Chowder

Radda radda radda!

You take the moon and you take the sun,
You take everything that seems like fun!
You stir it all up when you're done;
Radda Radda Radda Rad-Radda Radda!

From C.H. Greenblatt, formerly a writer and storyboard artist on both SpongeBob SquarePants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, comes this little crazy series inspired by food and Dr. Seuss.

Set in Marzipan City, a odd place full of weird and wonderful creatures, and even weirder and more wonderful foods, the show tells the story of Chowder, a little fat lavender bear-cat-rabbit boy who is the apprentice of Mung Daal, chef and owner of his namesake catering company. Along with Shnitzel, the gigantic rock monster who works as a cleaner and can only say "Radda" (though everyone still understands him), and Truffles, Daal's fairy wife, they spend many crazy and wacky adventures together in the realm of cooking, while Chowder dreams of one day becoming a chef himself, though his eating habits might prove a problem...

The series finale aired August 7, 2010.

Tropes used in Chowder include:
  • Absentee Actor: "The Apprentice Scouts" has the distinction of being the only episode Mung doesn't appear in.
    • Mung's absence is lampshaded in "A Faire to Remember", then subverted as he does appear just before the episode ends.
  • Abusive Parents: It's usually implied and/or outright stated that Gazpacho is emotionally and socially abused by his mother.
    • And it was revealed that Gazpacho is his own mother.
      • But that wasn't real...OR WAS IT?!?!?!?
    • Such is also true with Gorgonzola. His mentor Stilton is known to emotionally abuse him.
  • The Alleged Car: Escargot in "The Snail Car". But in the other episodes, she seems to run fine.
  • All Just a Dream The finale, Chowder Grows Up, according to Chowder during the ending puppet segment
  • Alternative Calendar: Shnitzel apparently gets his check on Fivesday.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population
  • Ambiguously Gay: Ambiguously Bi, actually. Reuben, the pig that evaluates Mung and Endive for their "Certifrycate" re-certification, seems interested in Endive. In another episode, when he meets Shnitzel, he goes "You're tall." Not to mention all the swimsuit clad men on his boat.
    • Don't forget Mung Daal, who occasionally has Ho Yay moments with Shnitzel and crossdresses on multiple occasions.

Truffles: Why am I always catching you in tights?

    • Jeff the Tapeworm, who seems awfully attached to Chowder. No pun intended.
    • There was also the police officer Snow Leopard. Rawr.
  • An Aesop: The Veggie Guru's song contains one that is surprisingly not Green Aesop, and also surprisingly powerful. It's intended for both children and adults. It says that in order for a child to be raised correctly, it needs to be both nurtured and disciplined, and uses the way plants grow as a metaphor. Mung Daal is the "gentle touch" and Truffles is the "firm hand". Unfortunately, it's broken at the end of the episode where Chowder ignores both Truffles and Mung Daal to fawn over Shnitzel, who "saved them". This was probably on purpose.
  • Angrish: It is heavily implied that Shnitzel's entire language is this.
    • Sorta confirmed, when Truffles got her voice changed, everyone was stress free and Schnitzel could talk. No one liked it, so he started speaking "Radda" again after about five seconds.
  • Anthropomorphic Food: About half of what they cook comes to life, and a lot of the ingredients are mobile fruit.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: No matter how many horrible freak accidents he gets into, Mung refuses to believe that there's a real curse on the Chain Letter recipe he received.
  • Art Major Biology: Played for laughs in one episode. After Schnitzel gets his backside run over by a giant cheese grater he appears to be about to let out a piercing wail when he successfully holds it back. It promptly escapes through his bowels.
  • Art Shift: Occurs during the climax of "Burple Nurples" where we see Chowder's face (still animated) with slightly greater detail, including being able to discern his fur (which otherwise appears undefined and uniformly solid over his body).
  • As You Know: Lampshaded. After Chowder asks Mung several questions pertaining to the plot of the episode, Chowder asks him why he asks so many questions. Mung replies that it's the easiest way for their loyal fanbase to learn what's happening.

Chowder: (waving to the screen) Hi, loyal fanbase!

