Gone Behind the Bend

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

One character gets chased by another character as they start running around a pole, a pillar, or even a statue. The chase continues around maybe three or four times, until after the fourth time, the one getting chased is nowhere to be found as the chaser is still running around in circles.

You can expect to see this trope show up in Comedy or Western Animation.

Related to Behind a Stick. Compare Blind Alley.

Examples of Gone Behind the Bend include:

Film

  • Seen on Fantasia during the "Dance of the Hours" segment. Ben Ali Gator is chasing Hyacinth Hippo, who hides behind a column that is far too narrow for her to hide behind. Ben runs around the column a couple of times but can't seem to find her, until she comes from behind and tramples him.
  • Ernest P. Worrel tries to pull this in Ernest Scared Stupid, but it flops when takes a moment to chuckle at his cleverness.

Western Animation

  • Shows up countless times in nearly every incarnation of Scooby-Doo.
  • Likewise, a frequently-seen device in Looney Tunes cartoons.
  • The Gummi Bears episode, "A Gummi A Day Keeps The Doctor Away" had a scene where Gruffi and Tummi get chased by ogres while saving a kindly doctor from Duke Igthorn. The chase scene then leads to the two Gummis and the ogres running around the top part of the castle, until only the ogres are seen running around.
  • Shows up in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "A Bird in the Hoof". Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy are chasing Princess Celestia's pet bird Philomena around a tree, and then she jumps up into the tree leaving the two ponies chasing nothing for a few amusing seconds.