Badly-Battered Babysitter: Difference between revisions

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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.

** 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.

* ''[[Ice Age]]'' is this in a nutshell.

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

** It also happened once with Pachirisu and Happiny.

** A similar incident happened to Pika in the ''[[Pokémon Special]]'' manga. Here, the role of baby was taken by Kitty, Yellow's recently caught Caterpie who Yellow told Pika to look after while she went on a quick errand. Kitty then decided to follow a drifting leaf from one danger to another, much to Pika's horror.

* One chapter of ''[[Nagasarete Airantou]]'' has [[Token Mini-Moe|Yukino]] take care of the <s>illegitimate child</s> [[Running Gag|nephew]] of her mother's [[Big Badass Bird of Prey]] friend. Yukino is a [[Friend to All Living Things]], but even she becomes this trope.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* [[The DCU]] comic book ''[[Elseworld|Elseworlds]] 80 Page Giant'' was pulled from the shelves for "Letitia Lerner, Superman's Babysitter", a [[Badly-Battered Babysitter]] sequence in which a baby Clark Kent survives various cartoonish hazards, including accidentally microwaving himself, thanks to his invulnerability. The story was later reprinted in ''Bizarro Comics''.

** It was also pulled for other things, like the implication that the Kents hired the babysitter so they could have a quiet night together. Also played with a bit at the end where the Kents get home, see the wrecked house, and compliment Letitia and ask if she's available next week. Another thing that irked the censors was a scene where little Clark gets himself a drink of milk straight from the udders of a cow.

* A variation happens in ''[[Spirou and Fantasio]]: Panade à Champignac'', the two heroes are the battered babysitters of the grown-up Zorglub, who suffers from amnesia and acts like an 8-month-old baby.

* Very averted in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''. Every time the parents hire Rosalyn to watch over Calvin, he's always the one to get lectured (at the very least) for the pranks he pulls on her. He once tried to run away, and didn't get very far before she brought him back. Rosalyn can generally take what he dishes out and come down hard on him for it. Further averted in that she commands ''princely'' sums (even getting advances) as she's the only one who will put up with Calvin. In Rosalyn's final appearance, she and Calvin make peace with each other after bonding over a game of [[Calvin Ball]].

 

== [[Fanfic]] ==

 

== [[Film]] ==

* In the movie ''[[Baby's Day Out]]'', the titular baby is kidnapped, escapes from his three abductors, and makes his way safely through a very busy day in which the kidnappers take such a beating that their eventual arrest is a relief to them, since it puts them well away from the baby.

* ''[[Adventures in Babysitting]]'' is made of tweaks to this trope. The babysitter has to go out to the big scary City, dragging her (multiple) charges along, and they get into truly ridiculous amounts of trouble, but always manage to escape more or less unharmed.

* [[The Three Stooges]] got into several of these messes, most famously one that involved a couple fighting over their child, an [[Enfant Terrible|adorable tyke]] who, among other stunts, belted the Stooges and his father [[Drop the Hammer|with a hammer]].

* [[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.

 

== Folklore and Mythology: ==

== [[Literature]] ==

* ''Good Dog, Carl'' and its sequels feature a Rottweiler who is, in each book, left to take care of the baby. Subverted in that Carl often assists the baby - such as when he gives baby a boost to crawl into the laundry chute (there was a full basket of soft laundry at the bottom), or takes baby out to go window shopping and meet Santa.

{{quote| [[Lampshade Hanging|It’s a rummy thing. Aunt Agatha is the one person in the world I daren’t offend, and it always happens that everyone she sends to me with letters of introduction gets into trouble of some sort. And she always seems to think that I ought to have watched over them while they were in New York like a blend of nursemaid and guardian angel.]] Which, of course, is a bit thick and pretty scaly.}}

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

* One of the scenarios in ''[[Elite Beat Agents]]'' involves a cat trying to protect his owner's infant son as the hapless baby chases a butterfly through an [[No OSHA Compliance|inexplicably peril-laden construction site]]. The ''very first song'' has a sitter trying to control a terrible trio of uncooperative children.

* Although not babysitting, two SNES video games follow the same plot - ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]: Spunky's Dangerous Day'' and ''[[Eek the Cat]]'' both centered around the title (playable) character ensuring the safety of the individual they're watching over (a dog for the former, an old lady and his large girlfriend for the latter)

* The platform game ''Sleepwalker'' had the player controlling a hapless dog tasked with stopping his master from waking up as he sleepwalked all over the city.

* Any gamer only ''wishes'' that the punishment of most [[Escort Mission|Escort Missions]] was directed at the player, rather than the typically dumb-as-rocks escortee.

