Disney Acid Sequence: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

The Disney Acid Sequence can be used to good comedic effect in movies which break the [[Fourth Wall]]. In general though, if the switch is ''too'' pronounced, be prepared for some genuine [[Nightmare Fuel]].

Named for the most prolific offender and trend setter, although the phenomenon is not limited to the [[Disney Animated Canon]]. It's not even necessarily limited to animated musicals; live-action musicals can also contain a [[Disney Acid Sequence]] if a musical number goes more surreal than just a random song and dance routine. Some examples here are likely to be inspired by [[Busby Berkeley Number|Busby Berkeley Numbers]]. All examples here are prone to contain [[Deranged Animation]].

 

 

{{examples}}

== Disney Examples, in rough chronological order ==

 

* ''[[Fantasia]]'' is not actually an example, as each musical number is its own [[Surreal Music Video|separate and self-contained animated sequence]] and not an insert in a larger plot. Nevertheless, it deserves mention for containing many of the usual elements of the [[Disney Acid Sequence]], since each of its segments is to greater or lesser extent an abstract illustration of the music being played.

* ''[[The Three Caballeros]]'': pretty much the last two thirds. See above for an example.

* "After You've Gone" from ''[[Make Mine Music]]'', featuring lots of crazy dancing musical instruments.

** "The Horribly Hazardous Heffalumps" from ''Pooh's Heffalump Movie''.

** The "Too Much Honey" song number from ''The Book of Pooh'' story by the same name.

* ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'' features a song called "Cutting Edge" (aka, "[[Refrain From Assuming|More, More, More]]"), which involves, among other things, a singing table lamp somersaulting through outer space. Of course, this is a movie where ''every'' character is an inanimate object. (We're not sure whether that makes it better or worse.)

** Given that every other musical number happens within the confines of the world around them DESPITE being a shop backroom full of hacked together 'mutant' appliances and the cars in a junkyard being sent to the crusher, Cutting Edge definitely counts as the Acid Sequence.

** Toaster's clown dream also counts, as a [[Nightmare Fuel]] version of the Acid Sequence.

* ''[[The Lion King]]'' has the [["I Want" Song]], "I Just Can't Wait To Be King".

* ''[[The Lion King]] 2'' has the love song "Upendi".

* '''[[The Lion King]] 1/2'' has Timon's song, "That's All I Need" Lamshading it. The sequence of the 'props' sliding out back to the Savannah and the sarcastic applause of the hyenas makes it very clear that, far from a bunch of animals suddenly displaying amazing choreography skills, this is genuine daydreaming/acid consumption territory, but since Timon is awake, it is not actually a dream.

* ''[[Pocahontas]]'': "Colors of the Wind". It's difficult to say whether the sequence is actually happening (if so, it happened over the course of several days, considering the changes in daylight), or if it's simply an interpretation of the spirit of nature surrounding them.

* [[A Goofy Movie]]: The original had "Out on the Open Road" which included a bunch of girls popping out of a piano, while it's played in the back of a pick up truck and a corpse dancing on a hearse. Being a Goofy movie of course, it's not ''impossible'' that this is actually happening, but it's still pretty trippy.

* ''[[The Incredibles]]'' [[What Could Have Been|was to have a]] [[Dream Sequence]] set to jazz music where Helen Parr dreamt about her husband cheating on her with hundreds of silhouetted, beautiful women in order to highlight her suspicions about her husband's behavior, but it was cut due to length and the fact that they would never get away with so blatantly stating what Helen's fears were in a Disney movie.

* Just about every song in ''[[High School Musical]] 3'', to some extent. They could have planted an Aesop about not doing drugs into the movie without too much trouble.

* In addition to being a [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]] and a rare ''canonical'' [[Caramelldansen Vid]], [[Phineas and Ferb]]'s [[Animesque]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgEbs4vu4_w J-Pop (Welcome to Tokyo)] is definitely one. Candace aptly sums up the audience's reaction:

 

== Other Animated Examples ==

{{quote| '''Elmer:''' *bombarded by various weird designs of rabbits* Biwwions and twiwwions of wabbits! Where are they all coming fwom?!<br />

'''Bugs:''' From me, doc! *playing with an adding machine that releases the rabbits* I'm multiplying, see? I'm multiplying! }}

* Somehow, when [[Hanna-Barbera]] cartoons go weird, they go ''really'' [[Deranged Animation|weird]]. The best single example would be the fever dream-esque musical sequences in the already very strange ''Galaxy Goof-Ups'' (the adventures of Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound and a couple of [[The Scrappy|wacky new characters]]... [[We Are Still Relevant Dammit|but they're in space!]]) Every so often, the plot would stall for a minute or two and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GTmcF4Hl-Y&feature=colike this would happen]. Brace yourselves, for that video contains [[The Seventies]]. ALL of the Seventies.

