History Main / CloudCuckooland

* Flyspeck Island, as mentioned in the newspaper comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Curtis}}'' as the home of [=Cloudcuckoolander=] Gunk.
* Kokonino Kounty in ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat''.
* The Republic of Elbonia in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''.
* Dingburg in ''ComicStrip/ZippyThePinhead''. And that's the strip's main setting.

Compare with HufflepuffHouse, where most of a story's "wacky" characters that are neither cool nor "DracoInLeatherPants" enough to become {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s are usually lumped together and given a place to play. CastFullOfCrazy is when you have ''characters'' that are{{cloudcuckoolander}}s, but the setting is relatively normal.

Compare with HufflepuffHouse, where most of a story's "wacky" characters that are neither cool nor "DracoInLeatherPants" enough to become {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s are usually lumped together and given a place to play.

** ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' created a Wackyland in Acme Acres. Then it threw in Gogo the Dodo for good measure. He and Wackyland seem no less weird than in Porky's day.

* The ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' world, especially outside the courtroom. There are only a few sensible people around, and when faced with the insanity that surrounds them, they [[DeadPanSnarker snark]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has its share of odd moments, but the Temmie Village still manages to stand out. It's inhabited entirely by Temmies ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and]] [[OddNameOut Bob]]), which are basically a ''Cloudcuckoolander species''. They speak in [[PaintingTheMedium misspelled/grammatically-incorrect sentences]] (except for the shopkeeper when she [[ObfuscatingStupidity gets serious]]), you can find one trying to incubate a hard-boiled egg, and another is apparently allergic to her own species. Even the message at the village's save point is rather odd.

* On ''WesternAnimation/ToddWorld'', in the world of [=ToddWorld=], the main character Todd eats macaroni and cheese in the bathtub and likes to wear underwear on his head, but this no more bizarre than some of the things some of the other characters do on the show. In fact, the show's over-arching {{Aesop}} is that everyone is unique and special and to celebrate those differences.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' has "[[EldritchOceanAbyss Rock Bottom]]", which, for lack of a better description, is Bikini Bottom done [[EldritchLocation wrong]]. Full of weird and oddly-speaking people.
** A later episode features "Randomland", a location almost certainly inspired by the previously mentioned Wackyland. The laws of physics don't apply and random creatures roam about. Even trying to get to this location is completely random. "You just walk around... randomly."

%%* The land of Ooo from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''.

* The world as seen in ''Series/LookAroundYou'' is this, as the laws of physics, and science in general, work on InsaneTrollLogic (ie. a variety of apples that are [[StuffBlowingUp explosive]], a dry cleaning machine that can give you an EasySexChange by spraying you with hormones, Prince Charles being able to control hurricanes); all of it is treated as being perfectly normal.

* ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheMinisukas'': When Asuka arrives in Tokyo-3, she finds the place invaded by countless miniature versions of herself. One of her teammates is creepily obsessed with getting revenge on the Minisuka who pranked her. Said Prankster was captured by a giant swallow, saved by a purple-haired hermit samurai, and then abducted by a fox, a bear, a gang of beatboxing rabbits, and a monkey on a unicycle as making her way out of a forest infested by murderous clowns. Her professor is locked in a mental loop, repeating the same drivel about the Second Impact over and again. And hardly someone seems to find so much nonsense noteworthy. After the incident with the man punching a tiger which prowled into an ice cream parlor, Asuka finally gives up on trying to make sense out of Tokyo-3.

* ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'' and the rest of the series have crazy scenarios. Wrestling Ring stairs! Fish watching TV! Race Karts that jump over arches! Arguably, the [[WidgetSeries entire game]] is one long Cloudcuckooland.

* Hundred Acre Woods in ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'', simply because all the inhabitants are highly eccentric. Tigger and Owl especially, even though Pooh has his own moments. But then, they are living toys. Even Christopher Robin applies some odd child's logic; just read the explanation at the beginning for what the reasoning behind the name Winnie-the-Pooh is.

%%* The fictional nation of Mypos in ''Series/PerfectStrangers''. Also a handy way to [[FunnyForeigner make fun of immigrants]] without [[AcceptableTargets offending anyone]].

* In some ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' continuities, the Special Zone (aka the Warps of Confusion) is a mixture of this and HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace. Notably it's based on the ''very'' trippy special stages in the first Sonic game (the background consists of birds morphing into fish in an Escher-like manner as discordant twinkly music plays, etc.)

* The entire kingdom of Slekochovakia in ''Theatre/KnightsOfTheSquareTable'', headed by a strange King obsessed with topiary and an apathetic Queen whose {{catchphrase}} is literally “let them eat cake.”

* In the alternate dimension into which Yuuri is swept in ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'', there are some ''bizarre'' traditions. For example, dropping a spork is a signal of intent to fight someone, a slap on the left cheek is a legit marriage proposal, and there are some ''unusual'' greetings. The reason is because this is an alternate universe with independent languages, laws, and customs. Actually you really need to give the writer some credit for thinking up some of this stuff. It's mostly played for laughs but still pretty creative.

