History Main / CatUpATree

* During a particularly bad drought in South Africa, a wildlife filmmaker caught a lioness climbing a tree (highly unusual, as their weight makes climbing difficult for lions) in pursuit of the antelope that a leopard had stashed in it. She succeeded in knocking the carcass to the ground, where the other lions in her pride quickly ate it, but then got stuck herself. Tragically, when she tried to get down from the tree she lose her balance and fell, breaking her back on a limb of the tree and dying as a result. When her body finally fell out of the tree, her pride-mates were so hungry [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty they ate her as well]].

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'': One running gag, with Archie, Jughead, Reggie, or really any male character down to Mr. Weatherbee doing the cat rescuing, while the girls look on.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Buster Baxter becomes a local hero by rescuing a cat. [[spoiler: Actually, it was attracted to his fish-flavored ice cream, and thus wasn't saved at all, which Arthur and co. ''brutally'' exploit when they set up a chance encounter with a robotic kitten just so Buster will fail.]] They did this because he became a total egotistical jerk once the incident was popularized and he was lauded as a hero.

* ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'': In "[[Recap/TheDickVanDykeShowS4E29OneHundredTerribleHours 100 Terrible Hours]]", Rob becomes involved in a wake-a-thon. Late in the wake-a-thon, Rob reads a news bulletin about firemen attempting (so far unsuccessfully) to retrieve a nine-week-old kitten from an elm tree. Rob, already very badly affected by being awake for so long, chokes up and starts crying. He even wants to go save the kitten before his interview to be
a writer on ''The Alan Brady Show''.

* Rita, from the Rita and Runt segments of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' once got herself stuck in a tree.

* Discussed in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' where Phil and Lil, who were playing with dolls, suggested that a toy girl go to the fire station because her ''[[FurryConfusion puppy]]'' was up a tree.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': In the BatmanColdOpen, Mr. Incredible gets the cat off the tree and stops a pack of criminals ''at the same time'', by uprooting the tree (don't worry, he puts it back).

* Animal Planet's ''Treetop Cat Rescue'' is an ''entire show'' dedicated to getting cats out of trees. Especially since it takes place in Washington State, where trees are so tall (some at least ''165 feet'' tall) that the rescuers on the show are actually professional arborists who perform the service at no charge to the owners.

* [[http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Watch-Deadpool-Hilariously-Save-Cat-Tree-112137.html One Promo clip]] for ''Film/Deadpool2016'' shows the Merc with a Mouth fetching a cat from a tree (not for an old lady, though, but for a young punk girl). There is a short BaitAndSwitch that he's about to shoot the cat, but then he does it the traditional way, by climbing the tree.
* ''Film/Desperados2020'': Wesley rescues Kaylie's cat Kevin who's stuck in a tree and ends up getting all stretched by him in the process.

* In ''Film/InspectorGadget1999'', Chief Quimbly refuses to take his new cyborg inspector seriously and assigns him to easy good-publicity missions, including rescuing kittens from trees with his telescoping arms. After saving a baker's dozen of cats in one week he formally requests some real work, bringing his latest rescue with him to the office.

* In one of the ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' movies, an old woman asks Tackleberry to get her cat out of a tree. GunNut Tackleberry obliges by shooting the cat out of the tree.

* ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'': Buzz Light year seems to think that his archnemesis Emperor Zurg is responsible for whenever this happens, as evidenced in his exchange with his partner in the pilot movie:

* Near the end of episode 6 of the ''Anime/LittleLulu'' anime, Tubby tricks Lulu into climbing a tree and mimicking a cat's meow. However, one of the things that [[HoistByHisOwnPetard causes Tubby's plan to backfire]] is that there really is a cat stuck in the same tree that Lulu is in, and Lulu gets rewarded with a ride on the fire truck that she wanted and is allowed to take the cat she just saved on the fire truck ride.

* One of the recurring tropes in ''ComicBook/{{Archie|Comics}}'' comics, with Archie, Jughead, Reggie, or really any male character down to Mr. Weatherbee doing the cat rescuing, while the girls look on.

* The workaday heroes of ''Hero Hotline'' do this from time to time. The first time, veteran hero Stretch is teamed up with rookie hero Hotshot. Stretch's stretching powers make him the logical choice, but he's reluctant due to always getting scratched up. So Hotshot tries his hand at it by shooting mini-fireballs at the cat. It panics and leaps out of the tree... onto Stretch, and scratches him up.

