History Main / TropeyComeHome

* ''Film/HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney'' and its sequel.

* The final segment of ''WesternAnimation/{{Mickeys Twice Upon a Christmas}}'' had Mickey searching for Pluto, who had run away and ended up at the North Pole.

* The plot of [[Manga/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasZerosJourney Zero's Journey]] involves Zero getting lost in Christmas Town, with Jack sending Lock, Shock, and Barrel after him while he handles his duties in Halloween Town.

* The TropeNamer is the 1972 animated film ''WesternAnimation/SnoopyComeHome''. It starts out as a light-hearted look at the concept. At least, until [[spoiler:[[TearJerker Snoopy decides to go back to his original owner]].]] [[spoiler: And then Snoopy learns that his original owner lives in a pet-free apartment complex, so he says goodbye to Lila and returns to Charlie Brown.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In the episode "Appa's Lost Days" we follow the kidnapped Appa fighting abuse, starvation and loneliness as he tries to find Aang. For an episode about a character who ''can't even talk'' its incredibly moving.

** Goddard has actually gone missing about 3 times in the franchise, once in the above mentioned storybook, once in a comic from Magazine/{{Nickelodeon Magazine}} and once in an actual episode of the series.

* ''Disney/{{Bolt}}'': Bolt is separated from the girl who plays his companion. The rest of the film shows his search for her while she tries and fails to work with his replacement.
* ''Disney/TheAristocats'': Duchess and the kittens are kidnapped and misplaced by the butler, Edgar. They try to find their way home while their owner worried frantically about them.
%%* ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' also qualifies.

* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': In the episode "Phoenix Rises", Cricket's dog Phoenix runs away from home after sensing something, and the family (plus Remy) goes out to look for him. Ultimately, their search proves fruitless and the give up, but Phoeix returns home soon afterwards with what had caught her attention: Cricket's MissingMom, who has just been released from prison.

[[ABoyAndHisX A boy/girl and his/her pet]] [[LoyalAnimalCompanion are nearly inseparable]], until the pet goes missing. For some reason, a character's pet will wander away from home, get kidnapped, or get himself lost some other way. This leads to two separate storylines. On one side, the pet is incredibly lost, scared, and desperately [[TheresNoPlaceLikeHome trying to get home]]. The second story will involve the humans dealing with the loss of their pet, either by [[{{Wangst}} feeling miserable]] or by actively [[IWillFindYou searching for them]]. In the end, the two parties will eventually reunite, maybe even AnAesop or two.

May overlap with IWillWaitForYou where the human refuses to give up on waiting or to get a new pet. When the pet has been driven away by a cruel owner instead of lost, it's ComeBackMyPet. The human equivalent of this is TheresNoPlaceLikeHome.

* The plot of [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasZerosJourney Zero's Journey]] involves Zero getting lost in Christmas Town, with Jack sending Lock, Shock, and Barrel after him while he handles his duties in Halloween Town.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' Subverted in the episode "Kevin Party", Steven puts up missing posters of Lion when he notices that Lion hasn't returned home for a few weeks and he needs him in order to visit Lars and the Off Colors who are currently stranded in space. It turns out Lion has been staying with Connie the entire time as he is angry at Steven for ignoring Connie's feelings over his surrender to Homeworld. Following Steven and Connie's reconciliation, Lion forgives Steven as well and returns home with him towards the end of the episode.

[[ABoyAndHisX A boy/girl and his/her pet]] [[LoyalAnimalCompanion are nearly inseparable]], until the pet goes missing. For some reason, a character's pet will wander away from home, get kidnapped, or get himself lost some other way. This leads to two separate storylines. On one side, the pet is incredibly lost, scared, and desperately [[TheresNoPlaceLikeHome trying to get home]]. The second story will involve the humans dealing with the loss of their pet, either by [[{{Wangst}} feeling miserable]] or by actively [[IWillFindYou searching for them]]. In the end, the two parties will eventually reunite, often leading to a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming and maybe even AnAesop or two.

* The final segment of ''Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'' had Mickey searching for Pluto, who had run away and ended up at the North Pole.

* There's a ''JimmyNeutron'' storybook titled ''Goddard, Come Home!'' Goddard goes missing, but, with help from a beagle named Billy, Jimmy is able to track him down to the hideout of the tyrannical robots who dognapped him.
** Goddard has actually gone missing about 3 times in the franchise, once in the above mentioned storybook, once in a comic from Nick Magazine and once in an actual episode of the series.

** Another episode has Angelica kick Spike out after it refuses to participate in a pretend wedding ceremony the same time Tommy and Chuckie send her doll Cynthia on a boatride... down a sewer drain. Spike finds the doll in a garbage dump and, remembering Angelica, decides to leave it. However, when he remembers Tommy, he snatches it and heads back. No one really realizes he was gone.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}:

* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' has the episode "Zipper Come Home". The twist: Not only did Zipper, one of the team members and not a pet, [[TenMinuteRetirement decide for himself to leave]] due to lack of respect from the other Rangers, but he ends up being the king of a bug tribe.

* ''WesternAnimation/SnoopyComeHome'' is a light-hearted look at the concept. At least, until [[spoiler:[[TearJerker Snoopy decides to go back to his original owner]].]] [[spoiler: And then Snoopy learns that his original owner lives in a pet-free apartment complex, so he says goodbye to Lila and returns to Charlie Brown.]]

