History Main / FollowThatCar

* In a low-reading-level Spanish book called ''La Momia Despierta'' ("The Missing Mummy") which gets read in high-school Spanish classes, at one point the main character (a detective) dashes into a taxi and asks the taxi driver to follow another car. The taxi driver is amused and asks him if he thinks he's JamesBond.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', "The Big Question":

* Invoked (somewhat) in chapter 83 of ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}''. The taxi driver even says "It's been 5 years since anyone's said that to me."

%%This page's examples section is sorted alphabetically. It would be lovely if you'd maintain this, thanks.

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-->'''Spug''': Oh. A ''paying'' job.

* Subverted in the first issue of ''JonSableFreelance''. The cabbie is so amused by doing this for the first time in his career he doesn't even charge for the ride.

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* A non-car example in ''[[Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians 102 Dalmatians]]'' is when the main characters needed to follow the dogs in the cab when they found the kidnappers' trace.
* During the EscalatingChase scene in ''AHardDaysNight'', one of the policemen jumps into a random car for this purpose. Hilariously, the guy in the driver's seat was actually in the process of ''stealing'' the car.
* Alan does this in ''AmericanDreamer'', and can't believe he just did so.

* In Creator/PedroAlmodovar's ''Film/WomenOnTheVergeOfANervousBreakdown'', Pepa gets into a cab and says (in Spanish), "Follow that cab." [[LampshadeHanging The driver replies, "I thought this only happened in the movies."]]

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* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Unquiet Dead", after Rose is abducted in a hearse, the Doctor leaps into a nearby carriage and instructs the driver to follow that hearse. However, the carriage turns out to be a privately-owned vehicle, and the driver refuses to go anywhere without the say-so of his employer. (Charles Dickens, if you were wondering).

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* Detective [=DeeDee McCall=] did this in an episode of the 80's cop show ''Hunter'', with the grizzled cab driver replying "I've been waiting twenty years for someone to say that!"
* An early ''Series/{{Mash}}'' episode has a variant of the common subversion: Col. Blake instructs Radar to drive their jeep back to camp. Radar does so before Blake can climb aboard, leaving him stranded. The gag is repeated later in the episode.

* A non-car example in ''Film/{{102 Dalmatians}}'' is when the main characters needed to follow the dogs in the cab when they found the kidnappers' trace.

* Subverted in ''Mezzo DSA'', where one of the characters tells a cab to follow that car, which he says he's been waiting his whole life to hear. He rides off without the passengers. Poor guy is later found with a bullet in his head.

* A non-car example in ''Film/102 Dalmatians'' is when the main characters needed to follow the dogs in the cab when they found the kidnappers' trace.

** Pictured above is Goofy in the ClassicDisneyShort ''How To Be A Detective'' hailing a cab to chase a crime suspect. Two more characters follow suit, leading to a four-car chase.

* ''TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "Can a Luthor Change His Spots?" When Lex Luthor hops into a cab, Jimmy Olson (who's following him) gets into another cab and tells the driver "Follow that cab!"

* TexAvery's ''WesternAnimation/RedHotRidingHood'' has the classic subversion:

-->''Oh, runnin' away eh? COME BACK 'ERE YOU YELLOW BASTARDS! I'LL BITE YOUR LEGS OFF!''

* A certain ad for cable TV showed several roughnecks forcing themselves into a car and yelling at the driver to FollowThatCar... but both cars were stuck in a traffic jam. The punchline: TV has more action than RealLife.

* Used in the VerySpecialEpisode of ''Anime/DigimonSavers''. There was, however, no chase scene.
* Subverted in ''DarkerThanBlack''. April spots Amber, who [[AluminumChristmasTrees the SIS]] has been looking for, getting into a car with a little boy. April runs over to where they were, flags down a cab, and tells the driver to follow the car-- [[spoiler:[[StuffBlowingUp then the cab explodes]]. Said little boy was Maki, a Contractor with the power to blow up anything he's marked with hand prints, which in this case meant the street where the cab pulled in.]]
* Invoked (somewhat) in chapter 83 of ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}''. The taxi driver even says "It's been 5 years since anyone's said that to me."
* Subverted in ''Mezzo DSA'', where one of the characters tells a cab to follow that car, which he says he's been waiting his whole life to hear. He rides off without the passengers. Poor guy is later found with a bullet in his head.

