Line #158 Main/AdultsDressedAsChildren


1	[[quoteright:320:[[Film/TheThreeStooges https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/55_1973.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Totally not The Three Stooges in disguise.]]]]
3	%%
4	Fictional grownups have been known to disguise themselves as some pretty silly things. [[MobileShrubbery Bushes and trees]], [[PantomimeAnimal two-person horses that don't look anything remotely like horses]], oh--and did we mention children? That's right. From time to time, TV adults like to try and fool everyone by masquerading as gigantic children. Oh, and occasionally teenagers as well.
5
6	In an attempt to blend in with their supposed age group, TotallyRadical speech patterns will nearly always be employed and the character will always end up looking like an idiot. At least to us, the viewers, that is. The other characters might not see through this [[PaperThinDisguise odd-looking, strangely out-of-date-sounding kid's "clever" disguise.]] However, they usually do.
7
8	'''Depending on the realism of the show, the adult (or even teen) in question will either:'''
9
10	* Be dressed in an exaggerated, stereotypical version of what all today's hip young teens or kids are wearing.
11	* Fall back on cartoonish old classics such as beanies with propellers, Literature/LittleLordFauntleroy outfits, sailor suits, and giant lollipops.
12
13	A SubTrope of AgeInappropriateDress (just a deliberate form).
14
15	Compare CatholicSchoolGirlsRule and GooGooGetup, when a character disguises themself as a baby.
16
17	Compare/Contrast TotemPoleTrench.
18
19	Not to be confused with DawsonCasting (adult actors portraying teenagers, typically with some level of SuspensionOfDisbelief on the part of the audience).
20
21	----
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	!Children
25
26	!!Exaggerated stereotypes:
27
28	[[folder:Literature]]
29	* Creator/EphraimKishon did this once in one of his stories (on Purim).
30	* Early into ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' Rhonda wore a green wig and a puffy white dress in order to pretend to be a preteen. She needed to a SecretTestOfCharacter on the kids pretending to be another child. Her looks were meant to draw attention away from her age and distract the test takers in general.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
34	* In the German comedy show ''Series/Switch1997'' Bernhard Hoëcker and Petra Nadolny do this regularly.
35	* The actress Creator/ShirleyHenderson (born 1965) seems to specialize in this. Apart from her role in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' films, she recently appeared in a TV production called 'May Contain Nuts' where she dressed as her 11-year old daughter in order to pass a test to get the girl into a good school. The ironic thing is that her character in ''Potter'' films, Myrtle, is actually older than her- but is a ghost, and thus still looks young.
36	* As part of the husband-and-wife comedy duo "The Krankies," Janette Tough made a career out of dressing up as a young boy to play "Wee Jimmy Krankie."
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Western Animation]]
40	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer tried this in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E15HungryHungryHomer Hungry, Hungry Homer]]" when he sneaked into Bart's class to try to get Sherri (one of the twins) to go out with Bart to the dance. Neither Krabappel nor the kids in the class pierced his disguise, and Homer managed to accomplish his goal.
41	* Also in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' where Dale attempts to apply for a job as paperboy for the Arlen Bystander (because he's always wanted a gig as a paperboy), but they're only hiring child applicants. He unbuttons his work shirt, turns his cap backwards, wears cargo shorts, shows up on a scooter, and uses TotallyRadical slang such as "jizzob" in place of the boring old "job." No one is fooled and Bobby instantly recognizes him.
42	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' had a government inspector masquerading as a kid, who was later found out when TJ overhears a buzzing noise in the school toilets and discovers him shaving.
43	* In the ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' episode "Scout Scatter", the Ant Hill Mob fooled the sheriff by disguising themselves as Boy Scouts.
44	* One ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' episode has our protagonists going to a SuckECheeses-type establishment to get Pops' birthday present, only to be told they're not allowed in without a child. So, they take Rigby (already the shortest and most immature member of the group), dress him up in trendy clothes (a hoodie, a fanny pack, and a backwards cap), and have him speak in LeetLingo. It works.