* Most of Fleischer Studio's early cartoons are made of this, so much so that this trope should be named after them. Don't believe me? Look up "Minnie The Moocher", "Swing You Sinners" and the Betty Boop version of "Snow White". Go on. We'll wait.

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSIgC1GWC38#t=3m23s The final scene "It's All Too Much"] Is an Acid Sequence ''within'' an Acid Sequence (the rest of the movie)!

* ''[[Kidd Video]]'' Just... the entire series.

** "Cabin Fever", a musical number in which the entire cast of ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]'' comes down with [[Ocean Madness]].

*** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] when the only character who mentions it is treated as being crazy.

** Also the song "Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah" from the [[The Jetsons|Original Series]].

* ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]'': the instrumental part of "All I Ever Wanted" in which hieroglyphs come to life; and "The Plagues", which is the song which goes with most of the plagues, and so days are compressed into minutes - and that split-screen shot at the end of Pharaoh and Moses is done for artistry.

* A few of the musical numbers in ''[[Fern Gully]]'', including comic relief character Batty's introduction, and the villain Hexxus's [[Villain Song|song]] (both of which have the potential to [[Nightmare Fuel|traumatize children]]).

** In Ferngully 2, there is the song "Wanna Go Home" - a perfect example since lighting springs from nowhere, cages vanish and animals start dancing.

* ''[[Lucky Luke]]: The Ballad of the Daltons'' has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f63mfRtB93Q one], though it's caused by [[Mushroom Samba]].

* "Pleasure Island" in ''The Twelve Tasks of [[Asterix]]''. ''The Big Fight'' has a bard song rendered as a trippy rock number, but the viewpoint character is ''really'' hallucinating.

* "[[Rock and Rule|My name is Mok! Thanks a lot!]]"

** Justified, in that the character singing/dreaming it actually IS on acid (and most likely several other drugs as well, the first thing he does when he wakes up is snort something!)

** "I Am The Walrus" and "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" can be somewhat justified given the substances they were undoubtedly on at that point. [[Eddie Izzard]]'s performance in the latter definitely turns the notch up to 11, though.

** Likewise, the number "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is a justified Acid Sequence, as Max is in a VR hosptial, and probably high on morphine.

* The movie "[[Peanuts|A Boy Named Charlie Brown]]" has several crazy musical sequences. The first is a straightforward "Star-Spangled Banner" stars and stripes montage, the second is a crazy nightmare scene with Snoopy fighting the Red Baron, the third is an extended musical number where Linus and Charlie Brown study for a spelling bee with giant letters everywhere, the fourth is a Fantasia-style scene where Schroder plays the piano, the fifth is a nightmarish bus ride to the city (with a hallucinating Linus, who has been deprived of his blanket) and the sixth is a fantasy skating scene with Snoopy.

** The infamous TV special "It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown" (featuring Heather, aka the [[Canon|non-canonical]] Little Red Haired Girl), has Charlie Brown experience one of these after the titular first kiss. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, because of it, Charlie Brown [[Noodle Incident|doesn't remember anything else that happened after]], despite Linus explaining in detail just [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome|how damn cool it was]].}}

** Between Jessica's song and Chris's song when he first starts giving out gifts ("If you sit in my lap today/ a kiss a toy is the price you'll pay"), both Santa and Mrs. Claus can both be seen to be fairly unwholesome.

* The 1971 animated feature "The Point", about the round-headed boy Oblio and his dog Arrow, has several. It helps that, according to [[wikipedia:The Point!|the Other Wiki]] composer Harry Nilsson was on acid when the original idea came to him.

* The [[Don Bluth]] film ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'' contains one where Charlie encounters an over-the-top giant big lipped alligator who sings a bizarre song to him while doing an Esther Williams homage. It's all [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|really weird and has just about nothing to do with the story]], aside from a very brief callback later on.

* A couple musical numbers from the [[Rankin/Bass Productions|Rankin-Bass]] TV specials of [[The Hobbit]] and [[Lord of the Rings]] certainly qualify...

* Several musical numbers from ''[[The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T]]'' by [[Dr. Seuss]] (1953) but particularly the [[Busby Berkeley Number|Dungeon]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlxgZrT18ys Orchestra scene] and the "[[Real Men Wear Pink|Dress Me,]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8TQOzyCu8Q Dress Me" song]. During the dance number involving the rollerskating, siamese-bearded twins, the hero downs a swig of some "[[Lampshade Hanging|powerful stuff]]" beforehand.

** More notably, the title song after Charlotte's lullabye to Wilbur is a more trippy moment.

* In ''[[Mind Game]]'', after {{spoiler|Nishi dies}} the whole movie is like this.

* The ending (and closing credits) of [[The Simpsons]] episode ''D'oh-in in the Wind''.

