Tall Tale: Difference between revisions

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Tall tales arose, more or less, from braggy exaggerations and other cock-and-bull stories. They may contain exaggerations of actual characters or events, or they can be entirely made up. Common prototypes for tall tales are [[TheLegendary Catfish|fish stories]] (“it was this big!”) (which makes it transparent where the “tall” humor is coming from), as well as the the [[Fearsome Critters|hunter's story]], the [[Miles Gloriosus|war story]], and [[The Munchausen|the traveller's story]]. Tall Tales are inherently related to [[Satire]], although they are usually humorous and good-natured.

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]]s (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 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.

* ''[[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.]]

* 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.

* 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.

* ''Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition'', a board game from [https://web.archive.org/web/20050205091931/http://www.cheapass.com/ Cheapass Games]. You play members of a Victorian gentleman's club, all of whom are trying to one-up each other with heroic tales of adventure. In fact, all your exploits are entirely fictitious. You've just spent the last few months hiding in a hotel and sneaking out in disguise to scavenge in junk shops for "artifacts" from your "expeditions". The aim of the game is to collect convincing sets of photographs, anecdotes, and artifacts, without being spotted and exposed as a fraud.

* 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).

* The Heterodyne Boys tales in ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'' are these.

* 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.