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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_6796_0.JPG]]
2[[caption-width-right:300: Alley Oop and Dinny]]
3
4->''"There's a man in the funny papers we all know\
5He lives way back a long time ago\
6He don't eat nothin' but a bearcat stew\
7Well, this cat's name is-a Alley-Oop."''
8-->-- '''The Hollywood Argyles''' , "Alley-Oop"
9
10''[[http://www.gocomics.com/alley-oop/ Alley Oop]]'' is a long-running NewspaperComic featuring the adventures of the eponymous caveman and a supporting cast that includes his girlfriend Ooola, his dinosaur[[note]][[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Yes, we know.]][[/note]] Dinny, and his best friend Foozy (who speaks entirely in rhyming couplets).
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12The series was created by V.T. Hamlin, and debuted in 1932. A major development came in 1937, with a storyline in which Alley Oop and Ooola were accidentally zapped into the 20th century by an experimental time machine invented by one Dr. Elbert Wonmug. Subsequent storylines have involved Alley Oop visting many intervening periods of history.
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14The comic strip also inspired a novelty song of the same name, which became a #1 hit for the Hollywood Argyles in 1960,[[note]]cover versions by Dante and the Evergreens and the Dyno-Sores also reached #15 and #59 respectively[[/note]] and was covered by Music/TheBeachBoys for their ''[[Music/BeachBoysParty Party!]]'' album in 1965.
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16----
17!!''Alley Oop'' provides examples of:
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19* ArtEvolution: Alley once receives a visit from his "no-good" [[UncannyFamilyResemblance lookalike cousin]] Early Oop, who looks like Alley from the early days of the comic. Alley can't understand why his friends keep saying they look alike.
20* BoisterousBruiser: Alley Oop enjoys a good brawl every now and then.
21* TheBusCameBack: Foozy had been [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Brother Chucked]] years earlier, but when the Benders took over as creative team, they chose to bring him back as Alley's best friend.
22* ContemporaryCaveman: Alley has been shuttling back and forth from our time to his own for so many years that he's perfectly comfortable in our world, but he's still always happy to return home. Ditto for Ooola. Recent years have seen King Guz, Queen Umpa, and th' Wizer visit the present as well.
23* DumbDinos: There was a series of educational strips called "Dinny's Family Album" that went into detail about the dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures in the comic. Many of them played this trope straight. In the strips proper, Dinny was friendly but not very smart.
24* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: Oscar Boom went straight so many decades ago that many current readers weren't aware that he started out as a crook, and that he had never gone to trial or served jail time for his crimes. Recent storylines have finally addressed this.
25* EternalEnglish: Everybody in Alley's time speaks modern English. It's not a case of TranslationConvention, either -- when Alley and Ooola were first transported to the 20th century, they could instantly communicate with Wonmug and his assistant.
26* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The first storyline where Alley visited the present time was all about this. {{Averted}} later in the comic's run, after Alley learned what life in the 20th century is like.
27* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Oscar Boom, during the Benders' run.
28* InsistentTerminology: If anyone calls Dinny a pet, Alley will be quick to correct them: Dinny is his ''friend'' and he's free to come and go as he pleases. Dinny spends most of his time out in the wild and it's not like Alley could restrain Dinny (even if he wanted to). Dinny hangs out with Alley because he likes him.
29%%* LongRunners
30* NoNeckChump: Alley and a few of his caveman buddies. Acknowledged in-universe; it actually prevents a vampire from biting him in one story.
31* NotTheNessie: Dinny tagged along on Alley's adventure in medeival Scotland. Suffice it that the Scots still remember his visit.
32* PrimitiveClubs: Alley Oop traditional fights with a simple stone mace. Parodied when a "Faraweek cage" disables all advanced technology in the area, including Alley's [[https://www.gocomics.com/alley-oop/2021/03/10 "Super Club 2000"]] -- despite it being just a wooden stick with two, instead one, stone heads.
33* PunnyName: Doc Wonmug = "One Mug," that is, ''"[[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein Ein Stein]]"''
34** "Alley Oop" is itself a play on the French acrobatic term ''"Allez, hop!"''
35** Ooola's full name is Ooola La, as in "Ooh la la!"
36* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: The kingdoms of Moo and Lem are named for Mu and Lemuria.
37* RhymesOnADime: Foozy
38%%* TheSmartGuy: Foozy, th' Grand Wizer and Doc Wonmug.
39* ThemeParkVersion: Over the decades, Alley has visited just about every place and time period you can think of, but they are usually the theme park version. Especially the prehistoric world he comes from.
40* SoftReboot: After the Benders retired from the comic, the new creator established that his stories take place in an AlternateContinuity universe, where the old strip's events can be referenced in BroadStrokes, but things aren't quite the same.
41%%* TimeTravel

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