History Main / CircusEpisode

* The episode "It's Mr. Mime Time!" from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' deals with the ringmaster of a traveling circus and her lazy Mr. Mime. When Ash is recruited to take the place of the Mr. Mime in the circus (in order to convince the Pokemon to come back to work) he gets mistakenly kidnapped by Team Rocket.

* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': In ''[[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/teen-titans-6-the-fifth-titan/4000-8995/ The Fifth Titan]]'' (December 1966), the Teen Titans go undercover at a circus that they believe is brainwashing its audience.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ElMagoDeLosSuenos'', one of the dreams of the movie involves a story set in a circus.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BigTopScoobyDoo'', Scooby-Doo and the gang investigate the mystery of a chain of jewel robberies reported as being committed by werewolves. The team decides to go undercover as circus performers in order to catch the people responsible.
** Not the first time Scooby and the gang cracked a circus mystery. The ''Where Are You!'' episode "Bedlam In The Big Top" had a phantom clown with a hypnotic coin sabotaging a circus.

* Most of the [[WesternAnimation/BozoTheWorldsMostFamousClown Bozo the Clown]] cartoons takes place at a circus.

A common variation on police shows is for a crime (usually a murder) to occur in the circus, and for the characters have to investigate.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1464933292416.jpg]]]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* ''Series/SanfordAndSon'': In "The Greatest Show in Watts," a tenant at the Sanford Arms is unable to pay his monthly rent, and offers Fred his elephant as collateral to raise money until he can pay. A zoning inspector gives Fred a citation for possessing a non-domesticated animal, but when Fred finds a loophole in the paperwork, he decides to turn his junkyard into a circus to avoid paying fines and/or having the elephant taken away - complete with him posing as the ringmaster, Bubba as a clown, Esther as a fire-eater, and Lamont as a muscleman.

* ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacingNitroFueled'' has the Neon Circus Grand Prix DLC pack as this, complete with circus-like skins, stickers, karts, and a race track: Koala Carnival, which takes place mostly inside a huge carnival tent complete with cannons that fire chickens and glowing hoops. Pasadena O’Possum and Ebenezer Von Clutch, two characters who appeared in the theme-park set ''VideoGame/CrashTagTeamRacing'', make their triumphant return while Koala Kong, a boss from the original game, also returns.

* ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'': In "The Greatest Show-Offs on Earth," Uncle Ben's Circus is facing foreclosure due to lack of business, and Alvin decides to help Uncle Ben revitalize his circus by signing him, his brothers, and the Chipettes on as new acts; all the while, the evil banker makes attempts to sabotage the circus anyway.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]], being a former CircusBrat, occasionally comes back to the circus that grew up to occasionally perform and/or help with a problem they have. In fact, Dick becomes co-owner.

* The second episode of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' involves a Chinese circus as a big part of the plot. [[spoiler:They're really involved with a smuggling ring and end up trying to kill Sherlock.]]

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': The episode “At The Double” is about the Ruthenian State Circus coming to Whitbury as part of a EU initiative. HilarityEnsues when one of the clowns performing as part of the act, Vlad, is revealed to be an IdenticalStranger to Brittas.

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': The episode “At The Double” is about the Ruthenian State Circus coming to Whitburn as part of a EU initiative. HilarityEnsues when one of the clowns performing as part of the act, Vlad, is revealed to be an IdenticalStranger to Brittas.

* ''Series/HalloweenBakingChampionship'', a Creator/FoodNetwork show, had a CircusOfFear-themed episode called "Circus of Dread." The episode featured a circus-themed set and two circus-themed challenges. The first required the contestants to make desserts based on one of four UsefulNotes/TarotCards. The second had contestants making desserts based on one of four original {{Monster Clown}}s. (Three were mannequins, but one was a person in costume pretending to be a mannequin to JumpScare the contestants.)

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': In "The Blind Fortune Teller", Jim and Leslie are attending Haly's Circus when a snake dancer is murdered. The subsequent investigation reveals all kinds of tensions bubbling beneath the surface, including a pair of FeudingFamilies.

* ''Film/{{Parade|1974}}'', Jacques Tati's last film, is a filmed performance of a circus in an indoor theater. There are clowns and juggling and acrobatics and whatnot, as well as some of Tati's old mime routines.

* ''[[Literature/MissBindergarten Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus with Kindergarten]]''.

* ''VideoGame/PuttPutt'': In ''Putt Putt Joins the Circus'', Putt-Putt is going to attend a circus show, when he meets the ringmaster outside, who desperately tells him that he can't get any of his performers to perform because they each have some sort of problem. Putt-Putt goes around the circus grounds and helps each performer. At the end, the ringmaster [[spoiler:lets Putt-Putt take part in the show]] as thanks for his help.