* Franchise/{{Superman}}:
** It's been something of a RunningGag for years to show Franchise/{{Superman}} or ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} rescuing cats from trees, showing that the most powerful beings on Earth are still nice enough to take the time to do it.
** Invoked in the first issue of Supergirl's ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl 1982}} second solo book]]'' when Supergirl says that [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5YsHcdKj67c/TOiNm0uvIAI/AAAAAAAACec/Lg0Yc-m1DlE/s1600/Supergirl_New_Adv_01-03.jpg she would interrupt a date with Robert Redford to rescue a kitten from a tree]].
** Parodied in ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Supergirl Vol 5]]'' issue #34. After Cattherine Grant publishes a slander piece on Supergirl, Kara leaves a note on her desk, saying: "Cat — Don't call me if you ever get stuck in a tree. S-Girl"
** A ''Superman Family Secret Files and Origins'' included an excerpt from [[Comicbook/Supergirl1996 Linda Danvers/Earth Angel Supergirl]]'s diary, which included "Rescued a cute kitten from a tree (I'm not even kidding!)"

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys'', one of the tests Professor Marmalade gives the Bad Guys is to save a cat stuck up a palm tree. It doesn't go well at first, with the gang just scaring the cat further up. Later that night, Mr. Wolf successfully lures the cat down with kindness, serving as his HeroesFrontierStep.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

This trope is often used to give an opportunity for the AntiHero to PetTheDog, especially if the character is a KindheartedCatLover, but it can also be a sign of ChronicHeroSyndrome.

* ''Film/{{Armed and Dangerous|1986}}'' has Frank Dooley (Creator/JohnCandy) reluctant to indulge in this trope, only to relent when the little girl starts crying. He gets stuck up there too and has to be rescued by the fire department (with the media watching).

* [[http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Watch-Deadpool-Hilariously-Save-Cat-Tree-112137.html One Promo clip]] for ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' shows the Merc with a Mouth fetching a cat from a tree (not for an old lady, though, but for a young punk girl). There is a short BaitAndSwitch that he's about to shoot the cat, but then he does it the traditional way, by climbing the tree.
* ''Film/{{Desperados|2020}}'': Wesley rescues Kaylie's cat Kevin who's stuck in a tree and ends up getting all stretched by him in the process.

* In the ''Film/InspectorGadget'' movie, Chief Quimbly refuses to take his new cyborg inspector seriously and assigns him to easy good-publicity missions, including rescuing kittens from trees with his telescoping arms. After saving a baker's dozen of cats in one week he formally requests some real work, bringing his latest rescue with him to the office.

By the way, if your cat does go up a tree (or on a roof), call a tree service or your local animal control department/shelter/what have you. The fire department has better things to do. Like, you know, putting out fires. If you do call these agencies, and the cat is not in any danger or a danger to others, they'll tell you to leave it — it got up there, and it will find its way down when it gets hungry. A very common question asked by responders to these situations is: ''"How many times have you seen a cat skeleton in a tree?"''

* ''Film/ArmedAndDangerous'' has Frank Dooley (Creator/JohnCandy) reluctant to indulge in this trope, only to relent when the little girl starts crying. He gets stuck up there too and has to be rescued by the fire department (with the media watching).

This is TruthInTelevision, if not as common as media would have you think. While cats are typically ground-dwellers, they have some rather impressive arboreal tendencies, and will regularly climb up tall objects to get a better vantage point - indoors or outdoors - and trees are no exception to the things they'll climb. The main issue cats face getting down from trees are that they can't climb down headfirst (in contrast to other arboreal creatures like squirrels or monkeys), and the stress from having to climb down without being able to see where they're going (i.e. ''tail''first) tends to scare them into staying put.

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': In episode 2 of Season 12, Careless S. tries to help a girl by getting her pet cat down from a tree, but his weapon doesn't reach far enough to grab the animal and Sweet S. saves it from falling to the ground before Careless S. can do so.
* In ''Animation/PleasantGoatFunClass: Sports are Fun'' episode 23, while ice skating carelessly outside, Wolffy finds a cat in a tree and jumps up to it to save it. Wolffy falls over before he can save the cat, which jumps out of the tree itself.
[[/folder]]

** It's been something of a RunningGag for years to show Franchise/{{Superman}} or Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} rescuing cats from trees, showing that the most powerful beings on Earth are still nice enough to take the time to do it.