45	* ''WesternAnimation/PrivateSnafu'': In "Spies", one of the Japanese spies is disguised as a baby in a pram. Snafu, to nobody's surprise, fails to notice.
46	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}'' episode "Freedom Cactus", school principal Mr. Reese attempts to dress up as a new student to give Clarence some advice for his predicament. He uses very ill-fitting clothes that show off his hairy legs and stomach, a backwards cap and a smile drawn on a post-it to cover up his moustache. Of course, Clarence being [[CloudCuckoolander Clarence]], the disguise works perfectly.
47	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'': In a ParodyCommercial in "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS2E1ThePatrickShowCashesInStarGames The Patrick Show Cashes In]]", Patrick's parents play the role of the kids being introduced to a cereal. Cecil is dressed as a stereotypical skateboarder kid and Bunny wears a pink flower bonnet and overalls. Patrick outright refers to them as adults dressed as children because they couldn't afford more child actors.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Real Life]]
51	* In The90s, some riot grrrl bands invented a style called kinderwhore. Music/CourtneyLove is the greatest example.
52	* Another musical example of this is Music/{{ACDC}}'s Angus Young who wears a boy's school uniform.
53	* One of China's "Twenty-Four Acts of Piety" was a 70-something old man pretending to dress and act like a toddler so that his 90-something parents wouldn't feel old.
54	* Back in the TheEdwardianEra, one popular frock worn by little girls alongside sailor suits and Fauntleroy-style suits was the [[http://image.glamourdaze.com/2013/09/Jeanne-Lanvin-1914-Drop-waist-dress.jpg drop-waist dress.]] Flash forward [[TheRoaring20s to a couple of decades]], and although the little girls had grown into [[TheFlapper fine young women]], they still wore the same style of dress.
55	* The [[https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Kidcore Kidcore]] aesthetic is based on styles that would normally be associated with kids of the [[The80s '80s]] and [[The90s '90s]], such as chunky bead bracelets, LED shoes, bright saturated colors, and accessories like facial stickers.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	!!Cartoonish old-classics:
59
60	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
61	* In "Bullied" from ''Manga/JunjiItoKyoufuMangaCollection'', this happens in the final panel as [[spoiler:Kuriko succumbs to madness and decides to begin bullying her son in the same way she bullied his father when they were kids]].
62	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon'': In "Tasting the Bitter With The Sweet!", Team Rocket dresses up and acts like kindergartners (with Wobbuffet and Meowth dressed as a mother and her baby) to try and win over Drampa, a Pokemon known for protecting children. Drampa isn't fooled, and after a moment of awkward silence [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere it tries to fly away]].
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Comic Books]]
66	* The sailor suit/lollipop disguise was also employed by Bob[[note]]yes, not Joe - it was the first appearance of the Daltons, and at the end Lucky Luke killed them, so the PowersThatBe had to bring in their cousins instead[[/note]] Dalton from the ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' comic books, in a scenario involving robbing a bank with a revolver hidden in a piggy bank
67	* An ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' story from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, titled "Fairlyland Isle", featured ComicBook/LoisLane disguising herself as a little girl, wearing a sailor suit, GirlishPigtails, and [[{{Meganekko}} glasses]]. [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/12/13/i-love-ya-but-youre-strange-is-that-lois-lane-or-a-little-girl-i-cant-tell-the-difference/ Details here.]]
68	* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: In the Golden Age one of the ritual hazing type experiences the pledges to Etta Candy's "Beeta Lamda" sorority at Holliday College involved spending an entire day on campus dressed as a baby and carrying a baby bottle. In this case the young women weren't looking to pass as infants and it was intended to be embarrassing but harmless.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
72	* Film/TheThreeStooges short ''All the World's a Stooge''. As part of a weird plot by a rich guy to get his wife to stop with her goofy philanthropic projects, the Stooges are adopted by the couple as refugee children. Moe and Curly get the sailor-suit treatment-- and Larry is done up as a little girl with a big hair bow and pinafore.
