Line #18 Main/WetCementGag


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e2.png]]]]
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6	When a sidewalk is being paved in fiction, it probably won't dry before someone leaves their mark in the wet cement. Either during a ChaseScene, where a "Wet Cement" sign is shown before someone runs through it, or as a form of graffiti.
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8	This process takes a long time, even with the quick-drying variety. Unless you're in a cartoon, in which case you should avoid this stuff like the plague, because if you step in it, it'll harden instantly and probably trap you in it. Someone may also trap someone deliberately with this method. Results can resemble TakenForGranite.
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10	While the material used to pave sidewalks is properly referred to as 'concrete', the sign in front of it is usually labeled "Wet Cement". Cement is actually the gluelike substance in concrete that makes it hard and binds it together, but the sand and gravel (technically called "aggregate") is what makes it useful to walk/drive on or build stuff out of. Mix cement & aggregate, you've got concrete. Add water and you've got wet concrete to pour.
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12	Related to CementShoes, SheetOfGlass, StickySituation and FruitCart.
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14	----
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16	!!Examples:
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18	[[foldercontrol]]
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20	[[folder:Comic Books]]
21	* Happens several times in ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon''. For instance, on "La máquina del cambiazo", the titular characters are trying to run away so the Superintendent won't force them to enter the titular machine. During the escape, Filemón is thrown by Mortadelo over the wooden wall that marks the limit of a construction, and falls right into a pit of wet cement. The next thing we see is Mortadelo using a giant drill to try and get him out.
22	[[/folder]]
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24	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
25	* A ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' strip had the duo find some freshly-poured cement and apparently sit in it offscreen, only to find out that it dried very quickly.
26	[[/folder]]
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28	[[folder:Films -- Animated ]]
29	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', as Nick Wilde concludes his BreakThemByTalking speech to rookie officer Judy Hopps, she cuts and stands in front of Nick to refute his claims and protest that she's not a "dumb bunny". Nick points out that Officer Hopps is standing in newly-poured sidewalk concrete. When she gets home, her feet are still caked in concrete dust.
30	* In ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'', Oliver and Dodger walk across wet cement after stealing hot dogs.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
34	* The climax of ''Film/TheFlintstones'' takes place at the quarry where Fred and Cliff's fight causes Cliff's rock-smashing machine to malfunction, pulverizing the boulders fed to it instead of cutting slabs off. Later, more damage causes a flood of water to wash over the rock dust and gravel, some of which gets poured all over [[spoiler: Cliff, freezing him in place]]. Mr. Slate realizes the potential of this new concoction, names it after his daughter Concretia, and declares the Stone Age over.
35	* A famous gag in ''Film/GentlemenOfFortune''. The fake breakout involves the characters getting into an empty tanker. They get the wrong car by mistake, so not only are they away from the planned hiding spot, they also need new clothes thanks to this trope.
36	[[/folder]]
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38	[[folder:Literature]]
39	* In ''Literature/TheUnadulteratedCat'', Creator/TerryPratchett describes various games cats play to amuse themselves. One of them is Wet Cement. The basic play is simple; run through some wet cement. Scoring maximum points, however, requires careful judgement and timing, to hit the cement when it's still wet enough to leave clear paw-prints, but hard enough that smoothing it out again is going to be a tough job.
40	[[/folder]]
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42	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
43	* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': In a HalloweenEpisode, Reese and Dewey throw eggs at an old man's house, and they're able to avoid him because he's very slow. Eventually, the boys end up running into wet cement, which the man laid out to trap them so they can't get away while he exacts his revenge.
44	* ''Series/BassieEnAdriaan'': Happens to Bassie in ''De Reis vol Verrassingen''. First, he accidentally leaves his footprints in wet cement next to the hotel they are staying at. Then, when fixing his mistake, he manages to get himself stuck in the cement and has to be freed by Adriaan. Later, after Bassie again fixes the concrete, the 3 crooks following them get stuck in it.
45	[[/folder]]
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47	[[folder:Western Animation]]
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49	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': In "See No Evil", Batman pursues an invisible thief, who gives away his location by running through wet cement and leaving a trail of footprints.
50	* ''WesternAnimation/DixielandDroopy'' has a variation. While fleeing from the owner of a flea circus, John Pettibone a.k.a. Dixieland Droopy rounds a corner and finds himself trying to run through a street freshly paved with tar. Being a Creator/TexAvery cartoon, the Dixieland fleas embedded in John's fur slow their music tempo down as John gets bogged down in the stuff, then speed up their tempo as John gets his HeroicSecondWind at the midpoint. Once free of the tar, John resumes running at full tilt as his fleas play furiously fast.
