Line #184 Main/LittlePeopleAreSurreal


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/ForbiddenZone https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3d2d682d_0578_443a_b5c9_b641e3e55565_1.png]]]]
2
3	->''"Have '''you''' ever had a dream with a dwarf in it? Do you know '''anyone''' who's had a dream with a dwarf in it? No! '''I''' don't even have dreams with dwarfs in them. The only place I've seen dwarfs in dreams is in stupid movies like this! 'Oh make it weird, put a dwarf in it!' Everyone will go, 'Woah, this must be a fuckin' dream, there's a fuckin' dwarf in it!' Well I'm sick of it! You can take this dream sequence and shove it up your ass!"''
4	-->-- Creator/PeterDinklage as '''Tito''', ''Film/LivingInOblivion'' (1995)
5
6	If you see a little person in a film, or TV show or comic book, chances are whatever you're watching resembles a DisneyAcidSequence.
7
8	Little people rarely ''just'' appear in fiction. They tend to show up to make sure the audience understands that a story is surreal. More often than not, they dress in overly colorful clothes, or talk in a particularly strange way, or just stare at the other characters to symbolize that someone's having a nightmare. Sometimes, they're magical. Particularly famous examples include the Munchkins in ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' and the Oompa-Loompas in ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', especially the versions in the iconic [[TheFilmOfTheBook cinematic adaptations]], respectively ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' from 1939 and ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' from 1971; each of these examples [[FountainOfExpies inspired a legion]] of StockParodies that have become staples of the OffToSeeTheWizard and CharlieAndTheChocolateParody plots.
9
10	Note that this trope applies only when a little person is shown or perceived to be notably different from the "normal" reality. (Big Figure in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', for example, doesn't count.)
11
12	Not to be confused with [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame that other kind of dwarf]]. Remember: dwar'''''ve'''''s are fantasy creatures, dwar'''''f'''''s are short humans, and nowadays the polite term for the latter is "little people."
13
14	Compare and contrast with DepravedDwarf. For another physical condition that's often treated as an oddity, see AlbinosAreFreaks.
15
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' (the original manga version), Grey the Ninelives is revealed to be nine dwarfs in a suit.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Comedy]]
26	* Creator/JohnMulaney mentions this in a routine about the word "midget":
27	-->...he goes, "If you put that word on TV, there could be a protest of midgets on this building." And I said, "Promise?"
28	* Brad Williams is a stand-up comedian with dwarfism, and much of his act involves this trope.
29	-->That's why we are ''not using midgets properly'' in this country. We have normal jobs! We should ''not'' have normal jobs, they should be ''giving'' midgets to cancer patients! How awesome would that be? "Sorry sir, discovered you have cancer." "Damn it!" "Here's your midget." "[[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]] [[SuddenlyShouting YEEEEAAAAHH!!!]]"
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* Invoked in ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'': the Joker's attempt to drive Gordon mad includes several little people stripping, collaring and dragging Gordon around while speaking in monosyllabic commands. While the main focus of Gordon's MindRape was what the Joker did to his daughter, the little people were certainly intended to heighten the feeling of breaking from reality.
34	* In an issue of ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'', Bart gets access to a movie set by telling the security guard that he's the dwarf for the movie's dream sequence.
35	-->'''Bart:''' All movies with a dream sequence need a ''dwarf'', you know!
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
39	* Creator/PeterDinklage, probably the most renowned little person in show business, has {{defied\|Trope}} this trope by explicitly refusing most roles that would cast him as a fantasy creature, and in fact has occasionally parodied this trope:
40	** Our page quote comes from ''Film/LivingInOblivion'', where Dinklage's character Tito is brought in to act in a dream sequence. He's got an attitude right from the start and seems to be deliberately sabotaging his takes. When the director finally confronts him, he explodes about how much he hates this trope.
