Saving the Orphanage: Difference between revisions

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This trope serves a a popular stock plot for a number of reasons. It's a simple enough goal for the audience to grasp and support, plus it's a pretty easy way to establish a black and white good vs. evil theme. After all, who but a truly good person would devote their time and welfare to saving an orphanage that can't offer much in the way of reward but its gratitude? And who but a truly evil person would dump a bunch of orphans onto the street so they can build a parking lot over it?

Plus, since there's a number of ways to reach this goal, you can pretty much insert any kind of film into it. Want a funny Road Movie? Just have the Hero hop into his van with his quirky sidekick and drive cross-country to pay the rent. Need to sell a soundtrack or musical? Have the centerpiece of the film be a [[Hey, Let's Put On a Show|fundraiser concert]]. Want a [[Downer Ending]] drama which explores the good and evil of mankind? Just have the heroes fail and watch the orphans cry their eyes out as their only chance at a loving home gets demolished before their eyes.

Plus, since there's a number of ways to reach this goal, you can pretty much insert any kind of film into it. Want a funny Road Movie? Just have the Hero hop into his van with his quirky sidekick and drive cross-country to pay the rent. Need to sell a soundtrack or musical? Have the centerpiece of the film be a [[Hey, Let's Put on a Show|fundraiser concert]]. Want a [[Downer Ending]] drama which explores the good and evil of mankind? Just have the heroes fail and watch the orphans cry their eyes out as their only chance at a loving home gets demolished before their eyes.

This plot doesn't ''have'' to center around an orphanage. Another popular variant is saving a family farm, followed closely by a youth or community center. Really though, as long as the building has someone's welfare tied up into it, there's probably an evil developer lurking in the shadows and planning its demise.

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== Save The Orphanage ==

== [[Anime and Manga]] ==

* This turned out to be the reason behind {{spoiler|Phantom Thief G, a.k.a. Timothy's crime spree}} in ''[[D Gray ~~Man~~]]''. [[D Gray ~~Man (Manga)~~/Nightmare Fuel|This being DGM]], of course, the obviously-supernatural methods attracted enough attention that [[It Got Worse]]. In the end, the Black Order wound up paying to save the place anyway.

* This turned out to be the reason behind {{spoiler|Phantom Thief G, a.k.a. Timothy's crime spree}} in ''[[D.Gray-man]]''. [[D.Gray-man/Nightmare Fuel|This being DGM]], of course, the obviously-supernatural methods attracted enough attention that [[It Got Worse]]. In the end, the Black Order wound up paying to save the place anyway.

* Gleefully abused in an episode of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', in which the saintly nurse Clara claims that she took on the role of master thief Psiren in order to obtain the funds to save the hospital where she works from being closed down and demolished. And then the hospital gets demolished anyhow... as do the church and the orphanage and probably a couple of other struggling establishments that follow it. This example may be considered a [[Double Subversion]], since at the end of the episode it's revealed that the city in which it takes place is dying a slow death and Psiren's exploits are drawing in much-needed tourism. [[Alternative Character Interpretation]] suggests that Psiren was just coming up with another lie. And it worked.

* The reason Naoto Date aka [[Tiger Mask]] betrays the Tiger's Cave and starts to get hunted by them is to save the orphanage where he was raised and to make the life of the orphans (who he sees as his family) better.

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== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'', of course! When Jake and Elwood Blues attend church service at a black church, Jake sees the light and gets his [[Mission From God]]: [[Hey, Let's Put On a Show|get the band together]], and save the orphanage from getting closed. In this example, the orphanage supposedly has to pay "back taxes", which actually fails the logic test since orphanages, as non-profits, don't pay taxes. However, at the time the film was in production, the state of Illinois was debating legislation that would have required some religious buildings to pay property taxes - though by the time the film was released, this had been struck down.

* ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'', of course! When Jake and Elwood Blues attend church service at a black church, Jake sees the light and gets his [[Mission From God]]: [[Hey, Let's Put on a Show|get the band together]], and save the orphanage from getting closed. In this example, the orphanage supposedly has to pay "back taxes", which actually fails the logic test since orphanages, as non-profits, don't pay taxes. However, at the time the film was in production, the state of Illinois was debating legislation that would have required some religious buildings to pay property taxes - though by the time the film was released, this had been struck down.

