Tree Buchet: Difference between revisions

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# We have a [[Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress|few seconds]] to register the [[Oh Crap|look of terror]] on the villain's face before the tree, freed of the excess weight, snaps back up. ''Thwwwwpp!'' The villain goes flying.

A frequent variation is for a character to use a tree snare--a tree purposefully bent low, with a trap tied to one end. Usually done in an attempt to [[Catch That Pigeon]]. Usually, the hunter will find himself either riding the tree out of town, or thrown back and forth after they get [[Hoist By His Own Petard|caught in his own trap]].

A frequent variation is for a character to use a tree snare--a tree purposefully bent low, with a trap tied to one end. Usually done in an attempt to [[Catch That Pigeon]]. Usually, the hunter will find himself either riding the tree out of town, or thrown back and forth after they get [[Hoist by His Own Petard|caught in his own trap]].

Another variation is the villain ''choosing'' to catapult himself with a tree, either to reach something higher or to jump over a wall. The effect varies from catapulting directly into the ground to missing the target by one inch.

Yet ''another'' variation is the hero using it to launch himself. This works, [[Spoiled By the Format|unless it's too early in the story for success]].

Yet ''another'' variation is the hero using it to launch himself. This works, [[Spoiled by the Format|unless it's too early in the story for success]].

Tree Buchets are named after ''[[wikipedia:Trebuchet|trebuchets]]'' (pronounced 'treh-byu-shay'). Note that the classic [[Tree Buchet]] is ''not'' an [[Siege Engines|actual trebuchet]]: trebuchets work using a lever with heavy counterweights. Tree Buchets work because [[You Fail Biology Forever|trees are apparently perfectly elastic]].

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* Subverted in Carl Barks' 1953 [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe|Uncle Scrooge]] story "Back to the Klondike". A hungry bear chases [[Donald Duck]] up a tree; the tree bends down... but rather than Donald jumping off the tree, the bear falls off... and ''[[Butt Monkey|Donald]]'' is sent flying.

** Dick Kinney's 1965 [[Donald Duck]] story ''The Pioneer''. An hungry bear chases Donald's cousin Fethry up a tree; the tree bends down and Fethry jumps off, sending the bear flying. Later, though, the bear gets even, chasing Fethry up another tree and ''beating'' him to jumping off.

* One issue of the old ''[[Sgt Rock (Comic Book)|Sgt Rock]]'' comic has a soldier obsessed with ''[[~~Superman (Comic Book)|~~Superman]]'' comics use a tree to launch himself over a gunner's nest so he can grenade it.

* One issue of the old ''[[Sgt Rock (Comic Book)|Sgt Rock]]'' comic has a soldier obsessed with ''[[Superman]]'' comics use a tree to launch himself over a gunner's nest so he can grenade it.

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* Horton gets rid of Vlad the vulture this way in [[The Movie]] of ''Horton Hears a Who''. The elephant manages a [[Bond One-Liner]] before he does, then mentions that he usually doesn't come up with those until later.

* The first two ''[[Ice Age]]'' movies do something with this. In one it uses a tilting rock to launch Sid the Sloth. In the other the classic tree. The tree in question is not only a full grown pine, but also being held down by Manny the Mammoth.

* Happens to one of the two dogs that were constantly pursuing Edgar during their first chase scene from ''[[~~The Aristocats (Disney)|~~The Aristocats]]''.

* Happens to one of the two dogs that were constantly pursuing Edgar during their first chase scene from ''[[The Aristocats]]''.

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* The troll in the beginning of ''[[Enchanted]]'' has this happen to him.

* Shows up in ''[[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]]'', during the bamboo forest fight.

* In ''[[Indiana Jones and ~~The~~ Kingdom of ~~The Crystal Skull (Film)|Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The~~ Crystal Skull]]'', an amphibian vehicle lands on a huge tree that was growing on the ravine's side. The car is gently lowered in to the river below, then the tree recoils and hits the cliff wall, knocking down several Soviet soldiers.

* In ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'', an amphibian vehicle lands on a huge tree that was growing on the ravine's side. The car is gently lowered in to the river below, then the tree recoils and hits the cliff wall, knocking down several Soviet soldiers.

