Line #8 Main/FieldTripToThePast


1	-> ''"Fourscore and... (looks at his pocket watch) seven minutes ago... we, your forefathers, were brought forth upon a most excellent adventure conceived by our new friends, Bill... and Ted. These two great gentlemen are dedicated to a proposition which was true in my time, just as it's true today. Be excellent to each other. And... ''party on, dudes!"''''
2	-->-- '''Abraham Lincoln''', ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure''
3
4	Doing your history homework the exciting way!
5
6	This is a stock episode plot of having one of your protagonists learn their history by actually going back in time and experiencing it. If available the characters will use magical or sci-fi methods to travel back in time. Other times it's AllJustADream or a hallucination caused by a bump in the head. Bonus points if someone quotes the saying, "If you don't learn from the past, you'll be doomed to repeat it."
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8	If the character is not researching history it can be used to deliver AnAesop. If they take a major part in the story, that's YouAlreadyChangedThePast, BeenThereShapedHistory, or YouWillBeBeethoven.
9
10	Compare to WaybackTrip, where the history seems to be a little… ''off'', and the characters have to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong fix it]]. (Though there's naturally a continuum from this trope to that one; the main difference is whether or not the characters need to fix anything.) Compare also to AdventuresInTheBible where the history the characters enter is as told by the scriptures of a religion or by a work of ancient literature.
11	----
12	!!Examples
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14	[[foldercontrol]]
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16	[[folder:Entire Series]]
17	[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
18	* ''Superbook'', an anime where the protagonists go back in time to experience the events of the Bible.
19	* ''[[Anime/TimeTravelShoujoMariWakaTo8NinNoKagakushatachi Time Travel Shoujo: Mari Waka to 8-nin no Kagakusha-tachi]]'' The titular trio travel back in time to meet eight of the most prominent scientists and inventors in history, and also making sure that they wouldn't trapped in the past.
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21	[[AC:{{Comic Book}}s]]
22	* The Chilean comic ''ComicBook/{{Mampato}}'' is about the titular character (a 10-ish year old boy) travelling to various places and time periods (including the prehistoric era, TheMiddleAges, the Chilean War of Independence, and [[TheFuture the 40th century]]) using his "space-time belt". Being a bookworm, he does it out of a genuine desire to experience the time periods he reads about (or to help/meet with his friends, a caveman and a mutant girl from the future).
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24	[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
25	* ''Franchise/BillAndTed'':
26	** ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'': as Abe Lincoln mentions in the page quote, the duo harvest various historical figures with their time machine and bring them in for their history report.
27	** Literally in ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'' where after introducing guest speakers from the past, Rufus reminds his students of an upcoming field trip to Babylonia.
28	* ''Split Infinity'' has a teenage girl going back in time, and [[MentalTimeTravel becoming her deceased relative]] -- while learning about how TheGreatDepression was started.
29
30	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
31	* In Jodi Taylor's Literature/TheChroniclesOfSaintMarys series, planning and performing trips to noteable events in the past (and documenting them for the record) is St. Mary's primary function.
32	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMessage": The protagonist is from the thirtieth century, collecting original research for an academic paper on infantrymen in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
33	* ''Literature/TheMagicTreeHouse'' series of children's novels, in which a young boy and girl discover a magical tree house filled with books, and if they sit in the tree house, point at one of the pictures, and wish they are in the place pictured, the tree house magically teleports them there. Using the tree house they visit places all over the world, in the past, and on the moon. As the series went on, though, it mostly dropped the "history" aspect, and now the kids are just as likely to visit fantasy locations (i.e. Camelot).
34	* Literature/{{Timeline}}
35	* Creator/ConnieWillis' time travel series, ''Literature/FireWatch'', ''Literature/DoomsdayBook'', ''Literature/ToSayNothingOfTheDog'', and ''Literature/{{Blackout}}[=/=]Literature/AllClear''.
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37	[[AC:{{Music}}]]
38	* Music/{{Ayreon}}'s double album ''Universal Migrator'': the last human, living on Mars, uses ImportedAlienPhlebotinum to relive past lives, going all the way back to just before the big bang.
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40	[[AC:VideoGames]]
41	* ''[[VideoGame/DotsHome Dot's Home]]'': Dot returns to her grandmother's house in Detroit, MI to find that her Grandma Mavis is considering selling it to Murphy's Keys-for-Cash promotion in order to pay the bills, after refusing to do so because she would have nowhere to go after. Dot gets distraught by Mavis' decision, so she goes upstairs to her bed to sleep off her headache. Upon waking up, Dot discovers that she's mysteriously locked her room, and she finds a magic key that beckons her to use it. She unlocks the door and enters a magic hallway, taking her back to key moments of her family's past. Throughout the game, she learns about the historical housing discrimination against Black people firsthand and how her family survived it in order to provide her the home she's living in.
