"Come on down. But not all at once."
An Amusing Injury trope, where a group of characters running along stop just short of the cliff, or the edge of the pool, or the pit of deadly spikes.
And then... along comes the slowpoke, who doesn't manage to stop in time (or at all).
CRASH.
Sometimes found without a distinct pause between second to last and last stacker. May or may not work with stationary people/objects being knocked over a cliff or otherwise lost inadvertently. May or may not work where everyone stops, and then the cliff breaks or a similar accident sends them over.
Compare Human Traffic Jam.
Generally found in animated material, but sometimes seen in live action as well. Almost always a Comedy Trope.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Pokémon: The Series: Happens in one of the "Pikachu's Vacation" shorts, with Misty's Psyduck being the one that topples the rest.
Comic Books
- Also happens in Bone when Fone Bone is getting chased by the rat creatures in the first volume. "STUPID STUPID RAT CREATURES!!!"
Films — Animated
- Thrice in The Cat Returns: Twice in the maze and once on the tower. Subverted or changed a few times, especially with the King. The fake wall dominoes may or may not count.
- In The Lion King, when the three hyenas tumble down a slope while chasing young Simba, Ed who's coming down last pushes Banzai in a large thorn bush.
- Mulan:
- Ling and Yao are chasing Mulan and stop short of running into a line of soldiers waiting for food. Chien-Po stops behind them and accidentally bumps them with his belly, knocking down the whole line.
- As the soldiers are training by jumping along poles over water, Chen Po stops, causing Shang to come to a halt, and the soldiers behind him to pile up. They don't fall on screen, but it's only a matter of time.
- Due to a rather hilarious misunderstanding in Toy Story 3: Woody slides down the garbage chute to the escape route, then calls up to the gang, "Come down, but not all at once!" Cue the "What?" "I think he said 'all at once!'"
Films — Live-Action
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring does a four-hobbit version when they're fleeing from the Ringwraith. Of course, it's Sam who's the last stacker. Bonus points for Pippin nearly landing in some dung and Merry breaking his, er, carrot.
Western Animation
- Code Lyoko: Happens once with a trio of Kankrelats, cementing their status of comic relief among the monsters. Pursuing Aelita in the ice sector, they slide along a frozen tunnel. At the exit, the first two manages to stop before falling down a cliff, but the third one comes barelling too fast and sends them all tumbling.
- In Ed, Edd n Eddy The episode starts with the trio running, Eddy and Double D stop in time, but Ed runs into Eddy. Hilarity ensues when they DON'T fall, but hover in midair until Double D mentions the improbability of it.
