Line #73 Main/ImpossibleShadowPuppets


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4	[[quoteright:300:[[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/HowDoYouShadowPuppetWithBoxingGlovesOn_6721.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:300:Dear Strong Bad, how do you make shadow puppets with boxing gloves on?]]
6
7	Shadow puppets are a fun manipulation of light, shadow, and one's body parts (generally hands) to create images that are unexpected given the standard human body design. However interesting they are, there's only a limited number of times you can show "doggy, [[Literature/{{Discworld}} deformed rabbit]], [[ShapedLikeItself hand-shaped cactus]]" before it gets old.
8
9	Not with this trope.
10
11	With Impossible Shadow Puppets, a character makes a shadow of something else that is clearly not possible to create using only one's hands or body, or a normal sillhouette. For maximum effect, this is usually preceded by several more plausible shadows.
12
13	Compare ScaryShadowFakeout.
14
15	----
16	!!Examples:
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18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Advertising]]
21	* A commercial for Nationwide Insurance has the Nationwide sales rep doing shadow puppets to illustrate the company's policies to a client. The shadows become more and more improbable, even adding a third hand... at the end of the commercial the insurance agent is shown having three arms.
22	* A Creator/CartoonNetwork VHS bumper featured Dee Dee from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' making shadow puppets against the Cartoon Network logo, culminating in her making a very detailed swinging monkey shadow with just one or two fingers.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
26	* A chapter opening image early in the ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' manga shows Shigure doing a shadow puppet of Apachai (who will be starting his tutoring of Kenichi) against a spotlight to scare Kenichi... And her hands look like she's just doing a dog or something.
27	* Inverted in ''Manga/OnePiece'': Gekko Moria's Shadow Revolution allows him to manipulate shadows into any shape and, with it, the shadow's caster, as demonstrated when he turned the giant Oars into a RubberMan and a giant ball.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
31	* In the ''Animation/SimpleSamosa'' episode "Dadi Ke Saath", Samosa's grandma makes a shadow puppet vaguely resembling a samosa as she tells her story about chewed-up foods living in the forest. The shadow puppet somehow has a pupil in its eye.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
35	* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'', one of the Minions makes a perfect shadow puppet of Gru.
36	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}},'' Cri-Kee makes a little shadow puppet of Mushu -- especially impressive since he doesn't have fingers.
37	* During the "B-Movie" musical number in ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'', one appliance stands in front of a light and casts a shadow that quickly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nOeK0Ig-H9g#t=105s falls apart and becomes a flock of bats]], leaving behind ''no shadow at all''.
38	* In ''WesternAnimation/RugratsGoWild'', Nigel Thornberry entertains the babies with a rendition of "Old [=MacDonald=]" that includes several exotic animals, with puppets for each. By the end, he's singing the Latin name of a single-celled organism, with a weird blob shadow to match.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
42	* In ''Film/KillerKlownsFromOuterSpace'' the Klown "Slim" lures some people waiting at a bus stop into a trap by making hand shadows of a variety of complicated subjects that seem to bear no relation to the movements we see of its stubby fingers, such as a cartoony bunny rabbit silhouette, a realistic elephant head, a belly-dancer and then it makes a shadow puppet of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware Washington crossing the Delaware]]. Finally Slim turns it into a [[RedEyesTakeWarning red-eyed]] LivingShadow of a TerrifyingTyrannosaur that gobbles up the audience, before shrinking them down into his hands and placing them in his living popcorn bag to feed the juvenile Klowns.
43	* During the theater takeover in ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', one of the gremlins manages to create UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln with shadow puppets.
44	* A trailer for ''Film/MouseHunt'' has the Mouse making shadow-puppets, one of which is the [=DreamWorks=] logo.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Literature]]
48	* In ''Literature/MovingPictures'', Victor's uncle does (so he claims) "Lord Henry Skipps and his men versus the trolls at the battle of Pseudopolis" and mopes when nobody can guess it.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
52	* The "Family Values" episode of ''Series/PennAndTellerBullshit'' starts with Teller doing shadow puppets on a wall. The last one is a shadow of a traditional American family, complete with two parents, two kids, and a dog.
53	* An episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' has the cast (in one of J.D.'s {{Imagine Spot}}s) create an impressive naval battle out of shadow puppets.
54	** Complete with a small human shape running along a ship, with visible tiny arms and legs, and at one point a giant alligator ("battleships are ''boring''!")
55	* One video from ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'' once had a woman doing some impressive puppets, a dove, a peace sign, the Seattle skyline, and a 1980s Mustang. [[spoiler:It was an illusion; the shadows were done using props by an off camera puppeteer.]]
