Department of Redundancy Department/Western Animation

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Drink cactus juice! It'll quench ya! Nothing's quenchier! It's the quenchiest!

  • When some of the older Woody Woodpecker shorts were aired on TV in the 60's via The Woody Woodpecker show, apparently SOMEBODY at the studios felt that it was necessary to add extra dialogue to the shorts which read clearly visible, readable signs. (i.e. In the TV cut of the short The Loan Stranger, when we first see the Sympathy Loan Company the new Woody Woodpecker dialogue reads out the large, plainly visible words on the buildings signs.) Thankfully, the Woody Woodpecker collections use the original, uncut shorts with no unwarranted, pointless editing done to them like this.
    • This was probably done to cater for children, unable to read what the signs say. It's seen occasionally in some countries that have the practice of dubbing English cartoons in the local language.
  • The Simpsons:
    • The Mayor Quimby for Mayor Mayoral Committee during his run for re-election.
    • Homer in "Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie": "I can't let that happen, I won't let that happen, and I can't let that happen!"
    • Some of the Stonecutters' usual activities: "Beer busts, beer blasts, keggers, stein hoists, A.A. meetings, beer nights..."
    • "Die Bart Die", Sideshow Bob's tattoo which he claims is German for "The Bart The".
    • "Call Mr. Plow, that's my name! That name again is Mr. Plow!"
    • "My Homer is not a Communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a Communist, but he is not a porn star."
    • One episode also has The Trans-Clown-O-Morphs, transforming clowns that morph. Their enemies are the Dino-Robo-Bots.
    • Kid from Shelbyville: "Look at the weak baby! You're stupid, you stupid weak baby!"
    • Homer: "Let us all bask in television's warm glowing warming glow."
    • "All right, we'll give it a shot. I'll deal with those murderous trolls." "Huh?" "I mean... I'll deal with those murderous trolls."
    • "L, the losers in her wake, I, the income she will make. T is for her tooth-filled mouth, T is for her tooth-filled mouth... "
    • Marge: "They told us what to wear, how to dress, which clothes we should put on..."
    • Homer sings the Oscar Meyer jingle in the tub: "My baloney has a first name, it's H-O-M-E-R...my baloney has a second name, it's H-O-M-E-R..."
    • "I heard your dad went into a restaurant and ate everything in the restaurant and they had to close the restaurant."
    • "The brothel, the cathouse, the bordello..."
    • Police Cops.
    • "Spider-pig, Spider-pig, does whatever a Spider-pig does..."
      • Justified Trope: It's a parody of the 60s Spider-Man theme tune: "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can..."
    • In "Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 2", Lisa's descriptions of the suspects gradually fade into this: "night club owner Moe Szyslak"... "liquor connoisseur Barney Gumble" ... "dedicated educator Principle Seymore Skinner", and finally "grounds-tender Groundskeeper Willie"
    • Marge: "Bart quit his tutoring job and joined a violence gang!"
    • Apu: "I will just leave this money on the table with my unseeing back to the money on the table."
  • Used in The Powerpuff Girls whenever Mojo Jojo speaks.
    • And when Bubbles gets hit on the head and thinks she's Mojo:

Bubbles: I am not Bubbles! Bubbles is not who I am! I am the one, the only, single solitary doer of dastardly deeds! Purveyor of pestilence! Interloper of lawlessness! Menace to mankind! I am bad! I am evil! I am Mojo Jojo! Hahahahahahahaha!
Mojo Jojo: I do not talk like that! The way I communicate is much different! I do not reiterate, repeat, reinstate the same thing over and over again! I am clear! Concise! To-the-point!

      • And later in that episode...

Bubbles: I am not Bubbles! Bubbles is not my name! For the name Bubbles is not the correct name to address me by, because it is not my name! If you were to address me by the name Mojo Jojo, that would be correct, for my name is Mojo Jojo! And I will only be addressed by that name, which is Mojo Jojo! And furthermore it is not "we" who will rule the world -- it is "I"! I, being Mojo Jojo, who is not Bubbles, shall rule this world alone, which is to say, without anybody else, and without anybody else shall I rule this world! And when this world is ruled by only one person, and not a collective group, that one person, who shall be ruling the world, will be none other than me, Mojo Jojo! Hahahahahahahaha!

