History Main / BigBudgetBeefUp

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'' has a tendency to make characters ''much'' more powerful than they're supposed to be during key moments. The four short films which lead into the first season were lavishly-produced and released months apart, and they featured ''massive'' action scenes with the main characters effortlessly mowing down dozens of enemies and pulling off incredibly complex fighting moves. When the series proper started and the animators needed to have an episode out each week, the fights instantly became much smaller, with those same characters now struggling to overcome a handful of those same enemies and relying on simpler techniques. However, sometimes during season premieres, season finales, and mid-season finales, everyone temporarily [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] courtesy of the more generous budget and scheduling allotted to those special episodes.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]
* Prior to ''WebOriginal/DemoReel'', Creator/DougWalker purchased an actual studio space for it and other Chicago-based Channel Awesome productions. When he had to bring the Critic back, the bigger budget went toward a green screen, more sketches with an expanded cast, and amazing props/costumes. Quite an upgrade from being filmed in Doug's parents' basement. This makes the episodes that return to the primary original format of "Critic just sits and reviews a movie" jarringly different from the sketch-based reviews.
* WebOriginal/JonTron has also received a significant budget boost. Unlike the Critic, there isn't much of a difference in terms of content. He just has more money to indulge in all the [[WidgetSeries batshit insanity]] that goes down.

* The second ''Franchise/{{Gamera}}'' film ''Film/GameraVsBarugon'' has noticeably scaled up, well, everything. Bigger sets, better monster suits, better music, better actors, and a more solid over directing style.

** The Live Action version, ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', did as well, which is expected as it's a Toku series.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Each year since Season 1.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' occasionally had the bad guys animate a whole bunch of monsters at once, only for them to fall to this trope.
** TheMovie has three main monsters and countless creatures springing from Ivan Ooze. It should be noted also that the rest of the budget was used for the Rangers' suits (they all get breastplates, while some of them gain special abilities) and the special effects, which step up from PeopleInRubberSuits to ConspicuousCG.

* ''Franchise/KamenRider'' series tend to have one of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] become a {{Mook|s}} near the end of the season, with multiple costumes made for bigger fight scenes. Their movies also tend to have better wirework, more complex action scenes, and more explosions.

** The Daleks are galaxy spanning empires that can field thousands of units - and yet the most we ever saw were the same four or so Daleks costumes paraded around in a circle to make them seem more numerous... until the 2005 revival, where the climax of the first series featured a Big Budget long shot with millions of Daleks all lusting for the destruction of the Doctor and the extermination of the human race. It made every fan weep tears of joy.

* ''{{Film/Serenity}}'' is basically a much more expensive, better-looking episode of [[{{Series/Firefly}} the series it's spun off from]]. And it is ''awesome!''

* FightingGame Anime like ''StreetFighter'' and ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' are notorious for featuring KiAttacks much more powerful than the games would suggest. (And in reverse, when ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' was turned into a FightingGame, Ranma's extraordinarily powerful KiAttacks were substantially weakened.)

** TheMovie has three main monsters and countless creatures springing from Ivan Ooze. It should be noted also that the rest of the budget was used for the Rangers' suits (they all get breastplates, while some of them gain special abilities) and the special effects, which step up from PeopleInRubberSuits to ConspicuousCGI.

* ''Franchise/KamenRider'' series tend to have one of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] become a {{Mook}} near the end of the season, with multiple costumes made for bigger fight scenes. Their movies also tend to have better wirework, more complex action scenes, and more explosions.

** Happened before that. The Creator/PeterCushing [[Film/DrWhoAndTheDaleks Dalek]] [[Film/DaleksInvasionEarth2150AD movies]] really make a Dalek invasion look like one ''should,'' the first movie even being a remake of the Daleks' show debut, making the very same story seem much more epic. The movies are often reviled by fans for their deviation from canon (Cushing's First Doctor is apparently a human named Dr. Who, primarily) but at the time, it was amazing. They looked at least as good as the 1980s episodes, with a more 'summer blockbuster' feel, at a time when the TV show hadn't worked its way up to color, or having the ''matte paintings'' that were supposed to make the hallways look longer '''[[SpecialEffectFailure actually go all the way to the floor.]]'''

