History Main / Cloudcuckooland

** UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} is also [[OnlyInFlorida well-known]] as a source of unlikely "News of the Weird" stories.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Gofrette}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_2615.JPG]]]][[caption-width-right:350: Hey, I've got a football! [[ARareSentenceWanna go fishing while we scuba-dive with a bird?]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Gofrette}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_2615.JPG]]]][[caption-width-right:350: Hey, I've got a football! Wanna go fishing while we scuba-dive with a bird?]]

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Gofrette}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_2615.JPG]]]][[caption-width-right350: Hey, I've got a football! Wanna go fishing while we scuba-dive with a bird?]]

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Gofrette}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_2615.JPG]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/LegoDimensions https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cloud_cuckoo_land.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie Quite literally, in this case.]]]]

* UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}, if Internet videos are to be believed. It may be a partial inspiration for fictional Eastern European Cloudcuckoolands. Russians are not only well aware of their status, but also openly ''proud'' of it to the point of considering this a part of their culture, with countless folk songs, urban legends and [[RussianHumour anecdotes]] addressing the craziness of everyday life in Russia.
** Even within the country, several places have earned their [[MemeticMutation memetic status]] for being ''even more'' of a Cloudcuckooland. The most notable examples are [[UsefulNotes/{{OtherRussianTownsAndCities}} Chelyabinsk and Omsk]].

* Several commercials in the '80s for Cap'n Crunch cereal feature Crunch Island, discovered by Cap'n Crunch himself. The wildlife included singing trees and baseball bats, which were baseballs with eyes and bat wings. One known town is Practical Joking Ghost Town (full of ghosts that play really dated jokes on visitors) and the central mountain -- Mt. Crunchmore -- carved in the shape of its discoverer's face.

%%* Pepperland, from ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine''. Must be seen to be believed.

%%* The nameless town from ''Film/EdwardScissorhands''.

%%* On ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Woody Boyd's hometown of Hanover, Indiana was occasionally depicted as one of these.

%%* Wanker County from ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''.

%%* In many ways, the town of Cicely in ''Series/NorthernExposure'' qualifies as a suburb/colony of Cloudcuckooland.

* In ''JustForFun/PokemonVietnameseCrystal'', a TranslationTrainWreck version of ''Pokemon Crystal Version'', all of the dialogue is [[WordSaladHumor completely nonsensical]] and [[NoPunctuationIsFunnier gramatically incorrect]].

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': A combination of PlayedForDrama and PlayedForLaughs, as the series is set in a massive MegaCity in a post-apocalyptic U.S, under the control of the extremely strict Judges. Due to a combination of hopelessnes, and just plain boredom caused by mass unemployment due to near-total automatization, the citizens of the Mega Cities across the world, but most notably in Mega-City 1 where most of the stories take place, are prone to some very extreme Cloudcuckoolander behavior. The comedic version is called "Simping", and can basically be anything, but most of it revolves around ridiculous fashion and stupid behavior. PlayedForDrama with people "going futzie", which is when all the combined boredom, despair and pointlessnes of life just drives a random person insane.

* The planet of AB/Bedlam appeared in the ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' story "The Jigsaw Man." A planet where everyone was mad, the landscape defied physics and the titular man caught a disease that made him disappear in neat, geometric squares, remaining alive even as his organs vanished until he was nothing but a mouth.

* For a long time, UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates was known for having a culture that was slightly "off" compared to European standards of civility. Chalk that up to the nation's dominant ideological trends having been rooted in various offshoots of [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies classical liberalism]], which places a heavy premium on personal freedom; one of the many side-effects of this is that people who would've been considered eccentric elsewhere are comparatively normal in many parts of the country, their weirdness even being embraced as part of [[CulturalPosturing what made America great and unique from stuffy old Britain]]. The emphasis on individualism is unique even among Western nations. Back in Europe, where classical liberalism originated, there is more of a collectivist influence where people are expected to pull together for the common god and not make waves. Plus, the UsefulNotes/MeltingPot meant that, as immigrant cultures came into contact with one another, they often borrowed from each other and hybridized into uniquely American variants that most Europeans would find unrecognizable. Lastly, there was the frontier. If even the Americans found you too weird, you could just head out west and find a spot where there simply weren't enough people around to stop you from letting your freak flag fly. There's a reason why TheWildWest has such a sizable pool of larger-than-life figures. The tropes WackyAmericansHaveWackyNames, AmericansAreCowboys, and OnlyInAmerica are all related to this.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]

* Thanks to popular "high quality" memes originating from there, such as Webcomic/{{Dolan}} and Spurdo Spärde, UsefulNotes/{{Finland}} gained quite a reputation in that regard.