  • Ascended Extra: Gazpacho, who started out on the same level with Gorgonzola and Endive to appearing in virtually every episode, even for just a minute.
  • Author Avatar: Greenblatt appears in puppet form in "Shnitzel Quits" and "Endive's Dirty Secret".
    • Not to mention "Old Man Thyme", where he's dogpiled by a Wave of Babies.
  • Babies Ever After: Chowder and Panini have 50 babies. Yes, 50.
  • Banana Peel: Shnitzel slips on one while trying to carry the lead farfel.
  • Beautiful All Along: Subverted with Todd from "Sheboodles!". Everyone (sans Endive) likes him and say that he's beautiful the way he is. Then Endive sticks him under a heat lamp to finish cooking and transforms him into a stud, which is his true form.
  • Beleaguered Assistant: Shnitzel.
  • Better Than a Bare Bulb: Has lots and lots of Lampshade Hanging.
  • Big Eater: Chowder, who is obviously an exemption to the 'anything but fat' rule.
    • And Mr. Fugu.
  • Big No: From Chowder, more than once:
    • When he is banned from Gazpacho's fruit stand. As we mention on this page, in Marzipan City, food is Serious Business.
    • When Kevin the fuzz ball is thrown in the trash on "Chowder's Catering Company."
    • A Slow Motion one in "Burple Nurples" when Mung throws the nurples into Mount Fondoom.
  • Bishonen: Ceviche.
  • Blackmail: One episode featured everyone (including Gazpacho's Mother in town blackmailing Miss Endive with an embarrassing picture of her eating toe jam with a fork which is disgusting because everyone else uses a spoon.
  • Blah Blah Blah: Mung does this quite a bit.
  • Blind Driving: One episode had a Mr. Magoo-esque character driving across the city, with police giving chase, and crashing into Mung Daal's kitchen, mistaking it for his home.
  • Brand X: Floss-Berries
  • Brick Joke: In "The Puckerberry Overlords" episode, Chowder ends up being sucked into his own mouth. After "Frank" captures him and takes him to Souron, Chowder eats a cherry and comments on how sour it is. A few moments later, it falls on Frank's head and knocks him to the floor.
  • Butt Monkey: Shnitzel.
  • Call a Rabbit a Smeerp: They actually do this with food. Strangely enough, everything but their food is named after our foods. They seem to enjoy zig-zagging this trope...
    • At one point regular Bananas are mentioned, though this may have been a slip, or just an excuse to have a Banana Peel...
    • "These aren't even real foods. They're just dumb made-up names."
    • We're making... bread!
  • Calvin Ball: Apparently, if the rules in Field Tournament Style Up and Down On the Ground Manja Flanja Blanja Banja Ishka Bibble Babble Flabble Doma Roma Floma Boma Jingle Jangle Every Angle Bricka Bracka Flacka Stacka Two Ton Rerun Free for All Big Ball made sense, the whole game would literally be trashed.
  • The Cameo: Ms. Bellum again, who even lampshades her own show by mentioning a large monster attacking the city.
  • Camp Gay: Snow Leopard Cop. Rawr.
  • Camp Straight: Ceviche, and his master Paté
  • Canon Discontinuity: Gazpacho is NOT his own mother, they denied that in the same episode they revealed it.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Florentine: "Now bear witness to me doing evil! And.. stuff. Time for evil! Pchoo! Whoosh!"
  • Catch Phrase: "A great chef needs a great mustache!" Also, there's an entire half-episode titled "The Catch Phrase", where Chowder adopts the slogan "WAZAM!" from the "Aluminum Chef".
    • Radda, radda!
    • "Hi, Chowder..." "I'm not your boyfriend!"
    • "Laaaadies~"
    • "Deekaloo, deekalee..."
      • And it was all parodied perfectly during "The Catch Phrase" when Gazpacho's is said to be "Come, sit, BUY MY BEANS!", something he has never said before.
        • He did say it in Panini for President, but without the "come, sit" part.
    • Mung has the tendency to shout "My kitchen! My beautiful kitchen!" whenever said kitchen is damaged and/or destroyed.
  • Chain of Deals: Chowder starts one in an effort to get his hat back. It doesn't work.
  • Cheerful Child: Panini.
  • Children Raise You: Chowder's new apprentice in "Chowder Grows Up" plays a big role in Chowder finally growing up.
  • City of Adventure
  • Cloudcuckooland: Oh, big time.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Chowder, and various minor characters.
    • Marmalade is also one. No wonder she and Chowder got along so well.

