History Main / DishDash

* There's a monster in the background on the floor in the penultimate scene of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' spinning plates on sticks [[spoiler: now that they've discovered laughter is 10 times more powerful than scream]].

There's also a DiscreditedTrope variation of the DishDash -- when someone is showing off their skills at keeping dishes balanced atop spinning sticks. It used to be popular in VarietyShow TV, this is rarely seen in modern TV (anything after the 1970s).

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' Apple Bloom can do a DishDash in the "spinning on a stick" manner, and the "sure-footed, quick hand--er hoofed" method.

* In the WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}} "Crazy with the Heat", Goofy's misadventures at a [[HollywoodMirage a ghostly soda fountain in the middle of a desert]] result in him being forced to [[WorkOffTheDebt pay his bill by washing dishes]]. Goofy's left carrying a precarious stack of dishes, taller than himself, across the sand dunes--and threatened with death if he drops any. Naturally, they all get dropped, but this time it's not Goofy's fault. Donald Duck, who's been chasing mirages this whole time, mistakes Goofy for an oasis and crashes into him.

Not to be confused with Videogame/DinerDash, its mobile game equivalent.

* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Chachamaru is acting as waitress for Chao Bao Zi, and is carrying two stacks of dim sum bowls seven high ... and trips. [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v09/c075/6.html Asuna, Setsuna, and Negi catch all the bowls.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThreeDelivery'' opened with an earthquake, and Sid used martial arts moves to rescue all the breakables. He even managed to save Mr. Wu's favourite mug; unfortunately, Mr. Wu came in and startled Sid, resulting in the mug falling to the ground and breaking.
* Subverted disturbingly in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'' in which a troop of macaques play "Smash and Crash" and completely destroy anything breakable they can get their hands on.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' episode "Out of Scale", the eponymous chipmunks are captured and presented to Ignatz "Ratso" Ratskiwatski to give to his daughter Buffy as playthings. She dresses them in a robe and dress, respectively, and places them into a dollhouse. Dale gets a little too much into the role, though, and when Buffy simulates an earthquake by shaking the house...\\
[-'''Dale:''' My good china!-]\\
He's too late for most of it, though, and is forced to drop the rest when Chip [[DopeSlap bonks him on the head]].

* Creator/TexAvery's short "Rock-a-Bye Bear".
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Brian goes out to dinner with his ex-girlfriend Jillian and her new beau. A waiter walks by and trips, causing him to drop his full tray, but Jillian's boyfriend catches everything with no problems. Wanting to one-up him, Brian then trips the next waiter who walks by and tries to do the same thing. He winds up covered in food and hurting the waiter's wrist (which Jillian's boyfriend 'fixes' with some fancy handwork).
* A ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon has him landing in Olive's arms, sending the dishes she was carrying flying. He catches the whole big pile as they fall, sees one more spinning down, and drops all the others with a crash to grab it. Olive snatches it from him and beans him on the noggin with it (and the last dish is apparently made of metal).
* The "discredited version" of this trope was used on ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', when Spinelli first tried her hand at plate spinning.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' uses both versions of the trope:
** In the episode involving the school play, Tucker auditions for it with the spinning plates before somebody realizes he's in elementary school.
** In the episode "Tradeshow Showdown", Jenny is forced to do a Dish Dash when a robotic teapot struggles to get away from her. She releases the teapot, and it crashes into the wall, knocking over the dishes. Nora Wakeman shouts, "XJ-9!" startling Jenny so she drops all the dishes to the ground.

* ''WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace'': In the opening titles sequence, Mrs. Mitchell finds herself in this situation after Dennis, riding on Ruff, sends her armload of clean dishes flying.
* Jadeybug does this with packages in the ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures'' episode "Berry Bitty World Record."

* ''WesternAnimation/KickButtowski'', "Stand and Delivery" - Kick insists he's fast. He gets the chance to prove it when Gunther loses his grip on a huge stack of dishes. Kick plucks them all out of the air.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "Mom and Jerry", Dexter accidentally swaps bodies with a mouse and ends up getting chased by his mother. At one point he tries to distract her by dropping decorative plates off a shelf, forcing her to catch them.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "Funny Business" and several other Luan-centric episodes, she does the plates-on-sticks version.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'', Jake has been hypnotizing his classmates with glass doorknobs taken from Adam's house. They're all antiques and precious to Adam's mom, so when they get launched into the air, he desperately dashes around to catch them all (in slow motion). [[spoiler:Principle Pixiefrog startles Adam in the end, causing him to drop and break all of the doorknobs]].

* ''WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenaceUS'': In the opening titles sequence, Mrs. Mitchell finds herself in this situation after Dennis, riding on Ruff, sends her armload of clean dishes flying.

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

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/princessandthefrogdishdash4.jpg]]]]

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', Chachamaru is acting as waitress for Chao Bao Zi, and is carrying two stacks of dim sum bowls seven high ... and trips. [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v09/c075/6.html Asuna, Setsuna, and Negi catch all the bowls.]]

* Pikachu does this in an episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''. After Pachirisu, who's floating through a steamboat's kitchen after tying some balloons to its tail, knocks over a bunch of dishes, Pikachu catches them all with his front paws, back paws, and his own tail.

* In one of the first issues of ''Comicbook/{{Impulse}}'', the title character's {{mentor}} who has SuperSpeed is having a cup of coffee while in his civilian identity. He knocks the cup off the desk and instinctivly catches it, hot liquid and all. This is done in front of his LoveInterest who at the time, had no idea of his superhero persona. He tries his best to play it off.
* When [[Comicbook/TheFlash Barry Allen]] made his first appearance in ''Showcase'' #4, he discovers his superspeed when a diner waitress trips, and he finds he can move fast enough to straighten the tray, catch all the plates and flying food and replace them. He does it so quickly that she doesn't even see him move and is left wondering what happened.

* Tiana in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' {{DishDash}}es as part of her work, as seen early in the movie during the number "Down in New Orleans".

[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/princessandthefrogdishdash4.jpg]]]]

* Tiana in ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' {{DishDash}}es as part of her work, as seen early in the movie during the number "Down in New Orleans".

* A mother bird from ''Disney/AliceInWonderland'' actually does this with ''her own eggs''.

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', Chachamaru is acting as waitress for Chao Bao Zi, and is carrying two stacks of dim sum bowls seven high ... and trips. [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v09/c075/6.html Asuna, Setsuna, and Negi catch all the bowls]]

[[caption-width-right:350:She could probably fit a few more dishes in her teeth.]]