Blythe Baxter is the main protagonist of Littlest Pet Shop. She has the uncanny ability to speak to and understand animals.
Development[]
Blythe is based on the Blythe fashion dolls, which was created in 1972 and owned by Hasbro since 1991.
As a part of the 2004 incarnation of the Littlest Pet Shop toy line, in 2010, Hasbro released the Blythe Loves Littlest Pet Shop line, which presented Blythe dolls as petsitters. This incarnation of Blythe would originate from Blythe Baxter, evidenced by the use of Blythe Loves Littlest Pet Shop as the production title of the animated series she stars in.
Biography[]
Blythe moved to a flat that is close to Littlest Pet Shop, a pet shop that is going out of business. Soon, she meets Brittany and Whittany Biskit, who say her clothes are lame and ask if she wants them to buy new clothes for her. But she declines, telling them she has a lot of unpacking to do, making them both get upset. After they leave, Blythe finds a dumbwaiter behind a painting which she uses and goes down to the Littlest Pet Shop. When she uses it for the first time, she accidentally bumps her head, though she is not hurt. She meets all seven pets and, after hearing Zoe Trent's song, thinks the shop is haunted, so she takes off screaming. Later, when Blythe meets a dog, he speaks to her, commenting on her crazy behavior. She becomes so frightened she runs back to the flat.
Blythe was not sure why she could talk to animals all of a sudden. Later, when she speaks to the pets, they explain that the Pet Shop is closing and they need her help since she is the only human so far who can understand them. Blythe is momentarily interrupted when she sees how cool Zoe looks with one of her sketchbook pictures.
After Russell points out to Blythe that he and the other pets will have to be shipped to Largest Ever Pet Shop if she cannot save the pet shop from closing, Blythe agrees to help them out.
Wanting to take revenge for Blythe telling them no, Brittany and Whittany have a plan to humiliate her while she has a plan to avoid closing the Littlest Pet Shop by having a fashion show. As they dress up as cats, Jasper tells Blythe that all the posters say "come and get free money" Mrs. Twombly says there is no free money. The audience is about to leave, but the fashion show begins, prompting them to watch. After it ends, Blythe is supposed to take a bow, but Russell discovers the Biskit Twins' plot. Then he scares them and the Biskit Twins embarrass themselves before running away. The next day, Mrs. Twombly has a sale for a very special pet fashion clothing line named Blythe Style. Blythe is happy that the Littlest Pet Shop is not closing after all.
In The Tortoise and the Heir, it is revealed that Blythe's mother was Lauren Baxter, a woman with the ability to talk to pets who it can be assumed Blythe inherited her ability from. Series creator Julie McNally Cahill revealed that her mother died when Blythe was very young.
Personality[]
While she cares a great deal about her physical appearance, Blythe is never arrogant or rude and does not like it when others act in such a way as the Biskit Twins did when they first met her. While normally calm and cool-headed, she can be easily frustrated. Because of this, while she may try to be kind to people who annoy her (the Biskit Twins for example), she usually keeps a sarcastic front when speaking to them.
Initially, she thought talking to animals was weird and was even afraid of it until she realized she could use it to save Littlest Pet Shop. Since then, she has been using her ability to help her new best friends in and outside of the pet shop. She is also a decent school student and is always willing to help anyone she knows in times of need. While she seems to be the "sane" one in the entire group of people she knows, she has her own moments of questionable behavior.
Despite her cuteness and beauty, Blythe is extremely camera-shy and apparently has been like this since early childhood. She also tends to stress out easily and get flustered. She is rather shy about her feelings for Josh Sharp.
Description from Hubworld.com[]
"Fashion is Blythe's passion. Now that she's starting her new life in Downtown City and at Littlest Pet Shop, Blythe gets to design clothes for a whole new set of friends: a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog, monkey, panda, skunk, hedgehog, gecko and a mongoose! Blythe isn't sure how or why she can suddenly talk to animals, but now that she can, she couldn't imagine her life any other way!"
Appearance[]
Blythe is a fair-skinned pre-teen girl with bright blue eyes and long, waist-length brown hair with straight cut bangs at her eyebrows. Usually, she will wear her hair in multiple styles ranging from a ponytail, braids or simply worn down with a cute accessory. Her lips are a peachy-pink color.
Due to her fashion talent, she often sports a new style every time she appears. The outfit she is seen in most consists of a blue top and multi-layer peach-pink skirt with a black belt and layer of deep blue lining. She also had a gold necklace, a peach head band with designs on it, black shoes, and black pantyhose with stars sewn on it. Her sketchbook / notebook of fashion designs is labelled "Blythe Style."
For bedtime, she wears a dark purple tank top and a pair of white pajama trousers with a purple polka-dot print and a red bow. In the pilot episode, her tank top has a heart at the center.
Other Outfits[]
See Blythe's Alternate Outfits.
Quotes[]
What the...
- "What the what?"
- "What the huh?"
- "What the when?"
- "What the why?"
- "What the yikes?"
- "What the oh no?"
- "What the ding dong?"
- "What the who?"
Trivia[]
- Unlike most characters in the series, Blythe changes her hair and clothes every episode.
- Blythe apparently has a large head, which is mentioned a few times in the series. It has become something of a running gag. In Topped With Buttercream, she even says, "Curse my freakishly large head!".
- Blythe often uses acronyms in place of short sentences, such as G.M.M.T. ("Good morning, Mrs. Twombly"), D.W.A.A.T. ("Don't worry about a thing"), or N.S.M. ("Not so much"), claiming it is a "way more efficient way" of saying things. Others rarely know what she means, so she explains.
- In Season 2, Mrs. Twombly starts to keep a notepad full of their meanings. She even lampshades this at one point ("Don't these youngsters realize it takes twice as long to decipher their silly abbreviations as it does to state them normally in the first place?").
- As another running gag, Blythe often says, "What the..." when surprised, followed by "what," "huh," or a number of other words.
- "Blythe Style," besides being what Blythe names her fashions, is also the name of a book for the popular doll Blythe, which she is based on.
- Blythe has some similarities to Raven Baxter from That's So Raven.
- Both are fashion designers.
- Both have the same last name.
- Both have a special gift that makes them stand out from others.
- Blythe's ability to communicate with animals and perceive their language is a strong reference to Dr. John Dolittle and Maya Dolittle from the Doctor Dolittle franchise.
- Zoe has said that Blythe likes to read, but despite that, Blythe has not been shown reading books much.
- In the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1, Discord leaves on Blythe's electric scooter.
- This led many fans to believe this to be a subtle foreshadowing that Discord may encounter the Littlest Pet Shop characters in the future.
- Additionally, her voice actress Ashleigh Ball voices Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and other characters in the series.
- This led many fans to believe this to be a subtle foreshadowing that Discord may encounter the Littlest Pet Shop characters in the future.
- Despite being enemies, Blythe has actually helped the Biskit Twins more than once without them knowing it.
- Blythe is the only character to appear in every single episode.
- Her name means "carefree," coinciding with her nature.
- Blythe is shown to be ticklish.
- Blythe is a quarter Canadian.[1]
- Blythe has a mole on her left leg.[2]
- Roger told Blythe she could talk to the animals just like her late mother.
- Blythe was named the special ambassador to the Endangered Animals Fund.[3]
- Blythe gets plenty of leg shots. Many fans admire this, especially when Blythe wears something that exposes her legs.