History Main / ObsessedAreTheListMakers

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

* In one of the ''Literature/FrogAndToad'' children's books by Arnold Lobel, Frog and Toad make a list of everything they plan to do on a trip. Unfortunately, while on the trip, they lose it, and feel as if they couldn't do ''anything'' now because the list is gone. Just when night is falling, one of them suddenly remembers the last item on the list: "Go to sleep". So they write it on the ground, cross it out, and go to sleep right there.

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

* A subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder causes its suffers to become obsessed with diary writing and listing out everything they do/did/will be doing to the most minute detail. One such person, high school teacher Robert Shields, managed to chronicle 25 years of his life down to each 5 minute increment, a good portion of these entries were devoted to him describing his writing the entries. The diary was estimated at being longer than 30 million words when he was paralyzed by a stroke and could no longer continue.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', one of Twilight Sparkle's habits is obsessive making of lists. Depending on the episode, this can be played as anything from her being nerdy to having SuperOCD.

* Bowler Hat Guy in ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'' loves checklists and is often seen ticking off items in his, such as "Steal time machine", "Ruin science fair", and "Get that [[[SymbolSwearing comic book swearing symbols]]] boy". [[spoiler:This leads to a rather tragic moment after his EvilPlan leads the world to be [[BadFuture taken over by evil bowler hats]] in one alternate future. After fixing it, Lewis find his checklist and he has crossed out all of the EvilPlan items and added a new one: "?" It shows that he literally ''had no life'' apart from his petty desire for revenge on Cornelius Robinson for a minor childhood event.]]

* In one of the ''Literature/FrogAndToad'' children's books by Arnold Lobel, Frog and Toad make a list of everything they plan to do on a trip. Unfortunately, while on the trip, they lose it, and feel as if they literally couldn't do ''anything'' now because the list is gone. Just when night is falling, one of them suddenly remembers the last item on the list: "Go to sleep". So they write it on the ground, cross it out, and go to sleep right there.

* Pianist Richard Clayderman has admitted in an [[http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/pianos-prince-of-romance-returns-to-lift-hearts-20130203-2dsi5.html interview]] that he needs to write down his entire schedule for the day in a notebook, with a typical entry reading something like "Rise 5.30, breakfast 6.30, piano 8.30". He even ticks all the items off and makes a new list at the end of the day.
* Aviators, especially in larger and more complicated aircraft, have checklists for all manner of things, which can often specify minute details like which setting to leave a specific switch in. This will include fairly obvious things like making sure the engines are on or that the landing gear is in the desired position. Of course, the reason they do this is because planes have crashed in the past due to missing both minor details and major obvious ones, like the status of engines and landing gear. When it comes down to it, flying is a very complicated process, even for experienced pilots.

* [[{{Nerd}} Baljeet]] from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' is like this, at least once pointing out how the titular boys' project ''du jour'' would interfere with his schedule.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', the recurring villain [[GadgeteerGenius Mechanikles]] is found to have a checklist with items like "Do dishes, do laundry, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick destroy world]]". The heroes even comment: "Boy, is he [[SeriousBusiness serious]]". Later, he adds "Destroy Aladdin" to the list, and wonders to himself whether he should do the dishes ''before or after'' he destroys the world. Taking his obsession UpToEleven, he writes "Retreat" into his list before retreating.

** In "The Crystalling", Twilight gives Starlight a massive lift of instructions for how to reconnect with [[WeUsedToBeFriends an old friend,]] and Spike follows along to make sure the reluctant Starlight follows it to the letter.