# Scene with tea-cup sized elephant under glass?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 13, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059 "2015-07-13T15:27:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/1 "2015-07-13T15:27:57Z")
I was having a conversation with a friend, and a comment came up involving tiny elephants. I started describing this scene to them, and everyone gave me this weird look. I then tried googling it, and failed miserably. Now everyone thinks I’m imagining things.
I have a distinct memory of a scene, most likely from a movie I saw on TV in passing, showing two men searching through someone’s victorian-ish lab/study/library, looking at various oddities. One of the things on display was a tiny, tea-cup-sized elephant under a glass cloche on an end-table. One of the men in the room was quite taken by the little elephant, and had to be practically dragged away to do whatever it was they were actually in there to accomplish.
Am I imagining this scene?
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/2 "2015-07-13T15:36:54Z")
It’s in _Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow_. One of the “men” was Gwenyth Paltrow.
IMDB link: [Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346156/)
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### Author:  [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/3 "2015-07-13T16:44:33Z")
THANK YOU!
Can’t believe I misremembered the people and remembered the elephant. My brain. :smack:
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/4 "2015-07-13T17:18:34Z")
Actually, scenes with shrunken elephants occur in several places. (For some reason, elephants, probably because they are so large, seem to be the “natural” choice for shrunken beasts. You don’t see many shrunken hippos, or rhinos, or whales, for some reason). You can see them in:
**The Amazing Colossal Man** (1957)
**a Girl in his Pocket (_Un amour de poche_)**, also 1957
The “Jerry was a Man” episode of the TV series **Masters of Science Fiction** (2007) (based on a Heinlein short story)
There are probably others
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/5 "2015-07-13T18:49:31Z")
But the scene \*\*Lasciel \*\* describes is like the one in Sky Captain (although it’s a 1930s-style mad scientist’s lab & not Victorian).
Lasciel, have a look at [this photo](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3844312064/tt0346156?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_9). Is that your tiny elephant under glass?
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### Author:  [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/6 "2015-07-13T18:56:32Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#):
>
> But the scene \*\*Lasciel \*\* describes is like the one in Sky Captain (although it’s a 1930s-style mad scientist’s lab & not Victorian).
>
> Lasciel, have a look at [this photo](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3844312064/tt0346156?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_9). Is that your tiny elephant under glass?
It absolutely is, despite my memory failures along the way.
I do like a good tiny elephant tho, so I will look up those others as well.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/7 "2015-07-13T19:51:16Z")
> [@Lasciel](#):
>
> It absolutely is, despite my memory failures along the way.
> I do like a good tiny elephant tho, so I will look up those others as well.
If you like tiny literary elephants, you might like “Elephas Frumenti” by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, one of the _Tales from Gavagan’s Bar_ in the anthology of the same title.(1954), and readable here:
[http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/9781625792303/9781625792303\_\_\_3.htm](http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/9781625792303/9781625792303___3.htm)
Also have a look at the Pond Hippopotamus" on p. 57 of Tom Weller’s _Science Made Stupid_
> **[Science Made Stupid | PDF | Science | Science (General)](https://www.scribd.com/doc/14650088/Science-Made-Stupid)**
>
> How to Discomprehend the World Around Us.
>
> Written & Illustrated by Tom Weller.
>
> To download in other formats, see:
> http://www.chrispennello.com/tweller/
(also the _Itsyhippus_ on p. 61. No elephants, though.)