73	* In ''Film/VForVendetta'' Evey dresses as a child prostitute to fool the minister as part of V's plan. It was made to be quite creepy.
74	* Creator/BillyWilder's ''Film/TheMajorAndTheMinor'', in which Creator/GingerRogers disguises herself as a minor in order to get a reduced train fare. Then she meets the Major...
75	* The sort-of remake ''You're Never Too Young'' has Jerry Lewis impersonating a child (with sailor suit) to elude mobster Raymond Burr and bother Dean Martin.
76	* In ''Film/TrickRTreat'', the guy Danielle has lined up to be Laurie's 'first' is an overweight guy dressed as a giant baby.
77	* ''Creator/LaurelAndHardy'' playing their own children in ''Brats''.
78	* Part of Derek Zoolander's brainwashing in ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' involves a video of immoral fashion designer Mugatu in 19th century children's attire as "Lil' Cleetus". He goes on to inform Derek that he has to murder the Prime Minister of Malaysia so the world's top fashion designers can keep exploiting Malaysian child labor.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
82	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'':
83	** In "Mr. Boynton's Return", Miss Brooks dresses as a small child to get on an airplane free. Given how tall Eve Arden is, it needs to be seen to be believed . . . .
84	** Or maybe not. "Borrowing Money to Fly", a radio episode, has Miss Brooks try the same trick, and her dialogue and "little girl voice" are funny in and of itself.
85	** "Turnabout Day" sees the Madison High School faculty dress as children. Miss Brooks dresses in the then current style for teenage girls. Mr. Conklin, however, wears a propeller beanie and a Mickey Mouse shirt.
86	* Not exactly a disguise, but one episode of ''Series/GilligansIsland'' had the Skipper regress back to childhood under hypnosis and he saw the other castaways as his old childhood playmates, dressed in old fashioned kiddie costumes.
87	* Charlie from ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' wears a propeller beanie and carries an oversized lollipop (made of cheese and colored with marker) for his and Dennis's "Daddy and the Boy" stripper routine. It's as disturbing as it sounds.
88	* ''Series/TheGoodies'' did this when they were asked by the organizers of military-style camp for children to find children for the camp. When they can't get any kids, they end up doing this.
89	** Also, in ''The New Office'', they wanted to get the estate agent's sympathy, so Graeme dressed as an old worker, with Tim as his wife and Bill, with footed pajamas and oversized teddy bear, as his child.
90	* ''Series/TheMonkees'' take turns disguised as 11-13 year-olds in "Monkee vs. Machine", ultimately to throw a SpannerInTheWorks and disrupt a toy company's product testing session.
91	* ''Series/NightCourt'' had Dan's boss, the district attorney, try this to fool a suicidal children's show hero. Bonus points in that said DA has dwarfism. It still fails, although the costume's used as a joke later in the show.
92	* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' featured a sketch detailing the origins of the Ku Klux Klan's uniform. In it, a tailor offers them the choice of looking scary by dressing up as pointy-headed ghosts or as little girls, because; "What could be scarier than a massive little girl?"
93	* ''The Creator/AbbottAndCostello Show'' featured skits with Joe Besser as "Stinky", who would get into hilarious "SpoiledBrat vs. ManChild" [[https://youtu.be/w2Uk6jpRWxo spats]] [[https://youtu.be/5wx_snUVqpo with]] Costello.
94	* In the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' "Gilly" sketches, the title character's outfit flirts with this (the others are more modern).
95	** Vinny Vedecci's young son dresses as a sailor.
96	* The kids in ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' are all interpreted by adults.