Marmalade: Before I met Chowder all I thought about was makeup! Now I think about giraffes and makeup!
Panini: Why giraffes?
(Marmalade shrugs)

  • Cluster F-Bomb: Not actually used, but if Shnitzel's swear jar is any indication, he drops these a lot!
  • Continuity Nod: When being interrogated by the police, Chowder breaks down and starts confessing to everything. After a brief time skip, he continues "-and the time my brain got big and I changed the show-"
  • Cooking Duel: Sometimes literally.
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: When someone filled Endive's pool with chocolate pudding, she demanded the culprits be "tickled mercilessly." In front of their children. Or burned at the stake. As long as it's in front of their children.
  • Couch Gag: There is always a different food in the oven during the theme song.
  • Covert Pervert: Surprisingly, Ceviche at some points.

Ceviche: On a scale of 1 to 10, how desperate would you say you are right now?
Panini: (crying) Eleven!
Ceviche: (sprays breath spray in his mouth) Ohhh yeeeah...

  • Creepy Monotone: "We Must Avenge Panini's Death."
  • Cross-Dressing Voices: Exception.
  • Cryptid Episode: In one episode, Chowder searches for Bigfood.
  • Cute Little Fangs: Chowder and Panini.
  • The Danza: Paul Reubens as Reuben.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Gazpacho got his own episode. Both Chowder and Mung only appear briefly in the beginning.
  • Death Glare: Schnitzel in Schnitzel Makes a Deposit
  • Demoted to Extra: Kimchi, Chowder's pet fart cloud swamp gas. Last had a major role in "My Big Fat Stinky Wedding." After that, he was only seen in his cage in Chowder's room.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Gumbo, Mung's old apprentice, wanted revenge on him for saying his dish needed more of an ingredient. Seriously.
  • The Ditz: Chowder.
  • Does Not Like Men: Endive, whose hatred stems from being left behind at the altar by her then-boyfriend. (Though this doesn't stop her from smooching Shnitzel or forming a crush on him later ...)
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: A large part of "The Thrice Cream Man". "Scoop-in-mouth time!"
    • Gazpacho's lollistop patch in The Lollistops.
    • "They beat each other mercilessly with their bologna swords". This might be an Accidental Innuendo, but it seemed on purpose to me, especially later in the episode when Pe King held his bologna sword near his crotch.
    • "Flibber Flabber Diet" will leave you feeling... quite unclean... once you take a while to realize what the Flibbius Flabbius plant looks like.
  • Doomy Dooms of Doom: Chowder's Wisdom Tooth, in The Puckerberry Overlords:

And so Chowder and the tastebuds were led to what they believed to be certain doom. Well, maybe not certain doom; more like, doom with a strong possibility. Possibilidoom.

Chowder: It's even hotter in here! Why doesn't someone turn on the air-conditioner?
Truffles: Because we don't have air-conditioner, we have air-cornditioner! Cockamamie food puns!

Chowder: That's ah... maze-ing!
Gumbo: ... Very funny.
Chowder: That was funny?

Mung: "It's been months since I've seen my wife and kids."
Truffles: "What are you talking about, we don't have any kids."
Mung: "I hate it when that woman reads my thoughts."
Truffles: "THEN STOP THINKING OUT LOUD!"

