History Main / KissingTheGround

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[[quoteright:250:[[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/calvin_kisses_ground.png]]]]

* ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'': When Opus is 'rescued' from Antarctica, as he is getting off the plane, he goes down to the ground at the bottom of the stairway. As the press exclaim that he is kissing American soil, he insists, "I tripped!!!"

* ''[[Fanfic/FullCircleOddSquad Full Circle]]'' has Otto, having dropped ten feet to the ground while riding inside an ice cream truck spaceship, throwing the door of the ice cream truck spaceship wide open and giving a hearty cry of "Earth!" just before he starts kissing the ground. Otis looks from him to Olive while wearing an incredulous expression on his face, and Olive immediately answers his non-spoken question of "Is this how he actually acts?" with "Oh yes, he's always like that."

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', the eponymous character does this when he arrives back in England after the crusades. Then proceeds to find that his father's been executed on false charges and all his lands confiscated.
* Parodied in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights''. Robin kisses the ground noisily when he lands in England, then spits sand out of his mouth.

* ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'' (1980). After Flash manages to crash land a plane without killing them, Dale Arden says "Hold me for a second, then drop me, I'll kiss the ground."
* ''Film/AmericaAmerica'' is AnImmigrantsTale about Stavros's long, long journey from Central Turkey to America--tricked, robbed, and reduced to utter poverty, nearly killed, nearly killed again, robbed again. He eventually steals his fiancee's dowry and absconds to America, only to nearly get arrested and sent back, before he switches papers with another immigrant. After finally passing through Ellis Island by using a fake name, he gets on his hands and knees and kisses the ground of America.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** "{{Literature/Escape}}": Michael Donovan's first action, after returning to Earth from an interstellar trip orchestrated by a half-mad AI, is to kiss the runway of their landing.

** ''Literature/TheRestOfTheRobots'': In the preamble to "{{Literature/Lenny}}", Dr Asimov describes how he hates vacations. When he returned home, he kissed the walls of his attic, where he works, to celebrate his escape from "vacation".

* ''Literature/TenSixtySixAndAllThat'': The first action William I (1066) undertook in conquering England was lying down on the beach where he landed and swallowing two mouthfuls of sand.

* The CandidCameraPrank show ''Surprise Sur Prise'' had the subject watch a news report where the Pope arrived by airplane and kissed the ground, but the Pope was stuck because a terrorist put a few drops of crazy glue in the exact spots to keep him in place. At least they had a drill on hand to get him mobile.
* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', episode "[[Recap/SlidersS01E01E02Pilot Pilot]]": Unintentional inter-dimensional traveller Rembrandt kisses the ground when he thinks they've made it back to their home dimension from a world of ice and tornadoes. Unfortunately, of course, he is wrong.

* On ''Series/ImpracticalJokers'', Murr, who has a phobia of heights, is made to go skydiving for a punishment. When he finally lands, he kisses the ground in relief, then [[IllKillYou turns to kill the other guys]].

* When WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck lands on a deserted island in the short "Sea Salts", the ant he was with in the raft kisses the beach.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventuresHowISpentMyVacation'', Plucky is so happy to be home from a horrible road trip that took all summer that he kisses Hamton's lawn, only to discover that there's fertilizer on it as plants start to grow on his tongue.
* The Creator/TexAvery short "The Cat Who Hated People" has the cat flying to the moon to get away from people, only to be driven mad by the moon's inhabitants. After returning to Earth, he hugs the sidewalk and kisses it.
* Bob the tomato did this in the ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' episode "An Easter Carol", after he and Mr. Nezzer land on the ground from riding in a runaway cart.

* Ed does this once in ''WesternAnimation/TheCompletelyMentalMisadventuresOfEdGrimley''. He then muses that it doesn't really taste as good as you think it will.

* In an installment of Katie Kaboom on ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' where she has a disastrous driving lesson due to her temper, her family jumps out of the car and kisses the ground when it's over.
* WesternAnimation/BugsBunny kisses the ground as a sign of patriotism against Hessian Sam in "Bunker Hill Bunny."

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' episode "The Trojan Dragon", Simon has issues piloting the eponymous wooden dragon, and his claustrophobia didn't help either. After landing it in a deep river and getting it out, he runs outside of it and kisses the ground.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' episode "Apocalypse... What, Now?", the Ghostbusters arrive at an airport in Greece with a Christian monk. The monk kisses the ground of his homeland after they get off the plane. Soon, Winston kisses the ground as well, not because he's Greek, but because he has a fear of flying and is glad he survived. Once they witness part of the cheap airplane they were just flying on break off, Peter joins them both in kissing the ground.