41	** Dinklage's appearance in ''Film/{{Elf}}'' as a children's author named Miles Finch inverts this trope. Instead of highlighting the surreal nature of a situation, Miles's presence highlights just how out of touch Creator/WillFerrell's character is with the real world. Ferrell's character Buddy was raised by ChristmasElves, so he assumes that Miles is also an elf and makes some InnocentlyInsensitive comments during a business meeting. Miles proceeds to run across the table and kick Buddy's ass in [[https://youtu.be/cQ_dL_IMPP4 a scene that you really have to see to believe]].
42	** He did play a traditional fantasy dwarf in ''Film/PrinceCaspian'', but likely accepted the role because Trumpkin defied this trope. The fact that normal people find him surreal is a point of criticism towards ''them'', and he's also a badass without having any kind of magical agility. He has been affectionately called "Proto-Tyrion" by some fans for this reason.
43	** PlayedWith in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', where Dinklage ''does'' play a Dwarf … [[spoiler:but it's one who's roughly [[OxymoronicBeing three times the size of Thor]]. So basically, in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, Dwarves are just [[OurGiantsAreBigger giants]].]]
44	* The page image features King Fausto, who rules the Sixth Dimension in ''Film/ForbiddenZone''. That said, he may actually be one of the ''less'' surreal elements of this film.
45	* In ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', the Munchkins are the first people that Dorothy meets in [[DreamLand Oz]] after Glinda. All the Munchkins were played by little people -- who got paid less than the dog who played Toto. No, [[http://nationalpost.com/entertainment/movies/the-actors-who-played-the-munchkins-in-the-wizard-of-oz-were-paid-less-than-toto really]]. ([[ValuesDissonance Contrast that with the 2010s]], when the aforementioned Peter Dinklage became one of the highest-paid stars on ''Series/GameOfThrones'', and you'll see that we really have come a long way.)
46	%%* Tangina Barrons in ''Film/{{Poltergeist\|1982}}''.
47	* [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0898199/ Hervé Villechaize]] appears in ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' as the BigBad's exotic sidekick. ''Film/AustinPowers'' later parodied this with [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873942/ Verne Troyer]]'s character of Mini-Me.
48	* Subverted in ''Film/{{Cabaret}}'': Sally, trying to shock Brian, asks whether he's ever had sex with a dwarf. Brian calmly responds with, "Yes. But it wasn't a lasting relationship."
49	* Deconstructed in ''Film/TinyTiptoes'', which stars... erm, Creator/GaryOldman as a little person. The female lead spends most of the film trying to come to terms with the fact that her husband's parents and brother have dwarfism.
50	* {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d, {{subverted\|Trope}}, ''and'' played straight in ''Film/InBruges''. Dwarf actor Jordan Prentice plays a dwarf actor who is set to appear in a dream sequence that's being filmed in Bruges, which seems to cause Colin Farrel's character no end of delight ("They're filmin' midgets!"). Mostly, the surreal quality comes in from what a non-issue his dwarfism is; his character's defining trait is that he's an [[DepravedDwarf obnoxious, coke-headed bigot]].
51	-->'''Actor:''' You have no idea how much shit I get from black midgets!\
52	'''Ray:''' That's... [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative undeniably true]].
53	* Played with in ''Series/{{Jackass}} 3D'': an all-little-person barroom brawl is [[spoiler:broken up by dwarf cops and dwarf [=EMTs=].]]
54	* The title character in ''Film/TheSinfulDwarf'' is both surreal and creepy as hell.
55	* At the ball scene in ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973'', the King of France is eating hors-d'oeuvres off plates balanced on the heads of dwarf servants. This is mainly to emphasize the decadence of his court and is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_dwarf Truth in Television]].
56	%%* Mere dwarfs are insufficiently surreal for the films of Creator/AlejandroJodorowsky; his movies ''Film/ElTopo'' and ''Film/TheHolyMountain'' feature ''amputee'' dwarfs.