  • Insufferable Genius: Chowder in "Brain Grub". He was smart for only about 5 minutes though.
  • Intelligible Unintelligible: Radda Radda. I mean, Shnitzel.
    • Subverted in "Gazpacho Stands Up", during his (extremely short) comedy routine he clearly says, "Okay", albeit with a Scoobydooish lisp.
    • Subverted in The Trouble With Truffles when he gets so calm he starts speaking normally.
      • Also subverted in a Puppet Segment where Shnitzel is seen petting a cat and saying "Yes you radda! Yes you radda!"
    • And Mr. Fugu's friend/pet, Foie Gras.
  • It's a Wonderful Plot: "Chowder Grows Up" features a variation, when Mung Daal shows Chowder what happened to the rest of the cast thanks to his refusal to grow up.
  • I Was Told There Would Be Cake: In "My Big Fat Stinky Wedding", Chowder is excited to get cake at Kimchi's wedding. However, The Cake Is a Lie.
  • Jerkass: Reuben and Gorgonzola. In fairness, Gorgonzola's hostility stems from the fact that he's stuck being an apprentice for a job he hates. It's also hinted that his master emotionally abuses him.
    • Endive. Especially in "The Prank".
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Chestnut.
    • Shnitzel at times.
  • Keet: Chowder
  • Lampshade Hanging: In "The Toots", Mung and Chowder lampshade the formula of the show...and then proceed to go about it anyway.
  • Large Ham: Jokes about food aside, Paté is pretty hammy. Chowder and Mung too.
  • Last-Episode New Character: Chowder's apprentice, Scraps.
  • Lethal Chef: Literally. In an early episode, Chowder accidentally adds rat poison to his Burple Nurple recipe. Since Mung doesn't want to crush his dreams, he's forced to try and get the Nurples away from Chowder by any means necessary. Including theft.
  • Let's Meet the Meat: Some of the dishes that Mung creates (like the giant roast), have eyes and mouths, appearing to be alive. Also, the Thrice Cream Man.
    • Played with in one episode had a "Queen Meach" surrounded by a squad of very aggressive soldier Meaches guarding her. Once the team explained they wanted to make her into a delicious pie, they were let through. The Meach Queen was still alive even after being made into a pie and eaten.
  • Lions and Tigers Snow Leopards and Humans, Oh my: And How! Also, it's never been verified what Mung is, but he does seem to be just a blue human.
    • He had a tail in one episode, though.
    • He might be a type of fey, his wife's a mushroom pixie, after all.
  • Long Title: Episode "Big Ball" is actually titled "Field Tournament Style Up and Down On the Ground Manja Flanja Blanja Banja Ishka Bibble Babble Flabble Doma Roma Floma Boma Jingle Jangle Every Angle Bricka Bracka Flacka Stacka Two Ton Rerun Free for All Big Ball".
  • Love Triangle: Marmalade loves Ceviché who loves Panini, who loves Chowder.
    • One episode implied that Endive might have a crush on Mung...
  • Man in a Kilt: Mung Daal.
  • Marshmallow Hell: Happened to Schnitzel in "Kid Schnitzel".
  • Medium Awareness: "Chowder, why does the music sound like it's gonna get all excited?" ...Then again, this show does have No Fourth Wall.
  • Medium Blending: The end credits feature puppet versions of the characters, which for some reason the Cartoon Network doesn't use. You can see what they look like Here and here. The show has also gone into puppet, claymation, and paper cutout mode, used animated sand in "The Lead Farfel", and had a CGI character in "The Deadly Maze". Not to mention stop motion food in the Idiosyncratic Wipes.
    • Cartoon Network in Scandinavia uses the end credit puppets, although not consistently.
  • Mind Screw: Don't even bother trying to make sense of how the glasses work in their world, as shown in "My Big Fat Stinky Wedding".
  • Ms. Fanservice: Subverted by Endive. Said subversion is lampshaded frequently.
  • Mix-and-Match Critters: Chowder and Panini are cat/rabbit/bear mashups.
    • Similarly, Gorgonzola is actually a cross between a rat and a hamster.
    • Marmalade is a mix between a frog and a pig.
  • Momma's Boy: Gazpacho. One episode really pointed out the obvious. Though he's also a slightly different version of the trope, in that he still runs a successful business.
  • Mommy Issues: Also Gazpacho.
  • My Beloved Smother: Gazpacho is very dependent of his mother.
  • My Brain Is Big: Chowder in "Brain Grub".
    • Gorgonzola's head shape implies that he has a huge brain. He's also portrayed as much more intelligent. Kinda...
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Chowder in aforementioned "Brain Grub". Chowder, after gaining Medium Awareness, turns the show into something smarter via sheer brainpower. Unfortunately, it also turns the show boring, prompting one of these reactions.
  • Never Say "Die": Averted, oddly. This is one of the few kids shows that cheerfully uses death for humor.
    • Of course, Greenblatt came from the other one.
    • Definitely averted in "The Dinner Theater", where Chowder plotted to have Panini killed (when she was standing in front of him) just so he can catch the murderer in the act. Probably one of the rare Jerkass (and downright cruel) moment from the titular character.
      • The same episode, where he spent the entire episode in a panic because he thought someone else (specifically Gazpacho, who was playing the villain, but he wasn't sure at the time) was going to kill her, so he tried to figure it out because he was playing the detective? Sounds more like a very Cloudcuckoolander investigation technique to me.
    • One episode had Endive's prank going so far she accidentally killed Mung Daal and had to find a way to get rid of Chowder, who was a witness... kinda.
  • Nice Hat: Chowder's purple hat. A secondary character named Ancho takes pride in his own hat in "Chowder Loses His Hat."
  • No Accounting for Taste: Mung Daal and Truffles seems to pretty much hate each other.
    • And then there's Endive and Schnitzel in the finale.
  • No Fourth Wall: It couldn't be more blatantly obvious. One Egregious example of Medium Awareness is when Chowder scribbles on the screen and then erases it. He points to the CN logo at the bottom of the screen, asking if it will come off, to which Gazpacho says, "That doesn't come off, I've tried." Sadly, the third season seems to have rebuilt the fourth wall for the most part.
    • One even MORE egregious example is when the gang spends all of Truffles' money. Mung says now that they've run out, they aren't scared that Truffles will find out, they're scared because now there's isn't enough money for the animation. The scene then cuts to the voice actors (still voice acting) hosting a car wash to raise enough money to get the animation budget back.
    • "I'm going as fast as I can, woman! These things take time!" "We've only got 11 minutes..."
    • While in the Deadly Maze, Chowder flees a giant chicken and runs into a physical representation of his conscience.