      • "That's all just well enough, because in reality there is only room enough in this world for one Mojo Jojo. One shall be the number of Mojo Jojos in the world, and the number of Mojo Jojos in the world shall be one! Two Mojo Jojos is too many, and three is right out! So, the only Mojo Jojo there is room for in the world SHALL BE ME! And being the only Mojo Jojo in the world, I will rule the world, in which there is only one MOJO JOJO!!!"
      • "There's only room for one Mojo Jojo" "I heard that!" "Yeah yeah, so did we. About a million times. We get it already!!"
      • And then there's the episode when Mojo Jojo is assigned the job of teaching English, and manages to get the entire city talking like this.

Mojo Jojo: Hello and good evening to you. I am Mojo Jojo, your instructor and the person who will be teaching you from this point forward. That is to say that as you are here representing the students of the class, I am here representing the teacher of the class. And as it is my job to teach, it is your job to learn -- and in learning gain more intelligence than you currently have... [break] None of you passed! That is right! In the grading system, I would have assigned you all with an F -- which, if I had control of the grading system, I would make the lowest grade a Z, since that is the final letter in the alphabet, which starts with A and ends with Z. But instead, the letter given for those who do most poorly is an F, seeing as it goes A, B, C, D, F, with the inexplicable skipping of E. Nonetheless, after that pathetic display, all of you would get an F, symbolizing FAILURE for your poor use of English!
Philippe (a French student): Pardon, monsieur, but all you did was ask of us our names, and that is what we answered with.
Mojo Jojo: Yes, and that is wrong, because it is boring and uninteresting and thoroughly bringing me to a state of unconsciousness! From those simple, pathetic names, I learn nothing! I am here to teach you proper English, and with that you are to learn proper descriptive and defining skills!

Baloney: (singing) I is for Imagine, M is for Me, A is for the letter A, G is for Gee, I is for... Imagine, N is for Nice, E for Egad! I said Imagine twice!

Ghost Warden Walker: Here, I am your judge, executioner, jury, executioner, prosecutor, and if necessary, your executioner.
Danny: Um, you said "executioner" three times.
Walker: I like that part of the job.

Carl the Evil Cockroach Wizard: I will be your judge, your jury, your executioner, executioner, and executioner!
Yang: Um, you said "executioner" three times.
Carl the Evil Cockroach Wizard: Well... there's three of you.

  • An ad for 12 oz. Mouse had a cop with smoke around him explaining the effects of marijuana: short-term memory loss, infertility, slowed reaction time, and short-term memory loss.
  • An episode of The Critic had the title character interviewing for a job as a truck driver, and the interviewer repeatedly asked the question "Are you prone to having blackouts?"
  • The Boondocks: "Now that it looks like Obama is going to win, as a Black African-American Negro, are you very excited, or are you extremely excited?"
  • Lobo in Superman: The Animated Series makes sure Supes gets his name right:

Lobo: The name's Lobo. That's "L" as in "Lacerate", "O" as in "Obliterate", "B" as in "disemBowel", and "O" as in... Eh, I guess I can use "Obliterate" twice, huh, what do you think?

Freakazoid: Hey, what is this place? Palm Trees... Hula girls!... Pineapples... Hula girls!... Surfboards... Hula girls!... Hula girls!... Hula girls!... Of course, it all adds up! I've somehow landed in Norway!

Freakazoid: This is very used, and there's good stuff comin' on... good stuff. I'm laughing on the inside. Good stuff.

    • Can we look at the hula girls again? I like those. Hula...girls
  • Back in the day (to be more precise, the 1930s animated short What, No Spinach?), Wimpy once showed Popeye a menu that said "Hamburgers, Roast Duck, Hamburgers, Soup, Hamburgers". (2:07)
    • "Nice selection you got there."
  • On SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick and SpongeBob are stuck in Sandy Cheeks' Treedome during the winter, and they comment on how cold they are.

Patrick: I'm so cold I'm shivering!
SpongeBob: I'm so cold I can use my nose drippings as a pair of chopsticks!
Patrick: I'm so cold... I'm shivering!