57	* In Creator/TerryGilliam's movies:
58	** The ''Film/TimeBandits'' are all little people to minimize the height difference between them and the KidHero, so that audiences would be more inclined to accept a child as an equal member in their gang. Jack Purvis, one of the actors who played the bandits, would go on to act in Gilliam's next movies -- ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' and ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'' -- but in both movies, he's one of the least surreal elements (and in ''Baron Munchausen'', nobody treats him any differently from the Baron's other TrueCompanions).
59	** In ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'', Percy (played by Verne Troyer, also known as "Mini-Me" in the ''Film/AustinPowers'' movies) appears to play the "miscellaneous" role in Parnassus's productions, with the other three performers filling in the man, woman, and old man roles.
60	* In ''Film/BladeRunner'', two of the [[ArtificialHuman genetically engineered]] [[LivingToys "toy-friends"]] created by J.F. Sebastian are dwarfs in outlandish outfits, one of which has an [[GagNose extremely long nose]]. Their presence certainly makes the already-surreal clutter of Sebastian's apartment seem even more bizarre.
61	* ''Film/HappyGilmore'''s special "Happy Place" is a magical dreamworld full of things he'd love to see, like his lingerie-clad love interest carrying two giant pitchers of beer and his grandma hitting a slot machine jackpot. In the middle of all that stuff is one little fella dressed like a cowboy, hopping around on a broomstick horse.
62	%%* Michael Dunn in ''Film/ShipOfFools'' for which he received an Oscar nomination.
63	%%* ''The Terror Of Tiny Town'', a western with an exclusively midget cast in 1938.
64	%%* ''Under The Rainbow''
65	%%* ''Film/FoulPlay''
66	%%* Sykes from ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale''.
67	%%* Young Rusty from ''Disney's The Kid''.
68	%%* Jack Jr. from ''Film/MeetTheFockers''.
69	* Very unusual variation in ''Film/MulhollandDrive'' with the character of Mr. Roque, played by Michael J. Anderson of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' fame. The 3 foot 7 inch tall actor was given prosthetic limbs to make him look like an average-height person with an UncannyValley effect. So basically, the character is made stranger by ''not'' looking like a dwarf. Though played straight (to the extent that there's anything "straight" about the movie anyway) in the ending, with cartoonish little versions of [[spoiler:Diane Selwyn's]] grandparents [[spoiler:driving her to suicide.]]
70	* Mordecai from ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'', who not only enjoys spying on the Stranger having sex, but is eventually given the dual title of sheriff and mayor.
71	* In ''Film/{{Saboteur}}'', during part of their journey, Barry and Pat travel with a sideshow, and the bearded lady, thin man, little person, and conjoined twins seem to parallel the then-current situation in Europe.
72	* In ''Film/BirdmanOrTheUnexpectedVirtueOfIgnorance'', it's revealed through dialog that the play Riggan is working on includes a dream sequence with dancing dwarfs.
73	* ''Film/TheIslandOfDrMoreau1996'' features [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_de_la_Rosa Nelson de la Rosa]], one of the shortest men of the twentieth century, as a creation of Dr. Moreau.
74	* ''Film/FaustLoveOfTheDamned'': Mephistopheles' entourage includes a random dwarf.
75	* ''Film/TheGreatBeauty'': Dadina, Jep's editor, averts this trope for the most part, but there's one such scene towards the beginning when she wanders alone through the silent remains of a luxury birthday party.
76	* ''Film/TheFieldGuideToEvil'': In "The Palace of Horrors", the jailer of the dungeons of the palace is a dwarf, which just adds to the surrealism of palace when combined with bizarre nature of the prisoners and the black-and-white filming.
77	* ''Film/TheTrip1967'': While tripping on LSD, Paul sees a dwarf in the forest, helping his much larger friend prepare a stew. Later, he reappears on a carousel, where he yells "[[UsefulNotes/BayOfPigsInvasion Bay of Pigs]]!"
78	* ''Film/DontLookNow'' uses this trope in an unexpected way. [[spoiler:John corners what he ''thinks'' is the spirit of his daughter... but it's not. It's an elderly female serial killer with dwarfism, who taunts him even as she drives the edge of a hunting knife into his jugular.]]
