History WesternAnimation / FollowTheSun

* TheDeterminator: The announcer is unquestionably this, trying his damnedest to retain any sense of the jovial mood in which we started while continuing to countdown until showtime despite the rapidly deteriorating circumstances. Granted, he mistakenly announces "40 seconds to showtime" while the caption which accompanies him clearly reading "30 seconds to showtime" but given the situation (notably, several of the moviegoers within the lobby carousel have already died of dehydration, with only two left alive and the snack bar engulfed in fire by the time the feature begins) any such slip-up is beyond excusable, just that fact that he's '''still there''' displays a devotion to duty that would make any five-star general would jealous.

* TheDeterminator: The announcer is unquestionably this, trying his damnedest to retain any sense of the jovial mood in which we started while continuing to countdown until showtime despite the rapidly deteriorating circumstances. Granted he mistakenly announces "40 seconds to showtime" while the caption which accompanies him clearly reading "30 seconds to showtime" but given the situation (notably, several of the moviegoers within the lobby carousel have already died of dehydration, with only two left alive and the snack bar engulfed in fire by the time the feature begins) any such slip-up is beyond excusable, just that fact that he's '''still there''' displays a devotion to duty that would make any five-star general would jealous.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: '''''Averted''''' with prejudice. The sausage being coerced into sex is portrayed just as horrifically as all of the other calamities.

* TheFaceOfTheSun: The titular sun. It starts happy-go-lucky, then after being corrupted it takes on a pained expression as if it is aware of what it is about to do, then it becomes terrifyingly enraged as its beams become more and more intense. By the end of the short the sun’s face is gone and it is now a realistic sun shooting out solar flares.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Attempted by a lone potato chip who notices the extreme heat approaching and detaches itself from its companions. Sadly, the now-demonized sun notices the chip trying to scurry off-screen and starts following it. The heat inevitably catches up with the rogue chip and he ''alone'' ends up burning. Later, the other chips, realizing that the sun has [[MakeAnExampleOfThem made an example of them]], briefly call out for help before having their message forcibly changed to read "F'''L'''ESH".
* ValuesDissonance: Played-with in universe regarding the white-male privilege which defined the 1950s and early 1960s. When the paper-cutout son's head catches on fire, his first instinct is to ''spread the flames to his mother and sister'', while leaving the father untouched.

* SurpriseCreepy: The short starts off jolly and whimsical, until the gumdrop gets trampled. Things go to hell pretty quickly afterwards.

* LuckyBastard: The pickle plate, which receives nothing more than having their film slide briefly flipped upside down and the addition of a caption reading "S'''EX'''ATIONAL". And no, this was ''not'' because the snow cones understood that the pickles were non-sentient and therefore inherently innocent of any "wrongdoing"; an equally non-sentient hamburger was spoiled to the point of having mushroom fungus begin growing out of it.

* PoliceBrutality: A hamburger police officer is seen forcibly dousing the hot dog sausage and mayonnaise.

"Follow The Sun" is a 2011 animated short film directed by MK12 for the FITC Toronto Film Festival as a dark parody of the various snack bar/concession stand trailers seen in drive-in movie theaters during the 1950s and 1960s.

!! Follow The Sun contains examples of:

* TheDeterminator: The announcer is unquestionably this, trying his damnedest to retain any sense of the jovial mood in which we started while continuing to countdown until showtime despite the rapidly deteriorating circumstances. Granted he mistakenly announces "40 seconds to showtime" while the caption which accompanies him clearly reading "30 seconds to showtime" but given the situation (notably, several of the moviegoers within the lobby carousel have already died of dehydration, with only two left alive and the snack bar engulfed in fire by the time the feature begins) any such slip-up is beyond excusable, just that fact that he's '''still there''' displays a devotion to duty that any five-star general would be jealous of.

* DrivenToSuicide: Happens ''twice'': the first time is an ice-cream dancer hanging herself, and the second is a bag of popcorn attempting this by cutting into it's left eyeball with a potato chip, each cut removing another kernel under the presumption that emptying out all the popcorn will put the bag out of its misery.
* TheFaceOfTheSun: The titular sun. It starts happy-go-lucky, the after being corrupted it takes on a pained expression as if it is aware what it is about to do, then it becomes terrifyingly enraged as it’s beams become more and more intense. By the end of the short the sun’s face is gone and it is now a realistic sun shooting out solar flares.