* In ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]: On Stranger Tides'', Jack launches himself from palm tree to palm tree to get across the Spaniards' encampment and escape.

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* In ''[[Little Women|Little Men]]'', the boys are playing by climbing up young trees until they bend all the way down and drop the boys back onto the ground. Jack picks too big a tree, leaving him dangling several feet in the air. Dan climbs up after him, and their combined weight lowers Jack safely on the ground, but as soon as he lets go, Dan goes flying.

** This game is also referenced in Robert Frost's poem "Birches".

* In one of the ''[[Little House ~~On the Prairie (Literature)|Little House On~~ the Prairie]]'' Rose sequels, Swiney shows Rose how to grab the top of a young sapling and jump up and down until their momentum and the springiness of the tree carries them all the way over the top. Rose accidentally lets go at the apex of her flight. Wheeee!

* In one of the ''[[Little House on the Prairie]]'' Rose sequels, Swiney shows Rose how to grab the top of a young sapling and jump up and down until their momentum and the springiness of the tree carries them all the way over the top. Rose accidentally lets go at the apex of her flight. Wheeee!

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== Myths & Religion ==

* This is [[Older Than Feudalism]]: In Greek myth, there was a bandit who killed travellers with this trick. Theseus [[Hoist By His Own Petard|hoisted him by his own petard]] by letting go early.

* This is [[Older Than Feudalism]]: In Greek myth, there was a bandit who killed travellers with this trick. Theseus [[Hoist by His Own Petard|hoisted him by his own petard]] by letting go early.

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Tak and ~~The~~ Power of Juju]]'', orangutans are forever flinging sheep and Tak with banana trees while they try to get the fruit. At the very end of the game, {{spoiler|the [[Ninja Butterfly|Juju Flora]], who has been transformed into an orangutan by [[Big Bad|Tlaloc]], uses this trick to [[Hoist By His Own Petard|fling Tlaloc into his own pool of Bad Juju, breaking his curse and turning him into a sheep]].}}

* In ''[[Tak and the Power of Juju]]'', orangutans are forever flinging sheep and Tak with banana trees while they try to get the fruit. At the very end of the game, {{spoiler|the [[Ninja Butterfly|Juju Flora]], who has been transformed into an orangutan by [[Big Bad|Tlaloc]], uses this trick to [[Hoist by His Own Petard|fling Tlaloc into his own pool of Bad Juju, breaking his curse and turning him into a sheep]].}}

* In ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'', the Werehog uses this method to get around various stages by bending the trees or lampposts himself, then relaxing his grip.

* In ''[[The Secret of Monkey Island]]'', you can make Guybrush fall off a cliff to his presumed doom, and a parody of Sierra's [[Have a Nice Death]] screens pops up, only to disappear when Guybrush flies up out of the jungle and back onto the cliff. His only explanation: "Rubber tree."

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== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[Order of the Stick ~~(Webcomic)~~|Order of the Stick]]'', Belkar does this to Durkon after the dwarf had already climbed onto a palm tree ([[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|to fight it]], [[It Makes Sense in Context|of course]]). As a variant, the tree doesn't send him flying, but instead unbends even further and smacks the dwarf into the ground on the other side. And then his own hammer falls on him.

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'', Belkar does this to Durkon after the dwarf had already climbed onto a palm tree ([[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|to fight it]], [[It Makes Sense in Context|of course]]). As a variant, the tree doesn't send him flying, but instead unbends even further and smacks the dwarf into the ground on the other side. And then his own hammer falls on him.

== Western Animation ==

* Very common in [[Hanna-Barbera]] cartoons, especially ''[[Wacky Races]]''.

* Happens a lot in the ''[[Pink Panther]]'' cartoons and its spin-offs (''The Inspector'', ''[[The Ant and ~~The~~ Aardvark]]'', ''Crazy Legs Crane''), which are set in such environments more often than in [[Looney Tunes]].

* Happens a lot in the ''[[Pink Panther]]'' cartoons and its spin-offs (''The Inspector'', ''[[The Ant and the Aardvark]]'', ''Crazy Legs Crane''), which are set in such environments more often than in [[Looney Tunes]].