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* ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'': Fantasio's coat is thrown by Gaston out of a top floor window, and a gust of wind sends it flying away. Fantasio gets in a cab and says "Follow that coat!" The cab driver replies, "You should get yourself a helicopter."
* Happens in ''{{Tintin}}''. Fortunately, the car he happened to pick was being driven by a HotBlooded Italian BadassDriver who easily catches up, though not before being stopped by the police and getting out of being having a ticket written by giving the policeman an OverlyLongName.
** Happens a second time as well. Tintin and another man both get into the cab, each insisting its his. Tintin eventually gets the other man out by saying that he had to go to the hospital after being bitten by Snowy (who he called a 'mad dog' -- admittedly Snowy was a bit mad at the moment), but when he said "Follow that car!" to the driver, they found the car had long since disappeared.
* Double-Lampshaded and Double-Subverted in the Creator/AlanMoore comic ''TerraObscura''; after being told to "follow that car", a cabbie comments that "You're probably expecting me to say 'I always wanted to do that'. Actually, it happens to me once a week."

-->'''Spug''': Oh. A ''paying'' job.

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* In ''[[Film/TheThinMan Shadow of the Thin Man]]'', Nora, with Molly, says, "Follow that car, Quick!" The taxi driver drives off without them.
** This gag is actually played with and lampshaded in ''Song of the Thin Man'' when Nick stops the cab driver from taking himself and an exhausted Nora back to their hotel. The cabbie sees that Nick is looking very pointedly at a young lady getting into a car and turns to ask, "Follow that car?" [[DeadpanSnarker Nora]] replies with "Movie fan..."
* In ''Film/DeadMenDontWearPlaid'', Steve Martin thinks he's being followed, and decides to dash away in a taxi. There are two cabs in line. He gives a wad of cash to the first driver and tells him a destination; the driver speeds off without him. Momentarily nonplussed, he then hops into the second taxi and tells the driver to "Follow that cab!" He settles back into the seat with a smirk on his face, congratulating himself on taking ''both'' cabs so the man following him would be stranded.

* ''ThePhiladelphiaStory'' has James Stewart's character Mike, drunk on champagne, wake up a waiting cabbie with this line, admitting immediately after that there never was any cab to follow ("Some joke, huh?").