* The world of ''VideoGame/DikembeMutombosFourAndAHalfWeeksToSaveTheWorld'', where the state of Ohio (as in, the actual landmass) is too busy dancing to a [[LawyerFriendlyCameo certain South Korean dance song]] to vote in the upcoming election, bears and turkeys can talk and wear sweaters, there are "laser stores" and bear porn, and a literal Hollywood Fat Cat is trying to shrink everyone's brains with [[Literature/{{Twilight}} teen vampire romance movies.]]

* Cloudcuckooland itself appears briefly in one of the prose sections of ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', as part of the "Europe" section of ''The Traveller's Almanack'', a fictional world travel guide to the setting. The guide mentions that the floating ruins of Cloudcuckooland can still be spotted in a certain area of Greece if you have a strong enough telescope, but that the fortress has drifted so high that actual birds can no longer reach it.

* Creator/DouglasAdams' ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' reveals that the entire universe is like this, more or less. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which hasn't been released on Earth due to [[EarthShatteringKaboom unfortunate circumstances]], also has the words "Don't Panic" written in large, friendly letters on the backside of its cover. The reasoning behind these words is as follows: If you are about to die, then consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, then consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer.

* ''Videogame/EarthBound'':

* Aperture Laboratories of ''Videogame/{{Portal}}'' and [[Videogame/{{Portal 2}} its sequel]] show a rather dark version of this. The original use of the portal-gun was for bath-curtains. They created a bouncing gel which was originally meant to be a dieting substance, but was pulled off the shelves, for, uh, unreleased reasons. Their on-and-off-switches for ventilation fans are powered by giant lasers. Their experiments may contain trace amounts of tumours, hallucinations, mantis men, time-travel, death, and [[TheCakeIsALie cake]]. They created [=GLaDOS=] to rule it, and ''that'' [[AIIsACrapshoot went well....]]

The unusual trope name is a translation of "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_cuckoo_land Nephelokokkygia]]" from Creator/{{Aristophanes}}'s play ''Theatre/TheBirds''. However, Aristophanes' Cloudcuckooland was not actually an "odd place", but a fictional [[{{Utopia}} paradise state where everything is perfect]] -- and which, therefore, doesn't exist. Accordingly, a "Cloudcuckoolander" was someone demented or naive enough to believe in such an impossible place.

* OlderThanRadio: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wise_Men_of_Gotham The Wise Men of Gotham]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Canada is depicted as such. It's a world with only one road, square ''everything'', the people's heads flap like garbage can lids, their prime minister is a [[Film/TheWizardOfOz massive green hologram]] ([[spoiler:That's actually [[ItMakesSenseInContext Saddam Hussein]]]]), Nova Scotia is inhabited by "little mushroom people", Quebec (or French Canada as other Canadians call it), is inhabited by ''Creator/CirqueDuSoleil'' performers who are thought of as weird ''even by other Canadians'', they also consider Quebec as Canada's Cloudcuckooland. And then there's a "giant" who routinely terrorizes them, a culture based around toilet humor and eating Kraft Dinner, a military armed with hockey sticks and chainsaws, and the most insane royal wedding ceremony ever. Needless to say it's so over the top that [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales these episodes are utterly beloved by Canadians]].

* In the alternate dimension into which Yuuri is swept in ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'', there are some ''bizarre'' traditions. For example, dropping a spork is a signal of intent to fight someone, an ArmorPiercingSlap on the left cheek is a legit marriage proposal, and there are some ''unusual'' greetings. The reason is because this is an alternate universe with independent languages, laws, and customs. Actually you really need to give the writer some credit for thinking up some of this stuff. It's mostly played for laughs but still pretty creative.

* Craggy Island, home of ''Series/FatherTed''. Ted himself is [[OnlySaneMan relatively sane]]; his coworkers are Father Jack, who's alcoholic and prone to delirium, Father Dougal, who CannotTellFictionFromReality, and Mrs. Doyle, who has a host of quirks -- most prominently, being ''obsessed'' with serving tea. The island's other residents include a violent gun nut, a married couple who are constantly trying to kill each other, and a policeman who treats a stolen lifeguard whistle as if it were a spate of serial killings. On the other hand, the non-resident characters were often just as crazy, so it's quite possible the whole world of ''Father Ted'' is like this.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Anime/HareGuu'' features one in the AnotherDimension that is [[spoiler: one of Guu's stomachs]]. The four (human) residents are not particularly concerned about the rather surreal landscape and creatures that surround them.

* The nameless Vermont town where ''Series/{{Newhart}}'' takes place. Dick Loudon is the OnlySaneMan. [[spoiler: Justified since ItWasAllADream.]]

