History Main / ChariotPulledByCats

** When some Mad Max-style raiders trying to get at Mad the dwarf's cargo show up in ''Literature/TheLastContinent'', they use carts being pulled by a variety of things that are very notably not horses (including one that's essentially a unicycle pulled by an emu, as described by someone who has never heard of such a thing), it's mostly to illustrate how utterly insane Fourecks is.

* One of the unlikely modes of transportation used by the present-day descendent of Baron Münchausen in Creator/TheBBC radio series ''The Further Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' is an uprooted tree which he manages to get under control by harnessing/folder swans.

* Victorian eccentric Baron Rothschild travelled around London in a carriage drawn by domesticated zebras[[note]] At least, domesticated enough to work in harness[[/note]].

** When Agatha rebuilds Grandmama von Blitzen's party sleigh to escape from Martellus, it's pulled by [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130729#.YSVeLN_TWUk a graceful mechanical reindeer]] and, to provide lift, some less graceful mechanical pigs with propellers: [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130731#.YSVd5t_TWUk the schweincopters]].

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the Geisterdamen have a number of monstrous draught animals, including giant fuzzy things with webbed feet and tentacled faces and some kind of [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060710 gigantic pale crustacean.]]

* ''Film/{{Morozko}}'': Marfushka is rude to Father Frost, and is forced to ride back into her village on a pig-drawn dinky sleigh. Her humiliation is played for laughs, but considering she threatened a personification of frost and freezing to death, she's lucky.

** Goddess Freyja, goddess of love and witchcraft[[note]]and also warfare, sex, fertility, death, beauty and magic[[/note]], drives a chariot pulled by two cats. [[http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/FREYJACATCARART.html This webpage]] has collected many images of Freya and her cats.

* Welsh folklore states that the small dog type of corgis were gifts from fairies who had them pull their carriages or even [[BeastOfBattle ride them into battle]]. As corgis tend to be have different coloration in a ring around its neck or their back, this was said to be from the saddle and harnesses that were put on them.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'': In the final battle, Emmet's CrazyCatLady neighbor can be seen driving a chariot pulled by her herd of cats.

*** King Triton makes his entrance into the concert hall riding on a giant oyster shell pulled by two seahorses. ''Inside'' the concert hall, though Triton can swim just fine with his own fishtail. Mer-kings be wack.
*** He is followed by Sebastian, who rides a normal-sized seashell pulled by a normal-sized seahorse, which Sebastian has a little trouble controlling.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'': The Rescuers get an express ride to Madame Medusa's derelict steamboat in the bayou courtesy of a leaf-boat powered by the dragonfly Evinrude. It is taxing on this insect to go any meaningful distance, but he diligently does his job. It is charming to hear Miss Bianca call him "Even-rude".

** Goddess Freyja, goddess of love and witchcraft[[note]]and also warfare, sex, fertility, death, beauty and magic[[/note]], drives a chariot pulled by two orange cats named Bygul and Trejgul (Bee-Gold - Honey, and Tree-Gold - Amber). Per the trope, this was generally taken as a sign of her being crazy but awesome. [[http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/FREYJACATCARART.html This webpage]] has collected many images of Freya and her cats.

** Goddess Freyja, goddess of love and witchcraft[[note]]and also warfare, sex, fertility, death, beauty and magic[[/note]], drives a chariot pulled by two black or grey cats. Per the trope, this was generally taken as a sign of her being crazy but awesome. [[http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/FREYJACATCARART.html This webpage]] has collected many images of Freya and her cats.

[[caption-width-right:350:What a [[{{Pun}} cool]] ride.]]

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So if your character drives around in a chariot pulled by [[PredatorsAreCool predatory animals]], it scores some points on the awesomeness scale because only a truly badass character can use animals like cats, lions, panthers, tigers, bears, polar bears or wolves as draught animals. Under normal circumstances, these animals will rip you to flinders if you try to harness them. Therefore anyone who succeeds in making predators substitute for equines must be cool, have magical abilities, be nigh omnipotent or cuckoo. It might also be a sign of highly unconventional thinking.

So if your character drives around in a chariot pulled by predatory animals, it scores some points on the awesomeness scale because only a truly badass character can use animals like cats, lions, panthers, tigers, bears, polar bears or wolves as draught animals. Under normal circumstances, these animals will rip you to flinders if you try to harness them. Therefore anyone who succeeds in making predators substitute for equines must be cool, have magical abilities, be nigh omnipotent or cuckoo. It might also be a sign of highly unconventional thinking.

* ''WesternAnimation/TarzanLordOfTheJungle'' (Creator/{{Filmation}} produced the cartoon series from 1976):
** The lost City of Gold has Queen Nemone riding in a chariot drawn by a pair of lions because she's royalty and an AlphaBitch.
** Queen Nemone's royal guards use paired lion chariots, most especially Phobeg, the queen's most badass guard.

** ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'':

** ''Disney/TheRescuers'': The Rescuers get an express ride to Madame Medusa's derelict steamboat in the bayou courtesy of a leaf-boat powered by the dragonfly Evinrude. It is taxing on this insect to go any meaningful distance, but he diligently does his job. It is charming to hear Miss Bianca call him "Even-rude".

** The Disc's SantaClaus equivalent is the Discworld/{{Hogfather}}, who goes around bringing gifts to good children in an elegant sleigh drawn by cute little pink pigs. Or at least the sanitized modern version does, when Death covers the Hogfather's shift, he does it with a massive crude sled built out of logs and drawn by equally huge, hairy and non-housebroken boars.
** In ''Discworld/TheLastHero'', when characters who aren't engineering geniuses are trying to visualise Leonard's plans for a dragon-powered spacecraft, there's a double-page spread showing a fantasia of Leonard riding in a hot air balloon being towed by dragons. (In the actual vehicle, however, the dragons are used as rockets.)

** Demeter gave Triptolemus a serpent drawn winged chariot after she was reunited with her daughter Persephone and her own chariot was drawn by her dragons.
** Medea's chariot was pulled by flying dragons that were born of Titans blood.

** Goddess Freyja, goddess of love, drives a chariot pulled by two black or grey cats. Per the trope, this was generally taken as a sign of her being crazy but awesome. [[http://www.germanicmythology.com/works/FREYJACATCARART.html This webpage]] has collected many images of Freya and her cats.
** Thor rides a chariot pulled by a pair of billy goats: Tanngrisnir[[note]]"Teeth-barer"[[/note]] and Tanngnjostr[[note]] "Teeth-grinder"[[/note]]. Thor also slaughters, cooks, and eats the goats at the end of each day, then brings them back to life the next morning.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': In "'Twas the Day Before Chriatmas", Ralph plays Santa for the Warners, and he rides a sleigh driven by pigeons (three of which are the Goodfeathers).

* Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (UsefulNotes/MataHari) went to school in a carriage drawn by goats. At only 6 years old, she became the talk of the town when she traveled in a goat-drawn carriage that her father had given her.

In MouseWorld and similar settings, chariots, carts or sleighs can be pulled by rodents, especially mice, or rabbits or small birds. Those little draught animals give some "cuteness points" to our unconventional travellers and drivers. In fantasy settings, there might appear some vaguely ox-like fantasy creatures and large lizards, and some of them may be MixAndMatchCritters. Fictional worlds set under the sea or similar underwater settings can feature fish, eels, seahorses or turtles as carriage-pullers. Swans as majestic and elegant birds are a popular choice for gods and goddesses or other powerful characters (see also SwanBoats).

** Marge and Maggie, dressed like Christmas elves, ride in a sleigh pulled by several greyhounds in the intro.