* In ''[[The ~~Devils~~ Backbone]]'', an orphanage full of children is threatened by the Spanish Civil War. {{spoiler|They end up killing the bad guy with spears.}}

* In ''[[The Devil's Backbone]]'', an orphanage full of children is threatened by the Spanish Civil War. {{spoiler|They end up killing the bad guy with spears.}}

* The four-minute short film ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPlYc3z7eFM 80s Ending]'' included this trope as one of ''many'' 80s tropes it lampooned.

* In the appropriately-named film ''[[The Orphanage]]'', Laura moves into her childhood home in the hope of turning it into an orphanage for handicapped children.

* The plot of ''[[Santa ~~With~~ Muscles]]'', starring Hulk Hogan.

* The plot of ''[[Santa with Muscles]]'', starring Hulk Hogan.

* The 2012 film of ''The [[Three Stooges]]'' involves them engaging in a series of wacky schemes to raise enough money to save the orphanage they grew up in (and still live in since nobody would adopt them.)

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* ''[[Leverage]]'': In "The Miracle Job", the team of former crooks tries to save a church from being bought by a real estate developer by [[Moment of Awesome|faking a miracle]].

* There was a plot or three of this in ''[[MacGyver]]''.

* ''[[Night Court]]'' pulls this off, with a rich stereotypically-Texan mogul offering to put up the money to save the orphanage, if Harry could beat him in an arm-wrestling match. Harry wins after Christine [[Distracted By the Sexy|secretly flashes the Texan.]]

* ''[[Night Court]]'' pulls this off, with a rich stereotypically-Texan mogul offering to put up the money to save the orphanage, if Harry could beat him in an arm-wrestling match. Harry wins after Christine [[Distracted by the Sexy|secretly flashes the Texan.]]

== [[Stand Up Comedy]] ==

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== [[Film]] ==

* [[Subverted]] by the light-hearted Jesse James film ''[[American Outlaws]]'', which opens with James ''failing'' to save the family farm and thus taking out revenge against the railroad barons.

* ''[[Arthur and ~~The~~ Invisibles]]'' (aka ''Arthur and the Minimoys'') involves a quest to save the family farm.

* ''[[Arthur and the Invisibles]]'' (aka ''Arthur and the Minimoys'') involves a quest to save the family farm.

* ''[[Babe]]: Pig In The City'' had the title character leaving on a plane to save his farm, though this didn't go over well.

* The ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' [[The Movie|movie]] has Hannah saving a farm in Tennessee from greedy land developers.

* ''[[Tall Tale (~~Film~~)|Tall Tale]]'' used the plot of a boy in the 1800s trying to protect his family farm from an evil developer, leading him on a long quest across the country to protect the deed to the farm and meeting legendary heroes of [[Tall Tale America|American tall tales]] who join him.

* ''[[Tall Tale (film)|Tall Tale]]'' used the plot of a boy in the 1800s trying to protect his family farm from an evil developer, leading him on a long quest across the country to protect the deed to the farm and meeting legendary heroes of [[Tall Tale America|American tall tales]] who join him.

* The [[Time Chasers|David Giancola]] "classic" ''Woodhead Saves The Farm''.

* Field of Dreams.

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== [[Western Animation]] ==

* An episode of ''[[Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi]]'', literally entitled "Save The Farm", had the duo raising money to save a farm from evil developers.

* The entire plot of ''[[Home On the Range]]'' was to save the farm the animals lived on lest they be shipped off to a meat-packing plant.

* The entire plot of ''[[Home on the Range]]'' was to save the farm the animals lived on lest they be shipped off to a meat-packing plant.

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== [[Literature]] ==

* A short story by [[Garth Nix]] used this, centering on the conflict between a father and son over whether to sell the land or not.

* In ''[[~~The Roman Mysteries (Literature)|~~The Roman Mysteries]]'' book ''Dolphins of Laurentum'', bankers threaten to seize Flavia's house in because of her father's debts. This inspires the characters to try to recover treasure from a sunken ship.

* In ''[[The Roman Mysteries]]'' book ''Dolphins of Laurentum'', bankers threaten to seize Flavia's house in because of her father's debts. This inspires the characters to try to recover treasure from a sunken ship.

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== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[Ali G Indahouse]]'' involves Ali G trying to save a leisure center.

* The plot of ''[[Breakin]]' 2: [[Electric Boogaloo]]''.

* The plot of ''[[Breakin]]' 2: [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]]''.