97	* In ''Series/ILoveLucy'' a pregnant Lucy is appalled at the thought of their child picking up Ricky's broken English. She declares that she will only allow perfect English to be spoken around her baby, and hires a tutor for both the Ricardos and the Mertzes. Fred Mertz takes this as "back to school" and comes to the first lesson dressed in an exaggeratedly childish outfit. Lampshaded by the tutor who notices Fred and Ethel both using the same hackneyed patterns and saying to Ethel, "You've corrupted your son here."
98	* One episode of ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' had both Mimi and Drew's then-girlfriend applying for a job in the cosmetics department, giving makeovers. One of Mimi's would-be clients was a petite, middle-aged woman who had been dressing in clothes from the children's department since childhood. Mimi lost it on her, and of course she didn't get the job.
99	* The ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode "[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S05E13TheBrainThatWouldntDie The Brain That Wouldn't Die]]" has TV's Frank dress up in a frilly Victorian child's outfit and play hopscotch while holding balloons. This is so Dr. Forester can demonstrate his new invention; a device that pops the balloons of bratty children from a safe distance. He calls it the Dream Buster.
100	* An episode of ''Series/{{The Odd Couple\|1970}}'' that spoofed ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' had Oscar Madison dream about himself in the role of Scrooge. In the "Ghost of Christmas Past" scene, Oscar is at an old fashioned school desk wearing a Little Lord Fauntleroy costume while writing a complaint letter to Santa.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Magazines]]
104	* There was also an old Magazine/{{MAD}} parody of ''ComicStrip/TheLoneRanger'' comic strip, where Tonto disguised himself using the classic sailor suit/lollipop combination.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Music]]
108	* ''Music/{{Cry Baby\|Album}}'' and the rest of its universe portray its protagonist and all "[[VagueAge children]]" characters as adults in exaggerated period clothing. ''Film/{{K12}}'' extends this to a boarding school atmosphere.
109	* The music video for [[https://youtu.be/95-cScAf_40 When We Were Young]] by Dillon Francis features him playing a 3 year old version of himself, wearing a PropellerHatOfWhimsy and shorts with suspenders. Francis' friends in the video are also grown adults in kids' clothes, including a grown man with a beard [[GooGooGetUp playing an infant]].
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
113	* ''Tumbleweeds'', a comical Western strip, featured outlaw Snake Eye and his little brother Snookie - ostensibly twelve, he looks like a malicious hulking grown man with stubble and a moustache, wearing the classic Literature/LittleLordFauntleroy outfit.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Web Animation]]
117	* In the ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'' episode "[[Recap/CampCampS3E7CameronCampbellTheCampCampbellCamper Cameron Campbell the Camp Campbell Camper]]", Campbell disguises himself as a child wearing an ascot, overall shorts, and a propeller cap, and pretends to be the "new kid" at the summer camp ''he'' founded. Nearly everyone sees through this immediately, but they decide to play along.
118	* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In "A Mother's Day Message", Strong Bad is forced to dress in an old-timey little boy's sailor suit and wish the viewers a "Happy Freakin' Mother's Day" after [[HumiliatingWager losing a bet]].
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Western Animation]]
122	* There was a ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren & Stimpy]]'' comic where an escaped zoo gorilla tried (and failed miserably, as Ren ended up [[LampshadeHanging Hanging A Lampshade]] on the whole thing by pointing out that "kids don't wear beanies") to blend into society by dressing up as a little kid. The tell-tale propeller beanie was indeed involved in the gorilla's disguise (the rest was simply shorts and a t-shirt, but it's the beanie that was the important part).
123	* A sight gag in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E10AFlightToRemember A Flight to Remember]]" had an extreme closeup of the Professor's face as he says that luckily there are enough lifeboats on the ''Titanic'' (yes, it was a spoof of the movie) so no one would have to dress as women and children, with a [[TheReveal Reveal Shot]] zooming out so we see that he's wearing a propeller beanie and holding a lollipop.
124	* Perpetual loser Oskar Kokoshka of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' used this sort of disguise, complete with a huge lollipop, in an attempt to infiltrate an audition for Yahoo Soda. It didn't work.