** ''VideoGame/MarioParty 8'' is this for the Mario Party series. It takes place at the Star Carnival, a massive AmusementPark, and is hosted by MC Ballyhoo, an eccentric circus ringmaster, and his talking hat, Big Top.

* In addition to the adaptation of "Henry and the Elephant" (see the Literature section), ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' also has the episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS8E16ThomasAndTheCircus Thomas and the Circus]]". The circus comes to the Island of Sodor, and Thomas is chosen to pull the circus train. Due to how many freight cars there are, Thomas is told by Sir Topham Hatt to share the workload with another engine. Despite this advice, Thomas is determined to pull the heavy train all by himself, and as a result, breaks down towards the end of the episode. This breakdown leaves Thomas so sad, that not even the circus performers can cheer him up. After James and Percy arrive and bring him replacement parts and hay for the animals, Thomas apologizes to them and shares the workload with them.

* In the ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' story, "Henry and the Elephant", the circus comes to the Island of Sodor. The engines have a wonderful time pulling the train, until it is time for the circus to leave. It is later revealed that an elephant escaped from the circus and is hiding in Henry's Tunnel, and it's up to Henry, his crew, and the elephant's keeper to get the elephant back. This story was also adapted into [[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS4E19HenryAndTheElephant an episode]] of the fourth season of the AnimatedAdaptation, ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends''.

* ''Podcast/QuestInShow'': “Pontus Pendaghast and Ivan Nebrekyu” follows a circus ringmaster and strongman, respectively.

* ''Podcast:QuestInShow'': “Pontus Pendaghast and Ivan Nebrekyu” follows a circus ringmaster and strongman, respectively.

* In addition to the adaptation of "Henry and the Elephant" (see the Literature section), ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' also has the episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS8E16ThomasAndTheCircus Thomas and the Circus]]". The circus comes to the Island of Sodor, and Thomas is chosen to pull the circus train. Due to how many freight cars there are, Thomas is told by Sir Topham Hatt to share the workload with another engine. Despite this advice, Thomas is determined to pull the heavy train all by himself, and as a result, breaks down towards the end of the episode. This breakdown leaves Thomas so sad, that not even the circus performers can cheer him up. After James and Percy arrive and bring him replacement parts and hay for the animals, Thomas apologizes to them and shares the workload with them.

* In the ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' story, "Henry and the Elephant", the circus comes to the Island of Sodor. The engines have a wonderful time pulling the train, until it is time for the circus to leave. It is later revealed that an elephant escaped from the circus and is hiding in Henry's Tunnel, and it's up to Henry, his crew, and the elephant's keeper to get the elephant back. This story was also adapted into [[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS4E19HenryAndTheElephant an episode]] of the fourth season of the AnimatedAdaptation, ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine''.

* ''Pinocchio's Promise'' is a book based on Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}''. In this book, Geppetto tasks Pinocchio with delivering a cuckoo clock he made to Mrs. Romano as fast as he can. On his way to Mrs. Romano's house, Honest John tricks Pinocchio into trading Mrs. Romano's cuckoo clock for a pair of circus tickets so Pinocchio can go to the circus while Honest John delivers the clock. Pinocchio agrees to it, but by the time he gets to the circus, the ticket man reveals to him that the tickets Honest John gave him are not valid. Afterwards, Pinocchio gets separated from Jiminy, squirted by the elephants, tossed about by the clowns, lands on a trick horse, gest tossed into a pile of hay by a strong man, and caught by a lion who at first appears ferocious, but then starts to play with him like a toy. When Pinocchio reunites with Jiminy, he reports Honest John to a policeman, resulting in Honest John being arrested and him getting Mrs. Romano's cuckoo clock back. At the end of the book, Geppetto is disappointed in Pinocchio for delivering the clock late, as [[ShaggyDogStory he would have taken Pinocchio to the circus if the clock was delivered on time]].

* ''Literature/TheSherlockHolmesStoriesOfEdwardDHoch'': In "The Adventure of Vittoria the Circus Belle", Vittoria Costello, who won a beauty competition organised by the Rover Brothers, and is now part of their circus, tells Holmes and Watson of two recent attempts on her life, the last leading to the death of Diaz the knife-thrower. Holmes and Watson visit the circus in Reading, and while they are there, Vittoria's body is found in the tiger cage, mauled beyond recognition. Holmes soon deduces that [[ThisBearWasFramed she was murdered before being thrown into the cage]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' uses circus imagery rather prominently. For example, major bosses are fought in circus tents, most of the soundtrack is comprised of big brass band music, and [[spoiler:instead of the usual LethalLavaLand, Bowser makes his home in an AmusementParkOfDoom]].