* WebOriginal/JonTron has also received a significant budget boost. Unlike the Critic, there isn't much of a difference in terms of content. He just has more money to indulge in all the [[BizarroShow batshit insanity]] that goes down.

* Despite being Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'s most popular and successful show, ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' has always hid its modest budget with [[LimitedAnimation sparse movement]] made up of strong drawings. When it came time to make ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'', the crew went all-out with Creator/JohnKricfalusi-[[DerangedAnimation inspired animation]], expansive use of [[RogerRabbitEffect mixed-media]] and a [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome lush orchestral score]] in place of the series' library of stock music.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' recreated the series' model train set at double the size on a Toronto sound stage. [[UncannyValley Still couldn't get the faces to move, though]].

* The first "season" of ''WebVideo/LasagnaCat'' was a relatively forward affair, never going beyond using simple and basic [[ChromaKey greenscreen effects]] and actors in simple costumes. After a SequelGap of nine years, the second "season" arrives and goes all out, using more complicated greenscreen effects, more elaborate costumes, and even sets, props, and several on-location shoots, and does stuff like recreating a whole segment of the pilot episode of ''Series/MiamiVice'' practically shot for shot and creating a whole miniature town in breakfast products only to blow it up.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' is this trope in spades. For example, the Daleks are galaxy spanning empires that can field thousands of units - and yet the most we ever saw were the same four or so Daleks costumes paraded around in a circle to make them seem more numerous... until the 2005 revival, where the climax of the series featured a Big Budget long shot with millions of Daleks all lusting for the destruction of the Doctor and the extermination of the human race. It made every fan weep tears of joy.
** Ironically (or appropriately), all those special effects that all knocked our socks off 10 years ago? They haven't aged very well.

** The show's Dalek episodes benefitted from this film as well - the rainbow-colored Daleks don't look so garish in black and white, so suddenly the show had more props to work with.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' recreated the series' model train set at double the size on a Toronto sound stage. [[UncannyValley Still couldn't make the faces to move, though]].

* Prior to ''WebOriginal/DemoReel'', Creator/DougWalker purchased an actual studio space for it and other Chicago-based Channel Awesome productions. When ''Demo Reel'' tanked and Doug brought WebOriginal/TheNostalgiaCritic back, the bigger budget went toward a green screen, more sketches with an expanded cast, and amazing props/costumes. Quite an upgrade from being filmed in Doug's parents' basement. This makes the episodes that return to the primary original format of "Critic just sits and reviews a movie" jarringly different from the sketch-based reviews.

* TheMovie of the first season of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' noticeably upped the power of the characters, to the point that Nanoha's [[WaveMotionGun Starlight Breaker]] ''levels a city.''

* Episodes of ''{{WesternAnimation/Animaniacs}}'', ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' that were animated by Creator/TMSEntertainment cost more to produced than most of the other studios Creator/WarnerBros was using at the time.

* Episodes of ''{{WesternAnimation/Animaniacs}}'', ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' that were animated by Creator/TMSEntertainment cost more to use than most of the other studios Creator/WarnerBros was using at the time.

* Disney's television output from TMS and [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits their (now closed) units in Japan and Australia]] usually looked ''much'' more expensive than the other contractors' work normally did.

* Happened between [[Film/{{Transformers]] the first Transformers movie]] and [[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen its first sequel]], which allowed for bigger action scenes and more complexity on the robots. Inverted a bit with ''[[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Dark of the Moon]]'', as while it ''was'' more expensive than the first film ($195 million to the $150 million of the first). It still manged to be less expensive[[note]] by about $5 million[[/note]] than ''Revenge of the Fallen'', yet look like a film '''''twice''''' its size.

* Episodes of ''{{WesternAnimation/Animaniacs}}'', ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' that were animated by Creator/TMSEntertainment cost more to produced than most of the other studios Creator/WarnerBros was using at the time.

