History Main / StopDrowningAndStandUp

* ''ComicStrip/{{CalvinAndHobbes}}'': Calvin does this at least once. Justified subversion here: he knew the water wasn't deep and just wanted Mom to pay attention to him (she was reading).

%%* Happens to Ash and his friends at least once in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''.

%%* Happens to Fuyuki from ''Manga/SgtFrog'' more than once.
* Sonic in ''Anime/SonicX'' does this during his first fight with Knuckles.
-->'''Sonic''': (''post-realization, sheepishly'') It's lucky I fell in the kiddie pool.

* Judai and Sho do this in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' when [[spoiler: Sho loses confidence over an upcoming tag duel and tries to leave Duel Academy.]]

* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' does this significantly, when Isumi is forced to teleport herself, Hayate and Sakuya away from a losing battle. Hayate eventually helps either get Sakuya to where she can stand, or just helps her to stand in the water, while Isumi is apparently unwilling to even get wet at all, and brings in her dolphin so she doesn't even get her clothes wet. The other two comment.

* A variation happens to Mametarou in ''Manga/MassuguNiIkou.'' He's trapped on a mattress floating down the middle of an artificial river, and he's too scared of water to jump off. His owner's boyfriend jumps in to save him, discovering that the water's only about a foot deep. In fairness, it would have been chest-high on a little dog like Mame.
%%* Happens to Ash and his friends at least once in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''.
* An early {{Filler}} episode of ''Manga/CaseClosed'' has the Detective Boys fall into a river, which causes Mitsuhiko to start flailing around and panicking. He has to be told that the water isn't that deep.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Luffy crashes through the ceiling of a bathhouse and lands in a pool. Underwater kicking and thrashing ensue, until he realizes it's so shallow all he has to do is lift his head out of the water.
* In ''Anime/GundamBuildDivers'', Yuuki, Do-Ji and Sarah are crossing a thin land bridge over ice cold water that, if they fall in, they incur a wait penalty. The boys save Sarah from falling in, only to fall in themselves and start flailing in a panic, only to realize that it isn't that deep at all.
* In ''Anime/MonsterRancher'', "Suezo's Secret Weapon", Golem falls into a river when the Searchers prepare to use a raft. Everyone panics because Golem can't swim (Being made of rocks, and all), and Genki heroically dives in to swim to the rescue. Then it transpires that the water level only goes up to Mocchi's waist.

* In the first anime series of ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', Tsubasa accidentally knocks Manabu into the nearby river with his soccer ball. Manabu starts flailing and screaming, but when Tsubasa goes to help him, he realizes the water barely goes past the knees, much to Manabu's embarrassment.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender - The Lost Adventures'': In "Dirty Is Only Skin Deep" Katara wants to force Toph to take a bath with them. When Toph continues to refuse because she HatesBaths, Katara simply uses her waterbending to sweep Toph into the lagoon (that's barely knee-deep). Toph starts flailing around screaming that she doesn't want to drown, prompting Katara to part the water so she calms down.

* ComicStrip/{{Calvin|AndHobbes}} does this at least once. Justified subversion here: he knew the water wasn't deep and just wanted Mom to pay attention to him (she was reading).

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* Chuckie does this in the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie Rugrats]]'' movie.
* Edgar in ''WesternAnimation/OnceUponAForest'' is left flailing in a pool of water, only for Abigail and Russell to point out that it's only knee-high.

* Muk and Luk do this in ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'', leading to a whole speech about the "shame of the polar bear that fears the water".

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

* The ''Prince of Thieves'' example is parodied in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', where Little John begs for help in [[ExaggeratedTrope an inch-deep stream]].
* In ''Film/{{Predators}}'', Edwin falls into a pond and flops around before discovering it's waist-deep.

* Happens to Vidia in ''[[Franchise/DisneyFairies Silvermist and the Ladybug Curse]]''. Before it's discovered that she's in shallow water, another fairy cries out, "Help! My flowers are ruined and Vidia is drowning!"

* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', Bluefur attacks the enemy warrior Oakheart, but misses and falls into a river. Bluefur begs for Oakheart to save her, but he laughs and tells her to stand up, because she was "drowning" in shallow water.

* Played for drama in ''[[Literature/ThisBookIsFullOfSpidersSeriouslyDudeDontTouchIt This Book Is Full Of Spiders]]'', when John ends up trapped in a submerged car. After struggling free, he realizes with a shudder that "the water was only about eight feet deep and he had only been about five seconds away from drowning in it."

