where she confronts and attempts to call out a weasel crook that is trying to rob her soon-to-be friend Cindy Cabbitson. When the crook laughs believing that Zoey can't fight him because she's just a "weak and puny kid", Zoey promptly responds by attacking him, stomping on his foot, giving him a painful bite in the tail, etc.
 * Bears Are Bad News: The episode "Conrad and the Lost Disc" features a band of grizzly bears called The Bad Bears, who make insulting songs about people.
 * Berserk Button: The Zoey clones in "Zoey's Multi-Trouble" HATE being called "stupid" and "useless", which leads to them attacking Zoey after she (accidentally) does so.
 * Between My Legs: In the episode "Babyslither", Zoey returns to the baby snake's crib only to find just the egg it hatched out of. When she hears a high-pitched hissing sound, we then get a shot of the baby snake between Zoey's legs.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Zoey.
 * Bookworm: Zoey can often be seen reading some novels. This is more prominent, however, on her Season 2-debuted friend, Cindy Cabbitson.
 * Butt-Monkey: Zoey in "Zoey's Bad Day" and "All Sketched Up".
 * Canada, Eh?: The main character herself eats pancakes with maple syrup and says "eh".
 * In the episode "Trip to Toronto", she even went on vacation to the Canadian city of Toronto.
 * Catch-Phrase: Zoey occasionally punctuates her dialogue with the Canadian interjection of "eh".
 * Cats Are Mean: The cat burglars in the episode "Safe Cracker Zoey". They compel her to help them crack a safe in a bank and threaten to kill her if she refuses.
 * Averted with Cindy Cabbitson, who is actually nice and friendly yet quite ditzy.
 * Cat Stereotype: The black cat that crosses Zoey's path at the beginning of the episode "Zoey's Bad Day", soon giving her unexpected bad luck.
 * Christmas Episode: "Merry Christmas, Zoey McMullen!"
 * Comically Missing the Point: Zoey's six years old, although she's not that gullible.
 * Composite Character: Zoey appears to be one of Blossom and Alex Russo.
 * Curse Cut Short: This happens quite often, usually with mild curse words.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Zoey can make pretty sarcastic remarks when she wants to. Jackie and Conrad probably count too.
 * Denser and Wackier: The show, unlike PPG and FHfIF, occasionally uses live-action footage ala SpongeBob SquarePants and actually uses a Wild Take (for Zoey, at least).
 * Determinator: Zoey.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Zoey was once sporting a purple shirt. Now in "Gnatastrophe", she's sporting a dark blue one. This change left fans confused.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: Zoey gets annoyed whenever she is called "watermelon head" by mean background characters.
 * Episode Title Card: Season 1 used title cards that showed Zoey on the right with a spotlight cast onto her. To the left was the name of the episode in Balloon Extra Bold, also the same font used for the 1984-2009 Nickelodeon logo.
 * Starting with Season 2 and 3, however, the title cards shifted from just Zoey in a spotlight to rather generic title cards that match the plot of the episode, or sometimes just the title on a striped or weird background.
 * Expressive Shirt: The smiley face on Cindy's sweater copies every expression she does.
 * Expy:
 * Zoey. Craig McCracken would often describe her as kind of like a 6-year old Alex Russo. It Makes Sense In Context considering both are made by Disney and are played by the same actress.
 * Jackie is more or less of a Mordecai expy.
 * Eye Pop: The only Craig McCracken cartoon to utilize this trope! Zoey often falls into this whenever she sees something very shocking. Oddly enough, this show uses both the "pop out of sockets" variant and the "multiple eyes" variation.
 * Fearsome Critters of American Folklore: Zoey's best friend, Jackie, is a jackalope.
 * Feathered Fiend: The titular criminal in "Sneaky Beaky".
 * "Freaky Friday" Flip: This is the main plot of the episode "Scary Sunday".
 * Funny Foreigner: The absent-minded serpent scientist, Dr. Slithers, speaks with a German accent combined with his Sssssnake Talk.
 * Furry Confusion: Regular non-anthropomorphic animals sometimes appear when the plot demands it.
 * Furry Reminder:
 * Melissa makes trumpeting noises whenever she's scared and occasionally uses her trunk like a third arm.
 * Conrad sometimes howls like a real coyote whenever he cries out of sadness.
 * Dr. Slithers moves around in the same manner real snakes do.
 * Genki Girl: Cindy often falls into this trope.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Even for a Disney show, the show sometimes puts some hidden innuendo in some episodes.
 * Harmless Electrocution: In the episode "Lightning Girl", Zoey gets struck by lightning while trying to get back home. Not only does she survive from it, she also develops the ability to shoot bursts of lightning from her hands.
 * Heavy Voice: Zoey gets this is the episode "Big Girl Zoey", where she becomes morbidly obese.
 * Honorable Elephant: Melissa, despite her bumbling.
 * Humiliation Conga: Zoey experiences this in "Zoey's Bad Day".
 * Hypocritical Humor: Conrad will sometimes comment on something that his friends do that he does.
