Calvin's family goes to the zoo to see the animals, but the trip goes off course when Calvin gets separated from his parents and Hobbes.
Tropes
- Anger Born of Worry: Calvin's dad, heading off to look for his missing son, remarks that being a parent is "wanting to hug and strangle your kid at the same time."
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Calvin's dad reasons that Calvin might be at the tiger pit when they're separated, since Calvin likes tigers. Then he wonders if Calvin might be in the tiger pit due to his fondness of tigers...and suddenly takes off at a run.
- Hilarity in Zoos: Calvin's family goes to the zoo and he gets lost. Surprisingly, not much actually happens beside that, although Dad does run when he imagines Calvin going into the tiger pit because he likes them so much.
- Menagerie of Misery: Hobbes thinks the zoo is depressing because the animals are stuck in cramped enclosures and do nothing but sleep and be fed. Calvin points out that's basically all Hobbes does.
- Mistaken from Behind: Calvin is following his mom around the zoo. When he tugs on her skirt to ask her a question, she turns around... and it's not his mom. In fact, the woman isn't even wearing the same blouse as his mom, only the same skirt.Strange woman: Are you lost? What does your mom look like?Calvin: From the knees down, she looks just like you.
- Noodle Incident: Whatever the monkeys were doing that Calvin found so amusing, we're not told, only that it was gross and his parents didn't particularly appreciate Calvin seeing it.
- Nothing Is Funnier: While at the monkey house, Calvin notes that one of the monkeys is doing something gross in public and asks why he isn't allowed to do that. What the monkey is doing is never shown or described; Calvin's parents just try to redirect his attention to some birds.
- Separated from the Adults: Calvin ends up following another woman around the zoo without realizing she's not his mother. Luckily, after wandering around for a while the family is reunited without incident.