    • In the episode "Something Smells", SpongeBob asks Patrick what he ate. This conversation takes place:

Patrick: Some roast beef, some chicken, a pizza...
SpongeBob: No, I just meant this morning.
Patrick: Some roast beef, some chicken, a pizza...

    • And in the episode where SpongeBob and Patrick found a submarine:

SpongeBob: Bye Squidward! Bye Mr. Krabs. (In a more sensual voice) Bye Squidward.
Patrick: You said bye to Squidward twice.
SpongeBob: I like Squidward.

    • There's also the episode where Mrs. Puff is thrown in prison. She's trying to remain optimistic by thinking of things she won't have to worry about when she stumbles across not having to put up with Spongebob. After that, she continues to list off things (paraphrased): "No more driving lessons, no more Spongebob, no more traffic jams, no more Spongebob, no more late nights, no more Spongebob, no more Spongebob, NO MORE SPONGEBOB!!!"
    • There is an episode entitled "The Bad Guy Club for Villains".
    • And let's not forget "Can You Spare A Dime?":

Squidward: Are you accusing me of something?
Mr. Krabs: Well, the way I see it, you have three possibilities: one, you stole it; two, you stole it; or three, YOU STOLE IT!

      • And at the end:

Squidward: Are you accusing me of something?
Mr. Krabs: Well, the way I see it, you have three possibilities: one, you put the dime in me pants; two, you put the dime in me pants; or three, YOU PUT THE DIME IN ME PANTS!!

  • The PBS show Word Girl had a short that illustrated the meaning of the word "redundant". Lady Redundant Woman was a villainess who could create copies of herself and liked to use several words that meant the same basic thing when one would do ("You're perplexed... confused..." etc. as she gloats). She came to the heroine's attention when she stole a sofa, a couch, and a futon. Also works in a copier store and when asked to make white copies, she makes them in pearl, ivory and plain ol' white.
  • Family Guy:

Car Salesman: Oh, that's just an old tank I use for those commercials where I declare war on high prices! Now, about that sedan...
Peter Griffin: Na-nnnya na dub yeh... hang on there slick, now I see your game! We come in here wanting a practical car but then you dangle this tank in front of me and expect me to walk away. Well I may be an idiot but there is one thing I am not sir... and that, sir, is an idiot. Now I demand you tell me more about this tank!
Car Salesman: Weh-ee-ell, if you're looking for quality then look no further.
Peter Griffin: That's more like it! Tell me, what are the tank's safety features?
Car Salesman: What a good-looking question! Three inches of reinforced steel protects your daughter from short-range missile attacks.
Peter Griffin: I see -- and does the sedan protect against missiles?
Car Salesman: It does not.
Peter Griffin: Nyeaaah... you hear that Meg? Yeah, that does not protect against missiles. See these, these are the questions, this is why I'm here.
Brian: Peter -- you can't be serious: this is a thirty ton war machine!
Peter Griffin: Nyeah... I'm still not sure...
Car Salesman: Did I mention the tank is a tank?
Peter Griffin: Sold!

Banker (same guy as the car salesman): You see, Mr. Griffin, what sets us apart from other banks is that other banks are banks.

    • When Jesus becomes famous in the episode "I Dream of Jesus," one newspaper runs the headline "Jesus Is Bigger Than Jesus."
  • Doug:

Vice-Principal Bone: Let me repeat myself: Let me repeat myself.

  • In an episode of Tripping the Rift, Chode McBlob explains what it takes to be a man:

Chode: Being a man takes years of fighting and screwing and drinking and whoring. And fighting a little more and then a lot more drinking and then more whoring if there's time.

Evil Midnight Bomber: Boom, baby boom! I'm the Evil Midnight Bomber what Bombs at Midnight!!

  • Jim Moralès of Code Lyoko is fond of repeating himself in his speeches. Here's a noteworthy example:

Jim: May I remind you that in the evening, girls and boys are prohibited from straying from their respective floors. Okay, for any of you who might be thinking of trying to pull anything, remember that the floors are different from each other in that either is upstairs from, or downstairs from, the one above. Girls are upstairs, and boys downstairs. Coming and going through upstairs to downstairs and from downstairs to upstairs are strictly forbidden. If I ever catch anyone going from downstairs upstairs or anyone going from upstairs to downstairs, he or she is really going to regret it stairs.