* In the [[Romantic Comedy]] ''[[Two Weeks Notice]]'', Sandra Bullock's [[Granola Girl]] works for Hugh Grant's [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] in order to stop his company from tearing down a community center.

* ''Sunday School Musical'', [[The Asylum]] rip-off of ''[[High School Musical]]'', involves saving a church that's about to run out of operating funds unless they win a state choir competition.

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== [[Film]] ==

* The plot of ''[[The Absent Minded Professor]]'', as well as its remake ''[[Flubber]]'', was the Professor's attempts to create something of value in order to raise enough money to save Medfield College.

* The main plot of the film ''[[Batteries Not Included (~~Film~~)|Batteries Not Included]]''. The apartment block of the main characters is under threat of property development, but it's saved with the help of some living alien machines that take residence there.

* The main plot of the film ''[[Batteries Not Included (film)|Batteries Not Included]]''. The apartment block of the main characters is under threat of property development, but it's saved with the help of some living alien machines that take residence there.

* ''[[The Country Bears]]'' ripped off ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'' wholesale - except instead of needing to save an orphanage, they had to reunite the band to save Country Bear Hall in a <s> subtle</s> [[Anvilicious]] bit of product placement. The only distinct part is that the developer (played by Christopher Walken) isn't bulldozing for any reason except that he hates the bears and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vEFFpOwEIo spends all of his free time destroying models of the building].

* ''[[Ernest Goes to Camp]]'' deals with the summer camp variety.

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* ''[[It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]]'' focused on saving the Muppet Theater from a greedy developer that wants to bulldoze it and put up a club. {{spoiler|The Muppets at first successfully raise the money, but Fozzie accidentally loses the money bag. The money problem becomes moot when Pepe gets the building saved by turning it into a historical landmark, preventing it from being bulldozed. Oh, and the money bag wound up in a Salvation Army bin, thus doing more good in the hands of a charity.}}

** The 2011 revival, ''[[The Muppets]]'', pretends as though the above never happened, and shows the theater having money troubles. In this movie, a greedy oil magnate wants to buy it, bulldoze it, and drill for precious oil underneath. {{spoiler|In this case, the Muppets actually fail to raise the money despite a charity telethon. However, they decide as a family that it's more important that they gave it their all and they can start from scratch again. Just as the credits start, Gonzo smacks the villain in the head with a bowling ball, causing him to finally gain the ability to laugh, so he [[We Could Have Avoided All This|gives the property back for free anyway]]}}.

* The 1994 remake of ''[[Miracle On 34th Street]]'' added a subplot that the "good" department store staffed by the main characters was in danger of being bought out and shut down by an evil rival shopping chain, Shopper's Express. This went so far that the film's villain, the owner of the chain, had his minions conduct an elaborate scheme to discredit Kris Kringle in order to stop their new-found success, thus leading to the trial that takes up the last third of the film.

* The 1994 remake of ''[[Miracle on 34th Street]]'' added a subplot that the "good" department store staffed by the main characters was in danger of being bought out and shut down by an evil rival shopping chain, Shopper's Express. This went so far that the film's villain, the owner of the chain, had his minions conduct an elaborate scheme to discredit Kris Kringle in order to stop their new-found success, thus leading to the trial that takes up the last third of the film.

* Both ''[[Sister Act]]'' films involved a plot like this. The first film didn't use this as a main plot (the real plot was Dolores hiding out from the mafia). Instead, it used this trope as a subplot where the abbey was in bad shape, but Dolores' work with the choir and getting them into the community reversed its fortunes. The second film more explicitly used this plot in which the nuns were now teachers at a Catholic high school that was about to be shut down and turned into a parking lot by a greedy executive. Once again, Dolores disguises herself as a nun and reforms her music class into an award-winning choir to save the school. So, to recap - in both ''Sister Act'' films, forming a kick-ass choir can solve all your problems.

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== [[Live Action Television]] ==

* ''[[~~The A-Team (TV)|~~The A-Team]]'' have saved farms, small businesses, and everything in between.

* ''[[The A-Team]]'' have saved farms, small businesses, and everything in between.

* Massacred in a two-part episode of ''[[The Golden Girls]]''. Rose is attempting to get an old lighthouse into the National Registry of Historic Places and ensure its preservation. She organizes a telethon to raise money, but none of her planned guest stars show up due to a hurricane {{spoiler|which completely destroys the lighthouse}}.

* The ''[[Mork and Mindy]]'' episode "Dueling Skates" involved saving a daycare from being turned into a roller rink.