History Main / EverybodyDoTheEndlessLoop

Animation is hard work. The advent of computers in the hands of professionals have given cartoon characters more lifelike movements and mannerisms than we had ever seen before, but that's not the way they had it in the good old days, when each individual twitch on [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Mickey's]] eyelid had to be put in motion one frame at a time. Besides, animation is ''expensive'', meaning that if you've completed this one sequence, and it looks good enough, you're going to see the characters behave in ''exactly'' the same way whenever the story demands that particular action, [[GoingThroughTheMotions to the point that it looks jarringly obvious]].

* The [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20100206.html dance scene]] from ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' actually has accompanying animation on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlI7sKjRgOU You Tube. (Admittedly these are just pencil tests.)]] Molly's dance is a loop, while [[spoiler: Bob & Voluptua's dance]] is not.

* ''Twinkle Nora Rock Me'' is already infamous for its '''incredibly''' LimitedAnimation, but the [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=v2R7t2SUo3w&list=PLW6YJl_JmgM3XsWbYjTTS_3iBkU9qG_Q3&index=9&t=0s cave dance scene]] truly takes the cake. It only gets worse when the OVA forgets about the concept of in-between frames.

* UsefulNotes/{{Kmart}}'s "Gifting Out" ads for the 2013 Christmas season feature various people dancing maniacally and laughing hysterically at the fact that they saved so much on Christmas gifts at Kmart. Said dances are looped and looped and looped throughout the commercial, and the looping is so bad that you'd swear it was a form of StylisticSuck. For instance, in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca5ltKyy9oY this one]], the lady's briefcase keeps respawning in her hand after she tosses it.

* The first ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' ED is a prime example of this. Just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtlfnNg3-TY see]] for yourself.

* Not even Disney is immune to this. Animators on ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' turned to CGI to achieve the massive crowd scenes, with hundreds of moving figures visible. However, their actions are all drawn from a relatively limited pool of looping sequences, which are reused in multiple scenes and are hard to un-notice once you've noticed a few. Still an impressive achievement for the time though.
* Speaking of Disney ... it's even ''more'' noticeable in ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', where the capital city apparently contains only four distinct background characters and a bunch of clones. In the scene where one of the main characters is walking through the city, you'll notice the same tall guy and short woman go past several times each. Also contains a ''clever'' example of this: in the opening musical number when the guards are dancing in a chorus line, while they're all doing the same steps they're slightly out of sync, which actually looks like a pretty realistic take on what would happen if you took a group of people who were generally athletic but not specifically trained as dancers and made them do a chorus line.

** Spoofed in the video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2SGwdHTKr8 "The Charlie Brown School of Dance"]], a ParodyAdvertisment of the eponymous dance school. The video also gives names to some of the "dances", such as the Ruby Slipper Vulture Shuffle, the Russian Cossack Dance, and the Wafting Odor.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

%%* Part of the reason hentai is animated: Sex scenes are ''all about'' repetitive movements.

Of course, this trope is a veritable gold mine of NarmCharm. No work that pays homage to the ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' animated series will fail to mention the piano-accompanied dance scene from ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'', for instance. The Internet has really taken a liking to it, too, the "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" dancing banana avatars (and all variations thereof) and [[CaramelldansenVid Caramelldansen videos]] being the two most noticeable memes.

* Every ''CaramelldansenVid'' ever. Click on the trope page to see a list of examples.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]

* Despite being live-action, most videos of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hpEnLtqUDg&NR=1 "Harlem Shake"]] [[MemeticMutation meme]] consist of groups of people doing short, repetitious motions, fitting this trope. Animated versions are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuTFZLyCq3U about what you'd expect.]]
* Every portal to the Second Dimension that appears in ''WebVideo/TheCartoonMan'' and its sequel shows a loop of various animated objects and animals on the other side.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dance.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Are you ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrDO_45yOsQ sure]]'' it's not a mass epileptic fit?]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Are you ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBPcoI4OE9Y sure]]'' it's not a mass epileptic fit?]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* A few rather jarring examples take place in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': several times, there have been dance sequences where, naturally, everyone is "dancing" between one or two positions. ''Except'' Roger, who is also in these scenes, who does these extremely complex, fluid dances while everyone around him is just doing the same thing over and over. It practically dips into the UncannyValley.

* All ''Creator/DingoPictures''-movies are extremely prone to this.

* Towards the ending of Animation/TheElmChantedForest, all the animal and miscellaneous characters have a celebration dance, which mostly just involves running in a circle repeatedly.

* The ''Charlie Brown Christmas'' dance is also referenced in the "[[https://youtu.be/Yt-F8usoQUQ If Elvis Were My Landlord]]" sketch from ''TheKidsInTheHall''.

And so, when the story calls for our {{Toon}}s to show off their stuff on the dance floor, you'll see that Music/MichaelJackson had not a thing to worry about. Their movements are stiff, twitchy, and repetitive; often, no two characters will dance to the same beat, and none of them will pay any mind to the kind of music that's actually playing. If a series features more than one dance scene, for example, you'll notice that all the characters waltz the same way they tango. Finally, there are one or two distinct moves per character, which they will repeat over and over and over again. One really must wonder whether this is a dance at all; for all we know, the characters have just finished watching that one episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' that gave a bunch of people [[ConvulsiveSeizures epileptic fits]].

* ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumChum'', another TV CGI animated cartoon, beautifully averts this, as every single dance in the series is unique.

* ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumChum'', another TV CGI animated cartoon, beautifully averts this, as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lttLC4KlR2k#t=0m36s every]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRifQxcBKMU#t=10m12s single]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyC7rtlkRFY dance]] in the series is unique.

*** An earlier episode of ''Robot Chicken'' has another ''Peanuts'' spoof (mainly a parody of ''Literature/Misery'') where the kids comment they can goof off from preparing for the Christmas play because Charlie Brown will bail them out and decide to go dance repetitively. "I love dancing repetitively!"