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Badly-Battered Babysitter: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''Now listen, honey, Mommy has to [[Lampshade Hanging|go to a better parenting conference]]. You stay right here and play.''
|''[[Animaniacs]]''}}
▲{{quote|''Now listen, honey, Mommy has to [[Lampshade Hanging|go to a better parenting conference]]. You stay right here and play.''|''[[Animaniacs]]''}}
One of the classic comedy plots, most often seen in cartoons. A babysitter is left in charge of an infant (who, despite being so young, turns out to be incredibly mobile). As soon as the infant's parents are off-stage, the babysitter begins a [[Humiliation Conga|gauntlet of pain and anguish]] of which, somehow, the infant is the ultimate cause.
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{{examples}}
* In a subversion, the short film ''Jack-Jack Attack'' (special featured on the ''[[The Incredibles]]'' DVD) features a stereotypical blonde (Kari) babysitting Jack-Jack Parr. Jack-Jack proceeds to teleport about the house, defy gravity, chew through a wooden "cage" (actually an inverted playpen), phase through walls, set the house on fire, and shoot Kari with lasers. This actually happened WITHIN the time-frame of the movie, off-screen.▼
** Her frantic calls to Mrs. Parr, and the ease/eagerness with which she handed the kid off to a [[Big Bad|complete stranger]] that belatedly identified himself as the replacement sitter, tied into the main plot as well.▼
* In ''[[The Lion King]] 2'', Simba entrusts Timon and Pumbaa to watch Kiara—something they don't know the first thing about. Considering that their attempt to raise Simba as shown in ''[[The Lion King]] 1 ½'' wasn't any better, either.▼
* When Kala [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5uB4K0_Wjo discovers and rescues] [[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]] from the tree house.▼
* ''[[Ice Age]]'' is this in a nutshell.▼
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
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* [[X-23]] is assigned the task of watching after [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|the Richards kids.]] Said kids open a temporal window and unleash a dragon. It gets complicated from there.
== [[
* In ''[[Calvin and Hobbes: The Series]]'', the main cast takes on this role trying to babysit Calvin's younger cousin, [[It Makes Sense in Context|climaxing in a water park.]]
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* [[Abbott and Costello]] often had to deal with the repellent [[Man Child|Stinky]], played by Joe [[De Rita]] of [[The Three Stooges|Three Stooges fame]]. The fact that Stinky was almost as big as Costello and usually dressed up like Little Lord Fauntleroy only made the whole thing even more ridiculous.
* Sarah is a form of this in ''[[Labyrinth]]'', though it was [[Be Careful What You Wish For|her fault that goblins took her baby brother away.]] She has to go through a fairy biting her, lots of running, falling down traps, enduring the Bog of Eternal Stench, [[Villainous Crush|being hit on by the villain,]] and going up against a goblin army. And their parents are none the wiser.
▲* In a subversion, the short film ''Jack-Jack Attack'' (special featured on the ''[[The Incredibles]]'' DVD) features a stereotypical blonde (Kari) babysitting Jack-Jack Parr. Jack-Jack proceeds to teleport about the house, defy gravity, chew through a wooden "cage" (actually an inverted playpen), phase through walls, set the house on fire, and shoot Kari with lasers. This actually happened WITHIN the time-frame of the movie, off-screen.
▲** Her frantic calls to Mrs. Parr, and the ease/eagerness with which she handed the kid off to a [[Big Bad|complete stranger]] that belatedly identified himself as the replacement sitter, tied into the main plot as well.
▲* In ''[[The Lion King]] 2'', Simba entrusts Timon and Pumbaa to watch Kiara—something they don't know the first thing about. Considering that their attempt to raise Simba as shown in ''[[The Lion King]] 1 ½'' wasn't any better, either.
▲* When Kala [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5uB4K0_Wjo discovers and rescues] [[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]] from the tree house.
▲* ''[[Ice Age]]'' is this in a nutshell.
== Folklore and Mythology ==
* [[Older Than Print]]: In the [[Welsh Mythology]] cycle, ''The [[Mabinogion]]'', Prince Llewellyn the Great goes out, returning to discover his baby son's cradle overturned, the baby missing, and the guart dog Gelert with blood around his mouth. Llywelyn drew his sword and killed Gelert, who let out a final dying yelp. The he heard the baby's cries and discovered it was unharmed under the cradle, along with a dead wolf which had attacked the child. Gelert had killed it, and the blood had been the wolf's -- and his own, from wounds received in the child's defense.
== [[Literature]] ==
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* The ''Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot'' cartoons from [[Looney Tunes|Warner Brothers]] had a gruff but softhearted bulldog protecting an oblivious kitten.
** ''The Up-Standing Sitter'' has [[Daffy Duck]] as one of these.
{{quote|
''and put little kiddies to bed.
''While I tuck the sheet around their feet,
''they're busy slappin' my head.
''They throw their trains and rattle my brains;
''my head is full of dents.
''No wonder I'm sour; goes on by the hour!
''And each hour I earn fifty cents." }}
* ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'''s niece's dog, Brain, was always doing the leg work and getting the worst of the situations Gadget got into on cases. Gadget himself was [[Inspector Oblivious|not aware of this]] in the least.
** Taken to its logical conclusion in ''[[Gadget and the Gadgetinis]]''. The sequel series, taking place two years after the first show, shows that Brain had a breakdown between shows and was moved to a riverside house. He's fine around Penny, and warms up to the robot sidekicks that took his place, but is terrified to see Gadget or even hear the word gadget.
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** The overuse of this trope is [[Lampshaded]] in one cartoon where Mindy winds in a construction site, where [[Captain Ersatz]]es of [[Tom and Jerry]] are trying to save an unknown baby, and a [[Popeye]] [[Captain Ersatz]] is trying to save <s>Sweet Pea</s> Green Bean.
** In one episode, the Warners have met up with [[Tiny Toon Adventures|Elmyra]] and are trying to get rid of her. They do so by convincing her to follow Mindy. After the Warners stop him from automatically trying to interfere on Mindy's behalf, Buttons ''really'' enjoys seeing someone other than himself taking all the pain for a change.
** And in ''[[Wakko's
** Most of the shorts also tend to end with Buttons getting a big hug from Mindy, showing that while the girl's parents treat him like dirt, his torment isn't entirely without its rewards.
* Parodied to the extreme by ''[[TV Funhouse]]'' in its "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-_kLSbKW2o The baby, the immigrant, and the guy on mushrooms]" sketches (where mom leaves the cat in charge of the titular baby, immigrant, and guy on mushrooms).
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