  • In Kung Fu Panda, the name Chorh-Gom translates to "sitting in prison". So Tai Lung was imprisoned in the Sitting in Prison Prison.
    • Also, Shifu's name translates as either teacher or master... so he's "Master Master".
    • And, Tai Lung's name translates as "Ultimate/Great/Awesome (no not really) Dragon". So if he'd been given the scroll, he would have been "Ultimate Dragon, the Dragon Warrior, bearer of the Dragon Scroll".
    • The opening dream sequence: "Legends tells of a legendary warrior, whose Kung Fu skills were the stuff of legends!"
    • The TV series has the villain Hundun, who practically lives and breathes this trope.
  • Courage the Cowardly Dog. Freaky Fred episode.

Eustace: The freak's a barber. A freeeaky barber. With his own freaky barber shop. Where freaky things happen. Freaky barber things!

"So I broke into the store last night and added remote controlled controllers that I could control *pause* remotely."

    • He then offers them a chance to race for their freedom, leading to the following exchange:

Tako: How do we know you won't use your remote control to control our cars (pause) remotely?

The Collector: Because I promise not to? I may cheat and steal, but I never lie.... Except sometimes about cheating and stealing.

    • Describing Sir Darkly in "No Clowning Around":

Maguro: He's bad!
Tako: He's mean.
Maguro: He's cold!
Tako: He's mean.
Maguro: He's creepy!
Tako: He's mean!
Maguro: You're repeating yourself.

  • Lucius lists off a number of things that make life worthwhile in one episode of Jimmy Two-Shoes, only for his girlfriend to point out that he listed "misery" three times. His response: "I like misery!"
  • Invader Zim: GIR provided us with this gem while disguised as a government agent: "I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me."
    • Not to mention GIR's "Doom Song", which lasts a few years (continuously, non-stop) and consists entirely of: "Doom doom da-doomm doom doom doom doommy doom-doom, doom-doom da-doom"
      • Correction - The doom song lasts six months, though if you mean it COULD last for a few years then you, sir, are correct.
    • Mysterious Mysteries (Of Strange Mystery).
    • "There's waffle in 'em!" (Stated, of course, with regard to waffles. That is what they were.)
  • Cheese from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends repeats himself often. From Cheese-A-Go-Go:

Cheese: "Gottagogottagogottagogottagogottago!"
Frankie: "Please, listen to me and listen carefully. I have had a crazy day. I can forget all about the sandwiches, dentists, courthouses, the brain-sucking aliens from the outer who-knows-where..."
Cheese: "Gottagogottagogottagogottagogottago!"
Frankie: "...as long as I can find out one teeny, tiny thing: Louise, where does Cheese have to go?!"
Louise: "I dunno. Sometimes he just likes to go. See? Look at him go."
Cheese: "Gottagogottagogottagogottagogottago!"

  • Who knows why Inspector Gadget needed a car, let alone a car that could turn into a van for no practical reason but redundancy, when he could also pop helicopter blades out of his HEAD and fly anywhere he wanted! It also made another less frequently used gadget, which inflated his body and caused him to float, pretty redundant as well.
  • The hobbies of Johnny Bravo are "women, girls and chicks".
    • And babes! Don't forget babes!
    • Master Hama does this with Johnny during training.

Master Hama: "Watch, look, listen, and watch."
Johnny: "You said watch twice."
Master Hama: "YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!!"

  • Mayor Flitter Flutter, a new character in My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure talks this way.

"We need to make our wishes now, quickly, A.S.A.P."
"I am here! I have arrived! I have reached my destination."

