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A character crushed by an Anvil on Head or other large object (e.g. piano) will often stumble away, being squashed into a pleated and flexing shape like an accordion, frequently accompanied by an accordion sound.

Compare Squashed Flat.

Not to be confused with a man who plays the accordion, who may be a Polka Dork, a sailor, and/or French.


Examples:

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    Advertising 
  • Taken a literal extreme in one of Capri Sun's Respect the Pouch commercials "Simon Squeezebox". The titular Simon, after dropping his pouch into a fellow band girl's tuba, literally transforms into an accordion (with the only part of him remaining is his head), leaving him to caterpillar crawl away. To add the icing on the cake, he notably cringes from the loud music he emits!
  • In a commercial for Energizer batteries featuring Wile E. Coyote, this happens to Wile E. when he ends up getting squashed by a trap he set to destroy the Energizer Bunny that goes off on him instead of E.B..

    Films — Animation 
  • The Jungle Book features a variation of this: Whenever Kaa gets his tail caught in some bamboo, when he frees it his tail flies back at him, causing himself to recoil instantly (he is a snake), making an accordion noise as he does so.
    Kaa: Oooooh, this is going to ssssssslow down my ssssssssslithering.

    Films — Live Action 
  • In Casper, the eponymous friendly ghost is attempting to distract his uncles from finding out people have moved into their mansion and suggests they look at the moon. They respond by squeezing him into an accordion while singing "Shine On Harvest Moon" before launching him into the moon.

    Video Games 
  • Wario, when he gets slammed by a massive hammer, turns into one of these; it gives him super bouncing powers.
  • In Rayman Origins, Globox can flatten himself into an accordion shape when ducking.

    Western Animation 
  • Albert the Fifth Musketeer has a Human Traffic Jam variant: when D'Artagnan orders the other musketeers to stop while they're on a ride, they usually run into each other with their horses. Porthos usually runs the last, and since he's the heaviest, pushes the others forward like an accordion, with an actual accordion sound.
  • Happens to Monterey Jack in the third part of the Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Five-Episode Pilot "To the Rescue". When Fat Cat accidentally steps on him while running, he turns into an Accordion Mouse for a second before stumbling on along his way.
  • Happens to the title character of Darkwing Duck in "Aduckyphobia" when he gets smashes by several mole minions of Moliarity. Interestingly, the accordion sound sounds more like a harmonica.
  • Happens to Peter in Family Guy the episode "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing", when he gets a fortune cookie that says a closeted lesbian will give him a promotion and that a grand piano would fall on him. The latter doesn't happen on him until the end of the first act. He emerges out of the piano with key-teeth and says, "Next time you get a fortune cookie, don't open it," and leaves with an accordion body.
  • It happened a couple of times in Rocko's Modern Life, most notably after Rocko and Heffer crash into the ground on a cheaply made roller coaster (as pictured above).
  • It happened to Eddy in the Ed, Edd n Eddy episode "Tag, Yer Ed", after Lee Kanker slammed him head first into a wrestling mat. She then starts playing him like an actual accordion.
    Rolf: I love this music, it is so shiny!
    • Edd suffers a similar gag in "Laugh, Ed, Laugh", getting smacked into a street lamp while trying to subdue a scam-deprived Eddy. When Ed picks him up off the ground, he's scrunched flat and has a hilarious dazed look on his face.
  • Ned's Newt, episode "New Improved Zippo": One of the forms Newton can't control is that of an accordion.
  • In the Spongebob Squarepants episode "Naughty Nautical Neighbors," Patrick angrily slams his rock house closed, hitting his head in the progress. All to Squidward's joy and complete with accordion sound effects.
  • The teaser to the Garbage Pail Kids Cartoon episode "Heartless Hal" has a man playing Simon Says with the audience and smugly telling unseen participants that they're out whenever he didn't say "Simon Says" or when they do something he didn't say they could do. He eventually gets his comeuppance when he says "Stomp your feet" and gets stepped on by a giant, resulting in the man groaning "I didn't say Simon Says" after he's turned into a living accordion.
  • The Real Ghostbusters used this gag in the episode "Stay Tooned", where Sammy K. Ferrett drops an anvil on his guest and plays her like a real accordion after she becomes flattened and folded up.
  • Chuck in Angry Birds Toons is a rare self-inflicted non-flattening example: in "Didgeridork", Chuck swallows an accordion on the beach in order to keep Bomb away from it. This notably fails, leading Bomb to play Chuck, the latter screaming in pain from all the squeezing and stretching.
  • Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: Scooby's arm gets crushed into an accordion when he punches a mummy in "Scooby-Doo and a Mummy Too".
  • The Smurfs (1981): In the Season 9 episode, "Cave Smurfs", Brainy Smurf gets pounded flat into his own book by Papa Smurf (in an Out-of-Character Moment) after attempting to connect the last time crystal.
  • Tiny Toon Adventures makes use of this trope occasionally, including one time when Babs gets a sack of money dropped on her and is shown squished into an accordion once it's taken off.
  • The Patrick Star Show: In "The Wrath of Shmandor", after getting swatted by Bunny, three of the Shmandorian sergeants are Squashed Flat and then spring up like accordions.

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Scooby Doo Flattened

Scooby Doo is hopped on by a Kangaroo

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