Conscience: You have to go back and save Gumbo!
Chowder: Are you sure? 'Cause Gumbo said he wants to hurt Mung.
Conscience: Trust me, he'll never pull it off. The episode's not long enough.

    • Mung: "Worst of all, YOU MADE THE VIEWERS CRY!!!"
    • In "The Heist" after Endive demands money for all of the gems (under her estate) that was destroyed, Mung exclaims, "There won't be enough money left in the budget for the third season!" Followed by Chowder stating that he "had so many more jokes to tell".
      • If you don't get the joke, the third season isn't only the final season, but is also only 7 episodes compared to the 20 of the previous two.
    • In "The Garden" the very first lines spoken was Mung telling Chowder, "So anyway this is going to be the best episode ever, because I'm gonna show you where food comes from!"
    • "What's Chowder's favorite cartoon!? I bet it's Chowder!"
  • No Indoor Voice: Truffles, full throttle.
  • Noodle Incident: "That was the craziest episode we've ever had!"
    • What about what happened when Mung made "Tooty Pooty Beans" and it resulted in him, Chowder, Truffles, and Schnitzel being chased by an angry mob.
  • Nose Nuggets: Many of Chowder's Gross Up Close Ups feature strings of snot hanging out of his nose.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: (after being offscreen for eleven minutes) "MAN! That must have been the CRAZIEST episode we've ever had!"
  • Older Than They Look: Mung and Truffles have been married for several hundred years.
  • Only One Name: None of the characters seem to have last name at all (except perhaps Mung Daal).
    • And judging by how other characters address her, Miss Endive's first name is never revealed.
  • Only the Author Can Save Them Now: Done In-Universe and played for laughs in one episode where the cartoonist literally picks Shnitzel up and saves him from a deadly fall. Then he sets him down on a cloud and talks to him.
  • The Other Darrin: Shnitzel was played by Kevin Michael Richardson in the pilot episode.
    • Chestnut was originally voiced by Tone Lōc in his first three appearances. In subsequent appearances John DiMaggio took over.
  • Organ Autonomy: Chowder's tongue in "Taste Buds".
  • Our Dragons Are Different: Chowder goes to live with them in an episode after he gains fire breath from eating a bunch of jalapenos.
  • Overly Long Gag: And often.
  • Pair the Spares: In the series finale, Shnitzel and Endive get married. Although Endive did show interest in him in 'Schnitzel Quits'.
  • Parental Abandonment: The whereabouts of Chowder's, Panini's, and Gorgonzola's parents are never discussed or referred.
    • Chowder lives with Mung Daal and Truffles. His parents actually may have abandoned him, or they're dead, or they lost Chowder. Whatever the reason for his lack of parents, Mung Daal has basically stepped in to serve as both Chowder's father and mentor.
      • It's actually a common feature of the classic 'apprentice' system that the apprentice came to live with the master.
      • In the episode "The Deadly Maze", during Gumbo's flashback of when he quit being Mung's apprentice, Mung says "Well, we lost another one. Shintzel, get the apprentice catalog!"
  • Parental Bonus: So much. "But...where did you get the mayonnaise?"
    • Or this tidbit from when Panini ran for president of the student council.