* MusicalSpoiler: Combined with OhCrap and FiveSecondForeshadowing when the green gumdrop drummer faces the demonic snow cones eye-to-eye. No sooner does he see them and receives their message of "EAT!" then his pupils disappear from his eyes and he resumes playing his drum-one beat at a time and in a much darker and more somber tone. The implication is obvious: the gumdrop drummer has just realized before anyone else that something unspeakably horrific is about to erupt, but keeps quiet for fear of being personally targeted for additional punishment.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Attempted by a lone potato chip who notices the extreme heat approaching and detaches itself from its companions. Sadly, the now-demonized sun notices the chip trying to scurry off-screen and starts following it. The heat inevitably catches up with the rouge chip and he ''alone'' ends up burning. Later the other chips-realizing they've been made an example of-briefly call out for help before having their message forcibly changed to read "F'''L'''ESH".
* SurpriseCreepy: Starts off jolly and whimsical, until the gumdrop gets trampled. Things go to hell pretty quickly afterwards.
* ValuesDissonance: Played-with in universe regarding the white-male privilege which defined the 1950s and early 1960s; When the paper-cutout son's head catches on fire, his first instinct is to ''spread the flames to his mother and sister'', while leaving the father untouched.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/follow_the_sun.png]]

The short opens by imitating a standard trailer-that is to say a happy-go-lucky universe of both anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic concession snacks (popcorn, hot dogs, hamburgers, candy, ice cream, etc.) and their human customers singing, dancing and generally having a gay old time, accompanied by a countdown reel and theater announcer reminding us how much time remains until the start of the next movie. All goes exceedingly swimmingly-until the fateful moment when an unlucky bag of popcorn accidentally steps on the gumdrop in front of him, killing him almost instantly. This unfortunate act is noticed by the demonic snow cones who watch over the land from above, who decide that the popcorn bag's trauma-induced coma (and likely death) is insufficient penance and proceed to unleash a pool of blood that infects and corrupts the formerly carefree and jovial sun into casting a apocalyptic heatwave upon the entire world. From there, the once-innocent and idyllic universe quickly devolves into an unimaginable display of anarchy, death, torture, and general desperation from which there is seemingly no possible end or rescue. By the time our trusty countdown reel finally declares the start of the next movie, the damage has already been done......

* ValuesDissonance: Played-with in universe regarding the white-male privilege which defined the 1950s and early 1960s; When the paper-cutout son's head catches on fire, his first instinct is to ''spread the flames to his mother and sister'', while leaving the father untouched.
* TheWoobie: If any one treat had it worse than everyone else, it's unquestionably the sideshow hot dog. After the bun decides, ''by herself'',[[note]]Genders are not specified in the short proper, but anybody who's seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFfRrY68SLY the source material]] knows that the hot dog bun is very obviously a woman.[[/note]] that said wiener is somehow responsible for the extreme heatwave, she summons a hamburger cop on stage to enforce his sentence which includes 1). Forcibly drowning him in various condiments 2). Tossing him into a open fire and finally 3). Being made to stick himself '''inside the bun''' who proceeds to '''rape him!'''. All this while the ice-cream sandwich dance troupe continues their routine in the background, none of whom make any attempt to defend his innocence. (In their defense, the ice-cream dancers are '''actively melting''' and one has already '''hanged herself!''': No way in hell would they even think of worsening their own predicament by speaking out against the master bun.)

* ValuesDissonance: Played-with in universe regarding the white-male privilege which defined the 1950s and early 1960s; When the paper-cutout son's head catches on fire, his first instinct is to ''spread the flames to his mother and sister'', while leaving the father untouched.

* TheWoobie: If any one treat had it worse than everyone else, it's unquestionably the sideshow hot dog. After the bun decides, ''by herself''[[note]]Genders are not specified in the short proper, but anybody who's seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFfRrY68SLY the source material]] knows that the hot dog bun is very obviously a woman.[[/note]], that said wiener is somehow responsible for the extreme heatwave, she summons a hamburger cop on stage to enforce his sentence which includes 1). Forcibly drowning him in various condiments 2). Tossing him into a open fire and finally 3). Being made to stick himself '''inside the bun''' who proceeds to '''rape him!'''. All this while the ice-cream sandwich dance troupe continues their routine in the background, none of whom make any attempt to defend his innocence. (In their defense, the ice-cream dancers are '''actively melting''' and one has already '''hanged herself!''': No way in hell would they even think of worsening their own predicament by speaking out against the master bun.)