Everything's Better with Llamas

Yes, even Machu Picchu. (Photo by Schuyler Shepherd)


"And for comic relief he should go right through some sort of village, with a fiesta or something happening, with llamas. He knocks a llama over."
—Steven Spielberg discusses the arrival of Indiana Jones to Nepal during the brainstorming session that created Raiders of the Lost Ark

Here's a llama. There's a llama. And another little llama. Fuzzy llama. Funny llama. Llama llama, duck.

If Everything's Better with Monkeys and Everything's Better with Penguins, the same is true for llamas. Maybe it's the extra silent l, or the whole spitting thing, or the resemblence to the word lamer. Whatever the case, llamas are funny.

Other llama-like camelids like alpacas, guanacos, and vicuñas are fair game too.

Examples of Everything's Better with Llamas include:

Anime and Manga

  • Lotte No Omocha has a wild Alpaca in one episode creating a bit of chaos. It also confirms the fears of the school girls that really, Humans Are Cthulhu. This misunderstanding later gets sorted out.


Comic Books

  • Llamas at home, from The Far Side: "Llook out, Llarry! It's the llandllord!" (So llamas are Welsh?)
  • In the Tintin book in Peru, the captain Haddock is repeatedly spit into the face by llamas. At the end, he spits back, just as revenge.
  • In Captain Carrot And The Final Ark, the villain of the story is a Funny Animal version of Ra's Al Ghul, called Rash Al Paca.


Film

  • The titles for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • Napoleon Dynamite featured a scene in which Napoleon fed his llama.
  • In Evan Almighty, a llama delivers a well-deserved facial to John Goodman's character.
  • Barn of the Blood Llama, an awful 1997 movie in which (quoting IMDB) "Inbred hillbillies trap various passersby at their World o' Wool llama farm where an animal coroner is conducting genetic experiments which turn the animals into sex-starved toxic beasts".
  • The 2009 girl's film An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong, in which Chrissa's grandmother gave her a baby llama named Starburst, which naturally received its own toy.
  • The 1978 film Brutes and Savages, a bizarre and racist "documentary" featuring, among other things, a "ritualistic, native llama sacrifice" and an ending that involves llamas mating.


Literature

  • The original Doctor Dolittle had the Pushmepullyou. Llama at both ends.
    • In the book illustrations it had horns, so it was more like "gazelle at both ends." There was a movie musical (not to be confused that Doctor Dolittle movie with the one with Eddie Murphy) that used a llama for it though.
  • A spelling error in the Sherlock Holmes story The Empty House:

"I traveled for two years in Tibet, therefore, and amused myself by visiting Lhassa [sic], and spending some days with the head Llama [sic]."

The one 'l' lama
is a Tibetan priest.
The two 'l' llama
is a furry beast.
And I'm betting you a silk pajama,
There isn't any three 'l' lama.
(It has been brought to my attention that there is a type of fire called a three-alarmer. Poppycock.)

  • In Animorphs #12, Marco acquires a llama morph. The kids are infiltrating a Regis and Kelly-style talk show, and one of the guests is an animal tamer; Marco morphs the llama so he doesn't have to hide anywhere, and gleefully talks about how cute he is and how he's going to be on TV, but he never uses his llama morph again.
  • Anna Dewdney has written some books for preschool children about a young llama with mommy issues. The three books are Llama Llama Mad at Mama, Llama Llama Misses Mama and 'Llama Llama Red Pajama. (In the last one, Llama Llama doesn't want to go to bed and calls out for Mama Llama.)
  • In the mystery novel A Small Target, a group of hikers ventures deep into the Rockies with a pack train of llamas. When a deranged young woman shoots one of the group and then flees into the woods, the party's cook lures her out with food, and the soothing presence of a fluffy white llama at her campsite helps calm the anxious girl's nerves.
  • I Don't Want To Kiss a Llama points out the negatives to llamas.


Live Action TV

  • On Veronica Mars, Logan said his mother wanted alpacas, and on Aliens In America, the dad bred alpacas for money.
  • "Would you like to pet the llama?" is a common riff in ((Mystery Science Theater 3000)). At one point, Crow becomes a llama.
  • Howie Mandel was on an episode of The Tonight Show and did a "llama call" as part of his schtick with Jay. Several minutes later, an animal trainer led a llama out from backstage (as if it was answering Howie's call). Howie looked concerned and said, "That's not the llama I hired for this bit."
  • In the first series of The Mighty Boosh Vince and Howard reminisce about a llama rampage in the zoo and Howard's ability to "calm a llama down." Cue crimp.
  • The classic "Me And My Llama" sketch from Sesame Street is how a whole generation of North American kids ever learned what a llama is. A little girl takes her llama to the dentist, set to music.
  • The Amazing Race has had Detours involving llamas on two separate seasons. There was also a Roadblock with camels, but they just made the racers cry (okay, one racer cry).
  • Monty Python's Flying Circus has the Llama Sketch. "¡Cuidado! ¡Hay llamas!"


Music

  • The Llama Song, of course. This is really the only example we need.
  • The Schoolhouse Rock song "The Four-Legged Zoo" featured practically the whole llama family:

There were elk and bison, a gnu or two,
Giraffes and elephants, quite a few,
A llama, alpaca, vicuna too,
Zebras, ibexes, and one big kudu.