42	* ''VideoGame/JumpStart3rdGrade'', where the antagonist already knew the history and deliberately changed it her way, causing you to have to undo it back to normal.
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44	[[AC:WebOriginal]]
45	* ''Tales From the SMP'', a spin-off series of the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', revolves around Karl Jacobs using his time-travelling powers to journey to the past and future of the SMP, and it is heavily implied that he uses these powers to stop the events of the SMP from getting worse, [[spoiler:but [[BlessedWithSuck at the cost of]] his own [[LossOfIdentity sense of identity]] and memories]].
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47	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
48	* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' had a variant, wherein time has started slowly unraveling, causing history to go wildly off-course, from the relatively benign like UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi refusing to work on gaining independence from the British Empire, because he's found his "true calling" in tap dancing, to the impossibly-weird such as Eli Whitney inventing ''flesh-eating robots'' instead of the cotton gin. Thus it's up to the eponymous Time Squad, with the help of the TagalongKid and noted history buff Otto, to go back in time and [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong set history back on-course]]... or at least attempt to.
49	* ''WesternAnimation/TimeWarpTrio'' based on the book series is kind of like the Magic Tree House series. When the characters make an idle comment on a historic period, if the book is in earshot (which is always is) it'll transport them to that era. The kids have no control over it, because they haven't managed to translate the passages from it with the incantations that keeps them from being separated from each other and the book when they're transported to the past.
50	* ''[[WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle Peabody's Improbable History]]''
51	* ''U.S. of WesternAnimation/{{Archie\|Comics}}'', sort of
52	* The ''WesternAnimation/HorribleHistories'' animated series. In each episode, Stitch and Mo would be transported to a different historical era, which would help them learn a lesson or solve a problem in their everyday lives.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/XavierRiddleAndTheSecretMuseum'' is about three kids who travel back in time to meet famous people who changed the world, such as Marie Curie, Harry Houdini, Harriet Tubman, and many more. They use the lessons they learned from these historical figures to solve their everyday problems.
54	[[/folder]]
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56	[[folder:Has episode(s) of the trope]]
57	[[AC:ComicBooks]]
58	* Comics example: In the Golden Age, [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman and Robin]] would occasionally have a friend of theirs hypnotize them and send them back (or forward) in time to investigate certain events.
59	* Superman #293 features a teacher and students from the future travelling back in time to get firsthand experience of "Thirsty Thursday" (a day where Superman is trying to [[ItMakesSenseInContext get Metropolis to drink water]]).
60	* ''ComicBook/PS238'' has several students being assigned a history report, which they decide to do on the first metahuman by bringing his daughter to their time.
61	* In ''The New Adventures of ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' #26-27 (February-March 1982), the Boy of Steel tried going back in time once to complete a homework assignment on a project Mercury space launch [[ComicBookTime four years earlier]]. (The teacher wanted the class to write essays as mock-"eyewitnesses" to a historical event.) Among other things, Clark learned: he shouldn't use his powers to take shortcuts on his schoolwork; he'd turn into an [[IntangibleTimeTravel invisible phantom]] if he visits a time period when he's still alive; and he had no memory of most of the day's events, due to his younger self erasing his own memory. It turned out the younger Superboy had (under the request of [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy President Kennedy]]) secretly saved the Mercury mission from Russian sabotage. Ultimately, "our" Clark returned to his own time and did the assignment "like an ordinary student." Making this worse, Clark admitted at the start he remembered seeing the launch on TV at the time, and the story's events forced him to do ''more'' research about the space mission than had he done the assignment normally.
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63	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
64	* ''Literature/TimeScout'': In order to psych Margo up and get her interested in her difficult historical research, she's given a few tours downtime. First to Victorian England, then to Ancient Rome. She makes some serious mistakes each time, but also experiences some of the joys of learning.
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66	[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
67	* An episode of ''Series/HappyDays'' had Fonzie inexplicably being an American history expert and helping one of the others with a report on the Pilgrims. Cut to the Mayflower's holds, full of the cast now singing about journeying to America.
68	* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' does this twice.
69	* The ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' spinoff novel ''Salem's Tales'' does this.