** No-no, "Let Your Fur Down" can count too, it is rather strange and alot of the animals are not only odd colours but there are several that are unidentifiable species. And of course let's not Thistle hallucinating during the song and fainting afterwards, because of alchohol of all things (even though I used this joke in an unrelated drawing I'll just drop it here too and say that in his case even light beer isn't light enough)

* ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'' would often have one accompanying a song number in one of the [[Three Shorts]] (or sometimes two of the [[Three Shorts]]).

* ''[[Family Guy]]'' has the episode where Brian takes care of a cranky old lady who has not been out of her house for 30 years and sings a song about all the things she still has to see that has happened in the world - the scenery changes constantly through the song, though it isn't all that "trippy" really.

* ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'' had one of these in the episode where Norbert meets Treeflower at a Woodstock-like rock concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW_JzMsYVyY

* There are several extremely acid-soaked sequences in the independent animated film ''[[Sita Sings the Blues]]''.

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAYakGJ1fXU party song] from ''[[Katy Caterpillar|Katy the Caterpillar]]''.

** "The fun is funner, the bagles are bagler, the bums are bummer..."

* Any of the songs from the "Rupert and the Frog Song" VHS. Especially [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prH0Y4ex_m0 "Oriental Night fish"] which has also been a source of nightmare fuel for many viewers.

* In the "Jingle Fever" episode of ''[[Fanboy and Chum Chum]]'', the two have a rather surreal [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwXabd22ss8#t=8m28s musical number about living at a convenience store.]

* ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth]]'' contains a scene where Milo tries to conduct the sunrise but winds up making the whole sky go crazy.

** There is also the Paraphernalia Wagon sequence from "Halloween is Grinch Night". [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeFaBvL72a8\]

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6DOxuucAEk Nigel's] [[Villain Song]] in ''[[Rio]]''.

Relatively thinking, he just stands there thinking<br />

mc^2, mc^2, mc^2, mc^2... }}

 

 

* ''[[Hair]]'' (the film and the musical) has a literal acid sequence in it.

* ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'': Percy, Annabeth, and Grover experience one of these set to the song ''Poker Face'' by [[Lady Gaga]] after ingesting lotus flowers at the Lotus Casino.

** After the sequence ends his producer says "It sounds good, but I'd need to see it on film."

* In a similar vein, most of the big production numbers in the musical version of "Kiss of the Spider Woman" take place in Louis Molina's head. Indeed, any time the title character character appears on stage she's probably a figment of his imagination.

* Another live-action example: The [[Villain Recruitment Song]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaQMVdkFDr0 "That's Motivation"] in ''Absolute Beginners'' (1986) is presented in this manner. The villain in question (played by [[David Bowie]], who also wrote the song) is an advertising executive who sees his work as selling dreams, and he's encouraging the idealistic photographer hero to become part of his all-style, no-substance world.

* The 1969 movie, ''[[The Magic Christian]]'', has several of these.

{{quote| '''Wonka:''' There's no earthly way of knowing...Which direction we are going...There's no knowing where we're rowing...Or which way the river's flowing...Is it raining? Is it snowing?...Is a hurricane a-blowing?...Not a speck of light is showing so the danger ''must'' be growing...Are the fires of Hell a-glowing?...Is the grisly Reaper mowing?...YES! THE DANGER MUST BE GROWING FOR THE ROWERS KEEP ON ROWING!! AND THEY CERTAINLY AREN'T SHOWING ANY SIGNS THAT THEY ARE SLOWING!!! '''RRRRUUUUUUUUGGHHH!!!!'''}}

** [[Lampshaded]] by Violet Beauregard who asks if the whole tunnel sequence is a "freak out".

* In Ken Russell's film adaptation of the stage musical ''The Boy Friend,'' daydreaming by members of the cast and crew often causes the fairly mundane production numbers -- accurately representing what you'd see if you actually went and saw the play in a theater -- to warp into elaborate and surreal fantasies.

* The Floor Show from ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]''- or the whole damn movie, for that matter. Toss in the audience-participation element, and it's a ''live performance'' [[Disney Acid Sequence]].

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* Gouryella's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wp7xMwfS3M Walhalla] video has a freak-out sequence after the viking bumps his head into the camera. [[Dem Bones|Dancing skeletons]] and spinning flowers against a psychedelic hypno-wheel background, etc.

== Performances ==

 

== [[Theatre]] ==

== [[Video Games]] ==

* [[Demoscene]] subculture produces a lot!

* ''[[Rez]]'', and its spiritual sequel, ''[[Child of Eden]]''.

* ''[[Beat Hazard]]'', set to your own music.

** Likewise for Out of This Dimension in the original.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* The final season of "[[Invention Pioneers of Note]]" is this.

* Many of the songs in the ''[[Charlie the Unicorn]]'' videos.

 

{{reflist}}