* Played dead straight in ''NickAndNorahsInfinitePlaylist''. "Follow that van!"
* In ''ShakespeareInLove'', Will gets to say, "Follow that boat!"
* Parodied in the MarxBrothers film ''DuckSoup'': twice Groucho hops into the sidecar of a motorcycle driven by Harpo, saying some form of "FollowThatCar!" and twice it drives off without him. [[RuleOfThree The third time,]] he promises not to have that happen, puts Harpo in the sidecar and gets on the motorcycle-- ''and Harpo drives the sidecar off without the motorcycle.''
-->'''Groucho:''' "It's the only way to travel."
* Shows up in ''TheMuppetMovie'', with Doc Hopper and his right-hand man Max.
-->'''Doc Hopper:''' Follow that frog!
-->[Max drives off]
-->'''Doc Hopper:''' MAX!!!!!
-->[Max backs up]
-->'''Doc Hopper:''' Follow that frog ''with me in the car!''
* Subverted in ''Film/TheProfessional'' - a 12-year-old girl sees a car containing the people who murdered her family drive off. She flags a cab:
-->'''Mathilda:''' Follow the blue car.
-->'''Driver:''' You want me to blast the music and go through the lights?
-->'''Mathilda:''' No, drive slowly. * hands over large wad of cash* Take the hundred bucks, and shut the fuck up.
* A non car example in ''102 Dalmatians'' is when the main characters needed to follow the dogs in the cab when they found the kidnappers' trace.
* In ''[[Franchise/CarryOn Carry On Loving]]'', Sidney Bliss flags a cab and tells it to go to a certain address. When it takes off without him, he flags down another cab and tells it to "follow that cab", and this cab ''also'' drives off without him, leaving Sidney incredibly annoyed.
* Parodied in the second ''StuartLittle'' movie, where Mr. Little tells the cab driver to "Follow that flying mouse!" as Stuart is in an airplane being chased by Falcon.
* Peter Sellers in ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'' uses the same joke as ''Series/GetSmart'' below, with race car driver Stirling Moss in a cameo as the running chauffeur.
-->I'll use [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Manuel_Fangio Fangio]] next time, idiot!
* In ''Film/{{Arabesque}}'', after David Pollock (Gregory Peck) says this the taxidriver immediatly answers: "All my life I have waited for somebody to say that!".
* Subverted in ''ThePelicanBrief'' where DenzelWashington's character as he is unable to get a taxi to stop for him as he is dressed for surveillance he was doing on a potential source. It's also flipped around later in the film as he gets into a cab, only to realize ''he's'' the one being followed.
* In Creator/PedroAlmodovar's ''WomenOnTheVergeOfANervousBreakdown'', Pepa gets into a cab and says (in Spanish), "Follow that cab." [[LampshadeHanging The driver replies, "I thought this only happened in the movies."]]
* Alan does this in ''AmericanDreamer'', and can't believe he just did so.
* During the EscalatingChase scene in ''AHardDaysNight'', one of the policemen jumps into a random car for this purpose. Hilariously, the guy in the driver's seat was actually in the process of ''stealing'' the car.

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* In Margaret Atwood's ''Literature/TheRobberBride'', Charis tries this line on a Toronto cabbie, who is less than impressed.

* Parodied in DouglasAdams's unfinished book, ''Literature/TheSalmonOfDoubt'': Dirk Gently meets a cabbie who has never had anyone tell him to "follow that cab". Thus, he infers, ''his'' must be the cab that everyone else is following.

* In a low-reading-level Spanish book called ''La Momia Despierta'' ("The Missing Mummy") which gets read in high-school Spanish classes, at one point the main character (a detective) dashes into a taxi and asks the taxi driver to follow another car. The taxi driver is amused and asks him if he thinks he's JamesBond.
* In the LordPeterWimsey novel ''Murder Must Advertise'', Lord Peter gets followed by a definitively WrongGenreSavvy co-worker. The chase ends "in the most tame manner possible" (quoting from memory) when both cabs arrive at the restaurant where Lord Peter plans to have lunch.
* In ''DocSidhe'' by AaronAllston, the central character does this. He's quite aware of what a cliche it is, but in the Pulp action elfland he's in, it works. The way the driver and passengers cheered when he said it startled him so much he nearly fell off the car.
* The children's book ''Follow that Bus!'' by Pat Hutchins involves the police commandeering a bus full of school kids on a trip to a farm to chase some bank robbers. The kids have the time of their lives. Their rather timid teacher, less so.

* Literature/AfterTheQuake. ''All god's children can dance''. Yoshiyo tells a taxi driver to tail the car the man he believes his father is in. His excuse is that he's from a company that's scrambling after him.
* In his book ''Against All Enemies'', Richard A. Clarke says that when the Predator UAV was first being used to surveil al-Queda camps, a Land Rover was seen leaving one of them. The man in charge of the operation immediately shouted to the 'pilot' of the UAV, "Follow that car!", adding the inevitable "I've always wanted to say that."

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* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Unquiet Dead", after Rose is abducted in a hearse, the Doctor leaps into a nearby carriage and instructs the driver to follow that hearse. However, the carriage turns out to be a privately-owned vehicle, and the driver refuses to go anywhere without the say-so of his employer. (Charles Dickens, if you were wondering).
** Furthermore, the police officer in "Planet of the Dead" tells his men to "Follow that bus!"... then the bus disappears into a NegativeSpaceWedgie.
** And, at the beginning of the Eleventh Doctor episode "[[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS31E04TheTimeOfAngels}} The Time of Angels]]", River Song orders the Doctor to "Follow that ship!"