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Literature]]
82	%%* Jostein Gaarder's ''The Secret of the Cards''
83	* ''Literature/MirrorMirror2003'' by Gregory Maguire includes an InnerMonologue by the main villain about how dwarfs tend to have an air of self-possession about them, even in the role of court jester mid-joke. Interestingly, this is used to ''increase'' the surreality of the dwarfs who ''don't''. It's so common for dwarfs to act abnormal, that the relative normalcy is what tips her off that these aren't normal dwarfs. She's just that kind of character.
84	* The Oompa-Loompas in ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' and its many adaptations are little people who serve as the main workforce at Wonka's factory, emphasizing its sometimes whimsical, sometimes bizarre nature. Some kind of dwarf workers often appear in {{Charlie and the Chocolate Parod\|y}}ies as a riff on the Oompa-Loompas.
85	* In ''Literature/DuneMessiah'', Bijaz is a dwarf who is supposed to tell Paul the names of those conspiring against him, but to the annoyance of all he speaks in rhyme and riddle, making it hard to know what he means. [[spoiler:It turns out he was part of the conspiracy all along, he was genetically engineered by the Tleilaxu to trigger the ghola Hayt to murder Paul.]]
86	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
87	** Tyrion, the most notable dwarf character, is never played for surreal effect -- ditto in the TV adaptation, ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In-universe, however, dwarfs often find work as "mummers" (actors and entertainers), usually in farce. Penny and her brother, for example, perfect a routine in which they "joust" while riding a dog and a pig, playing up the absurdity and painting their shields with the sigils of their audience's political opponents. In the continent of Essos, it is believed that rubbing a dwarf's head brings good luck.
88	** Before entering the House of the Undying, Daenerys is served a glass of shade-of-the-evening by the tiniest dwarf she has ever seen, who only comes up to her knee. Inside the House itself, one of the many surreal visions she sees is a beautiful woman being raped by four dwarfs, which has been interpreted by readers as a metaphor for Westeros being destroyed by the War of Five Kings.
89	* ''Literature/AlcatrazSeries'': SubvertedTrope. Despite this being a '''''very''''' strange story, Kaz is just a person who happens to have dwarfism. That's it. When Alcatraz first sees Kaz, he thinks Kaz a leprechaun or something. Alcatraz finds the fact that Kaz is just short much stranger than any supernatural explanation would've been.
90	* "Hop-Frog" by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe memorably deconstructs this trope. The title character is a jester with dwarfism and deformed legs (hence the nickname) who [[TheDogBitesBack gets a chilling but satisfying revenge against the king and courtiers who constantly mocked him as an oddity]].
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
94	* The second season of ''[[Series/TheApprentice Celebrity Apprentice]]'' featured a challenge to create a commercial for All laundry detergent. Team Athena's offering featured [[Series/MonsterGarage Jesse James]] being [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpUJ68hSlfE hosed down and scrubbed by three little people]], as a means of demonstrating the idea of a large amount of cleaning power in a small package.
95	* ''Series/CheckItOutWithDrSteveBrule:'' When [[CloudCuckoolander Steve]] visits [[OrphanageOfFear Brown's Daycare]], all the "children" at the "day care" are all adult men with dwarfism. Naturally, he doesn't notice anything unusual about it.
96	* French gameshow ''Series/FortBoyard'' has dwarfs Passe-Partout, Passe-Temps and Passe-Muraille as mysterious silent assistants in an abandoned mystical-looking fort.
97	%%* The butler in ''Series/ThePrisoner1967''.
98	* Mr. Roarke, owner of the eponymous ''Series/FantasyIsland'' (which, as you can guess by the title, is rather surreal), has a dwarf sidekick named Tattoo who introduces each episode with a shout of "De plane! De plane!" Tattoo is played by Hervé Villechaize.
99	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Notably averted with Tyrion Lannister, who just happens to be a little person. Peter Dinklage has noted how he is actually presented as a character in the show and not as his condition.