125	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''
126	** An episode of called "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE34TheLaughingFish The Laughing Fish]]" featured two of Joker's henchmen dressed as 1950s-era children (one with a beanie, one with GirlishPigtails) for Joker's commercial for "Joker Fish" - and they did ''not'' enjoy it. Harley played their mom.
127	** This is essentially the entire schtick of villain Baby Doll, who is a grown woman [[CantGrowUp with the body of a young child due to a medical condition]] in a '50s-style sitcom [[TwoDecadesBehind (although, going by the episode's time frame, it would have been made in the '70s--the DCAU seems to have a generally different cultural and technical history from ours)]]. Whenever she shows up in her childish clothing, it generally means she's up to no good.
128	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'':
129	** In a brief gag, a "little kid" (of the sailor suit variety to go with the show's nautical theme) asks to play a "bathroom game" with Flapjack. After Flapjack tells him, "You need to grow up," the "kid" then replies in a raspy voice, "Grow up? I'm 38 years old!" followed by a GrossUpCloseUp of the middle aged man's face.
130	** The whole plot of another episode revolved around K'nuckles and Flapjack switching places to see whose life was harder. Throughout the episode, everyone mistook K'nuckles in his Flapjack costume for the real Flapjack and vice versa.
131	* WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's done this a few times. Sometimes all the way back, as it were.
132	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' has Goofy going to school with Max in order to spend more time with him. He dresses in the typical sailor suit and everybody except Max and P.J. were fooled.
133	* A HypocriticalHumor example on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' had the Music/RedHotChiliPeppers performing "Give It Away" on [[HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight Krusty]] the Clown's show in just their white underpants, leading Krusty to wonder "What could be more degrading?" - just before the camera pulls back to reveal him dressed in a sailor suit and curly blond wig and with an oversized lollipop for the next sketch.
134	* Done in ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' in the episode "Sinker". Lilo, Jumba, Stitch, and Pleakly manage to stow away in a cruise liner to find the boat sinking experiment, Experiment #602, by dressing up as a family (with portly {{Mad Scientist}} alien Jumba dressing up as a child, complete with complete with propeller beanie, sailor suit, and giant lollipops, and 10-year old Lilo disguised as the adult).
135	* On the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Pre-Hibernation Week", Sandy snowboards so fast she blows away some skiers' clothes, revealing that one of them is wearing overall shorts, holding an oversized lollipop, and riding a tricycle. His companion casts a confused glance in his direction.
136	-->"Uh, I can explain."
137	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'', a RunningGag involves the titular character briefly "transforming" into a cartoonish stereotypical kid, wearing a sailor suit and holding a giant lollipop, to mock his enemies. While he changes his body type, his face remains the same when he "transforms", so it would still count as a use of this trope. A very peculiar one, though.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Real Life]]
141	* Lolita Fashion is inspired by Victorian-era children's clothing (which looked like shortened versions of adults' clothing). Particularly the subcategory Sweet Lolita, with its emphasis on more childlike motifs and whites and pastels (as opposed to the darks and blacks of Gothic Lolita) is what gives the impression of this trope in play.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	!Teenagers
145
146	!!Exaggerated stereotypes
147
148	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
149	* In a rare example of adults ''not'' successfully "passing" as teenagers, the two homunculi from the ''Manga/BusoRenkin'' manga, Tai and Chi, attempt to pass themselves off as high-schoolers and fail miserably in their attempt. Not only are they obviously too old, but they end up looking completely ridiculous and deformed-looking (and one of them is trying to pass himself off as a girl, too).
150	* In a less serious context, Weda (and Ashio) in ''Manga/HareGuu'' definitely does not pass as "Wendy, 17 years old". Probably because everybody in the class immediately recognizes her as a mother of their classmate Haré.
151	* In ''Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears'', Eikichi and Ryuji, two teenagers pretending to be college students, meet [[spoiler:Mariko and Ayumi]], who are pretending to be college-aged girls but actually turn out to be their teachers at their new school. Neither of them sees the hypocrisy in being mad at the others for lying about their age.