Mung: Fireworks? She's using fireworks.
Truffles: I'd completely forgotten fireworks even existed! * under breath* In my marriage. Whoa, who said that?

    • I doubt many young kids would recognize the Psycho or The Exorcist Shout Outs.
    • And then there's the sheer family-unfriendly bleakness of Gazpacho's one-liners...

Gazpacho (explaining why Chowder can't stay up past his bedtime): If there's one thing mother's taught me, it's to sleep as much as you can. That way you don't have to face the horrible reality of what your life's become.

Chestnut: Dinga-loo, dinga-lee. Chestnut gets this thing for free.

  • Sealed Evil In a Jar: The mold creature.
  • Sarcastic Clapping: Ms. Endive performs this in "A Taste of Marzipan".
  • Scary Black Man: Chestnut gives off vibes of this.
  • Scenery Porn: The pan shots of Marzipan City look like they came straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.
  • Screwed by the Network: During the first season, the airing of new episodes was frequently delayed, and recent new "episodes" are just one 15-minute segment where the other is a rerun (or a previous new episode).
    • And, depending on the time of day and your native country, how the CN logo often didn't actually show up in the correct corner during the "Don't write there!" gag until a permanent one was drawn into the episode.
  • Screw the Rules, I Make Them: The Cinnimini monster's rule 87, stating that Mung and Chowder cannot leave until beating him, and he cheats constantly in all but the first game.
    • And of course, he then refuses to let them leave even when Truffles actually manages to win

Mung: "This is home now, Chowder. This is home.