[[ABoyAndHisX A boy and his pet]] [[LoyalAnimalCompanion are nearly inseparable]], until the pet goes missing. For some reason, a character's pet will wander away from home, get kidnapped, or get himself lost some other way. This leads to two separate storylines. On one side, the pet is incredibly lost, scared, and desperately [[TheresNoPlaceLikeHome trying to get home]]. The second story will involve the humans dealing with the loss of their pet, either by [[{{Wangst}} feeling miserable]] or by actively [[IWillFindYou searching for them]]. In the end, the two parties will eventually reunite, often leading to a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming and maybe even AnAesop or two.

%%* ''Disney/{{Bolt}}''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': Oscar accidentally loses Sugar Mama's poodle, who is naturally upset about this until his return.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
%%* ''Disney/{{Bolt}}''
* ''Disney/TheAristocats'': Duchess and the kittens are kidnapped and misplaced by the butler, Edgar. They try to find their way home while their owner worried frantically about them.
%%* ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' also qualifies.
* Done with a twist in ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'', in which the "pets" are [[AnimateInanimateObject household appliances]]. Radio even broadcasts one such story, which serves as motivation for the others.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney'' and its sequel.
* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfMiloAndOtis''. Milo the cat gets lost, with Otis trailing him, and they are trying to return home.
* ''Animal, Come Back Animal'' from ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' fits here.
* The final segment of ''Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'' had Mickey searching for Pluto, who had run away and ended up at the North Pole.
* The film ''Gypsy Colt'' which is basically a variation of Lassie Come Home, but with a horse instead of a dog -it even mirrors some of the scenes from the film it takes it's inspiration from - such as the horse trotting through the village to meet the child as she comes out of school.
* ''Hecks Way Home'' is another movie featuring a border collie trying to reunite with his family.

[[folder:Literature]]
* The original story ''Lassie Come-Home'' (1938) by Eric Knight was adapted into the beloved 1943 film ''Film/LassieComeHome'', which is almost certainly the TropeNamer, and probably the TropeCodifier as well.
* ''Ribsy'' by Beverly Cleary: Ribsy is left in the Huggins' car in the mall parking lot. He pushes the button that opens the window and gets out of the car, but when he tries to find his way back he gets into the wrong car and another family takes him home. He spends the rest of the book finding his way back home.
* Pretty much the entire point of the short story "[[http://www.archive.org/details/lovelinessastor00phelgoog Loveliness]]" (1899) by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. The [[CharacterTitle titular dog]] is stolen and [[LittlestCancerPatient and his frail mistress]], heartbroken, wastes away during the several months when he is missing. He gets found and everybody gets better [[spoiler: and we learn that [[{{Anvilicious}} selling pets for medical experiments]] [[AndThatsTerrible is bad]] ]].
* There's a ''JimmyNeutron'' storybook titled ''Goddard, Come Home!'' Goddard goes missing, but, with help from a beagle named Billy, Jimmy is able to track him down to the hideout of the tyrannical robots who dognapped him.
** Goddard has actually gone missing about 3 times in the franchise, once in the above mentioned storybook, once in a comic from Nick Magazine and once in an actual episode of the series.
* A somewhat odd example appears in Creator/JamesHerriot's books - a farmer sadly sends off his old cow to the meat market, and when she breaks away from the herd and runs home, he is overjoyed and vows that she will never leave home again. Besides being in the original books, it was slightly edited for a children's story titled "Blossom Come Home".
* ''Literature/TheIncredibleJourney'', about two dogs and a cat crossing the Canadian wilderness to get home. This novel would form the basis for a 1963 film adaptation of the same name and, much later, ''Film/HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney''.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the opening flashback of one episode of ''Series/PushingDaisies'', Digby goes on a journey to find Ned at boarding school.
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': When Buck runs away, half the show is him in the pound, the other half is the family finally noticing he's gone, trying to replace him, arguing about going to find him, then finally picking him up at the pound.
* The first episode of ''Series/SkippyTheBushKangaroo'' is about Skippy getting kidnapped and having to find his way home.
* ''Series/TheSoup'':
** This happened many years ago on ''Talk Soup'', when, in reference to a previous clip, John Henson was interrupted by an blurry foreground image of a bereft WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}} plaintively calling out for his lost horse, Pokey.
--->'''Gumby:''' Pokey... Poooookey...!! ... Pokey?!\\
'''John Henson:''' No, I'm not Pokey.\\
'''Gumby:''' Oh. Okay. ... ... ''Pooookeyyy...!''
** Fans of the show were, of course, devastated that Gumby had been left hanging. Eventually, with a little celebrity encouragement, there was a tearful reunion.
--->'''"POKEY!!!!"'''

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* At one point in ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Hobbes gets lost in the woods, and Calvin's parents have to go look for him at night. Calvin's mom even calls out "Hobbes! Where are you?!"

* The original story ''Lassie Come-Home'' (1938) by Eric Knight was adapted into the beloved 1943 film ''Lassie Come Home'', which is almost certainly the TropeNamer, and probably the TropeCodifier as well.