History Main / TiltingTowerOfPisa

* The above ''Film/SupermanIII'' scene was referenced in ''VideoGame/LegoBatman 3'', with [=LEGO=] Superman straightening the Tower.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/GadgetBoyAndHeather'' has Gadget Boy pass through Europe and think that Spidra made the leaning tower was her doing and uses a mechanical arm to straighten it himself.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[SarcasmMode Thanks a lot]], [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Superman]]]]

* In a episode of ‘’Anime/DinosaurKing’’, the [[MonsterOfTheWeek dino of the week]], a Pachycephalosaurus rams into the tower, straightening it.

* In [[WesternAnimation/{{Madballs}} ''Madballs: Gross Jokes'']], the Madballs destroy or deface pretty much every monument they come across on their trip around the world. One of the things they do is straighten the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

* ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'': In "Recap/WhatIfS1E7WhatIfThorWereAnOnlyChild", Thor, in his hurry to clean up the mess he caused with his worldwide party before his mother arrives, straightens the tower of Pisa, clearly thinking that the actions of him or his friends caused it to tilt.

* In one episode of ''Anime/LupinIIIRedJacket'', the villain's earthquake machine succeeds in ''straightening'' the Leaning Tower, but is disabled before it can damage it further.

[[folder:Pinballs]]

Examples which involve the tower getting straightened often forget one important fact: because the tower was build in 3 stages over 200 years, and started leaning very early in construction, the upper floors were built with one side longer than the other (making the tower curved) to compensate. So basically, you can't ever straighten the tower; even if the base two floors could be perfectly straightened, the tower would start to lean in the other direction due to the built-in curve, and possibly collapse at some point in the distant future.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In "The Cryonic Woman", when Fry and Bender take the Planet Express ship on a joyride, they unknowingly drag the delivery service's building along behind them since the ship was anchored to it. When flying over Pisa, the ship collides with the Leaning Tower, straightening it. Then the building collides with it, which tips the tower the ''other'' way. Then the tower collapses on top of the people who've come to gawk at its new orientation.

* The tower tilts because of a too-small foundation laid in sandy soil that is not well suited for supporting a tower. It has continued to very slowly tilt over the centuries and by 1960 had tilted to 6 degrees. The tower was closed for [[https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/leaning-tower-of-pisa-tilt-scli-intl/index.html 11 years]] while engineers dug sand out from under the high side to reduce the tilt, which is now just a little less than four degrees.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' cartoon "Sunny Italy" opens right off at the Tower of Pisa where [[DamselInDistress Pearl Pureheart]] is tied to the rail on top, dangling by one foot. The villain Oil Can Harry is attempting to topple the tower over with a car jack.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' cartoon "Sunny Italy" open right off at the Tower of Pisa where [[DamselInDistress Pearl Pureheart]] is dangling by one foot. The villain Oil Can Harry is attempting to topple the tower over with a car jack.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' cartoon "Sunny Italy" open right off at the Tower of Pisa where [[DamselInDistress Pearl Pureheart is dangling by one foot. The villain Oil Can Harry is attempting to topple the tower over with a car jack.

Often used in disaster flicks, cartoons, or stories involving superpowers. Even works that are entirely mundane may show tourists playing with this trope, posing for pics as if "holding up" or "fleeing the collapse of" the Tower.

Examples which involve the tower getting straightened often forget one important fact: because the tower was build in 3 stages over a period of 200 years, and started leaning very early in construction, the upper floors were built with one side longer than the other (making the tower curved) to compensate. So basically, you can't ever straigthen the tower; even if the base two floors could be perfectly straightened, the tower would start to lean in the other direction due to the built-in curve, and possibly collapse at some point in the distant future.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'', it's revealed that Esmeralda [[BeenThereShapedHistory was responsible for tilting the tower centuries ago]]. Regretting the mistake, Esmeralda decides to try and fix it. She succeeds, but ends up causing Italy to FreakOut at seeing the tower straightened.

* Inverted in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "We Call It Maze", in which Dr. Doofenshmirtz's evil plan includes making every ''other'' building in the world tilt at a similar angle, leaving the Leaning Tower of Pisa as nothing special. He then plans to straighten his own building, making it unique.

* On April 1 1960, the Dutch news broadcast ''NOS Journaal'' reported that the tower of Pisa had toppled over as part of an elaborate AprilFoolsDay joke. It got quite some reactions from people who were saddened the famous tower was supposedly gone.

* ''Film/ZombielandDoubleTap'': One man in Pisa blows up the Leaning Tower to collapse it onto a few zombies.

Any fictional depiction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is likely to show it toppling or threatening to do so, being straightened, and/or being made to tilt in the opposite direction. Despite its stone-block construction, it generally won't crack or shatter at the base from such abuse, but merely rock back and forth as if it's one solid piece.

* Inverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', in which Dr. Doofenshmirtz's evil plan includes making every ''other'' building in the world tilt at a similar angle, leaving the Leaning Tower of Pisa as nothing special. He then plans to straighten his own building, making it unique.

[[caption-width-right:350:Thanks a lot Superman]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/FlintTheTimeDetective'': In the episode "Plumella", the heroes travel back to Pisa during the time of the renaissance. Flint sees the leaning tower and, fearing that it might fall over, straightens it, despite his friends warning him that it's supposed to be leaning, and Flint is now altering history. Near the end of the episode, an explosion causes the tower to tilt back to it's original position, thus restoring history.

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[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Pinball]]

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