** Episodes from Creator/SpectrumAnimation and {{Creator/Startoons}} also tended to cost more to produce. The latter being being demestic-based rather then Asian meant a higher cost than its counterparts in [[{{Creator/Akom}} South]] [[Creator/KokoEnterprises Korea]], [[Creator/WangFilmProductions Taiwan]] or [[Creator/StudioJuino Japan]].

** Episodes from Creator/SpectrumAnimation and {{Creator/Startoons}} also cost more to produced too, the later being that the studio was local rather then Asian meaning that pay is higher then that of Asian studios such as that of [[{{Creator/Akom}} South]] [[Creator/KokoEnterprises Korea]] and [[Creator/WangFilmProductions Taiwan]].
* Disney's television output from TMS and [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits their now closed units in Japan and Australia]] costed more to produced then that of what Disney will use later on in it's output.
** Japan and Australia were so expensive that they were cut off from television animation by the late 90s and were reserved on DirectToVideo movies (and in Japan's case Pooh features) until they were closed down.

* ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' had this in spades. In the ultimate fanboy "Franchise/{{Godzilla}} versus Everyone" film, Big G plows through almost all his classic opponents, easily dispatching monsters that formerly fought him for an entire movie. In fact, at one point he takes down ''three'' at once in a fight that lasts about a minute (ironically, those three monsters are the only ones Godzilla doesn't kill).
** The [[{{Film/Godzilla2014}} 2014 Godzilla reboot]] features Godzilla in his biggest incarnation yet, bigger than every other incarnation of the character in terms of both height and length.

** The franchise makes occasional references to genetic augments, who were so powerful that they caused the Federation to outlaw the process. In the television shows, they've never come across as more than a fit human. Come StarTrekIntoDarkness, and one of them finally lives up to the hype.

* The second Franchise/{{Gamera}} film ''Film/GameraVsBarugon'' has noticeably scaled up, well, everything. Bigger sets, better monster suits, better music, better actors, and a more solid over directing style.

* ''{{Franchise/Terminator}} 2'': Not only did the then-record $100 million budget allowed for a SpecialEffectsEvolution, but the story's scope is bigger, the CGI-animated liquid metal Terminator is far harder to kill, and the heroes fight more than just a Terminator, with one major scene revolving around a clash with an army of police when they invade Cyberdyne.
* The second ''{{Gamera}}'' film Gamera vs. Barugon has noticeably scaled up, well, everything. Bigger sets, better monster suits, better music, better actors, and a more solid over directing style.

* ''PowerRangers'' occasionally had the bad guys animate a whole bunch of monsters at once, only for them to fall to this trope.

* Episodes of ''{{WesternAnimation/Animaniacs}}'', ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' that were animated by Creator/TMSEntertainment cost more to produced then most of the other studios Creator/WarnerBros was using at the time.

* ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' had a major shift from the first season to the second season. Compare the Ryloth campaign from season one to the Geonosis Campaign of season two. And then compare THAT to the Kamino battle of season three, and then Umbara from season four.
* Despite being {{Nickelodeon}}'s most popular and successful show, ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' has always hid its modest budget with [[LimitedAnimation sparse movement]] made up of strong drawings. When it came time to make TheMovie, the crew went all-out with Creator/JohnKricfalusi-[[DerangedAnimation inspired animation]], expansive use of [[RogerRabbitEffect mixed-media]] and a [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome lush orchestral score]] in place of the series' library of stock music.
* ''ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' recreated the series' model train set at double the size on a Toronto sound stage. [[UncannyValley Still couldn't make the faces to move, though]].

* ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'' has a tendency to make characters ''much'' more powerful than they're supposed to be during key moments. The four short films which lead into the first season were lavishly-produced and released months apart and featured ''massive'' action scenes with the main characters effortlessly mowing down dozens of enemies and pulling off incredibly complex fighting moves. When the series proper started and the animators needed to have an episode out each week, the fights instantly became much smaller, with those same characters now struggling to overcome a handful of those same enemies and relying on simpler techniques. However, sometimes during season premieres, season finales, and mid-season finales, everyone temporarily [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] courtesy of the more generous budget and scheduling allotted to those special episodes.