152	* ''Anime/YuGiOhSevens'' has Mimi Atachi, a 37-year-old woman who's dressed as a kindergarten student. Justified in her case because she's actually going undercover as one - on the clock at her real job, she dresses appropriately. (She still [[OlderThanTheyLook looks like a kindergarten student]], but that can't be helped.)
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
156	* The whole premise of the movie ''Film/NeverBeenKissed'', in which, amazingly everyone is fooled and believes that Drew Barrymore is in fact a teenager. Probably because the other teenagers were [[DawsonCasting Dawson Cast]] as well.
157	** Spoofed in ''Film/NotAnotherTeenMovie'' with an 80-year-old in her place. No one notices.
158	* Something very similar happens with the early Creator/EvaLongoria film ''Snitch'd'', in which a man in his 30s goes back to high school, pretending to be a teenager. Everyone is fooled.
159	* This is also done in the 1987 movie ''Film/HidingOut''. A stockbroker is testifying against a mob boss who was into some insider trading. There are death threats, so until the trial the stockbroker shaves off his beard, gives himself highlights and goes to high school. Once again, everyone is fooled, including his own family members.
160	* The premise of ''Film/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' (based on [[Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet a TV series]]) is young-looking police officers infiltrating a high school to find teenage drug dealers.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
164	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': "Turnabout Day" sees the Madison High School faculty dress as a youngster. Miss Brooks dresses in the then current style for teenage girls. However, Mr. Conklin wears a propeller beanie and a Mickey Mouse shirt.
165	* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' had an episode with [[spoiler:one of these guys as the perp]].
166	* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' had a darker version of this in "[[Recap/CSINYS04E18 Admissions]]." It turns out that a teenage high school student who was accused of raping a fellow student [[spoiler: was really in his 30s and his "father" was actually his accomplice. They both raped said girl and murdered a teacher in whom she confided. Unfortunately for them, their victim was the daughter of a [[VigilanteExecution minor character...]]]]
167	* In ''Series/StrangersWithCandy'', a cop in his thirties tries to infiltrate the school drug trade, mostly by wearing a t-shirt and a backpack and badgering the students about weed. No one is taken in, although for some reason they never pass comment on the main character, a high school student in her forties who never even attempts to dress like a teenager.
168	* ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' had two cases that were both inspired by the one of Treva Throneberry.
169	** ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' had a rather serious case, with [[spoiler: a teenage girl who two boys literally fought to the death over... only it turned out she was in her late 20s, and had been passing as a high-schooler for ''years'' in an effort to reclaim the childhood she'd been denied. Then again, that meant she had to deal with a ''lot'' of statutory rape charges...]]
170	** The original ''Series/LawAndOrder'' had a similar case where a woman was changing her name and resetting her age to 16, bringing statutory rape charges to block her attempted murder charge. the Investigation eventually revealed she had done thing at least four times and was actually at least 29!
171	* Appears in an episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' when Lily and Robin attempt to infiltrate a high school prom in order to see a band perform. Despite Barney's advice on how to pass as "today's kids" (i.e. dress as sluttily as possible), they don't fool anyone.
172	* In ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'', Rodney Trotter has to pretend to be 14 years old to enjoy a Spanish holiday in "[[Recap/OnlyFoolsAndHorsesS6E04AndTheUnluckyWinnerIs The Unlucky Winner Is...]]".
173	* ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'', an 80's police drama, was about a group of young-looking narcotics officers assigned undercover in high school, led by none other than Creator/JohnnyDepp. It was a vehicle for and one of the earliest examples of DawsonCasting. TheMovie {{Lampshades}} the ridiculousness of the premise.
174	* In one episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' Joey attempts to get an acting job playing a 19-year-old. He wears his underpants pulled high up over his jeans and a backwards cap, and tells Chandler, "Sup with the whack Platform/PlayStation SUP". Unsurprisingly, he does not fool anyone.