100	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E1EncounterAtFarpoint Encounter at Farpoint]]" has a whole gang of little people as part of the audience in Q's post-apocalyptic KangarooCourt, plus a more snazzily dressed one who punctuates the prosecutor's reading of the charges with a cowbell for no good reason. In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E24AllGoodThings All Good Things...]]", the first sign something's wrong is when they show up again to jeer at Future Picard.
101	* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E23TheThaw The Thaw]]": Fear the Clown's surreal domain prominently features a character simply called the Little Woman, wearing a brightly coloured tutu, played by Creator/PattyMaloney.
102	%%* The staff of the canteen in ''Teachers''.
103	* On ''Series/{{SCTV}}'', ''Whispers of the Wolf'', a (parody of a) surreal Ingmar Bergman film run by mistake on ''Monster Chiller Horror Theater'', features a dwarf -- about whom the "[[PoirotSpeak Swedish]]"-speaking heroine remarks, "Hmmm... shrimpkin."
104	* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' did [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]] [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on drugs]] for the fourth-season episode "A Midsummer's Nightmare". To go along with Oberon and Puck's CampGay, Titania was a male dwarf crossdresser with a 5 o'clock shadow.
105	* Samson from ''Series/{{Carnivale}}'', played by Michael J. Anderson, is the manager of the carnival and also narrates at the beginning of each season premiere. This is actually something of an inversion, as Samson is one of the most normal, mundane, and grounded characters in the entire show. He doesn't have psychic powers or religious visions; he's just a man of the world with lots of experience and common sense.
106	-->'''Samson:''' Do I look simple to you, Hawkins?\
107	'''Ben:''' No.\
108	'''Samson:''' Well, that's good, because I'm not. I been to New York City. I been to Chi-town and the Big Easy. I met Caruso and Dempsey. I made eyes with Theda Bara. On a bad day, I've cracked tougher nuts than you.
109	* The janitor (not ''the'' Janitor, but one of his co-workers) in ''{{Series/Scrubs}}'', who has dwarfism, seems to appear more often in J.D.'s {{Imagine Spot}}s than outside of them.
110	* [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]] on ''Series/PitBoss''. Several of the jobs that come through Shortywood invoke this, which frustrates its members to different degrees. In particular, this is a big BerserkButton for Ronald, who finds it insulting and degrading to put on costumes like lobsters and Oompa Loompas.
111	* Subverted in a few episodes of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Abby dates a dwarf who looks and acts positively button-down compared to [[PerkyGoth Abby]].
112	* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' also plays with it, as the little people who box on the Boardwalk aren't too keen to play leprechauns at the St. Patrick's Day dinner. But as it's [[DeliberateValuesDissonance the Twenties]] and Nucky's offering them good money, they swallow their pride.
113	* ''Series/PicketFences'':
114	** Ginny Weedon who, despite playing the same kind of character that she did in ''Film/{{Poltergeist\|1982}}'', [[BrokenAesop kept complaining about "little people" stereotypes]].
115	** There was also the titular Peter Dreeb in "Mr Dreeb Comes to Town," who was a fairly normal guy but was introduced coming down the highway riding on an elephant [[spoiler: which he had stolen from the circus he worked at out of concern for the abuse it was receiving]].
116	%%* In ''Series/NightCourt'', Dan's boss, Vincent Daniels (Daniel Frishman), at least for a few episodes:
117	%%--> But most of all I'm taking you back because it will give me the opportunity to make your life a LIVING HELL! You think you're a tough customer? Well, move over, Buster! Because I'm the toughest, I'm the meanest, I'm the nastiest little man God ever put on this earth! I'm going to make you run, I'm going to make you jump, I am going to make you slither on the ground like a snake!
118	* In the ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' episode "[[Recap/MastersOfHorrorS1E13Imprint Imprint]]", one of the pimps on the [[WretchedHive hellish island]] is a dwarf with a missing nose, signifying how the episode is gonna be one long decline into surreal horror and insanity.