  • Episode 23 of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic contains this gem of a line: "We've been BFFs forever"
    • Another episode has Twilight telling Spike to fetch the "Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy".
    • Twilight's recursive checklists in "Lesson Zero".
  • This is the Verbal Tic of Angela Anaconda, who has this as her Verbal Tic
  • In Aladdin, Iago says "We gotta get out of here. Bring the guns, the weapons, the knives!" Why say "the guns" and "the knives" when they are also weapons? And what weapons do Jafar and Iago have that are not the guns and the knives?
    • A better question is why the hell do they have guns in medieval...Persia-lookalike?
    • In one episode, Genie introduces himself as being with the Federal Bureau of Bureaucratic Bureaucracy.
  • At the start of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episode "Birth of a Salesman", Robotnik is so cheesed off at Scratch and Grounder, he apparently starts to run out of insults:

Robotnik: Nincombots! Metal morons! Idiots! Robotic rejects! Seditious slabs of insalubrious circuitry! You... you... you nincombots!
Scratch: Excuse me, Your Viciousness, you already said that.
Robotnik: Then allow me to repeat myself yet again! You are nincombots!

Candace: Stay away from me, and my friends, and my gelatin that I don't want ruined with your ruiny ruinness.

    • After Doofenshmirtz puts out a campfire.

Doofenshmirtz: You know, fire is the leading cause of fire.

Phineas: ...you sat there and let us help an evil scientist open an evil portal into an evil dimension!

    • Or this Running Gag from "Isabella and the Temple of Sap".

Hippy: Its up at the Old-Abandoned-Old-Abandoned Amusement Park.
Isabella: Did you just say "Old-Abandoned-Old-Abandoned"?

      • Though at least that one had an explanation. It was originally called the "Old Abandoned Amusement Park", and later became old and abandoned.
    • The most glorious lampshading of this is in "Doof Dynasty", and the "Redundant Scribe of Redundantness", who has apparently dedicated his life to upholding this trope. Every name he comes up with for something involves this(Uncrossable River of Uncrossableness, for example), and he speaks by saying the same thing over and over again in different ways("Sorry! Excuse me! My bad!").
  • Anyone remember The Angry Beavers?
    • "Spooty spoothead."
  • From The Cleveland Show:

Cleveland Jr.: Rallo, are you done with the Internet? Because I need to find some data about building a rocket for the school science fair, because they're having a science fair at school, and I want to build a rocket for it.

Andy: Thanks a heap, but I think we'll carry out our own three-step program. Step one, you leave. Step two, I cure Louie myself. Step three - you leave.
Principal: Well, that was step one.
Andy: Well, you're still here, aren't you?

  • Alejo's catchphrase in Alejo And Valentina: "How about we go eat food?"
  • In an episode of Sit Down, Shut Up the main cast creates a (incredibly poor) musical based on High School Musical. At the night of the premiere, the banner above the entrance points out that it's a musical three times.
  • From Futurama:

Zoidberg: My first clue came at 4:15, when the clock stopped. My second clue came two hours later, at 4:15, when I found the murdered body of Amy's dead, deceased corpse.

    • The New Justice Team theme song embodies this trope. The first verse:

Go go go New Justice Team
Go, team,
Go, team,
Team, team, team
Who's the newest Justice Team?
The New Justice Team!

    • All throughout Into The Wild Green Yonder, there's a Running Gag of people saying "cell phone telephone."
    • From "The Prisoner of Benda":

Bender: I have everything I ever wanted. Money. Wealth. Riches.

    • In "Love and Rocket" Leela mentions her "mutual breakup with Shawn that was totally mutual".
  • From South Park:

Randy Marsh: If we’re still alive in the morning, then we’ll know we’re not dead.

    • "Spontaneous Combustion", when Whoopi Goldberg announces the nominees for an award:

Whoopi: R/epublicans are so stupid. [[[Beat]]] I hate Republicans. [beat] Republicans are so stupid.

Ribgy: It's supposed to say Rigby but they misspelled my name wrong.

  • The R.E.G.I.S Mk5 is invincible. Your pathetic weapons cannot harm the R.E.G.I.S Mk5, which is invincible.
  • Runt definitely loves repeating himself. Definitely, definitely loves repeating himself.
  • The classic Transformers episode "City of Steel" brings us this memorable line as Mirage, Ratchet and Hound wrestle a robotic alligator.

Mirage: This alligator is big and heavy!
Optimus Prime: From the looks of it, I'd say a little of both!

Roba: Occult magic uses weird symbols that look weird.

REGIS: The REGIS Mk.5 is invincible. No weapon forged by such a primitive species can defeat REGIS, which is invincible.

  1. ↑ Original line: "One who can be student to my master."
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