Dew Drop Diaries is a
DreamWorks Animation preschool show created by
Rick Suvalle that came out on
Netflix on July 24, 2023. It's the third Dreamworks show after
The Mighty Ones and
Gabby's Dollhouse to not be based on an established property. The show focuses on three fairies in training called Dew Drops and named Eden Lily, Phoebe Rose, and Athena Sage (respectively voiced by
Scarlett Estevez,
Sydney Mikayla, and
Viviann Yee ). The Dew Drops live in little houses in Fairhaven, have special abilities that help out in any given situation, and secretly help out the kids and families that they're assigned to, though the kids still believe in them.
Tropes Associated With The Show:
- All-CGI Cartoon: Like many preschool shows, especially from Dreamworks, the show is done in CGI, albeit with a 2D aesthetic.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent:
- We don't know the whereabouts of Harper's dad or Marcus's mom.
- While Dylan, Lola, and Cassie's parents are sometimes mentioned as being around, they're never seen, with older sister Cassie often filling in as parental figure.
- Animal Lover: Eden tends to be very compassionate towards animals, which makes sense given how she has her Critter Chat ability that allows her to communicate with them.
- Ascended Extra: Willow Jasmine appears multiple times in season 2, unlike in season 1, where she only appeared once.
- Babysitter Friendship: "The Baby Glitter's Club" shows Cassie being rather friendly with Nicholas, doing whatever she can to make him happy. He's also pretty excited to be hanging with her.
- Babysitting Episode: "The Baby Glitter's Club" has Eden ask Phoebe and Athena to secretly help Cassie babysit Nicholas when she has to secretly cheer on Harper during her soccer game.
- Bait-and-Switch: A very common tactic for the show is to open up on what seems like an exciting adventure, but is actually just something mundane that's made to look exciting:
- "The Cleat Without Feet" starts out with Eden running from a boulder of some kind when she's actually in Nicholas's room and trying to dodge the toys he keeps throwing.
- "Hammie's Day Out" starts with Eden seemingly at a gym working out, but she's actually working out in Hammie's cage.
- "Hide Like A Dew Drop" seemingly starts with Athena going on a desert adventure. She's actually trying to play hide and seek with Lola, and we see a regular blanket.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Within the main trio of Dew Drops, Athena is the one with a pronounced muscular build and heavyset body. She's still cute nonetheless.
- Casting Gag:
- Bill Farmer voicing Wilford the dog definitely makes sense given how he's known for voicing Mickey's dog Pluto.
- Bob Bergen voicing Hammie the hamster makes sense given how he's also voiced another rodent like creature, Bucky the squirrel.
- Viviann Yee voices Athena. This isn't the only time she's voiced an energetic Dreamworks character that wears a pink skirt since she also voices Staci.
- Catchphrase Interruptus: In "The Fly Along", Phoebe attempts to say one of the group's regular catchphrases, "Glitter and glow", but she lets out a hiccup.
- Cool Big Sis:
- Harper is this to her baby brother Nicholas given how she acts very nurturing towards him.
- Cassie acts as a supportive older sister to Dylan and Lola given how she often cares for them and hangs out with them.
- While not actually related to them, the Glitter Guide named Willow Jasmine often acts as a lovable big sister to the Dew Drops given how she often tries to help them out and give good advice.
- Creator Cameo: Qwak the chipmunk is named after series director Arthur Qwak, with his face looking slightly similar to him.
- Dumb Muscle: Athena is a more downplayed example since she's impulsive, not stupid. Still, she's generally pretty strong, but doesn't always get things right away. A good example comes from "Unburied Treasure", where she takes longer to process that Willow Jasmine was Cassie's Dew Drop , while Eden and Phoebe got it right away just based on a drawing.
- Empty Nest: Phoebe shows this behavior in "Missing Marcus", where she can't cope with not being able to not help Marcus when he's away at camp.
- Girls With Mustaches: In "Gift Express", Harper wears a fake mustache that Marcus sent her while she's recovering from her sickness.
- Good Parents: Harper's mother Tracy and Marcus's dad Damon are very nurturing and supportive towards them.
- Here We Go Again!: A few examples pop up:
- "Dew Drop Swap" has a scene at the beginning where Athena has to endure Dylan playing the drums loudly, and very badly. At the end of the episode, she has to endure more drumming, this time by Lola.
- The first half of "The Fly Along" has Phoebe get hiccups when she's surprised by Willow popping up unexpectedly. She manages to cure them when breathing in and out, but then she gets hiccups again at the end when Willow again pops in unexpectedly.
- "The Noisiest Night" is about the girls trying to find the source of a mysterious noise that's keeping up Harper at night. At the end of the episode, Eden also wakes up to a mysterious noise.
- "Level Up" has the girls struggle to fly when they unexpectedly get wings. As they go back into their houses after helping out their kids, Eden randomly floats into the air unexpectedly.
- Hiccup Hijinks: "The Fly Along" starts with Willow accidentally surprising Phoebe to the point that she almost falls off the couch, giving her hiccups. When trying to help Marcus in front of her, she briefly gets hiccups again while doing her Musical Melody, resulting in Marcus getting hiccups as well. While she breathes in and out to get rid of them, she gets hiccups again at the end of the episode when Willow again surprises her.
- Insomnia Episode: "Up All Night" is about the girls trying to get Nicholas to fall asleep so that Harper can be well rested enough for cooking camp.