  • Serious Business: Truffles treats board games and mahjongg as this. One episode involved her battling it out against another character complete with music in the background.
    • And while we're here, cooking.
  • She Is Not My Girlfriend: "I'm not your boyfriend!" is Chowder's way of saying hello to Panini.
  • Shell Shocked Senior: Mung goes into flashbacks when commissioned to bake a pie. See Crosses the Line Twice, above.
  • Shout-Out: Oh so much video games especially Katamari Damacy and Super Mario Bros.. (twice. Two Captain Ersatzes of Mario and Luigi show up in one episode and an oversized Bowser shows up in another) being two obvious examples.
    • Or in a recent episode, where Chowder made the least subtle but most awesome reference to Portal ever, by saying "The cake was a lie!"
    • One of the Halloween episodes was a parody of The Exorcist, and the other contained a shout out to Psycho at the end.
    • When Mung Daal recounts the time Truffles tore off his beard, leaving only the famous mustache, Chowder whispers: "She broke the combo?".
    • By far, the greatest collection of ShoutOuts in one episode is the episode "Tofu Town Showdown". For example, Shnitzel's samurai outfit is the yellow-black striped outfit from Kill Bill Bruce Lee's Game of Death, Chowder sings a pastiche of "Eye of the Tiger", Shnitzel wins the final battle by going SUPER SAIYAN, and finally, "RAHDOKEN!!"
    • Similarly, in "Weekend At Shnitzel's", there's a fight scene that takes a lot of cues from Street Fighter, including a recognizable Hurricane Kick, Shoryuken, Hadoken, and Flash Kick. Plus a Mortal Kombat-style demand for a Finishing Move: "Get 'er done!" as Shnitzel is knocked down.
    • Mount Fondoom, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS"... they really like taking on LOTR. And Dwight Schultz does a terrifyingly good Gandalf.
    • Gazpacho's surreal dream sequence in "Gazpacho!" is a subtle not to the video for "Don't Come Around Here No More" by Tom Petty (complete with Gazpacho's body made out of cake and everyone dressed as Alice in Wonderland characters).
      • Not to mention Souron.
    • Back before Chowder first aired, C.H. Greenblatt expressly stated how much Katamari Damacy inspired him in the creation of this show. The King of All Clouds (Sky?) is intentionally based off The King of All Cosmos, as well as the entire Grubble Gum episode.
    • In one episode, after Chowder unearths a sugar sapphire, Mung tastes it. He has a seizure, shaking his head about, before it spontaneously pops to Bubbles' head saying "Aww, that's sweeet!"
    • "I can only count as high as 42. How high can you count?"
  • Showing Off the New Body: Florentine with Chowder.
  • Snap Back
  • Simultaneous Arcs: "The Wrong Address/The Wrong Customer": During "The Wrong Address" Chowder and Mung see a seemingly insignificant police chase and go about their business. At the end they return home to find it destroyed and Truffles being arrested. In "The Wrong Customer" we find out that the police were chasing an old, blind, and (apparently) dangerous owl, who causes Mung's place to be destroyed. Truffles being arrested is a seperate but somewhat related matter.
  • Single-Target Sexuality
  • Single Tear: Ceviche often gives these.
  • Sorry I Left the BGM On: Adding to the general feel of the show. In one episode, Endive tells Margarine to "cut the music". Cue boombox being cut in half with a ridiculously-sized pair of scissors.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": There is no "C" in Shnitzel, and "radda" has two D's in it. The closed captioning alone manages to get both of these wrong quite often, but it was most Egregious when Cartoon Network made a "Rada-pendence day" [sic] special of Chowder episodes for Independence Day.
  • Sphere Eyes
  • Spit Take: A 30-second one in "Chowder's Girlfriend".
    • That appears to span over six hours!
  • Spoof Aesop:

Mung: Well, Chowder, I guess you can't have your cake and eat it, too!
(everyone laughs)
Chowder: HAHAHAHA-- Wait, what's so funny?