Video Games

  • Many Maxis games, including SimCity and The Sims, are stuffed full of llama references. Sometimes this bordered on worship, as with the llama shrines in SimCity.
    • Not to mention the "Llama Dome" in SimCity 2000 (it had a statistic labeled "Llamas Wed"). SimCity 4 contains the "dollyllama" code to turn your advisors into llamas.
    • Will Wright's official title is, in fact, "Llama consultant".
    • One Spore mission has you go in search of the mythical Golden Llama.
  • Kingdom of Loathing has the Llama Lama, a Buddhist llama who will take you on a Vision Quest.
  • A mention of Llamasoft is truly mandatory, being the games company of ungulate-obsessed programming legend Jeff Minter, and games like Llamatron and Metagalactic Llamas Battle At The Edge Of Time ("Possibly the most stupidly-named game of all time," says the Llamasoft website.)
  • A ship in Vega Strike, very good as a multi-purpose craft, except the one with which Player Character begins the game—it's broken and has reduced weapon mounts. It's a part of Theme Naming: other Merchant faction ships include Ox and Mule.
  • One of the playable characters in the 1994 animal fighting game Brutal: Paws of Fury was an evil llama named Dali Llama.
  • In Zoo Tycoon you can have a Llamas expiate.
  • Even Interactive Fiction is better with llamas; presenting: Llama Adventure!
  • Skull Tag, a port for Doom, has a Llama "award" for killing a player who is in chat mode.
  • You can adopt lost llamas on FarmVille now.
  • Farmville-like Island Paradise had the option to adopt alpacas (a similar animal) from the start.
  • One of the two main stage elements in stage 3 of Contra: Rebirth are lots of robotic llamas.
  • The casual Android game Balloon Popper sets up the background story like this: You are a llama. A llama that hates balloons. Shoot those pesky bright cheerful, colorful balloons out of the sky before you run out of loogie.
  • Pokémon has Arceus, a llama God!
  • Tropico has the llama as its national animal! You can also farm them for wool to sell to China. Llama-related jokes also pop up repeatedly, such as the American ambassador saying they remind him of his mother, who also spit a lot.
  • Ultima Online lets you choose between horses and llamas for a low-level mount or pack animal. The game's programmers also included several llama-related Easter eggs. For example, when an ancient wyrm polymorphs itself to look like a human NPC, its profession is listed as "mystic llama herder".


Web Animation


Webcomics

  • Least I Could Do and its running joke llama.
  • In User Friendly, Stef's obsession with Llama Porn is a running joke. Including that time where listening to 'The Llama Song' on an iPod transforms him into a (black silhouette of) a Llama.
  • On Plus EV here.


Western Animation

"Finally. a llama related wish!"

  • An episode of The Wild Thornberrys has normally hyperactive Wild Child Donnie ends up being fixated by a bunch of llama the titular family's van passes by in the Andes.
  • In one South Park episode, the boys start a fake Peruvian flute band called "The Llama Brothers."
  • In the Donald Duck short "Lake Titicaca" from the 1942 Saludos Amigos, Donald has trouble with a stubborn llama.
  • An episode of Animaniacs had the Warner Bros. pestering the great monk Wally Llama. His mantra is "llama, llama, llama".
  • In the Camp Lazlo episode "Loogie Llama," Lazlo tries to attract an animal that the Bean Scouts can ride. He winds up with a llama that he names "Spitty".
  • Kuzco is turned into a llama in The Emperors New Groove, and there are number of other llama-related gags.

Real Life

  • Among US presidential candidate Obama's many fundraising efforts was rural Butler County, Ohio's "Kiss a Llama for Obama!" Quote: "And yes, the llama did kiss a few preferred people."
  • Don't forget the Elgin Llamas of Swindon
  • Various farms, where, in addition to providing wool, they apparently act somewhat like guard dogs. Interestingly, the camel itself is not included in this trope. This might be because Real Life camels are scary as hell, and not particularly fluffy.
  • Even Deviant ART's picked up on this trope, and has made Llama Badges, able to be given away for free and (once one receives enough) featuring llamas such as Albino Llama, Ninja Llama, Fancy Llama, Wizard Llama, GOLD Llama, and the mythical Rainbow Llama.
    • dA's 10th anniversary was celebrated with real llamas brought into the party.
  • This statue, found in Plaza San Martin in Lima, Peru.
  • Llamas used as pack animals really are better, at least for the environment, than most of the alternatives. Their softer feet don't chew up paths and contribute to erosion the way a donkey's or mule's hooves can.


Other

  • The media player software WinAmp also has llamas as their mascot. Their demo audio file proclaims: "It really whips the llama's ass."
  • Expect Memetic Mutation to plug the word "llama" into any place it remotely fits:
    • Rama Llama Ding Dong
    • There is a garage band called "Dali's Llama"
  • There was a series of hilarious commercials for an Argentinian telecom about "la llama que llama" ("the llama that makes phone calls"), with llama muppets.
  • Densa, a special interest group of Mensa dedicated to celebrating stupidity, has a llama as one of its two mascots, and an informational webpage on llamas.
  • There's a whole lot of smilies you can find on the internet involving llamas, if that counts.
  • The Chinese Grass Mud Horse is, well, llama precisely due to its look.
    • It's pronounced roughly the same as "F**k your mom" in Chinese. When you see people sending photos of a llama to you, you aren't welcomed.
  • The programming textbook Learning Perl by O'Reilly Media has a llama on its cover. (The more advanced and more well known Programming Perl book has a camel on it (this is why camels are frequently associated with the Perl Programming Language), so it's likely they wanted to put a camelid on the beginners' book in addition to having one on the more advanced book.)
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