119	* In any of the "Stefon" sketches on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', there will be [[OncePerEpisode at least one instance]] of dwarfs in the New York club scene, often while acting as household implements.
120	* ''Series/TheLoneGunmen'': Part of the convoluted plot of "Madam I'm Adam" involved a female wrestler in a dwarf wrestling league, but it turns out her role in the whole thing is quite ordinary. [[spoiler: Driven away by her husband's anger management issues, she starts an affair with a appliance store pitchman. (Both gents are normal-sized.) Her husband gets a drastic procedure to curb his anger so he could try to repair his marriage, which caused him temporary amnesia, and the pitchman reveals himself as a first-rate {{Jerkass}} by making a creepy, fetishizing comment about the lady's height.]] The Gunmen, who are very used to the unusual (after all, Agent Mulder is a regular client), take the whole situation with barely a raised eyebrow.
121	* ''Series/{{Rome}}'':
122	** While Julius Caesar is off campaigning, Marc Antony is left in charge of Rome. He doesn't take his duties particularly seriously, so holds court accompanied by topless prostitutes and a dwarf dressed as Cato (a politician opposed to Caesar).
123	** Played with when Vorenus' wife commits suicide; he flees into the street and encounters a legless cripple shouting that Julius Caesar is dead. Vorenus becomes convinced he's having a terrible nightmare, and starts begging people to wake him up.
124	%%* Michael Dunn in:
125	%%** ''Series/TheWildWildWest''
126	%%** ''Series/GetSmart''
127	%%** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''
128	%%** ''Series/{{Bonanza}}''
129	%%** ''Run for Your Life''
130	%%** ''Tarzan''
131	%%** ''Series/NightGallery''
132	%%** ''Good Night My Love''
133	%%** ''The Werewolf of Washington''
134	* A ChristmasEpisode of the Australian talk show ''Rove Live'' had a group of little people dressed as Christmas decorations get strung up on a Christmas tree. When viewers complained about the un-PC nature of the act, the little people later returned to the show to explain that they were obviously OK with the act because they agreed to do it in the first place -- and that it had paid them better than any other job they had done that year.
135	* ''Series/TwinPeaks'': The Man from Another Place in the Black Lodge, played by Michael J. Anderson. Let's just say that his stature is one of the less surreal things of the place.
136	* French TV series ''Series/JosephineAngeGardien'' is about a guardian angel called Joséphine, played by Mimi Mathy, who has dwarfism. It is obvious she got the role because of this trope.
137	* The first ChristmasEpisode of ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' is an ItsAWonderfulPlot and one of the first supernatural episodes of the series. Carly's guardian angel, Mitch, is played by little person Danny Woodburn.
138	* ''Series/JonathanCreek'': A guy Adam hired as a bodyguard for one episode turned out to have dwarfism, resulting in an in-universe example: Jonathan and Adam were visibly bewildered by the idea of someone with such an obvious physical disability having a job protecting other people, but trying really hard not to show it because they didn't want to be rude... [[SubvertedTrope and the guy turned out to be very good at his job, if a bit gung-ho.]] [[spoiler: And then he got eaten by the python that was supposed to be appearing in Adam's new routine, leading to the last scene of the episode being Adam getting roughed up by a bunch of other people with dwarfism after his public apology went horribly awry, which was even more surreal. And hilarious.]]
139	* ''Series/{{Jackass}}'' used Wee Man for several pranks that ran on this, like "Poo Switcheroo", where Preston Lacy -- a tall, fat guy -- going into a port-a-potty in a public plaza, you hear a lot of loud farts...and Wee Man emerges wearing the same outfit, to the confusion of onlookers.
140	* In a darkly comedic sequence in ''Series/WeOwnThisCity'', three GTTF oficers are at a strip club when a dwarf stripper takes the stage and distracts them from their previous conserns. Wayne calls for the stripper for a private dance, but ends up robbing her instead, which the other two consider fucked up even for Wayne's standards. The other officers reccalling the incident leaves the FBI interrogators speechless.
