History Main / WidelySpacedJailBars

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'', Mufasa has Zazu trapped in a cage that appears to be made of bones that it looks like he could easily walk right out of if he just tucked in his wings and sucked in his gut a little.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', Mufasa has Zazu trapped in a cage that appears to be made of bones that it looks like he could easily walk right out of if he just tucked in his wings and sucked in his gut a little.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'', though it's kind of hard to tell, it does appear with the cage that Tempest puts Twilight Sparkle in that she could just walk out if maybe she was good at contortions. Not that it would necessarily matter, anyway, since she was without magic while in the cage and surrounded by Tempest and the Storm King's minions.

* ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer1998'': When Rudolph and his friends are caught by Stormella, she locks them up in her ice cave with icicles as bars, that ''should'' be big enough for Rudolph and Zoey to simply walk through.

* In ''Pony life with Lenora and Finola'', in one episode, the two are put in jail, and Lenora accidentally walks out of their cell through the bars and then re_enters without even realizing it. The two are too stupid to realize they can escape this way.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': In various episodes such as "Life of Crime", the bars in Bikini Bottom jail are wide enough for the characters to escape through. In "Employee of the month", Spongebob actually escapes from a trap with these bars by sliding out sideways.

* Asuna's cell in ''Anime/SwordArtOnline''. Is enough to warrant a MemeticMutation. [[https://aminoapps.com/c/anime/page/blog/anime-logic/x2t2_uwzp4dL7bbX15dWvJ2DdrXPLd Seen here]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer1998'': When Rudolph and his friends are caught by Stormella, she locks them up in her ice cave with icicles as bars, that ''should'' be big enough for Rudolph and Zoey to simple walk through.

When presented as a serious obstacle, this is very similar to the InsurmountableWaistHeightFence

* In the ''Film/{{Catwoman}}'' movie, the title character breaks out of jail by slipping between the bars.

[[Folder:Web Videos]]

Look out for examples using other types of imprisonment devices, such as manacles or stocks, or in more modern-day works, shock collars/bracelets for anyone who tries to take advantage of that.

Look out for examples using other types of imprisonment devices, such as manacles or stocks.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheEdgehog'': As pointed out by WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, the bars of the cage Sonic and Tails are trapped in during ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode "Subterranean Sonic" are easily wide enough for the two of them to escape through.

* In ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'', Rizzo and Gonzo climb over a barred gate, and then Rizzo runs back between the bars to get something he dropped.

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-->-- WebVideo/RebelTaxi [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnMThIoK9D4&spfreload=10 reviewing]] ''WesternAnimation/TheNightB4Christmas''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby'', the cage that Francis E. Francis places Tim and the Boss Baby in looks like both of them could just climb a little and get right out of it. It doesn't really matter because they're both dropped through a trapdoor before they can even really consider it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'', though it's kind of hard to tell, it does appear with the cage that Tempest puts Twilight Sparkle in that she could just walk out if maybe she was good at contortions. Not that it would necessarily matter, anyway, since she was without magic while in the cage and surrounded by Tempest and the Storm King's minions.

* In the ''Film/{{Catwoman}}'' movie, the title character breaks out of jail by slipping between the bars.

* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'', there is a containment area on the Starship Phoenix with bars like these. The PlayerCharacter actually can walk between the bars, but the {{NPC}}s in there never think of escaping this way.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'', the prisoners in the jail in Bree-town really should be able to just walk out of there.

* One of the many and humorous signs ''VideoGame/RavensCry'' is a ObviousBeta is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lofR-R_rFJ0&t=3m58s guy stuck in a prison cell]] that's literally ''half open.''
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': At one point Papyrus tries to block your progress by putting up a set of bars. Papyrus being Papyrus, the bars are so widely spaced you can simply walk through them. Sans even [[LampshadeHanging points this out]]. Later on, if Papyrus defeats you in battle, he locks you a cell (actually, just his backyard shed), which again, you can literally just walk out of.

* ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'': If the bars from the cells of the stadium's gaol may keep in a large, burly man like Malevolus, they look way too spread apart to hold in [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-8-112/ a pair of thin elves]].