* In ''Will Supervillains Be on the Final?'', the SuperheroSchool has a "cat up a tree" training exercise--which uses an artificial cat to keep the students from accidentally injuring it. Our heroine actually comes up with a good plan, but still fails when her powers go wonky. [[spoiler:One of the other students is deliberately sabotaging her.]]

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': An unnamed farm cat gets stranded in a tree in “The Blood Brother.” Duke chases him into the road trying to get him hit by an oncoming truck, but the cat escapes and ends up this way.
* Early on in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', it's mentioned that [[TheCape Steve Rogers]] once stopped on his way to a mission to save a kitten from a tree. He is considered ''the'' NiceGuy - InUniverse - and more or less lives up to it (he's not perfect, but he's pretty close). Since he was, at the time, trying somewhat petulantly to claim that he could be "edgy", Clint pointed this incident out, stating, "you're about as edgy as cookie dough."

* ''Film/TheDayCalledX''. A police dispatch center is dealing with a cat up a tree report right before they get a CONELRAD warning that enemy bombers are on their way to nuke the city.

* ''Music/TheAquabats'':

--->Stand on their shoulders\\
To get your cat out of a tree
* The opening line of the jazz classic Misty is, "Look at me. I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree."

* ''Music/{{Sparks}}''' song "Here Kitty" is from the point of view of a fireman who has to rescue stuck cats, and ends up going after tiger during a circus fire after its trainer offers to sleep with him.

* ''WebAnimation/TheMostEpicStoryEverToldInAllOfHumanHistory'': A variation. [[TheHero Epic-Man]] saves a “poorly drawn alien cat” from falling to its death in the trailer, though it isn’t confirmed if it’s falling from a tree or something like a building.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/NipAndTuck'': a visiting firefighter from the city is asked to rescue what turns out to be a hand-raised [[http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00353.html wildcat.]]
* And in [[http://pbfcomics.com/comics/kitty-stuck/ this]] strip from ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship''.

* Subverted in ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=716#comic #716]].

This is TruthInTelevision, if not as common as media would have you think. While cats are typically ground-dwellers, they have some rather impressive arboreal tendencies, and will regularly climb up tall objects to get a better vantage point - indoors or outdoors - and trees are no exception to the things they'll climb. The main issue cats face getting down from trees are that they can't climb down headfirst (in contrast to other arboreal creatures like squirrels or monkeys), and the stress from having to climb down without being able to see where they're going tends to scare them into staying put.

* Parodied by ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' in ''Less Than Hero''. Leela becomes a superheroine and comes to the aid of a distressed alien whose cat is stuck in a tree. After she gets the cat down safely, its owner [[AlienLunch promptly eats it]].

* During a particularly bad drought in South Africa, a wildlife filmmaker caught a lioness climbing a tree (highly unusual, as their weight makes limbing difficult for lions) in pursuit of the antelope that a leopard had stashed in it. She succeeded in knocking the carcass to the ground, where the other lions in her pride quickly ate it, but then got stuck herself. Tragically, when she tried to get down from the tree she lose her balance and fell, breaking her back on a limb of the tree and dying as a result. When her body finally fell out of the tree, her pride-mates were so hungry [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty they ate her as well]].

* ''VideoGame/NineOneOneOperator'': You can get calls about this "emergency" alongside a few more false positives for each emergency service (i.e. someone suffering from indigestion believing it's something way worse and that they need a medic) to provide contrast with the genuinely serious reports. its sequel, ''112 Operator'' adds a level to them. For example, hanging up on someone calling for a cat up a tree may result in that person trying to rescue the cat themselves, falling badly in the attempt, and thne needing an ambulance.

* ''Videogame/DwarfFortress'': One of the buggy behaviors that came with the multi-tile tree updates is that ''everyone'' does this, including dwarves. They somehow end up jumping, getting startled into or otherwise randomly climbing the tree and due to pathing issues and AI idiocy they simply won't get back down. It's recommended you just chop the tree down to get everyone back to the ground. If they get injured, [[TooDumbToLive they deserved it]].