{{quote| '''[[Resident Evil 4|Ashley]]''': [[Most Annoying Sound|LEEEOOOOOOOOOON!!!]]}}

* ''[[Yoshis Island]]'' has a multicolored tribe of Yoshis ferrying Baby Mario through the whole game, and rather ridiculous obstacles. (You think they could just leave the baby with someone at home and go clear the way on their own?)

** Or maybe have all eight Yoshis travel together rather than pass the baby like a relay baton?

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** There is one episode where at the end Tom and Jerry are ''arrested for kidnapping''. Though it at least seems at the end that they might get off, since the interrogating officer notices the baby wandering off ''again''. There was also another where it ends with the baby mischievously winking at the camera, suggesting he does it ''on purpose''. During both of those cartoons, the babysitter spends the entire time talking on the phone and sees the moment Tom puts the baby back on his crib. She then hits Tom or throw him out of the house, thinking he was harassing or harming the baby.

* The ''Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot'' cartoons from [[Looney Tunes|Warner Brothers]] had a gruff but softhearted bulldog protecting an oblivious kitten.

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.

** And the poor dog [[The Woobie|always winds up getting chewed out]] by the [[Sarcasm Mode|mother of the year]].

** 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).

** His nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie were introduced in a badly battered babysitter-type cartoon (his sister Dumbella leaving them in his care).

** Another, older cartoon has Daisy Duck trying to protect her boyfriend from harm while he's sleep walking.

* ''[[Timon and Pumbaa]]'', in ''Timon and Pumbaa's Wild Adventures'', spent an episode taking care of a eagle chick named Baby Earl. Baby Earl's mama had decided to nest right on the edge of a cliff, and Baby Earl himself decided he wanted to try "flying the coop"...literally. This was not helped by the fact that the only reason Timon and Pumbaa were stuck looking after the kid was because [[Mama Bear|the mother]] caught them stealing food from her precious baby, and so forced them to watch him as punishment, with the condition that if [[Punctuated for Emphasis|"ONE. SINGLE. SCRATCH"]] was found on Baby Earl, that Timon would be crushed. [[Hilarity Ensues|And then there was the semi that randomly showed up...]]

* Happens to Marion in an episode of ''[[Bounty Hamster]]'' with a alien child who keeps randomly changing ages.

** If it counts, this also applies to Vicky in the pilot episode (except in her case she's a [[Jerkass]] [[Teens Are Monsters|who clearly deserves it]]).

* An episode of ''[[An American Tail|Fievel's American Tails]]'' devoted an episode to this trope, where Fievel is forced to babysit his little sister Yasha, who then escapes and gets into trouble.

* Averted to amusing effect in ''[[Daria]]'' when the titular character gets a job babysitting a couple of kids. She expects them to be monsters, but they turn out to be brainwashed [[Stepford Smiler]] children.

* An episode of ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' had Jimmy and Beezy babysitting [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|Molotov's]] kids. His son Tori [[Kids Are Cruel|is an obnoxious brat]], while his infant daughter Blammo won't stop spewing.

* On ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'', the penguins go after a lost baby when his carriage is knocked out of the zoo and into the streets. Kowalski even points out the inevitable construction site, although here it turns out to be a ''demolition'' site for a change.

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'':

** In the episode "Adventures in Rufus-Sitting", Kim watches Rufus while Ron and his parents go on vacation. Rufus ends up swallowing a microchip that is wanted by everyone, and three different villains come after him for it. After Rufus is kidnapped, Kim tracks him to France, where, ironically, Ron is vacationing, and has to save him from the hands of the Shego, Duff Killigan, and Monkey Fist, without letting Ron know.

** In the beginning of the episode "Oh No! Yono!", Ron has to babysit his little sister, Hana. Hana proceeds to crawl on the walls and ceiling, and destroy the house. Then a couple nights later, Ron and Kim both babysit Hana, and the same thing happens, with Hana even climbing on top of the refrigerator and jumping off. Luckily, Ron catches her.

* Father Nicholas from the short-lived ''Popetown''. The "kid" he takes care of is actually a [[Psychopathic Manchild]]... and ''[[The Pope]]''.

* Subverted in the ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "Suddenly Suzy". When Candace has to take care of her boyfriend's evil and sadistic sister Suzy, she's sure she's in for this... only for Suzy to explain that if Jeremy isn't there, [[Punch Clock Villain|she's off the clock]]. They proceed to bond.

* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' Did It. Bart has actually abused so many babysitters that the family is effectively blacklisted by every one in Springfield (and one who is convinced to come back has post-traumatic flashbacks on seeing Bart and runs away screaming).

* An incredibly weird variation occurs in ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. The girls are given a random babysitter who, by chance, is their [[Arch Nemesis]] Mojo Jojo. The girls are deliberately the worst kids ever, even at one point getting Mojo run over by a car, and ultimately driving him completely insane.