History Main / BottleEpisode

* In the first season of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', the episode "Pikachu's Goodbye" was thrown together during the hiatus following the "Electric Soldier Porygon" seizure incident, and was the first aired when the show returned from its hiatus. To take pressure off the animators, the only Pokemon included were Meowth and Pikachu (the latter in large numbers).

[[folder: Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', especially compared to other movies of Disney's Revival Era. The film takes place entirely in the Madrigal home/village, as opposed to the characters going on a journey across different locations. [[JustifiedTrope This is justified]] as the miracle which created the Encanto also surrounded it with virtually impassable mountains to sequester the town from the outside word.
[[/folder]]

* ''Theatre/AChorusLine'' conveniently takes place on a stage in a theatre. The entire plot is just one audition.
* ''Theatre/ArsenicAndOldLace'' is a farce that takes place entirely in a living room.

* ''I'm Not Rappaport'' focuses on two elderly men sitting on a bench in Central Park.

-->-- '''Abed''', ''Series/{{Community}}'', "Cooperative Calligraphy" ([[HypocriticalHumor the series's bottle episode]])

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' had the eleventh episode, "Toys in the Attic", set entirely within the ''Bebop'', their own spaceship.

[[folder: Films - Animation]]

* The majority of ''Fanfic/{{Glass}}'' is just Seto, Pegasus, and a glass wall, with occasional looks into other characters and locations.

* ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'', not for any sort of budget constraints but for realistic reasons. The narrow gauge railways on Sodor, particularly the Skarloey or the Arlesdale Railway; can only have interactions with the standard gauge cast ''at'' their junction points. Most of the books set on the Skarloey Railway in particular act like this, with the normal standard gauge cast encountering the narrow gauge characters at Crovan's Gate station, then the rest of these books' narratives happen on the isolated narrow gauge line. It gives the Skarloey Railway focused books a separate tone and character arc from the rest of the series, since other than those brief interactions at the junction; the books are carried mostly independently with their own cast apart from more famous series regulars.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'':

* The anime of ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}'' has episode 19, it's set almost entirely within the Classic Literature Club room and exclusively features the two main characters Eru Chitanda and Hotaro Oreki.

* Unless you count the Machinima aspects of the show, the entirety of ''Machinima/ArbyNTheChief'' mainly consists of two talking action figures that live alone in an apartment and are unable to venture out of it in fear of causing panic to the outside world.

Bottle episodes often place a higher burden on the writers than a normal episode. Due to limitations in locations and cast, the writers have to lean heavily on inventive situations and dialogue to carry the show. Depending on the writer and how well the premise works out, bottle episodes can range from terrible to some of the best-received.

One advantage of a bottle episode is that it comes equipped with its own reason for why the characters need to stay together and communicate, an essential part of screenwriting.

* Aside from a brief scene at the beginning, ''LightNovel/ReZero'' Episode 18 focuses solely on Subaru and Rem, and they spend three-quarters of the episode up on a roof while Subaru has a DarkestHour HeroicBSOD and Rem tries to talk him out of it. The animation is actually extremely good.

* ''WebVideo/EchoChamber'', the Wiki/TVTropes webseries, had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmB1u1C-cSs an episode]] on WalkAndTalk which was substantially shorter and simpler than a normal episode. Tropers were divided on whether its [[Administrivia/BrevityIsWit brevity]] was an asset or a liability, compared to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV_W6uMfrv0 the previous episode]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', especially compared to other movies of Disney's Revival Era. The film takes place entirely in the Madrigal home/village, as opposed to the characters going on a journey across different locations.

* About half of ''Film/SawI'' takes place in the bathroom Adam and Lawrence are trapped in, due in part to the fact that directors Leigh Whannell and James Wan were just two guys fresh out of film school with not much in the way of a budget and only eighteen days to film their movie.

* In the latter half of ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Devil May Cry 4]]'', since you are replaying the same levels/bosses as the first half, the level structure is just reversed, with Dante having to kill most of the bosses that Nero fought in the first half.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', especially compared to other movies of Disney's Revival Era, takes place entirely in the Madrigal home/village, as opposed to the characters going on a journey across different locations.