History Main / TarAndFeathers

* The full phrase is "tarred and feathered ''and run out of town on a rail''," as seen in the picture; the latter half, at least, happens in ''OBrotherWhereArtThou?''

* In the remake of TheParentTrap, the last event in the EscalatingWar between the twins involves doing this with chocolate syrup.

* In ''TheEmperorsNewGroove'', villainess Yzma suffers this (although it's honey rather than tar), and then gets [[HumiliationConga whacked with sticks]] by a group of children who think she's a pinata.

* ScroogeMcDuck does this to Flintheart Glomgold in ''TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' (Well, with ''molasses'' instead of tar, but close enough.)

* One ''LooneyTunes'' short has Wile E. Coyote build a tar-and-feather machine to use it on the Roadrunner. After it (predictably) tars and feathers Wile E., the Roadrunner [[SignLanguage holds up a sign]] that reads "Roadrunners already have feathers."

* In an episode of ''{{Jackass}}'', Ryan Dunn was tarred and feathered by Bam Margera.

Often played for comedic effect, but the reality was that this was hardly a mild punishment; being run out of town without your belongings was harsh in itself, and the physical damage inflicted by the tar varied wildly, ranging from being a mild irritant requiring hours of scrubbing to clean off your skin if it's relatively cool (pine tar becomes a spreadable liquid at about 77° F) to causing life-threatening burns if the tar is near boiling. In addition, [[GroinAttack they tended to suffer fairly severe injuries from being forced to straddle the rail]].

* The ClassicDisneyShort ''Three Little Wolves'' features a "wolf pacifier" RubeGoldbergMachine that inflicts various punishments on the Big Bad Wolf, concluding with him being tar, feathered and shot out of a cannon.

Often played for comedic effect, but the reality was that this was hardly a mild punishment; being run out of town without your belongings was harsh in itself, and the physical damage inflicted by the tar varied wildly, ranging from being a mild irritant requiring hours of scrubbing to clean off your skin if it's relatively cool (pine tar becomes a spreadable liquid at about 77° F) to causing life-threatening burns if the tar is near boiling. In addition, [[GroinAttack they tended to suffer fairly severe injuries from being forced to straddle the rail]].

Often played for comedic effect, but the reality was that this was hardly a mild punishment--sometimes the hot tar would result in fatal burns for the victim. If they were lucky enough to survive that, [[GroinAttack they tended to suffer fairly severe injuries from being forced to straddle the rail]].

* A RunningGag in CowAndChicken was that since Chicken already had feathers, he would be punished by getting tarred and '''un'''-feathered.

[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]
* The subject was forcibly stripped naked and covered in hot tar, which if hot enough would burn badly. There was probably a beating or two along the way. After being feathered, the person would be humiliated by being carried around on a ''rail'' - not a rounded pole - the cross-section is square or rectangular, and the corners undoubtedly dug in. That's where most fiction ends. Then consider that if the person survived, the cooled tar would need to be removed - ''agitating the burns and ripping out hair''. Being tarred and feathered was ''never'' a good or easily-overcome thing. ''Everyone'' would remember what was done to you.

* Glue and feathers on JoePesci in Home Alone 1.

* The subject was covered in hot tar, which if hot enough would burn badly. After being feathered, the person would be humiliated by being carried around on a ''rail'' - not a rounded pole - the cross-section is square or rectangular, and the corners undoubtedly dug in. That's where most fiction ends. Then consider that if the person survived, the cooled tar would need to be removed - ''agitating the burns and ripping out hair''. Being tarred and feathered was ''never'' a good or easily-overcome thing. ''Everyone'' would remember what was done to you.

[[caption-width:298:A ProfessionalGambler ets his comeuppance.]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tar_and_feathers_1.gif
[[caption-width:298:A ProfessionalGambler in ''LuckyLuke'' gets his comeuppance.]]

* ''LuckyLuke'': Happens regularly to [[CardSharp card sharps]] and [[ProfessionalGambler professional gamblers]] who push their luck too far, and sometimes, in the more lawless frontier towns, to local law enforcement.

* Scrooge [=McDuck=] does this to Flintheart Glomgold in ''TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' (Well, with ''molasses'' instead of tar, but close enough.)

* In the 1988 film ''{{Elvira Mistress Of The Dark}}'', Elvira is tarred and feathered in a spoof of the movie ''{{Flashdance}}''.

* On the Spanish GameShow ''El gran juego de la oca'' the contestant who landed on space 58 received this punishment, the contestant was tarred fully clothed and then they poured feathers on her/him.

* In the ''PinkyAndTheBrain'' episode "Robin Hood", the Brain and Pinky get tarred and feathered after suggesting that peasantry try washing with soap and hot water.

** An incident with little to no basis in reality, mind you.