- Ironic Name: "Things That Bump" has Marcus adopt a stray kitten that he names Angel. Unsurprisingly, Phoebe finds this ironic given how, while not malicious or mean, she didn't act all that sweet in the episode.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Athena tends to act before thinking.
- Logo Joke: The girls jump from behind the moon, and use fairy dust to turn "Dew Works" into DreamWorks Animation.
- Long Hair Is Feminine:
- Among the Dew Drops, Phoebe has the longest hairstyle.
- Cassie has the longest hair in the Cortez Chang family.
- Magic Misfire: In "The Fly Along" Phoebe accidentally hiccups while doing her Musical Melody spell, and she accidentally gives Marcus hiccups.
- Meaningful Gift: In "The Secret Ingredient", Harper attempts to make her mother Tracy a key lime pie for Mother's Day, but doesn't have any limes. Thanks to secret help from the Dew Drops, she sees that she just needs to make a gift with love, and it'll be perfect. As such, she makes a mixed fruit pie, which she likes.
- Mother's Day Celebration Plot: Harper attempts to make her mother Tracy a key lime pie for Mother's Day in "The Secret Ingredient", but she doesn't have limes.
- Musicalis Interruptus: In "The Fly Along", Phoebe attempts to do her Musical Melody on Marcus to help him calm down, and play piano better. Unfortunately, she lets out a hiccup. While she does cure herself by breathing in and out, and does it a second time without being interrupted, she accidentally gives Marcus hiccups instead.
- Nice Girl: The main three girls are pretty sweet and always willing to help each other out.
- Not So Above It All: Although Phoebe tends to be the most mature of the group, she does occasionally have her silly or mischievous moments. A good example is in "Banana Bread Burglar", where she sneakily tries to get one of Eden's muffins even though they're supposed to be used to see who's stealing the treats.
- The One Guy: Among the fairies shown in the series, Athena's cousin Reed Basil is the only known male fairy.
- OOC Is Serious Business: The girls are generally pretty sweet and even tempered. It would take a lot to set them off. As such, "Chore Score" stands out. When Eden has had enough of Wilford and Captain Meow Meow chasing each other and making a mess of Harper's room, she yells at them to stop, which immediately gets their attention.
- Out of Focus:
- "An Extra Set Of Wings" marks the shortest amount of screentime for any of the Dew Drops to appear. Eden and Phoebe appear briefly at the beginning, but don't speak, and only reappear at the end, when they finally get involved with the adventure.
- Eden in general tends to get less focus episodes compared to Phoebe and Athena.
- Pink Is Feminine:
- Phoebe has pink skin.
- Cassie wears a pink sweater.
- Prized Possession Giveaway: "The Wandering Wand" focuses on Lola being hesitant to give away her wand named Wandy.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: "The Baby Glitter's Club" is this to The Baby-Sitters Club.
- Prized Possession Giveaway: "The Wandering Wand" has Lola being reluctant to give away her wand Wandy because of how much she helped her in times of need. When accidentally giving her away, she tries getting her back, but ultimately lets a younger girl keep her since she likes her more.
- Purple Is Powerful: Willow Jasmine has purple skin, and she has skills that regular Dew Drops don't usually have.
- Quarter Hour Short: Each episode in season 1 is a single 11 minute segment.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Reed Basil wears a pink hoodie sweater.
- The Reveal: "Unburied Treasure" reveals that Willow used to be Cassie's Dew Drop. The end of the episode implies that she starts believing in them again.
- Sequel Hook: "Reed And The Beanstalk" ends with Reed Basil getting his own Dew Drop house and a family to watch over.
- Sick Episode: "Gift Express" is about the girls secretly cheering up Harper by bringing her gifts via Marcus's pulley system when she's too sick to get out of bed.
- So Bad, It's Good: Marcus thinks an in universe example of this happens in "The Fly Along". Phoebe secretly uses her Musical Melody to help him get better since he's playing off key, but she accidentally gives him hiccups when she hiccups during it. He then thinks that the song is so bad that it's good that he thinks it gave him hiccups.
- Spoiled Sweet: Duchess is a dog who takes great pride in her status as animal royalty, yet will help out the girls when need be.
- Swapped Roles: "Dew Drop Swap" follows this trope quite a bit. It's about the girls having to deal with problems when taking care of their families. Phoebe tries to deal with Angel causing a mess. Athena tries to deal with Dylan playing drums poorly. Eden tries to deal with Harper inadvertently causing problems while practicing soccer. As such, they switch places, with Eden doing Phoebe's job, Phoebe doing Athena's job, and Athena doing Eden's job.
- Sweet Baker: Eden often bakes treats for the group, and tends to be very sweet and compassionate.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak:
- Athena tends to favor doing physical activities that show off her strength, but she also likes things such as tea parties and wears a skirt.
- Harper loves soccer and comic books, yet she's also really into baking.
- Tooth Fairy: The tooth fairy shows up in "The Fairy Of The Teeth" and "Tooth On The Loose". She reveals in the former episode that she collects teeth and turns them into stars in the sky.
- Treasure Hunt Episode: "Unburied Treasure" offers an interesting take on this trope. The Dew Drops find a lunchbox time capsule that has a toy soccer ball, art supplies, and a drawing. The episode is about them hunting for the owner of the time capsule. It's revealed at the end that Cassie is the owner, and the drawing she made is of Willow Jasmine, who was her Dew Drop.
- Two Shorts: Each episode in season 2 is composed of 2 11 minute segments.
- Younger Than They Look: Harper looks to be about 10-11 years old, but she's actually 8.