* On ''Series/GetSmart'', Larabee was once disguised as a chauffeur, standing by his car. As a KAOS agent escaped in his own vehicle, Max yelled, "Larabee! Follow that car!" Larabee promptly ''ran'' after the KAOS agent's car, revealing for the first time that Larabee was [[TheDitz Ralph Wiggum's]] real father.
* In the final episode of season 2 of ''Series/TheAmazingRace'', each pair had to board an airplane to a target designated by their clue card. One of the pairs lost their clue, prompting them to tell the pilot to "follow that plane!" In fact, just about every episode of the show has some variant of this trope.
* Detective [=DeeDee McCall=] did this in an episode of the 80's cop show ''Series/{{Hunter}}'', with the grizzled cab driver replying "I've been waiting twenty years for someone to say that!"
* An early ''Series/{{Mash}}'' episode has a variant of the common subversion: Col. Blake instructs Radar to drive their jeep back to camp. Radar does so before Blake can climb aboard, leaving him stranded. The gag is repeated later in the episode.

* Inverted in the pilot of ''AcapulcoHEAT''; the cab driver tells the good guys to get in so they can follow the bad guys. It develops that he's an undercover government agent.
* Played straight in the ''Series/ElleryQueen'' episode "The Adventure of Colonel Nivin's Memoirs".
* In the Norwegian BrodreneDal og Legenden om Atlant-is, the not to bright protagonists tries to follow the villain's car... By jumping into a trolley and telling it's driver to follow that car. The trolley driver actually tries his best but predictably loses the villains rather quickly.
* Series/MrBean shouts out the line in one of his sketches, trying to catch a baby he placed into a bumper cat at a funfair, leaping onto the back of another dodgem and shouts at the driver to follow the baby.
* The joke version is taken UpToEleven in an episode of ''Series/{{Benson}}''. The governor gives the order to a taxi, and as you might expect, it takes off without him. Then he quickly flags down another taxi and tells the driver to "Follow ''that'' car!" point to the first taxi. (He manages to get in this one first. To make the joke even funnier, when both taxis follow the original car to its destination, he pays ''both'' drivers.


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* TexAvery's ''RedHotRidingHood'' has the classic subversion:
-->'''Wolf:''' Follow that cab!
-->'''Driver:''' Yes, sir! (* speeds off without Wolf* )
* In one [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Daffy Duck]] cartoon, ''The Great Piggy-Bank Robbery'', Daffy runs up to a cab and says, "Follow that car!" The cab zooms off by itself, and Daffy remarks to the audience, "Keeps 'em on their toes."
* In the "Adventure in China" episode of ''{{Jem}}'', Jerrica says, "Follow that rickshaw!"

* Another old WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short, "WesternAnimation/BaseballBugs", has Bugs call a cab and shout 'Follow that ball!' to chase down a long hit.
* Pictured above is Goofy in the ClassicDisneyShort ''How To Be A Detective'' hailing a cab to chase a crime suspect. Two more characters follow suit, leading to a four-car chase.
* In ''RockosModernLife'', "The Big Question":
-->'''Filburt''': Follow that [[BuffySpeak motor-scooter-bike thing!]]
* Done at least once in the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}}'' series.

* Referenced in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E14TheLastRoundup The Last Roundup]]" when Pinkie Pie calls to "Follow that stagecoach!" as she and the rest of the fleeing Applejack's friends are already in [[ChaseScene pursuit on a pony-powered vehicle of their own]].
* ''HeyArnold'' does one with Arnold and Gerald boarding a buss to tail a mysterious resident of the Boarding House.
-->Bus Driver: Stand behind the yellow line and get your box out of my face.
* ''PinkyAndTheBrain'': In "Brain Noir", Brain flags down a cab to follow Snowball. The cab stops directly on top of him. Pinky then tells the cabbie to "Follow that car!" and the cab takes off without either of them.
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* In PedroAlmodovar's ''WomenOnTheVergeOfANervousBreakdown'', Pepa gets into a cab and says (in Spanish), "Follow that cab." [[LampshadeHanging The driver replies, "I thought this only happened in the movies."]]