* A season one episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' had Homer attempt to make a tree snare and end up launching a bunny rabbit over a mile into the horizon.

** And in a halloween episode "Survival of the Fattest", he did it with a full size tree and essentially the entire supporting cast.

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* Done in ''[[Kim Possible]]'' a few times.

* This has happened to [[Looney Tunes|Wile E. Coyote]] a time or two with trees or cacti. In one case, rather than launching Wile E himself, a cactus launched a misaimed explosive back at the unfortunate coyote.

* In the ''[[~~Veggie Tales (Animation)|~~Veggie Tales]]'' episode "Madame Blueberry", the main character's treehouse is eventually flung off its tree in this manner.

* In the ''[[Veggie Tales]]'' episode "Madame Blueberry", the main character's treehouse is eventually flung off its tree in this manner.

* The ''[[Elefun And Friends]]'' short, "A Tangled Tale" features a panda trying to do this with bamboo to get over a river.

* 1960's [[Filmation]] ''[[The Atom]]'' episode "The House of Doom". The Atom uses one of these to fling himself after an escaping henchman's car.

* A Foghorn Leghorn cartoon [[Playing ~~With~~ a Trope|played with this one]], with Henery the Chicken Hawk setting up the "snare" trap, and putting corn in it. Foghorn mocks him roundly, about how a smart chicken would just pick up the corn, and then ends it with "A smart chicken would jump over it, like so!" and demonstrates. Too bad he hadn't thought of Henery [[Batman Gambit|building a pitfall trap right next to the snare]].

* A Foghorn Leghorn cartoon [[Playing with a Trope|played with this one]], with Henery the Chicken Hawk setting up the "snare" trap, and putting corn in it. Foghorn mocks him roundly, about how a smart chicken would just pick up the corn, and then ends it with "A smart chicken would jump over it, like so!" and demonstrates. Too bad he hadn't thought of Henery [[Batman Gambit|building a pitfall trap right next to the snare]].

* George and Junior try this in the [[Tom and Jerry ~~(Animation)~~|MGM]] short ''The Henpecked Hobos''. Junior cuts the rope too early, while George is trying to explain the plan...

* George and Junior try this in the [[Tom and Jerry|MGM]] short ''The Henpecked Hobos''. Junior cuts the rope too early, while George is trying to explain the plan...

* Near the beginning of ''[[Goliath II]]'', the titular elephant accidentally gets knocked into a puddle while attempting to knock over ''a flower''.

* ''[[The Herculoids]]'' episode "The Raiders". In a light-hearted moment Igoo uses his great strength to turn a tree into a catapult to throw Dorno into a really high dive into the water.

* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ~~(Animation)~~|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', Applejack uses a handy tree branch to catch up with Rainbow Dash in a race in the episode "Fall Weather Friends".

* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', Applejack uses a handy tree branch to catch up with Rainbow Dash in a race in the episode "Fall Weather Friends".

** In "Family Appreciation Day", the Cutie Mark Crusaders get launched by a tree while trying to pick Zap Apples.

* Happens in the ''[[Jimmy Two Shoes]]'' episode "Lucius Lost". Trapped on a [[Far Side Island]], Jimmy's plan is to use this trope to catapult him and Lucius to safety. When Lucius cuts the rope prematurely (He'd rather leave Jimmy on the island), the tree doesn't move. Once he gets off and complains, ''then'' the tree whips, slamming him into the sand.

* Happens in the ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' episode "Lucius Lost". Trapped on a [[Far Side Island]], Jimmy's plan is to use this trope to catapult him and Lucius to safety. When Lucius cuts the rope prematurely (He'd rather leave Jimmy on the island), the tree doesn't move. Once he gets off and complains, ''then'' the tree whips, slamming him into the sand.

* Francis X. Bushlad uses one in one of his plans to catch Taz in ''[[Taz Mania]]''. It fails as spectacularly as all of his other plans to catch Taz.

* Francis X. Bushlad uses one in one of his plans to catch Taz in ''[[Taz-Mania]]''. It fails as spectacularly as all of his other plans to catch Taz.