* In some ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' continuities, the Special Zone (aka the Warps of Confusion) is a mixture of this and HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace. Notably it's based on the ''very'' trippy special stages in the first Sonic game (the background consists of birds morphing into fish in an Escher-like manner as discordant twinkly music plays, etc.)

** The titular town of Gravity Falls, which is wrought with the strangest beings west of weird and north of normal. Some of the residents of this town include [[OurGnomesAreWeirder rainbow puking gnomes]], [[TestosteronePoisoning Manly Minotaurs]], [[PrehistoricMonster Pterodactyls]], [[VoluntaryShapeshifter a Homocidal Shapeshifter]], and a [[EldritchAbomination yellow]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent triangular]] [[BigBad dream demon]], among only a few of the strange abnormalities that the twins face. [[spoiler: This later becomes downplayed when it turns out the town is a cloudcuckooland due to stuff leaking into it from a nightmarish [[AlternateUniverse alternate]] [[EldritchLocation dimension]], which was not seen but drove one of the characters who was sucked inside [[BrownNote completely insane]]]].
** The normal townspeople aren't much better. They celebrate a second Halloween during summer, their elections for mayor involve people throwing seeds towards their preffered candidate and they release a bald eagle so it will kiss the new mayor. People are also allowed to marry woodpeckers. And among their citizens they have an overly-cheerful couple running the mortuary and a hillbilly old coot who happens to actually be a supergenius. Soos put it in better terms: "Everyone in this town is a tad strange. Except, ironically, [[TheGenericGuy Tad Strange]]."
** The series also contains the [[DreamWorld mindscape]], essentially another plane of existence where one of the [[BigBad more prominent]], cloudcuckooander antagonists appears to exist.

* ''Anime/HareGuu'' features one in the AnotherDimension that is [[spoiler: one of]] Guu's stomach[[spoiler:s]]. The four (human) residents are not particularly concerned about the rather surreal landscape and creatures that surround them.

%%* Toon Town from ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''.

* On ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Woody Boyd's hometown of Hanover, Indiana was occasionally depicted as one of these.
* The fictional nation of Mypos in ''Series/PerfectStrangers''. Also a handy way to [[FunnyForeigner make fun of immigrants]] without [[AcceptableTargets offending anyone]].
* The Festrunk Brothers, the "Two Wild and Crazy Guys" played by Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive,'' are ostensibly from Czechoslovakia. Their descriptions of their hometown and its customs, however, are from Cloudcuckooland. [[Creator/SteveMartin You simply say, "I break with thee! I break with thee! I break with thee!" and then you throw dog poop on their shoes.]]
* In many ways, the town of Cicely in ''Series/NorthernExposure'' qualifies as a suburb/colony of Cloudcuckooland.
* ''Series/AllThat'' included a recurring sketch about FunnyForeigner Ishboo, who was a foreign exchange student from some unspecified country always referred to only as "My foreign land" that could only have been Cloudcuckooland.
* Hooterville and surrounding areas, as seen in ''Series/GreenAcres'' and ''Series/PetticoatJunction''.
* Royston Vasey from ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen''.
* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete'', Wellsville is definitely a cloud cuckooland. InAWorld where superheroes (who can skip rocks on Neptune) run around in blue and red striped tights, metal plates and tattoos get main character status, and everything (and we mean EVERYTHING) is SeriousBusiness, Wellsville is just plain weird.
* The eponymous town of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' would definitely qualify.
** As would the FBI in the same series, if Dale Cooper, Gordon Cole and minor characters such as Denise Bryson and Chet Desmond are any indication.
* New Zealand from ''Series/FlightOfTheConchords'', especially considering how the characters from New Zealand (especially the Prime Minister) act quite odd.
* Dibley from ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'' definitely counts, given how nearly everyone acts like a loon, and the place itself is often shown to be far from normal.
* The "old country" from which Latka Gravas hails in ''Series/{{Taxi}}''.
* Fez's home land from ''Series/That70sShow''.
* If your only knowledge of Canada came from watching ''Series/DueSouth'', you'd think it was a cross between Stoneybrook from ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' and Bear Country from ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears''.
* [[Series/ParksAndRecreation Pawnee, Indiana]] as evidenced by the turnout at their town meetings. Then there's the government itself...
%%* Stars Hollow from ''Series/GilmoreGirls''.
%%* And now Paradise in ''Series/{{Bunheads}}''. Amy Sherman Palladino is quite fond of this trope.
* Gunther and Tinka's home country in ''Series/ShakeItUp''. Lampshaded when [=CeCe=] and Rocky meet their family and realize that Gunther and Tinka are ''normal'' by comparison.
* The town "Eureka" from ''Series/{{Eureka}}''. Every person in town is a genius, usually a BunnyEarsLawyer, and the top of their profession. For example, the town Sheriff is a US Marshal, the local dog-catcher is one of the world's top animal trackers, the chef at the local cafe is one of the world's top chefs, and so on. It doesn't help that most of the residents have little or no contact or interest in the outside world.

* UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}, [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest Oregon]] is depicted as such in ''Series/{{Portlandia}}''. Keep Portland Weird, indeed...
* Dog River, Saskatchewan, is this sort of place in ''Series/CornerGas''. The few people who could qualify for OnlySaneMan awards don't really seem to mind.
* Greendale College from ''Series/{{Community}}'', a place where mass pillow or paintball fights bring the campus to a stand-still, monkeys and ex-teachers live in the vents, the Glee Club controls minds, there are magical hidden trampolines, zombie out-breaks and a flag with a butt for a logo. Oh, and the whole thing is controlled by a shady, creepy ''air-conditioning repair annex'' which has eyes everywhere.

* ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'' depicts the entirety of London's high fashion industry as one big Cloud Cuckoo subculture.

[[folder:Theater]]
* The town of Kulyenchikov in ''Theatre/{{Fools}},'' a town where everyone believes they are forever cursed to be stupid.

* Breughelland, the setting of György Ligeti's opera ''Theatre/LeGrandMacabre''.

* ''Theatre/TheMasterBuilder'' by Creator/HenrikIbsen has ''Appelsinia'' (''Orangeland''), the fairy tale kingdom that Solness promises the ten year old Hilde Wangel. In the present time of the play, ten years later, she still clings to that promise, with fatal results.
* ''TitleAndDeed'' by Creator/WillEno is a monologue from a character who comes from an unnamed Cuckooland, where for instance asking out a person is done by taking an instrument you have never played before and performing an improvised song outside their window. If the potential mate comes to the window and tries to sing along, they have accepted your proposal.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* For a long time, UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates was known for having a culture that was slightly "off" compared to European standards of civility. Chalk that up to the nation's dominant ideological trends having been rooted in various offshoots of [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies classical liberalism]], which places a heavy premium on personal freedom; one of the many side-effects of this is that people who would've been considered eccentric elsewhere are comparatively normal in many parts of the country, their weirdness even being embraced as part of [[CulturalPosturing what made America great and unique from stuffy old Britain]]. The emphasis on individualism is unique even among Western nations. Plus, the UsefulNotes/MeltingPot meant that, as immigrant cultures came into contact with one another, they often borrowed from each other and hybridized into uniquely American variants that most Europeans would find unrecognizable. Lastly, there was the frontier. If even the Americans found you too weird, you could just head out west and find a spot where there simply weren't enough people around to stop you from letting your freak flag fly. There's a reason why TheWildWest has such a sizable pool of larger-than-life figures. The tropes WackyAmericansHaveWackyNames, AmericansAreCowboys, and OnlyInAmerica are all related to this.

* For a long time, UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates was known for having a culture that was slightly "off" compared to European standards of civility. Chalk that up to the nation's dominant ideological trends having been rooted in various offshoots of [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies classical liberalism]], which places a heavy premium on personal freedom; one of the many side-effects of this is that people who would've been considered eccentric elsewhere are comparatively normal in many parts of the country, their weirdness even being embraced as part of [[CulturalPosturing what made America great and unique from stuffy old Britain]]. Plus, the UsefulNotes/MeltingPot meant that, as immigrant cultures came into contact with one another, they often borrowed from each other and hybridized into uniquely American variants that most Europeans would find unrecognizable. Lastly, there was the frontier. If even the Americans found you too weird, you could just head out west and find a spot where there simply weren't enough people around to stop you from letting your freak flag fly. There's a reason why TheWildWest has such a sizable pool of larger-than-life figures. The tropes WackyAmericansHaveWackyNames, AmericansAreCowboys, and OnlyInAmerica are all related to this.