51	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkBlueprint'': At one point WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther's antics result in the Little Man going sliding down a ladder and into a trench filled with wet cement. Just as the Little Man is jumping out the cement sets, leaving him frozen like a statue.
52	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
53	** In "Lemon of Troy", Bart attempts to write his name in wet cement.
54	*** Later in the episode, Bart flees on a skateboard from the Shelbyville kids later to be stopped in wet cement forcing him to flee on foot to a zoo.
55	** In "Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes", Homer and Flanders end up falling into a pile of wet cement. While they're stuck, Flanders begins reciting the Bible.
56	* Happens frequently in ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
57	** One short had Hippety Hopper jumping into wet cement, to the anger of the worker paving the sidewalk.
58	** In the ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunny'' cartoon "Homeless Hare", a construction foreman falls into wet cement, completely submerged except for his cigar. The worker smoothing down the cement doesn't notice when he falls, and simply keeps smoothing, plucking out the cigar to smoke it.
59	** One Creator/ChuckJones cartoon involving ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'' has the coyote smooth a large square of fresh concrete across a roadway, aiming to bog down the bird in the stuff. Instead, it's [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when the Road Runner's insane speed parts the concrete down the middle, splashing the nearby coyote with the stuff. The [[ButtMonkey poor coyote]] takes about six steps away in defeat when the concrete hardens around him, turning him into a LivingStatue.
60	** In "It's Hummer Time", a cat trying to catch a hummingbird keeps running afoul of a BullyBulldog who forces him to spin a wheel to decide which humiliating punishment to inflict on him. One of these is The Thinker[[note]][[AnythingButThat No! Not The Thinker!]][[/note]], which involves putting the cat in a cement mixer, then letting him set into the pose Creator/AugusteRodin's {{sculpture\|s}} of the same name. In the end, the hummingbird tricks both the dog and the cat inside the cement mixer, turning them into a decorative bird bath for him.
61	** WesternAnimation/FoghornLeghorn once tried to pour cement on top of the Barnyard Dawg's house. Unfortunately he didn't reckon on the mixer's retractable spout, which instead pours the cement on him.
62	** The WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesCartoons short "Wet Cement" is based entirely around this trope, with Daffy constantly leaving footprints on the cement, and Porky constantly smoothing it out. [[spoiler: The short ends with Porky burrying Daffy in the cement, having had enough of the duck's shenanigans.]]
63	* Twister in ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' falls over head first into the wet cement of a ramp Conroy was working on after attempting to put his initials on it. This stirs up trouble as upon discovering the mess, Conroy closes Madtown until he finds the person responsible for ruining his newly made ramp.
64	* A RunningGag in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Spike's Babies" has the characters from the show run through the wet cement of the pathway to Stu's barbecue grill, forcing him to smooth it out every time. This prompts Stu to put up a rope fence, which the babies are able to crawl under. Towards the end of the episode, after Stu falls into the cement, he gives up and decides to let everyone leave their handprints into the cement.
65	* In the ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "Stop, Look Ed", Eddy shows his contempt and disregard for rules by casually walking into wet cement despite the caution signs (and Edd) telling him to stay off. As he gives his sermon on "rules being meant to be broken" to the other kids, Eddy walks out of the cement, his feet encased in two rectangular blocks of solid concrete.
66	* In two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'', the Ant Hill Mob end up encased in quick-drying concrete. In one instance, they are freed by Penelope; in the other, by a police officer who tells them that [[LoonyLaws imitating a statue is a serious offense]].
67	* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' when Timmy follows Poof into a construction site and tries to stop Poof from falling into wet cement. But since Poof is a fairy, he just floats over it and Timmy ends up falling into the cement. When they are in another construction site owned by Dark Laser, Timmy uses this to escape, by wrapping himself in foil and jumping into the wet cement, splashing it on Dark Laser and turning him into stone while Timmy escapes.
68	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow'' cartoon "Be Patient, Patient", Fauntleroy falls in a vat of wet cement while dressed as an angel (as part of Crawford making him think he had died). Crawford, also in an angel costume, tries to slink away with his food, but Fauntleroy pulls him into the cement and the two get covered in cement. Fauntleroy chases Crawford until the cement dries, freezing them in place. They are put up as statues on a city park, the pedestal reading "Vice vs. Virtue".
69	* The ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short "The Feelers" has a gag during the song "Drop Me Off in Hollywood" where the titular rock band of anthropomorphic insects prepare to dip their hands in wet cement. Being insects, they all fall right into the cement and have to be pulled out by the spider Legs.
70	[[/folder]]

Context Main / WetCementGag