56	* One episode of ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' has Barney making a very realistic shadow puppet of a dog, despite the fact that, being a T. rex, he has only two fingers on each hand.
57	* On ''Series/ToastOfLondon'', Toast and his paramour make shadow puppet versions of Abraham Lincoln and the London Bridge using only their hands.
58	* In the ''Series/OddSquad'' episode "Odd Squad in the Shadows", Omar encounters a group called the Shadow League, which is dedicated to making shadow puppets. He ends up becoming [[TheGoodKing the leader of the group]] when he demonstrates his vast knowledge of shadow puppets, and Odin, the (presumed) former leader, challenges him to a shadow puppet duel for the leadership spot. The shadow puppets start off normal, with the two agents making things like bunnies and bats, but then they begin making things more complex, like human warriors and dragons. Later on, when attempting to distract Symmetric Alice from ruining the North Carolina agents' golf tournament, the four agents of the League make symmetrical puppets such as a beating heart, an arrow, and even ''the Taj Mahal,'' using only their hands. What's more, all of the shadow puppets seen in the episode aren't even made by the agents themselves -- they're purely special effects.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
62	* In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin makes a shadow puppet which looks like, as Hobbes calls it, "a bug-eyed tentacled thing." Turns out it's the real thing, to the [[HorrorStruck duo's horror]].
63	* Subverted in ''ComicStrip/TheBroons''. The family have just watched a home movie and the children want to make shadow puppets in the light from the projector. The final shadow puppet is a remarkably realistic cat, which turns out to be made by a real cat that has just stolen the salmon that they were about to have for lunch.
64	%%* A character in a newspaper strip published on September 24, 2014 pulled this off, making a large suspension bridge. Gimme a few days to find out what the strip's name was.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
68	* Ride/DisneyThemeParks:
69	** In the queue for Disneyland's "Meet Mickey" attraction, Donald and Goofy make shadow puppets on a blank movie screen, and they try to outdo each other in making increasingly scarier animals until [[ElephantsAreScaredOfMice Goofy's "elephant" gets scared off by Donald's impression of Mickey]]. [[RightBehindMe The mouse himself isn't amused.]]
70	** In the original version of Epcot's Ride/JourneyIntoImagination, one scene in the Literature realm has Figment making a shadow puppet of the word "shadow". Justified due to the aforementioned realm being, well, a realm of imagination.
71	[[/folder]]
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73	[[folder:VideoGames]]
74	* In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'', [[BruceLeeClone Liu Kang's]] {{F\|inishingMove}}riendship has him make hand shadows of [[SigilSpam the Mortal Kombat dragon logo]].
75	* At the end of ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc'', Rayman's hands wander off while he's sleeping. They do some of these for a Red Lum [[spoiler: scaring it into becoming Andre]]!
76	* In ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'', Guybrush holds Murray in front of a lamp, first making a realistic (and not at all scary) shadow puppet, then adjusting his hands to produce a surprisingly realistic-looking [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3OT-ppvii4 winged demon]].
77	[[/folder]]
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79	[[folder:Web Animation]]
80	* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In the WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail "[[Recap/StrongBadEmailE155ThemeSong theme song]]", Strong Bad makes a "Trogdor" shadow that breathes fire. Wearing gloves ''without fingers''.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Webcomics]]
84	* Jason Love's Snapshots: [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150130075406/http://www.jasonlove.com/cartoons/00290-daily-cartoons-shadow-puppets.gif Jimmy is pretty good at it.]] Or pretty tasty.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Western Animation]]
88	* Near the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The Pest", Billy uses makes elaborate finger puppets with his FingerlessHands to explain why he was bullying Anais.
89	* Sid the Squid in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' once makes a squid shadow on the wall, using just his fingers.
90	* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'''s AnimatedAdaptation of ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'', at the beginning of "[[VillainSong Where's the Fun in That?]]", a Bat-Signal appears, and suddenly a silhouette of the monstrous Joker devours the bat shape and sings, "WheresTheFunInThat" before the scene moves to the Joker on top of the beacon, using his fingers to mimic his monster form the whole time while he sings.
91	* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': Courage sometimes does this; one episode even has a LivingShadow that "projects" itself to scare him.
92	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', Edd manages to create a highly detailed skeleton-creature shadow (and in one commercial, the Creator/CartoonNetwork logo) with just his two hands. [[AchievementsInIgnorance Ed]] manages to invert the trope; no matter what pose he puts his two hands into in front of the light, it just looks like his hand.
93	-->'''Ed:''' I think it's broken, guys.
94	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' had Bender use his hands to make a Professor Farnsworth shadow puppet convincing enough to fool a sniper. Talented, but not that much of a stretch. He ''then'' used his ''circular feet'' to make shadow puppets of himself and Fry to match it.