141	* ''Series/NoSoapRadio'' was a ShortRunner SketchComedy that used a hotel for a FramingDevice. Morris the bellboy (played by Creator/JerryMaren) is a little person, which simply emphasizes the {{Absurdism}} and SurrealHumor of the show.
142	* ''Series/KamenRiderBlackSun'' features Baraom, who in comparison to his [[Series/KamenRiderBlack original counterpart]], is played by dwarf actor Pretty Ohta. [[HulkingOut His Kaijin form, on the other hand...]]
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Print Media]]
146	* German magazine "Cinema" once used this in a TakeThat against heavily subsidized German TrueArt movies.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Music]]
150	* Music/RKelly's ''Music/TrappedInTheCloset''.
151	-->''[[BreakingTheFourthWall Now pause the movie]] 'cause what I'm about to say to y'all [[LemonyNarrator is so damn twisted]] - \
152	Not only is there [[ClosetShuffle a man in his cabinet]]... but the man... is a midget! ([-...midget-] [--...midget--] [---...midget---])
153	* Music/RandyNewman's "Short People". Although not specifically about dwarfism, it definitely qualifies.
154	* The [[http://hipgnosiscovers.com/images/gravytrain_lp_germany_front.jpg outer gatefold]] of ProgressiveRock band Gravy Train's [[SelfTitledAlbum self-titled debut album]] shows a little person in 1930s clothing alone at a train station. Storm Thorgerson of Creator/{{Hipgnosis}}, the studio that designed the cover, wrote that "the dwarf waits endlessly at the deserted station for the train that never comes. The Gravy Train."
155	* The design on the cover of Music/FleetwoodMac's 1975 SelfTitledAlbum exaggerates the BigGuyLittleGuy dynamic between Mick Fleetwood and John [=McVie=] to the point of this trope. Fleetwood (6'5"/195 cm) is already significantly taller than [=McVie=] (5'8.5"/174 cm), but as you can see on this wiki's page for [[Music/FleetwoodMacWhiteAlbum the album in question]], the cover art parodies this by depicting [=McVie=] as a dwarf.
156	* "Your Horoscope for Today" by Music/WeirdAlYankovic foretells that people with the star sign Aries will "trade toothbrushes with an {{albino\|sAreFreaks}} dwarf," among a list of other nonsensical horoscopes.
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Music Videos]]
160	%%* The videos for Music/OingoBoingo's "Little Girls" and "Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Me".
161	* Similarly, Music/OzzyOsbourne's video for "Time After Time". Little people in black body suits, playing air guitar. Yeah, that's surreal.
162	* Music/{{Eminem}}'s music video for "The Real Slim Shady" features a nurse with dwarfism; however, she's one of the ''least'' surreal parts of the video.
163	* Music/PeterGabriel's SurrealMusicVideo for [[Music/{{Security}} "Shock the Monkey"]] features a scene where several little people start dragging him down to the ground. They appear out of nowhere, and never show up again afterwards. And that's hardly the weirdest thing in the video...
164	* The video for "Dog Police" by Dog Police features a dwarf waiter. Given the video's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin subject matter]], this is pretty much an afterthought.
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
168	* Dwarf wrestlers and matches involving dwarf wrestling is a common novelty-type match, booked more for comedy relief.
169	* To cement his HeelFaceTurn Wrestling/DoinkTheClown was joined by his dwarf sidekick Dink. This led to several surreal moments, but the most notable was probably their appearance in [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CImbhQ8OxEA/VG_jiOpb3EI/AAAAAAAAFR0/j86yn2M7u-M/s1600/vlcsnap-2012-11-18-17h22m35s111.png a 1994 Survivor Series match]]. Doink teamed with Dink, Wink and Pink, against Wrestling/JerryLawler and his mini-kings Queasy, Cheesy, and Sleazy.
170	* Dylan Postl competed in Wrestling/{{WWE}} as Wrestling/{{Hornswoggle}}, an eccentric individual whose most common character was a leprechaun.
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:Theatre]]
174	%%* Elfriede Jelinek's ''Burgtheater''.