* In the ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' TV special ''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials Here Comes Garfield]]'', Garfield and Odie are [[PoundsAreAnimalPrisons taken to the pound]]. Odie is thrown into the back of an animal control truck where the bars are more than wide enough for him to slip through. Later, when Garfield and Odie are in the pound, all the cage bars are wide enough for even Garfield to walk out, but nobody seems to notice.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "The Frying Game" has Marge and Homer in jail together, in a cell whose bars are clearly too close together for Homer but Marge could walk right through them. She doesn't, making this a Serious Type.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': Tweety's cage usually has bars wide enough apart for him to fly right through -- but they're mostly there to keep Sylvester out anyway, and he does it if he has a good enough reason.
* On one ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short, a boy secret agent and his cat sidekick are in a cage about to be hit by a DeathRay. When the cat asks how they can possibly escape, the kid simply slips through the bars. The cat, amused at how simple it is, hops back and forth between the bars ("I'm in, I'm out, I'm in, I'm out...") and ends up being hit by the ray. (Being a cartoon character, he made it.)
* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "Avatar Day". Aang is clearly too small for the adult-sized stocks, so he easily slips in and out of them while talking to his fellow inmates. This is all part of the episode's premise that Aang is voluntarily submitting to justice when he is obviously powerful enough to escape any time he wanted to.
* As pointed out by WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, the bars of the cage Sonic and Tails are trapped in during ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode "Subterranean Sonic" are easily wide enough for the two of them to escape through.
* In "Max's Comic Adventure" on ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'', the gaps between the bars of Mondo Mouse's cage are clearly big enough for him to just walk through, but nevertheless, Max, Emmy and the dragons have to rescue him by figuring out a code to raise up the bars, making it a serious example.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'': Viper is hung from a chain with the cuff around her neck, but it never occurs to the villains-of-the-week, or to her, that she could just slither out of it because ''she is a viper''.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Seen in "Twilight's Kingdom Part 2" when [[spoiler:Discord]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jailbars_66.png traps Twilight's friends and Spike in a cage]]. Even Pinkie Pie doesn't notice, putting it in the serious category.
* In "Victor the Villain," on ''WesternAnimation/WallyKazam'', Victor traps Wally and his pet dragon Norville in a cage with bars spaced such that Norville (a small dragon) could probably at least escape from them.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'': Seen in "Ride the High School" when King Chicken traps Duckman, Aunt Bernice, and Cornfed in a cage. Aunt Bernice seduces him with promises of forming a band. The entire time they are imprisoned, nobody questions the bar widths, even though the antagonist actually walks between the bars for a few scenes to prod Duckman.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins'':
** In the episode "Give and Let Give", the cage Jason and Michelle are in has bars far apart for them to just escape if they tried.
** Zig-zagged in "Do Unto Brothers". The bars are narrow enough to prevent the penguins from escaping, but not the kids. As Michelle puts it...
--->'''Michelle:''' This cell was built to hold penguins, not kids.
* An especially egregious case in ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'', where Dojo (prophesied to turn evil every 1,500 years or so) is locked inside a pet-carrier with just ''two'' bars. This might be enough for your average cat or dog, but Dojo has the rough dimensions of a garden hose, and at one point he cajoles Omi to slip some egg-rolls through the bars, ''which are exactly as thin as he is''.
** The bars might be magically enchanted to block him from escaping, given the setting being a world where magic artifacts exists.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' has an ImagineSpot episode that portrays the wild west and shows a jail cell that has bars wide enough to walk though and the characters actually do, but still don't think to escape this way. Of course, that's nothing compared to the fact that [[CardboardPrison the jail cell didn't have a back wall.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': The city pound Rita and Runt are in during "When Rita Met Runt" has those.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightB4Christmas'': The jail cell the music group were placed in is at least wide enough for Elvin to fit through, though he never gets himself out this way.

* In ''Disney/TheLittleMermaidIII'', [[spoiler:Sebastian]] can clearly fit through the bars of the jail cell he and [[spoiler:the Catfish Club Band]] are stuck in. It's even pointed out by one of the prisoners trying to convince him to pick the lock.