* At the end of the ''Series/HenryDanger'' episode "Henry and the Bad Girl, Part 2", Van Del falls into his red paint vat and fears he will drown until Captain Man and Kid Danger remind him it's three feet deep.
* The beginning of an episode of Series/{{Sliders}} had the group hanging on to a building on a flooded world. The group had to fall in order to get to the portal. Remy did and found himself in water. He screamed that he was drowning until one of his friends told him to stand up. He realized that he is in a much dryer world but landed in a fountain.
* In the first episode of ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'', Zack Cody London and Bailey are running to safety when they hear an alarm about the ship sinking and seemingly fall overboard. However, they realize they are actually in a hot tub and that the alarm was just a drill.
** The hot tub is used for this trope again in "Sea Harmony" when, after a chase against the jerk who tried to frame him for a jewelery theft, Zack falls into it and starts splashing everywhere as if he is drowning. Zack's GirlOfTheWeek grabs his hand and they embrace in a romantic yet funny parody of the ''Film/Titanic1997''. Mr. Moseby eventually tells Zack to stand up.
* In the [[BeachEpisode Acapulco episode]] of ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'', there's a part in which Professor Jirafales jumps into the pool to "rescue" Quico (who can't swim) and calls El Chavo to bring them Quico's inner tubes. El Chavo does so, but then he says: "Wouldn't it be better if you stand up?" As it turns out, the water is only knee-deep.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Patrick gets butt cramp in the Goo Lagoon and [=SpongeBob=], while pretending to be a lifeguard, tries to save him. It ended up with [=SpongeBob=] drowning in the water with Patrick until Larry the Lobster, a real lifeguard, saves them by simply walking in the ankle-high water and picking them up.
* Shaggy does it in the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' episode "The Haunted House Hang-Up" after he, Velma and Scooby land in a well.
-->'''Shaggy:''' Help! I'm drowning! Call the coastguard!\\
'''Velma:''' Stand up. The water's only knee-deep.
** It also happens in "Foul Play in Funland" after the Funland Robot destroys the gang's TunnelOfLove boat...
--->'''Shaggy:''' Don't panic! I'll save ya!\\
'''Velma:''' Thanks, Shaggy. But why don't we just walk out?

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/USAcres'' on ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' featured a flashback with Wade's father trying to teach him how to swim. As Wade was on water, he was afraid of sinking and kept yelling until his father told him how shallow the water was.
** A quickie has Wade panicking that he's sinking when he falls into Orson's mud wallow, until Orson picks him up by the head and flatly tells him "Try standing up".
* In the "Love and Cheese" episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', [[ParodySue Lila]] is drowning in a stream of water in the Cheese Festival's Tunnel of Love. Arnold comes to save her, and after he grabs her and takes her to the surface, he tells her that they can stand up. Once they do, the water only reaches their ankles. Of course, it's all part of a ZanyScheme played out by [[StalkerWithACrush Helga]] to break them apart.
* In the WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon ''Donald's Diary'', Daisy persistently tries to snare eligible bachelor Donald - at one point flailing in a pond in a park crying for help. When he obliviously walks by, she stands up in a huff in the shin-deep water.
* Happens in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode, "Just Add Water". The school hosts a casino night on a run-down yacht that eventually crashes into a garbage barge. Everyone has to evacuate and [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything there aren't enough life boats]] (in fact, there was only ''the'' lifeboat that accidentally drifted off)... but luckily, they are only a few meters away from the shoreline and just have to stand up.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', Numbuh 4, who can't swim and is thus terrified of water, is flailing around, panicking, while his teammates are standing in knee-deep ocean water. Numbuh 1 tells him, in a deadpan monotone, "Stop swimming." He does, and it's revealed they're standing right on top of a KND submarine.

* Happens to Christopher the rooster in episode 21 of ''WesternAnimation/BooBoomTheLongWayHome''.

* This happens to Akane in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' when she starts her swimming lessons. [[RunningGag And it continues all the way through the manga]], even when the water is only knee-deep ''and she's wearing flotation devices.'' And a snorkel.

* Three friends — a catholic priest, a rabbi, and a mullah — go fishing together. They run out of flies (or whatever), so, the priest goes to get some. He just steps out of the boat, and walks to the shore without even getting his trousers wet. Then he comes back. After a while, a rabbi does the same trick — steps out of the boat, walks to the shore, and brings something back to the boat. On a third try, a mullah steps out of the boat, and immediately goes under the water. Priest: "Oh, I think I shoud've told him where the rocks are". Rabbi: "There are rocks there?"