* Tri-Ace loves this trope in their optional dungeons. Lots of Fourth Wall breaking abounds, from the developers readily acknowledging {{Retirony}} on an early character in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileCovenantOfThePlume'', to the announcements from nowhere informing the characters that they're entering BonusDungeon territory (and from time to time, characters even noting that "[That enemy] was a lot tougher than in the main story!"), to absolute unbridled madness (such as kobold versions of main characters in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile2Silmeria'', and the constant barrage of unending craziness from mostly everyone in ''Covenant'', ranging from [[spoiler: old characters discussing their advanced age in a JRPG, most of the female cast mercilessly mocking the main character and mistakenly getting the impression that he's done {{Squick}}-worthy things with a pair of underaged characters with their mother present in the conversation, Hrist challenging the party just because she's pissed over the fact that she hasn't gotten her own game yet, Freya challenging the party because the party's resident {{Jerkass}} mage told her that she's extremely beautiful yet wouldn't even consider getting into a relationship with her because of her undeniably advanced age despite her being a goddess and immortal, the resident CreepyTwins getting their own FourthWallMailSlot where they read letters from the programmers and harass TheHero for butting in and Gabriel and Ethereal Queen lamenting over the fact that Seraphic Gate is starting to show its age and slowly falling apart while trying to get their next role in a reality show starring Silmeria]] to enemies getting progressively weirder names, from tall armored warriors getting names like [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Unit 00]], vampires that are literally called Accepting Blood Donors and No Ketchup, Please, bug enemies getting names like [[Music/TheBeatles George and Ringo]], wolf enemies being called Dire (unfitting animal name here) and Gabriel himself getting an everchanging title on each playthrough, including Posessed, Obsessed, Depressed, Underdressed, Headdressed and Distressed and Wylfred's father getting increasingly stranger meanings for "father". When all the above is juxtapositioned with the main quest's extreme seriousness and [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe over-the-top Olde English]], it's even funnier.)

** The series doesn't have [[MinimalistCast a lot of characters]], but almost everyone we meet is a [=Cloudcuckoolander=]. We've got [=GLaDOS=], the facility's omnipotent AI who's got a few screws loose, and cares only about science and bratty mocking. There's Wheatley, the dense but sweet British robot who [[spoiler: was designed to make [=GLaDOS=] stupid, and goes evil when hooked into her body]]. Doug Rattmann was a scientist whose paranoid schizophrenia saved him, since it turned out that he ''was'' at the mercy of an evil robot, and with his love for the CompanionCube writes helpful and creepy messages on the walls. There are the testing robots, Atlas and P-body, who are both overly playful, eccentric and oddly ''human''. The founder of the facility, Cave Johnson, was egotistical and stubborn, and a little bit hazy on the morals. Caroline his secretary seemed sensible, except [[spoiler: she got turned into [=GLaDOS=]]]. Really, the only one at all "normal" is Chell, and she doesn't speak because of pathological stubbornness!

** Cloudcuckoolander Discord [[spoiler: turns Ponyville into this]] in "The Return of Harmony".

** The titular town of Gravity Falls, which is wrought with the strangest beings west of weird and north of normal. Some of the residents of this town include [[OurGnomesAreWeirder rainbow puking gnomes]], [[TestosteronePoisoning Manly Minotaurs]], [[PrehistoricMonster Pterodactyls]], [[VoluntaryShapeshifter a Homocidal Shapeshifter]], and a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent yellow]] [[SinisterGeometry triangular]] [[BigBad dream demon]], among only a few of the strange abnormalities that the twins face. [[spoiler: This later becomes downplayed when it turns out the town is a WeirdnessMagnet due to its proximity to a dimensional "thin patch" leading to a nightmarish [[AlternateUniverse alternate]] [[EldritchLocation dimension]], which was not seen but [[GoMadFromTheRevelation drove one of the characters who was sucked inside]] to try and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erase his memories of the horrible things he saw]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' is set in the land of Ooo, a world populated with strange, idiosyncratic characters whose often bizarre appearances are complemented by [[BlueAndOrangeMorality bizarre perspectives]] and unpredictable behavior.

* In [[Fanfic/Swing123AndGarfieldodiesCalvinverse the Calvinverse]]:

* Invoked in the FanFic/PonyPOVSeries by the author AND in story. In story to contradict the Makarov Arc's overwhelming seriousness and military tones. In story by Princess Celestia who purposely redirected Princess Cadence and entourage there so the silly and childish locals could treat the Alicorn of music and her friends to childish and silly fun and remind them that not all craziness is bad.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction in general has a minor trend of painting Ponyville as this; the regular monster attacks, location on the edge of an EldritchLocation, and habit of the main characters suffering emotional breakdowns means a reputation tend to develop.

* ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'' seems to take place in contemporary Japan, but the setting has more than enough oddities to count as this, such as traffic light symbols being birds instead of people and a sport combining go and soccer apparently being real and treated as SeriousBusiness. . The premise of the series is basically mixing [[MundaneMadeAwesome very normal things turned awesome]] with [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight very weird things turned normal]], causing the characters to have a totally inverted perception of what's supposed to be made a big deal.