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Tall tales are also often told in a way that makes [[Unreliable Narrator|the narrator]] seem to have been a part of the story. If he himself is the hero, there are likely to follow outrageous [[Badass Boast|Badass Boasts]] (often followed by the praise of one’s own modesty). This kind of a narrator is a [[The Munchausen|Munchausen]] or a [[Miles Gloriosus]]. Standard stylistic devices are also the insistence on factuality, and the pitying of naïve skeptics for their disbelief.
 
Tall tales may also include fantastic creatures. In the USA, the [[Fearsome Critters of American Folklore]] are a traditional subject of tall tales. In Australia, expect to see [[Yowies and Bunyips Andand Drop Bears, Oh My!]].
 
Tall tales are an ancient genre of [[Oral Tradition|folktales]] (as encountered in the tales around [[Paul Bunyan]] in the USA or [[Crooked Mick]] in Australia). But there is also the literary tall tale; the literary tall tale catalyzed the emergence of such respectable genres as [[Science Fiction]] and the [[Utopia]].
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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Tall Tale (Filmfilm)|Tall Tale]]: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill'', a Disney film about a young boy's adventures with Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and John Henry.
* ''[[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Film)|The Adventures of Baron Munchausen]]'' by [[Terry Gilliam (Creator)|Terry Gilliam]], based on the 18th century tall tales around Baron Munchhausen.
* ''[[Big Fish]]'', which is all about a man deciphering his father's tall tales.
 
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Tall Tale America]]: A Legendary History of Our Humorous Heroes'' is a book about American tall tales.
* ''[[True History (Literature)|True History]]'' by 2nd century AD author Lucian of Samosata is likely the [[Ur Example]].
* Played with in ''[[The Star Diaries (Literature)|The Star Diaries]]'' by [[Stanislaw Lem]]. It's never clear whether Ijon Tichy, the book's narrator, "really" had all those wacky adventures in space, or whether he is just a [[The Munchausen|teller of tall tales.]]
* The several books under the label ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'', by Erich Rudolph Raspe (1785-1789 and 1792) and Gottfried August Bürger (1788).
* In the ''[[Red Mars Trilogy]]'', which is set on a future Mars that is being terraformed, people still tell stories of [[Paul Bunyan]], but they make him out as a [[Trickster Archetype]] creator figure, not unlike Raven in Native American mythology. This is an [[In -Universe]] illustration of how tall tales can evolve into mythology.
 
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* An episode of ''[[The Twilight Zone (TV)|The Twilight Zone]]'' features a man who continually tells tall tales. When he tells them he was abducted by aliens, they believe he is just [[Crying Wolf]]. (The whole episode could be a tall tale... from Rod Serling's point of view.)
* Chau from ''[[Off Centre (TV)|Off Centre]]'' did this once about the story of Euan and Liz.
 
== Mythology and Folklore ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* In the beginning of ''[[Dragon Age II (Video Game)|Dragon Age II]]'', [[The Narrator]], Varric, tries to start his story as a tall tale (resulting in a [[Tutorial Level]] wherein you control unkillable [[Game Breaker]] characters), but is soon interrupted by his listener, who wants to hear the real story. He still occasionally lapses into tall tales later (and is always interrupted again).
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* The Heterodyne Boys tales in ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'' are these.
 
== [[Web Original]] ==
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** "Mater's Tall Tales" are a modern spin on this tradition.
** The short "Boundin'" is a tall tale that features a [[Fearsome Critters of American Folklore|Jackalope]].
* Disney has made shorts based on Paul Bunyan and John Henry. ''[[Melody Time (Disney)|Melody Time]]'' has segments for Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill.
* ''[[Pinky and The Brain (Animation)|Pinky and The Brain]]'' had "A Legendary Tail", an episode where the Brain used a computer to combine elements of other tall tales and make one starring himself. He hoped to use this as a way to gain acclaim as a folkhero. However, the resulting tall tale ended with other folkheroes suing the Brain's character for plagiarizing parts of their names (his name, by the way, was "[[Overly Long Name|Big Johnny Brain Jones Peachpit Bill Boone Crockett]]").
* ''[[Captain Bluebear (TV)|Captain Bluebear]]'''s whole shtick. The [[Framing Story]] of every episode (done in puppetry) is [[Father Neptune|retired sea captain]] Bluebear telling an improbable sounding tale about an adventure he once supposedly had. Those stories (told in animation) are always [[Snark Bait]] for his three very skeptical grandkids.
* ''[[Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (Animation)|The World Of Commander McBragg]]'', loosely based on Baron Munchausen, consisted of the eponymous McBragg telling ridiculous tall tales about himself.
 
{{reflist}}
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