  • Stalker with a Crush: Panini.
    • Lampshaded in "A Little Bit of Pizzazz" where Panini goes after Chowder- really Daal in the chubby body after the Freaky Friday Flip cooking accident- and gets brushed off by him in an eating binge. She makes a comment to the effect of "I need a new obsession."
  • Status Quo Is God: Parodied in "The Toots" when Gorgonzola's wealth vanishes instantly once Chowder retires from music.
  • Stealth Pun: The woman who is Gazpacho's mother Gazpacho in "The Spookiest House In Marzipan" says "I could just eat you up!" to Gorgonzola when she answers the door and sees him. I later remembered that all the characters, including Gorgonzola, are named after food, which you're supposed to eat.
    • In "Sheboodles", the cast holds an 1980s-themed costume party. Gazpacho (voiced by Dana Snyder) dresses as Dee Snyder.
    • At first it may seem like just a minor joke that the days of the week are named after numbers (ie: Threesday, Foursday, Fivesday), but it's actually a joke based on how many people pronounce "Tuesday" as "Twosday."
  • The Stinger: With puppets, no less.
  • The Stoic: Ceviche?
  • Stomach of Holding: Chowder
  • Stupid Statement Dance Mix: One of the bumpers is one made of "I'M NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND!!!".
  • Storybook Opening: Every episode features a Cookbook Opening. It's Chowder's version of the Episode Title Card.
  • Suck E. Cheese's: Carlito Con Queso's.
  • Suspiciously Similar Song: many a Shout-Out and Homage features one, including the memorable reference to Katamari Damacy.
    • The episode "Big Ball" featured a Jimmy Hart version of the FOX Sports theme.
    • In "Chowder Grows Up", Chowder's song is MIGHTY familiar to those that remember the old Toy's R Us jingle.
    • The Exchanges Song ("This for that/And Those for these/And These for Those...") is one for the Modern Major General Song].
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: "Oh hello, Panini. I have a message for you from Chowder, who I am not."
  • Synchronous Episodes: "Wrong Address"/"Wrong Customer".
  • Take That: "Gazpacho? Why are you dressed like a big nerd?"
  • Technician Versus Performer: Endive is the Baker/Technician and Mung Daal is the Cook/Performer. Many episodes, however, show that they're both equally competent, just different in their style and temperaments.
  • Theme Naming: Most of the characters and things in the show are named after food.
    • Similarly, all the members of the Marzipan police are named after sandwiches.
  • Theme Tune Cameo: One episode had Shnitzel being forced to confront his mysterious past. As punishment, he (literally) faced the music by having them sing the show's theme song. Chowder hummed along while Shnitzel begged them to stop.
  • Third Person Person: Chestnut.
    • "Mr. Tummy needs food or he gets cranky!"
  • Those Two Guys: The police squad gets pretty close to this. They even get a Lower Deck Episode.
  • Time Skip: It's done during the finale's musical number. As in Chowder holds a note for twenty years.
  • Token Minority: Chestnut... and his dining room table, living room sofa, and vacation home, just to name a few.
  • Tome of Eldritch Lore: The Snackronomicon.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Chowder. We're talking about a guy who thought spoons belong in electrical outlets.
    • Also Mr. Fugu, who tried to eat a vine covered in spikes. Eating anything covered in spikes is normally bad, but it's especially bad for an anthropomorphized balloon like Mr. Fugu.
  • Too Many Babies: shows up in the series finale.
  • Twist Ending: Lampshaded, naturally.
  • Uncanny Valley: Deliberately invoked and Played for Laughs with Foie Gras. Also Truth in Television: Foie Gras' appearance is based on the Maneki Neko, which actually is kind of creepy, with its big eyes and all.
  • Unmoving Pattern: Deliberately used for artistic purposes.
  • The Un-Reveal: "And that's why I married Truffles. Now let's never, ever speak of this again. Ever. Wink."
  • Voices Are Mental: The body-swapping episode, obviously.
  • Vocal Evolution: An entire episode is devoted to Truffles' voice changing, to the point that nobody takes her seriously anymore because her voice is too sweet and gentle.
    • Chowder and Panini sound noticeably older in the later episodes, as their voice actors were respectively 11 and 13 when the series started.
    • Mung's voice became deeper around the end of the first season.
  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: All over Shnitzel, no less.
  • Where Are They Now? Epilogue: "Chowder Grows Up" includes one.
  • Widget Series
  • With Catlike Tread: "Mung will never hear us sneaking about over the noise of all these smashing plates!"
  • A Worldwide Punomenon: Tons of puns. They're occasionally recognized as bad.

Spooky trees (to Gorgonzola): Leave this place! See? We're holding leaves!
Gorgonzola: AAAAH!!! BAD JOKES!

  • Wutai: Tofu Town.
  • Yandere: Panini is crazy for Chowder. Really crazy.

Panini: And I just wanted to pass laws so I can make you my property!

  • You Mean "Xmas": Or rather, Knishmas.
  • Your Size May Vary: Endive, who changes size from episode to episode and sometimes even within the same episode.
    • At one point Chowder has to climb up her back to get something and she's the size of a mountain. When she realizes Chowder is there she freaks out and begins jumping around in an attempt to get him off, at which point she's a bit taller than Shnitzel. Her size is dependent on what the story needs.
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