175	* In the Australian production of ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies'', one of the "freaks" at the Phantom's Coney Island amusement park is Fleck, a little person in a jester-esque outfit. She is also one of his lackeys. (In the original London staging, this character was of average stature, but also "half-bird, half-woman".)
176	%%* Michael Dunn in:
177	%%** ''Two For Soroyan'' in the early 1960s.
178	%%** ''The Ballad Of The Sad Cafe'' for which he was nominated for a Tony
179	%%** ''The Inner Journey''
180	%%** ''The Abduction''
181	[[/folder]]
182
183	[[folder:Video Games]]
184	* Dr. Odine in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', a midget MadScientist with a fake German accent who, in the words of [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment the Spoony One]], looks like he's wearing the Series/WheelOfFortune.
185	* The Mad Midget Five from ''VideoGame/GodHand'' are a ridiculous-looking {{sentai}} team with chipmunk voices, and they're mostly treated as comic relief. Averting MookChivalry, they attack you all at once. They are hard to beat the first time and even tougher the second. The game also features a psychic dwarf who is also ridiculous and difficult. Lampshaded both times: during the first battle with the Mad Midget Five, [[DeadpanSnarker Gene]] [[SarcasmFailure is too stunned to say anything more coherent than "Douchebags!"]], and the psychic dwarf is stated in-universe to be in the wrong game.
186	* The dwarfs/Tinks of the ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series are even weirder than is standard for enemies in those games.
187	[[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder:Web Comics]]
190	* Subverted in ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo''. Sarah is a professional clown with dwarfism, but off the clock she's fairly normal compared to the WorldOfWeirdness she lives in.
191	[[/folder]]
192
193	[[folder:Web Videos]]
194	* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic references this trope in his [[Recap/TheNostalgiaCriticS2E52 review]] of ''Film/ErnestSavesChristmas'' when Creator/PattyMaloney and [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0234975/ Buddy Douglas]] appear as ChristmasElves: "We're here to shoot a Creator/DavidLynch film!" For bonus points, the Critic plays the Lollipop Guild song from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' to accompany their entrance.
195	[[/folder]]
196
197	[[folder:Western Animation]]
198	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': The Slurm factory is manned by the Grunka Lunkas.
199	* Pawtucket Pat uses Chumba Wumbas on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
200	%%* Reggie Bullnerd from ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone''.
201	%%* Nester's Mother from ''WesternAnimation/ScaredySquirrel''.
202	%%* Penny from ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB''. Especially when [[TheNapoleon moody]].
203	%%* Eric Needles from ''WesternAnimation/{{Sidekick}}''.
204	[[/folder]]
205
206	[[folder:Real Life]]
207	* Little people have been used for spectacle throughout history:
208	** Many royal courts had a "court dwarf" (the Ottoman Empire had a whole troupe of them). Little people were also a popular addition to TheFreakshow; one such performer was Charles Stratton (also known by the stage name of "General Tom Thumb"), who was discovered by P.T. Barnum and became one of the nineteenth century's most famous international celebrities.
209	** The Kingdom of the Little People, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, is a theme park in China. Many people consider it degrading, but the inhabitants themselves are okay with the situation and view the theme park as home.
210	*** Pre-imperial China averts this trope, since they use little people as court entertainers of all levels, up to and including the CourtJester. Many a MirthToPower story in this period involves little people employed this way.
211	** Music/FreddieMercury reportedly hired a troupe of little people to carry trays of cocaine on their heads at the party celebrating Music/{{Queen}}'s 1978 album ''Jazz''.
212	** On the other hand, a little person who appeared in Music/MileyCyrus's shows wrote [[https://holliseum.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/on-being-a-little-person/ a pretty angry rant]] about being treated as a prop, and -- as mentioned in the {{Film}} section above -- Creator/PeterDinklage usually [[DefiedTrope explicitly refuses to play fantasy creatures]].
213	[[/folder]]

Context Main / LittlePeopleAreSurreal