70	* ''Series/FamilyTies'' does this in an episode where Alex P. Keaton falls asleep -- and he witnesses the Declaration of Independence. As this episode occurred around the time that Michael J. Fox (Alex's actor) was also playing Marty [=McFly=] on ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', this episode was possibly a nod to the then upcoming film. In the film, [[TheProfessor Doc Brown]] types in the date of the Declaration of Independence -- when demonstrating to Marty how his time machine works.
71	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': Inverted in the episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S4E18TheBard The Bard]]" featuring a struggling TV writer named Julius Moomer who dabbles in black magic to summon Creator/WilliamShakespeare back from the dead to help him write his new show. After Shakespeare leaves in disgust after the TV execs butcher the script he wrote, the writer has another idea: a historical documentary, featuring the people who actually ''lived'' it.
72	* Oddly used in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' in the PoorlyDisguisedPilot episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E26AssignmentEarth Assignment: Earth]]". The ''Enterprise'' is apparently sent back ''on purpose'' to 1968 to do research. This despite the many, many other TimeTravel stories in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' featuring the dangers of interfering with the timeline.
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74	[[AC:{{Radio}}]]
75	* One of the main purposes of the Imagination Station on ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' -- virtual reality, but YourMindMakesItReal.
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77	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
78	* {{Inverted\|Trope}} on ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents''. Instead of Timmy going back, he brought the founding fathers forward.
79	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' [[SatireParodyPastiche parodied]] it on one episode where Cartman intentionally electrocuted himself with a Tivo full of the History Channel. [[InvokedTrope It worked too]].
80	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TennesseeTuxedoAndHisTales'' short "Tell-Tale Telegraph", Tennessee fell asleep while reading about the Civil War. He dreamed that he was protecting a Civil War fort from Indians, and had to learn the workings of a telegraph.
81	* An old ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' WartimeCartoon has Uncle Sam teaching Porky Pig the foundation of the USA.
82	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'', a villain captures Creator/LeonardoDaVinci, Creator/BenjaminFranklin, UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison, UsefulNotes/JohannesGutenberg, and George Washington Carver. ("If I could only get my hands on those peanuts!")
83	** And the cavewoman who invented the wheel.
84	* ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus'' episode "The Busasaurus", {{in which\|ATropeIsDescribed}} Ms. Frizzle et al. travel back in time 67 million years to learn about dinosaurs in person.
85	* ''[[WesternAnimation/MightyMouse Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures]]'': In "Scrappy's Field Day", Scrappy misses the bus taking his class on a field trip to the museum, so Mighty Mouse takes him aboard his own bus and goes back to prehistory.
86	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' features Stewie and Brian using Stewie's time machine to take Chris to various points in history to help him pass an exam. They get away with it by telling Chris he's dreaming, but with consequences. Most of the episode takes place when Chris boards the Titanic.
87	[[/folder]]
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89	[[folder:Note in passing]]
90	[[AC: Fan Works]]
91	* In the ''Film/StarTrek2009'' fanfic ''Fanfic/WrittenInTheStars'', female Kirk of the Alt Reality keeps getting shown memories of her counterpart's past, to her annoyance. When her counterpart is about to show her another one:
92	-->''Oh no, not '''another''' field trip to the past!''
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94	[[AC: Literature]]
95	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
96	** In ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'' Susan Sto Helit (granddaughter of [[TheGrimReaper Death]]) has taken the job of a teacher. Though it is never actually shown, it becomes fairly clear that part of her history lesson involves actually visiting the event, as her ancestry enables her to step a bit outside the physical world.
97	** Not ''literal'' homework, but in ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' the Librarian needs to know what a certain book says. Unfortunately, the reason he needs to know is that the book has been stolen. So he walks back in time (which apparently all libraries can allow), and reads it before it is stolen.
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99	[[AC: Live-Action TV]]
100	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E6TheWomanWhoLived The Woman Who Lived]]", Clara is annoyed the Doctor helped one of her students complete a history assignment by arranging for her to meet UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill.
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102	[[AC: Western Animation]]
103	* In an early episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', the rich Mr. Burns is forced to pay a huge sum of money to the city government for dumping radioactive materials. Lisa thinks the money should be given to the public school, and [[ImagineSpot imagines a scene]] with virtual-reality helmets which show a simulation of ancient Mongolia where UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan says, "Hello, Lisa! I’m Genghis Khan. You’ll go where I go! Defile what I defile! Eat who I eat!" This scene only lasts about a few seconds.
104	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / FieldTripToThePast