History Main / GoingToSeeTheElephant

* Also literally inverted in ''AroundTheWorldInEightyDays''. During one leg of his journey, Phileas Fogg literally goes to see an elephant, but he's shown zero interest in sightseeing; he just wants to hurry up and get past a gap in the train routes.

* In ''The Magician's Elephant'' by Kate DiCamillo, the protagonist goes with a group of people to see the title elephant to first find out if his sister is still alive and secondly to get it home.

** The guys in ''Film/EasyRider'' did that, too, with New Orleans as the ultimate elephant.

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* In ''Losin' It'', each of the boys has a different "elephant" he wants to see during their trip to Tijuana, Mexico. One character wants to see a donkey show, another wants his car seats re-upholstered and the third just wants to get some cool fireworks.
* The ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation'' series of films starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo are a comedic example of this trope.
* ''Film/TheStraightStory'' is about a man who takes a cross-country trip on his riding mower, so he can reconcile with his dying brother.
* ''Film/LostInAmerica'' is about a couple who quit their jobs in order to "discover America." They do so by traveling around in a Winnebago on the back roads, looking for new things to see and do.
** The guys in ''Film/EasyRider'' did that, too, with New Orleans as the ultimate elephant.

* ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle.'' ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* In ''Film/TheWizard'' Jimmy's ultimate goal is the [[spoiler:Cabazon Dinosaurs]].

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* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', the Funnies are taking a road trip to see the Painted Gorge. They don't have any other plans, but end up doing stuff along the way.
** In ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventuresHowISpentMyVacation'', Plucky and the Pig family visit a theme park called Happy World Land, and Plucky is clearly excited for the attractions. To Plucky's disappointment, however, all Hamton and his family were interested in doing was to ride a monorail around the park, after which they promptly leave.

* Barnaby Tucker, in Thornton Wilder's ''The Matchmaker'' (and its derivative, ''HelloDolly!'') has the fixed desire of seeing the stuffed whale in Barnum's museum when he goes to New York.

* In ''TheDrewCareyShow'' episode "New York and Queens", the gang travel to New York City to see the Yankees play the Indians. While driving cross country, they decide to take a side-trip into Hershey, Pennsylvania, just because they can smell the chocolate from the highway.

* On one episode of ''RockosModernLife'', Heffer and Rocko go on a road trip to see Phlegm Rock (a rock formation shaped like a runny nose, where the "mucus" is algae-ridden water spewing from a spring) before it closes and gets paved over.
* In an episode of ''{{Doug}}'', the Funnies are taking a road trip to see the Painted Gorge. They don't have any other plans, but end up doing stuff along the way.

* In ''Theatre/AnyoneCanWhistle'', a large number of pilgrims appear once the "miracle" set up by the mayoress and her cronies gets going, and then at the end, they all (and a number of people from the town) leave when they hear that there's another miracle in the next town over.

* Played straight by Sam in ''Literature/LordOfTheRings''. He gets to see an oliphaunt, confirming the Hobbit rhyme is an appallingly realistic depiction of one.

* ''SamuraiChamploo'' has the girl Fuu hire two Samurai, Mugen and Jin, to help her find the Sun Flower samurai. This Samurai in question does not show up until the last episode and the show regularly admits that he is nothing more than MacGuffin, with both Mugen and Jin regularly pestering Fuu about knowing nothing about the Sun Flower Samurai (except that he smells like sunflowers, but she doesn't even know what those smell like). [[spoiler:She has a good reason for keeping quiet about what she knows - the samurai is her father.]]

** Interestingly, Maggie Antrobus wants to see a whale before she dies in the same author's ''TheSkinOfOurTeeth''. The Barnum Museum really ''was'' a tremendously popular place in the mid- to late-1800s, and the whale was a notable exhibit.

Compare with TheHomewardJourney. Contrast with TheHomewardJourney. Also see RoadTripPlot, where the story is about the journey itself. No relation at all to the ElephantInTheLivingRoom, which everybody is pointedly trying to ignore. Also has nothing to do with [[INeedToGoIronMyDog going to see a man about a horse...]]

Compare with TheHomewardJourney. Also see RoadTripPlot, where the story is about the journey itself. No relation at all to the ElephantInTheLivingRoom, which everybody is pointedly trying to ignore. Also has nothing to do with [[INeedToGoIronMyDog going to see a man about a horse...]]

No relation at all to the ElephantInTheLivingRoom, which everybody is pointedly trying to ignore. Also has nothing to do with [[INeedToGoIronMyDog going to see a man about a horse...]] Also see RoadTripPlot, where the story is about the journey itself.

* From ''WebComic/{{Roomies}}!'', [[http://www.itswalky.com/d/19990714.html Danny and Billie see Mount Rushmore.]] Because.

* This particular trope is taken literally in an episode of ''KazemakaseTsukikageRan''.
* The Grand Line is presented as a sort of elephant in early ''OnePiece''. Also, the island containing the titular "One Piece", the treasure of Gold Roger.

* From ''Space Viking'' by HBeamPiper, regarding Lucas Trask's first experience of being part of a Viking raid on a more-or-less helpless planet: "Well, you saw the elephant, Lucas. You don't seem to have liked it." Spoken by veteran Viking Captain Otto Harkaman.

* ''SamuraiChamploo'' has the girl Fuu hire two Samurai, Mugen and Jin, to help her find the Sun Flower samurai. This Samurai in question does not show up until the last episode and the show regularly admits that he is nothing more than MacGuffin, with both Mugen and Jin regularly pestering Fuu about knowing nothing about the Sun Flower Samurai (except that he smells like sunflowers, but she doesn't even know what those smell like).

No relation at all to the ElephantInTheLivingRoom, which everybody is pointedly trying to ignore. Also has nothing to do with [[INeedToGoIronMyDog going to see a man about a horse...]]

** The guys in''Film/EasyRider'' did that, too, with New Orleans as the ultimate elephant.

** The guys in''Film/EasyRider'' did that, too, with New Orleans as the ultimate elphant.

-->''"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."''