175	* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': Creator/SteveBuscemi shows up as a private detective hired as a strike buster. A flashback shows his attempt to infiltrate a high school as one of the students. His [[http://skateandannoy.com/blog/2013/03/fellow-kids/ ludicrous appearance]] has [[MemeticMutation gone memetic.]]
176	* This was revealed to be the part of the MO of the killer in the "It Takes A Village" episode of ''Series/ColdCase''. The man's petite stature and childlike voice, coupled with wearing baggy jeans and sweatshirts enabled him to pass for a teenager, thus easily luring his victims away.
177	* ''Series/{{NTSFSDSUV}}'': There's an episode where Trent and Piper go undercover in a high school to uncover a plot to blow up the school. Their disguise as teenagers is laughably unconvincing and hamfisted. At one point Trent runs into two other teenagers who are really an undercover magazine reporter and [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 a guy from the future who is trying to ensure that his parents will conceive him]].
178	-->''[[LampshadeHanging Ok, are there]] [[FlockOfWolves any REAL kids in this school?!]]''
179	* ''Series/Pen15'''s gimmick is that the show's thirtyish creators play their 13-year-old semiautobiographical characters themselves.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:Video Games]]
183	* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', you learn that your AsianAndNerdy detective partner Kim Kitsuragi spent 15 years working undercover in the Juvenile Crimes unit as his [[OlderThanTheyLook youthful appearance]] allowed him to blend in effortlessly. The experience was humiliating for him, and he [[TeenHater doesn't like being around teenagers in the present day]] because of it.
184	* In ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', NonGivingUpSchoolGuy Director Clavell dons a PaperThinDisguise of a school uniform and [[DelinquentHair a giant pompadour wig]] to investigate the local delinquents calling themselves Team Star. Surprisingly, it actually works on everyone but the PlayerCharacter.
185	[[/folder]]
186
187	[[folder:Web Animation]]
188	* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In the WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail, Strong Bad tries to pass himself off as old enough to get into a triple-R rated movie by having Bubs and Coach Z pose as his "grown sons, home from college". Bubs is just wearing a gray hoodie from "Disco Tech", while Coach Z wears a white-and-red backwards ball-cap, a backpack, and a fake soul patch.
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Web Comics]]
192	* In ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'', Dr. Shark jumps both age and species barriers by trying to dress as a human teenager.
193	[[/folder]]
194
195	[[folder:Western Animation]]
196	* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'':
197	** In "Faking Bad", Stan dresses as a teenage girl while tracking down the person selling fake I.D.s to teenagers. He looks like a 1950s drag queen. Somehow, this ends up fooling a teenage boy, who Stan starts dating for intel.
198	** Hayley does this in "Kloger" because she has pink eye and no health insurance, so she infiltrates Steve's high school to get medical care from the school nurse. She's only 19, so it's not implausible that she can pass as a high school student, but it's hard to believe that she wasn't recognized since she likely went to the same school just a year or so prior (the nurse did have suspicions, but she was distracted before she could put any more thought into it). Hayley's outfit isn't too over the top, but it still stands out among what the other students are wearing and she does try too hard with the slang.
199	--->'''Steve''': Hayley?\
200	'''Hayley''': I'm not Hayley. I'm Vicki. I'm 17, ya dig, nuttabutta?
201	** In "Smooshed: A Love Story", Steve develops a crush on a student known only as "Milk Girl", due to her obsession with milk. Steve asks her out and she says yes, only to find out that Milk Girl is actually Creator/ReeseWitherspoon posing as a teenager in order to convince her producers to make a sequel to ''Film/{{Election}}''.
202	* In the pilot episode of ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'', Principal Scudworth and Mr. Butlertron try to sneak into JFK's party -- dressed as completely outdated teenagers. Surprisingly, they fool no one.