Bob, who is unable to swim, falls into the water and starts [[HollywoodDrowning flailing around in panic]], calling for someone to help him. Alice arrives on the scene, but simply tells him to, "Stop drowning and stand up." Much to Bob's chagrin, he does so and thus finds out the water was only waist deep at most.

* Used in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'', with small proto-elephants in a tar pit (they were doing it on purpose).

* Happened in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', where the school hosted a casino night on a run-down yacht that eventually crashed into a garbage barge. Everyone had to evacuate and [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything there weren't enough life boats]] (In fact, there was only ''the'' lifeboat that accidentally drifted off)... but luckily, they were only a few meters away from the shoreline and only had to stand up.

* [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh Tigger]] does this in the opening of one of the episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'', the one titled 'My Hero'. Piglet saves him.

-->'''Sonic''': (''post-realization, sheepishly'') Looks like I landed in the kiddie pool.

* TruthInTelevision, since you can drown in any level of water that's deep enough to cover your nose and mouth. ''Two inches'' can kill you if you can't raise your head. Young children are prone to this, which is why even buckets have drowning labels on them.

* ''Manga/SpyxFamily'': A chapter has Damian and his two cronies sentenced, as punishment, to go boating with the groundskeeper. The white water churned up by the groundskeeper's vigorous and speedy oar strokes created the illusion that the river was deeper, swifter, and more dangerous than it was, but the illusion was shattered a little while after the kids fell overboard.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': A chapter has Damian and his two cronies sentenced, as punishment, to go boating with the groundskeeper. The white water churned up by the groundskeeper's vigorous and speedy oar strokes created the illusion that the river was deeper, swifter, and more dangerous than it was, but the illusion was shattered a little while after the kids fell overboard.

* Most surf life savers have at least a dozen stories of rescues performed in waist deep (or lower) water, with much of the rescue boiling down to 'stand up.'[[note]]An 'you idiot' is usually implied or added.[[/note]] Half subverted in that waist deep water is usually in the breaking zone for waves which can - and do - knock people over, causing them to panic.

Bob, who is unable to swim, falls into the water and starts flailing around, calling for someone to help him. Alice arrives on the scene, but simply tells him to, "Stop drowning and stand up." Much to Bob's chagrin, he does so and thus finds out the water was only waist deep at most.

A common occurrence, especially in comedies.

* At one point in ''Manga/OnePiece'', Luffy crashes through the ceiling of a bathhouse and lands in a pool. Underwater kicking and thrashing ensues, until he realizes it's so shallow all he has to do is lift his head out of the water.

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' [[ShowWithinAShow Comic Within a Comic]] story "Marooned", the main character, adrift on a raft and succumbing to morbid hallucinations, jumps into the ocean in order to drown himself. For a few moments, he wonders why he's still alive, then realizes he's standing ankle deep in water, just a few feet from land.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender - The Lost Adventures'' comic, there's the "Dirty Is Only Skin Deep" ministory. Katara wants to force Toph to take a bath with them. [[HatesBaths When Toph continues to refuse]], Katara simply uses her waterbending to bring Toph into the lagoon (that's barely knee-deep). Toph starts flailing around screaming that she doesn't want to drown, prompting Katara to part the water so she calms down.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Patrick gets butt cramp in the Goo Lagoon and [=SpongeBob=], while pretending to be a lifeguard, tries to save him. It ended up with [=SpongeBob=] drowning in the water with Patrick until a real lifeguard saves them by simply walking in the ankle-high water and picking them up.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', Number 4, who can't swim and is thus terrified of water, is flailing around, panicking, while his teammates are standing in knee-deep ocean water. Number 1 tells him, in a deadpan monotone, "Stop swimming." He does, and it's revealed they're standing right on top of a KND submarine.

* An early {{Filler}} episode of ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' has the Detective Boys fall into a river, which causes Mitsuhiko to start flailing around and panicking. He has to be told that the water isn't that deep.

* In the DonaldDuck cartoon ''Donald's Diary'', Daisy persistently tries to snare eligible bachelor Donald - at one point flailing in a pond in a park crying for help. When he obliviously walks by, she stands up in a huff in the shin-deep water.

Bob, who is unable to swim, falls into the water and starts flailing around, calling for someone to help him. Alice arrives on the scene, but simply tells him to, "[[TitleDrop Stop drowning and stand up]]." Much to Bob's chagrin, he does so and thus finds out the water was only waist deep at most.