* Sean from ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' does this sometimes, whenever the gang gets back from space. For example, in ''[[Recap/ReadyJetGoOneSmallStep One Small Step]]'', Sean kisses the ground towards the end of the movie, then spits out sand.

After a character has been lost at sea, on a [[CaptainCrash near-deadly airplane flight]], or perhaps just on a vacation gone wrong, they'll be so happy to have solid ground beneath their feet or be back home that they'll start to kiss the ground, no matter how filthy it may be. Sometimes for added humor, they'll begin to spit and wipe their mouths in disgust afterwards.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'': In "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too", Tigger kisses the snow after being rescued from a tree.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer, due to circumstances, ends up on a police cruiser with Chief Wiggum, which ends up leaping off an enormous cliff... and straight into a literal mountain of garbage, prompting Homer to kiss the trash pile.

After a character has been lost at sea, on a [[CaptainCrash near-deadly airplane flight]], or perhaps just on a vacation gone wrong, they'll be so happy to have solid ground beneath their feet or be back home that they'll start to kiss the ground, no matter how filthy it may be. Sometimes for added humor they'll begin to spit and wipe their mouths in disgust afterwards.

Not to be confused with BeachKiss, though often times it's much more literal.

* ''Film/AmericaAmerica'' is AnImmigrantsTale about Stavros's long, long journey from Central Turkey to America--tricked, robbed and reduced to utter poverty, nearly killed, nearly killed again, robbed again. He eventually steals his fiancee's dowry and absconds to America, only to nearly get arrested and sent back, before he switches papers with another immigrant. After finally passing through Ellis Island by using a fake name, he gets on his hands and knees and kisses the ground of America.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}'', the first thing Boots does after being adrift in space for days is kissing the floor of the hangar his team's shuttle landed in.

* After a charity basketball game in 1994 in Chicago Stadium - the last game ever played there before its closure Michael Jordan kneeled down and kissed the Bulls logo at center court.

[[quoteright:250:[[UsefulNotes/ThePope https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/popekissingg_7835.png]]]]

* ''[[Fanfic/FullCircleOddSquad Full Circle]]'' has Otto, having taken a ten-foot fall drop to the ground while riding inside an ice cream truck spaceship, throwing the door of the ice cream truck spaceship wide open and giving a hearty cry of "Earth!" just before he starts kissing the ground. Otis looks from him to Olive while wearing an incredulous expression on his face, and Olive immediately answers his non-spoken question of "Is this how he actually acts?" with "Oh yes, he's always like that."

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Marge on the Lam]]'', Chief Wiggum's idiotic driving sends the car he's driving over a cliff... and into a colossal mound of garbage. Homer, who was riding shotgun, kisses the garbage, thankful for the save, and is repulsed at the taste... until the last kiss tastes like pizza.

[[folder:Asian Animation]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' episode "Apocalypse...What, Now?", the Ghostbusters arrive at an airport in Greece with a Christian monk. The monk kisses the ground of his homeland after they get off the plane. Soon, Winston kisses the ground as well, not because he's Greek, but because he has a fear of flying and is glad he survived. Once they witness part of the cheap airplane they were just flying on break off, Peter joins them both in kissing the ground.

* In ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', Pikachu does this after he, Ash, Pidgeotto and Butterfree land safely after [[NoEscapeButDown barely escaping from Hunter J's airship.]]

* The debut episode of ''Series/GilligansIsland'' has Gilligan first bemoaning that he and the others are stranded on an island then being grateful for being on land in the first place. He kisses the beach and spits out sand.
* ''Series/ItsAboutTime'': In "Twentieth Century Here We Come" upon landing back in the twentieth century, Hector remarks to Mac that they ought to kiss the ground, the astronauts being grateful for being back in their own time. Unfortunately, LiteralMinded cave-people Gronk, Shad, Mlor and Breer believe this is actually a ceremony one practices on the astronaut's "side of the hill." They kiss the ground.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': In "A Drain on the Economy", Scrooge kisses ''a sewer grate'' after being informed by Huey, Dewey and Louie that his missing money is in the storm sewer beneath. Scrooge quickly starts spitting when he realizes what he had done.

** It happens again in "Princess Twilight Sparkle", after Spike survives riding on Twilight's back. Twilight isn't used to her new wings, and Spike ends up smashing into a window.

** In "School Raze – Part 1", after being saved from a long fall by Gallus and Ocellus, Yona slumps down and kiss the earth, glad to be on safer ground than a cloud.