"There and Back" Story



The "There and Back" story, is based upon a small group of characters journey from a starting point A to a destination B, often via path through intermediate stops along the way. The journey will string together often unrelated characters met along the way which often could not support an entire story themselves, but this necessary lack of substantive interaction with these characters is justified by the need to get to their destination. A tenuous link between the outwardly unconnected locations or characters met along the way is sometime made by a artifact or piece of information given to the main character, which becomes crucial in a subsequent encounter with another unrelated character of location, however, the need for the join is generally the only substantive link.

Western Animation

 * Dora the Explorer - Each episode presents a journey the protagonists must take to complete a goal. The journey, the details are given by Map, will include two primary landmarks (usually a man-made structure followed by a natural obstacle) that must be passed before Dora and Boots can reach their destination, with challenges such as tasks or puzzles along the way. The episode always revolves around successfully reaching the target location and completing their quest task, sometimes including a glossed over return journey, with Dora and Boots singing the "We Did It!" song in triumph.
 * Go, Diego, Go! - Each episode presents a journey which must be undertaken to complete a goal. The details of the journey are provided by Click, but usually include two intermediate locations along the way, intermixed with Diego generally saving animal he meets along the way, with sometimes a journey back which is glossed over. In the end Diego announces that the mission is complete and orates a moral message about saving the planet.

Film

 * The Lord of the Rings - Like the book, the entire 3 part movie is spent travelling from Hobbiton to Mordor with the ring, encountering peripheral characters who only offer objects to assist the hobbits for future problem situation they encounter later on in the journey. After the ring is destroyed, the end journey on an eagle summoned by Gandalf is comparative painless, leading to the question being asked of why they could not just travel there by eagle to begin with.
 * The Hobbit - Like the book, the movie consists of going from Hobbiton to the dragon lair, indeed Frodo's book about the journey is called "There and back, A Hobbit's Tale".

Literature

 * The Lord of the Rings - The book is spent travelling from Hobbiton to Mordor with the ring, encountering peripheral characters who only offer objects to assist the hobbits for future problem situation they encounter later on in the journey. After the ring is destroyed, the end journey on an eagle summoned by Gandalf is comparative painless, leading to the question being asked of why they could not just travel there by eagle to begin with.
 * The Hobbit - The movie consists of going from Hobbiton to the dragon lair, indeed Frodo's book about the journey is called "There and back, A Hobbit's Tale".