* Detective [=DeeDee McCall=] did this in an episode of the 80's cop show ''Hunter'', with the grizzled cab driver replying "I've been waiting twenty years for someone to say that!"

* Double-Lampshaded and Double-Subverted in the AlanMoore comic ''TerraObscura''; after being told to "follow that car", a cabbie comments that "You're probably expecting me to say 'I always wanted to do that'. Actually, it happens to me once a week."

* ''GastonLagaffe'': Fantasio's coat is thrown by Gaston out of a top floor window, and a gust of wind sends it flying away. Fantasio gets in a cab and says "Follow that coat!" The cab driver replies, "You should get yourself a helicopter."

-->I'll use [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Manuel_Fangio Fangio]] next time.... Idiot.

* An early ''Series/{{Mash}}'' episode has a variant of the common subversion: Henry Blake instructs Radar to drive their jeep back to camp. Radar does so before Blake can climb aboard, leaving him stranded. The gag is repeated later in the episode.

* This is used once on the second day of shopping on ''WhatNotToWear'', though this troper forgets if it was Stacy or Clinton who said it. It was immediately followed by the "IAlwaysWantedToSayThat" line.

* Subverted in the first issue of JonSableFreelance. The cabbie is so amused by doing this for the first time in his career he doesn't even charge for the ride.

* Subverted in the first issue of JonSableFreelance. The cabbie is so amused by doing this for the first time in his career he doesn't even charge for the ride.

* Detective [=DeeDee McCall=] did this in an episode of ''{{Hunter}}'', with the grizzled cab driver replying "I've been waiting twenty years for someone to say that!"

* In the Norwegian BrodreneDal og Legenden om Atlant-is, the not to bright protagonists tries to follow the villain's car... By jumping into a trolley and telling it's driver to follow that car. The trolley driver actually tries his best but predictably loses the villains rather quickly.

* Subverted in ''ThePelicanBrief'' where DenzelWashington's character as he is unable to get a taxi to stop for him as he is dressed for surveillance he was doing on a potential source.

* In ''Anonymous Rex'', the protagonist detective refuses to use this line and instead gives detailed step-by-step instructions, such as "Turn there, where that other cab went." Eventually, the cabbie tires of it and just asks "You want me to follow that cab?"

* LampshadeHanging in Hugh Laurie's novel ''The Gun Seller'', in which the driver is quite used to this sort of thing, and does it quite well, asking "Is he sleeping with your wife, or are you sleeping with his?"

* In the movie ''Arabesque'', after David Pollock (Gregory Peck) says this the taxidriver immediatly answers: "All my life I have waited for somebody to say that!".

* In Margaret Atwood's ''The Robber Bride'', Charis tries this line on a Toronto cabbie, who is less than impressed.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Unquiet Dead", after Rose is abducted in a hearse, the Doctor leaps into a nearby carriage and instructs the driver to follow that hearse. However, the carriage turns out to be a privately-owned vehicle, and the driver refuses to go anywhere without the say-so of his employer. (Charles Dickens, if you were wondering). The police officer in "Planet of the Dead" tells his men to "Follow that bus!"... then the bus disappears into a NegativeSpaceWedgie.

* In ''DocSidhe'' by AaronAllston, the central character does this. He's quite aware of what a cliche it is, but in the Pulp action elfland he's in, it works.
** Don't forget that the way the driver and passengers cheered when he said it startled him so much he nearly fell off the car.

* Another old WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short, 'Baseball Bugs,' has Bugs call a cab and shout 'Follow that ball!' to chase down a long hit.