 * Improbable Age: Zoey often gets small jobs like a one-man band, etc. Then again, she acts like a responsible teenager.
 * Insomnia Episode: In "Peace and Quiet", Zoey is incapable of falling asleep due to loud noises outside.
 * Interspecies Friendship: Zoey's friends are a jackalope, an elephant and a coyote.
 * Interspecies Romance: In the episode "Jackalope Romance", Jackie (a jackalope) starts developing a crush on a female rabbit.
 * Dr. Slithers is also shown to have an anaconda wife named Annieconda Slithers.
 * Invisible Parents:
 * Exaggerated for Zoey. Her parents never appear at all, not even a single mention.
 * Jackie occasionally makes mentions of his father, who, like Zoey's parents, never appears either.
 * Jerk With A Heart of Gold: Zoey can be quite cocky and stubborn but she still loves her friends and is mostly a nice girl.
 * Lightning Can Do Anything: The lightning that strikes Zoey in "Lightning Girl" gives her the superpower to fire lightning from her hands.
 * Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Exaggerated as Zoey is the only human character in a Funny Animal town.
 * Mismatched Eyes: Zoey has one red eye and one green eye.
 * Mix-and-Match Critters: Jackie is a jackalope (a rabbit with antelope horns) and Cindy is a cabbit (half-cat, half-rabbit). Both of them are based on real mythological animals.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: In the episode "Coyote Ugly", Zoey, Jackie and Melissa laugh at Conrad after the fur on his face accidentally gets shaved off in a haircut mishap. Then later, when they realize Conrad has gotten depressed, they later feel remorse for making fun of him and try to apologize to their coyote friend.
 * Plucky Girl: Zoey.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Zoey is an aversion. Despite having one red eye, she is a nice and friendly girl.
 * Shock and Awe: Zoey gets this in "Lightning Girl" after being struck by lightning.
 * Shout-Out:
 * The title card to "Zoey the Model" is reminiscent of the painting, The Son of Man.
 * In the episode "Bewitched", Zoey makes several references to the Wizards of Waverly Place character Alex Russo. Doubles as Actor Allusion, since she and Russo are both played by Selena Gomez.
 * The episode "All Sketched Up" is one big shout-out to the 1953 Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoon "Duck Amuck". It turns out to be a nightmare Zoey was having, however.
 * Singing in the Shower: Zoey sometimes does this. Most especially in "Zoey of the Opera" where she sings Largo al factotum (in her normal singing voice, no less).
 * Slapstick Knows No Gender: Zoey sometimes, especially when it involves Melissa's clumsy demeanor.
 * Snakes Are Sinister: Averted with Dr. Slithers.
 * Sssssnake Talk: Dr. Slithers hisses on his "s"'s, combined with his German accent.
 * Sticky Situation: In "A Gluey Situation" Zoey accidentally steps on some glue on the sidewalk and her attempts to get it off only result in the whole town being sticky.
 * Stylistic Self-Parody: Just like her Cartoon Network counterparts, Zoey has a big oval-shaped head with large eyes and lacks toes, fingers, a nose, ears and a neck. Her friends or other characters often comment on her appearance as a result.
 * Superstition Episode: "Zoey's Bad Day".
 * Temporary Bulk Change: "Big Girl Zoey" has Zoey put on weight from after having deep fried donuts bringing up new eating habits.
 * The Klutz: Melissa Trumpets.
 * Thick-Line Animation: Just like its predecessor. Zoey's ponytail, for some reason however, is thin-outlined.
 * Those Wily Coyotes: Definitely not the case with Conrad Howlington.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Zoey loves to eat pancakes. Luckily, she controls herself.
 * Unexplained Accent: Cindy Cabbitson has a subtle Texas accent to her voice.
 * Vegetarian Carnivore: Dr. Slithers is a snake, but he prefers to eat vegetables instead of the animals that real snakes prey on.
 * Verbal Tic: Zoey peppers her sentences with an occasional "eh".
 * Vocal Dissonance: 6-year old Zoey sounds like a teenager due to her being voiced by Selena Gomez (and occasionally Demi Lovato).
 * The Voiceless: Zoey becomes this in "Speechless", after overusing her voice to sing her favorite pop song.
 * Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Averted for Cindy Cabbitson. Her eyes are indeed yellow but her personality would suggest otherwise.

Funny

 * Almost every time Zoey screams, either out of shock or patience loss. It's like Selena Gomez (her voice actress) having a bit too much fun with the script.

Trivia

 * Actor Allusion: In the episode "Bewitched", Zoey makes several references to Alex Russo, a character also portrayed by Selena Gomez.
 * Celebrity Voice Actor: Selena Gomez, best known for playing Alex Russo on Wizards of Waverly Place and Mavis from Hotel Transylvania, voices the title protagonist, Zoey McMullen. And there's Mary Tyler Moore of The Mary Tyler Moore Show fame as her ditzy adult buddy, Melissa Trumpets.
 * Dawson Casting: Selena Gomez, who was 17 during the show's first years in 2009, voices the 6-year old Zoey. To a lesser extent, there's her 16-year old best friend Jackie, who is voiced by then-27-year-old Benjamin Diskin.