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/8 "2015-07-13T19:54:48Z")
Also, no elephants, alas, but **Spy Kids 2** gives us a swarm of tiny animals:
[https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=A0LEV0HwFqRVP58AsW9XNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTEydHJkZWJvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjA0ODZfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=“Spy+Kids+2”+Tiny+Animals&fr=yfp-t-252#id=1&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fimg3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F\_\_cb20120604005824%2Fspykids%2Fimages%2Fe%2Fee%2FRomero’s\_Zoo\_Two.png&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEV0HwFqRVP58AsW9XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEydHJkZWJvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjA0ODZfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=%22Spy+Kids+2%22+Tiny+Animals&fr=yfp-t-252#id=1&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fimg3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20120604005824%2Fspykids%2Fimages%2Fe%2Fee%2FRomero's_Zoo_Two.png&action=click)
[https://search.yahoo.com/search;\_ylt=AwrBT7XjFqRV5.UAekFXNyoA;\_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10LTI1MgRncHJpZAMxNEpHT2N3elRlS3cza1M1UG0zMy5BBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgNzZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzI1BHF1ZXJ5AyJTcHkgS2lkcyAyIiB0aW55IGFuaW1hbHMEdF9zdG1wAzE0MzY4MTcxMzc-?p="Spy+Kids+2"+tiny+animals&fr2=sb-top-search&fr=yfp-t-252&fp=1](https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrBT7XjFqRV5.UAekFXNyoA;_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10LTI1MgRncHJpZAMxNEpHT2N3elRlS3cza1M1UG0zMy5BBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgNzZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzI1BHF1ZXJ5AyJTcHkgS2lkcyAyIiB0aW55IGFuaW1hbHMEdF9zdG1wAzE0MzY4MTcxMzc-?p=%22Spy+Kids+2%22+tiny+animals&fr2=sb-top-search&fr=yfp-t-252&fp=1)
As an extra bonus, the mixed-up tiny animals are all puns – Spider Monkey, Horsefly, etc. See if you can work them all out.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/9 "2015-07-13T20:04:58Z")
And don’t forget [mimmoths!](http://girlgenius.wikia.com/wiki/Mimmoth)
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/10 "2015-07-13T22:23:56Z")
There was also a tiny elephant in the book (but not the movie) of _Jurassic Park_.
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### Author:  [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/11 "2015-07-13T22:53:51Z")
You know, the more I read this thread, the more I remember a tiny elephant in a jar too, but it wasn’t from Sky Captain.
I think I remember the elephant being small, and trumpeting, but it was a really high pitched trumpet. I want to say it was from a Roger Rabbit-type movie.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/12 "2015-07-13T22:59:52Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#):
>
> I think I remember the elephant being small, and trumpeting, but it was a really high pitched trumpet. I want to say it was from a Roger Rabbit-type movie.
A Looney Toon, I think. Bugs Bunny and the Evil Scientist, maybe? :dubious:
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/13 "2015-07-14T00:25:35Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> For some reason, elephants, probably because they are so large, seem to be the “natural” choice for shrunken beasts. You don’t see many shrunken hippos, or rhinos, or whales, for some reason.
But you can have a shrunken giraffe if you [has opulence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkB9OT2XVvA).
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/14 "2015-07-18T13:38:18Z")
[The North American House Hippo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBfi8OEz0rA)
[Punch Trunk](https://vimeo.com/73883417)
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### Author:  [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/15 "2015-07-18T16:05:50Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#):
>
> You know, the more I read this thread, the more I remember a tiny elephant in a jar too, but it wasn’t from Sky Captain.
>
> I think I remember the elephant being small, and trumpeting, but it was a really high pitched trumpet. I want to say it was from a Roger Rabbit-type movie.
Despicable Me has such a scene, the North Korean scientists use a shrink ray on an elephant and once it is mouse sized it runs around and trumpets in a high pitch.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/16 "2015-07-18T19:17:03Z")
I am almost positive there is a Ray Harryhausen movie with a Tiny Elephant. I know there is a full sized elephant in 20 Million Miles to Earth and a tiny Horse (sort of) in Valley of the Gwangi but I could have sworn there is a tiny Elephant somewhere.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/17 "2015-07-18T23:32:36Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> [Punch Trunk](https://vimeo.com/73883417)
Holy crap! I probably saw this last when I came home from school one afternoon in 1965 or '66!
Wasn’t there a scene with a miniature elephant in one of Rank’s \*\*\*Sindbad \*\*\*movies, or something like that? :dubious: 😕
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/18 "2015-07-19T00:48:50Z")
There’s also the Disney cartoon, [Goliath II](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT5yc212FFE).
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### Author:  [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scene-with-tea-cup-sized-elephant-under-glass/725059/19 "2015-07-19T11:34:19Z")
I seem to recall a tiny elephant in a jar at the market in the film [Stardust.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486655/)