203	* ''WesternAnimation/TheEpicTalesOfCaptainUnderpants has Benjamin Krupp doing this in "The Dastardly Deed of The Devious Diddlysaurus. [[spoiler: Unfortunately George, Harold, and Diddly already know it's him.]]
204	* The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS2E14LetsGoToTheHop Let's Go to the Hop]]", where Peter goes undercover in Meg's school as teenager Lando Griffin, and not only fools everyone but becomes the most popular kid in school.
205	** And then later inverted in a different episode, when Stewie, the ''1-year-old baby'' of the Griffin family, does pretty much the exact same thing as Peter.
206	* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Rockin' with Judy Jetson]]'', George got arrested for doing this while looking for Judy.
207	* The magazine editor Val in ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', though this was more because she ran her own magazine supposedly appealing to teens - and never stopped trying to act like one despite clearly being at least thirty. Most people weren't fooled, though they tended to suck up to her anyway.
208	* In ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'', One of General Steel's soldiers, Stevens, sneaks into Sherman High undercover, pretending to be a student. The fact that he's OlderThanHeLooks helps, but he still tries using outdated slang including quoting the "Wassssssssupp?!" commercial.
209	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E25WhoShotMrBurnsPartOne Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part One]]", Mr. Burns tries to convince the elementary school to sign over the rights to the recently discovered oil deposit beneath the school, by dressing as the teenage Jimbo and using what he thought was modern slang. Since nothing Burns does is ever modern, it's a wonder he even got the outfit right. Principal Skinner wasn't fooled.
210	-->'''Burns:''' (''dressed as Jimbo'') Well, me and my fourth form chums think it would be quite ''corking'' if you'd sign over your oil well to the local energy concern.\
211	'''Skinner:''' Uh, Mr. Burns. (''Burns gasps'') It was naïve of you to think I'd mistake this town's most prominent 104-year-old man for one of my elementary school students.
212	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
213	** In the episode "Friendship University", Rarity and Twilight (who are both old enough to be teachers) go undercover at a friendship university. Rarity wears an over-the-top 80s-style outfit with a backwards baseball cap, while Twilight just wears an eyepatch and a Post-It over her Cutie Mark. The {{Paper Thin Disguise}}s actually work.
214	** Discord does this as a ''30 Rock'' ShoutOut in "A Matter of Principals". He appears at the university dressed in a hoodie, low pants, and a backwards cap. He even holds a skateboard and says "Greetings, fellow creatures!"
215	[[/folder]]
216
217	[[folder:Real Life]]
218	* TruthInTelevision: At least two adults were convicted for fraud after being caught after months of pretending to be high school students.
219	** Charles Daugherty, aka Storme Shannon Aerison. A black man (born intersex and assigned the gender male) pretended to be a white teenage girl... ''and actually got a modeling job''.
220	** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treva_Throneberry Treva Throneberry]], who used several aliases through almost 10 years. Each time she made herself pass as a teenage girl who was sexually abused and ran away from home, then threw tantrums when people started to suspect, and then disappeared.
221	* Either Internet predators or the FBI agents trying to catch them posing as teenagers.
222	-->''Welcome to the Internet - where [[InternetJerk the men are boys]], [[{{GIRL}} women are men]], and children [[PaedoHunt are FBI agents]].''
223	* A lot of you know that one parent who tries to keep up with their teenage kids, or just never changed their teenage wardrobe after growing up.
224	* Sometimes cops or FBI agents will disguise themselves as teenagers to infiltrate a school so they can catch and charge teenagers who sell or use drugs.
225	* DawsonCasting is when an adult actor portrays a far younger character.
226	* Very common in {{cosplay}}, especially of the anime/manga variety. Many cosplayers are adults, and many popular anime characters are in their teens, leading to this trope; depending on the character, this can also fall into cartoonish classic with children or overlap with WholesomeCrossdresser. With the right makeup, it can be surprisingly effective.
227	[[/folder]]
228

Context Main / AdultsDressedAsChildren