95	* Done on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', when Jimmy needs to fight boredom.
96	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
97	** The short "One Meat Brawl" ends with what looks like a ShadowDiscretionShot of a big fight, but turns out to be the characters using shadow puppets.
98	--->'''WesternAnimation/PorkyPig:''' "That way, no one gets hurt."
99	** WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck manages to create a group of dancing chorus girls in the WarTimeCartoon ''WesternAnimation/DaffyTheCommando'', with only eight fingers!
100	* This was also used in the ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'' episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E5BadLuckBogus Bad Luck Bogus]]", while Bogus is trying to figure out the problem for the power failure caused by his [[EvilCounterpart evil lookalike]]. The shadow puppets that he makes are a parrot, a chicken and a horse.
101	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
102	** For the talent portion of the pet contest in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E7MayTheBestPetWin May the Best Pet Win]]", one of the animals decided to do shadow puppets, ending with a figure of a galleon in full sail. For added hilarity, the animal that did it was a wasp.
103	** During the transitions from Rarity's storytelling to the actual animated story segments in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E16CampfireTales Campfire Tales]]", she uses her hooves to depict the form of the character Mistmane, creating a full silhouette a walking pony despite -- being a pony -- not having any fingers. Her first demonstration takes the form of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E10ARoyalProblem Twilight as a ballerina]], the shadow even ''detaching'' itself from her offscreen hooves in a dancing leap.
104	* This is one of the more benign skills of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz on ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''.
105	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Mr. Bighead does shadow puppets of the Thinker statue, a running deer and the Eiffel Tower. Much to his frustration, everyone else is way off on their guesses as to what he's making.
106	* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'':
107	** In one episode, Shaggy and Scooby entertain themselves by making shadow puppets, and the last one is the MonsterOfTheWeek.
108	** In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'', Don Adams is making and identifying shadow puppets of various insects as exterminator training for Shaggy and Scooby. When the last one appears:
109	--->'''Shaggy:''' What's that?
110	--->'''Don:''' I don't know. I'm not making it.
111	** Similarly, an episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' showed that Scooby is skilled at making shadow puppets. At one point, he makes WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, a dragon and UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln's head.
112	* Happens more than once on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
113	** In one episode, Lisa ''subconsciously'' makes a hand shadow of a California condor.
114	** As part of a VillainSong in which he made full shadow impressions of various villains, Mr. Burns did hand shadows of [[Theatre/{{Othello}} Iago,]] [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} The Joker,]] [[Literature/HarryPotter Voldemort]] and John [=McEnroe=] "on center court", even making the [=McEnroe=] shadow throw his racket and throw a tantrum.
115	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Handemonium", shadow puppets portraying a brawl between a superhero and a dinosaur was cast by a brawl between Hans (the photorealistic arm from the theme song) and the hand that held the Chum Bucket's bail (now sentient and gone rogue).
116	* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Historical Friction", Jamie somehow managed to make a dolphin and a frowning face with both of his hands.
117	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'', Thor, stranded on the far side of the galaxy, decides to practice his shadow puppetry. He starts with a rabbit ("Fluffy"), a detailed wolf ("Fenrir") and concludes with an impossible dragon ("Fáfnir"). Having mastered shadow puppetry in seven seconds Thor then goes mad with boredom.
118	* ''WesternAnimation/TitanMaximum'': "Bunny, horsey, ducky, 10-speed bike, Music/EddieVanHalen, Titanic, Titanic sinking, scene from ''Film/{{Titanic\|1997}}'' where Leo drew Kate."
119	* Buzz Lightyear does this in the ''WesternAnimation/ToyStoryTreats'' short "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXLNBM-iWwA Shadow Play]]", creating shadows of an eagle flapping its wings, the American flag being hoisted up and a rocket blasting off.
120	* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTalesInTheHouse'': In "Sorry, We're Closed Today", Junior and Laura, and then Ichabeezer, make shadow puppets on the walls in Pa Grape's store. Probably the most impossible example of all, since '''''none of them have hands!'''''
121	* In the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' episode “[[Recap/ReadyJetGoS2E15MyThreeSunsMagnetPI My Three Suns]]”, the kids learn how to make some very hard shadow puppets at the end of the episode.
122	* The ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'' episode "Cassie Catches Up" opens with Emmy making shadow puppets. Max tries making one of himself.
123	* In the ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' episode "Pups Save a Robo-saurus", Rocky makes a fairly decent dinosaur shadow puppet out of only a roasted marshmallow.
124	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / ImpossibleShadowPuppets