History Main / DiedDuringProduction

* Yoshitaka Murayama, creator of the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series and lead writer for ''Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes'', passed away on February 6, 2024, more than two months before the latter's release. Fortunately, his work was done before he passed on.

* Creator/SatoshiKon suddenly died while making a film called ''The Dream Machine'', which he described as aimed at a younger audience but accessible to his older fans, with a cast made entirely of robots. Kon learned that he had late-stage pancreatic cancer in April 2010, but initially didn't tell anyone because he didn't want to disturb them -- cancers are still something of a taboo in Japan. He later regretted this decision and verbosely apologized to everyone in his farewell note (he ended it with an apology for "leaving while everyone else was still working") after his producer Masao Maruyama promised to him to finish the movie. Sadly, the film was cancelled.

* The Spanish illustrator and comic artist Creator/FranciscoIbanez died partway through his work on the ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon comic ''Paris 2024'', which was still in a preliminary state.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning'' was put into development not long after Buddy Hackett, who voiced Scuttle, died after suffering a stroke. Creator/MauriceLaMarche replaced him for that movie.

* In October of 2012, [=DrunkDuck=] featured ''[[http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Adventures_of_Wristance/ The Adventures of Wristance]]'' on its front page. Unfortunately, however, creator Distance Erin Larkins was unable to enjoy the attention, as she had died of suicide mere days before the featuring.

** With the exception of Creator/KeijiFujiwara, who retired from his role as Hiroshi Nohara nearly four years before he lost his battle with cancer, several voice actors from the anime died during the show's run.
*** Creator/KanetoShiozawa, the voice of Buriburizaemon, died of injuries sustained in a fall over the Golden Week holiday in 2000. This led to the character being [[TheVoiceless unvoiced]] for 16 years when Creator/HiroshiKamiya was brought in as his voice actor.

*** Creator/RokuroNaya, who voiced Enchou-sensei, died in 2014, Junpei Morita took over a year later after the former's passing.

* Voice actress Creator/TomokoKawakami had, at one point, spoken to Creator/KunihikoIkuhara to see if they'd work together for Ikuhara's anime ''Anime/{{Penguindrum}}'' (as she'd previously voiced the titular heroine of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''). Sadly, Kawakami succumbed to ovarian cancer in 2011.

* Sadly, ''Manga/ChibiMarukoChan'' have a history of this:
** Subverted with Tomozou's previous [=VAs=]; Creator/KeiTomiyama died from pancreatic cancer in September 1995, by that time, Creator/TakeshiAono had already took over his role when the anime returned eight months earlier after a three year hiatus. Aono eventually voiced Tomozou for 15 years, before retiring from voice acting in 2010 due to health issues and Creator/BinShimada eventually took over the role from then on. Aono later died in 2012.

** Maruko's VA Creator/{{TARAKO}} passed away on March 4, 2024, causing the show to go on hiatus and air reruns until Maruko got a new voice actress, only airing one new episode featuring [[SwanSong her final performance of the title character]] on March 24th.

* ''Anime/{{Ojarumaru}}'' creator Rin Inumaru tragically took her own life by jumping off the 14th floor of her apartment in September 2006, likely due to the severe stress she was under. ''Ojarumaru'' itself has OutlivedItsCreator and is still running as of 2021.

** In the English dub, Ren and Inteleon's voice actor, Creator/BillyKametz, died during the dubbing of Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries. He was succeeded by Barrett Leddy, and Billy's final recorded episode -- fittingly, Ren's focus episode -- had an InMemoriam.

* Creator/DonRickles had signed on to reprise his role as Mr. Potato Head in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'', only to die suddenly in 2017 before getting to record any lines. As Mr. Potato Head is a major character in the series, he either had to be recast or removed entirely, neither of which was desirable as Pixar felt Rickles' personality was inseparable from the character. Ultimately, with the blessing of Rickles' estate, director Josh Cooley [[https://ew.com/movies/2019/03/28/toy-story-4-potato-head/ decided]] [[TakeAThirdOption to go through years of unreleased recordings]] [[FakeShemp of Rickles playing the character]], much like how the late Creator/PaulNewman "reprised" his role as Doc Hudson in ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'' almost a decade after his death, to construct a new performance for Mr. Potato Head in honor of Rickles.

* In 2016, ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'' was announced, with the film later being released in 2018. But Creator/ElizabethPena, who played Mirage in [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1 the first film]], passed away in 2014. Mirage does not return in any form in the sequel.

* Creator/ChrisFarley was starring as the eponymous character of ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' when he died from a drug overdose in December 1997. WordOfGod said the movie was 85% finished at the time he died. Farley's ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' castmate Creator/MikeMyers stepped in as Shrek, and this soon led to the story being dramatically changed. Farley's Shrek [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch didn't want to follow the path of his fellow ogres]], whereas Myers's Shrek [[PunchClockHero simply wanted to fulfill a deal he made]] with [[BigBad Lord Farquaad]]. It was not until August 2015 that Farley's performance as Shrek came to light, [[https://youtu.be/9zYT5hQR4Q4 with his take for the campfire scene]].

* Eight months before the release of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', Creator/MaryWickes died as the result of battling four different health conditions. Her final lines were recorded by Creator/JaneWithers.

* Audrey Wells was hired to write the screenplay for the Creator/{{Netflix}} film ''WesternAnimation/OverTheMoon'' in September 2017, but died of breast cancer the following year. Thus, ''Over the Moon'' is her last film. It was eventually released on October 23, 2020.
* In 2000, "Blame Canada" from ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. As per Oscars tradition, the song was to be performed by its original performer, Creator/MaryKayBergman, but she died by suicide four months before the ceremony, so her close friend Creator/RobinWilliams performed it instead.

*** Subverted at least in regards to Jerry Nelson's character Gobo, who had already been passed on to John Tartaglia several years prior. Less certain is how it would affect Nelson's other characters on the show (including Pa Gorg and Marjory the Trash Heap), as well as characters played by Richard Hunt (most notably Junior Gorg and many minor characters) and Jim Henson (Cantus the Minstrel and Convincing John).
* Philip D. Garcia, who wore Binyah Binyah's costume in the show ''Series/GullahGullahIsland'', was killed in a car crash in January 1997, before production on the fourth and final season, as well as the short-lived ''Binyah Binyah!'', began. Justin Campbell took over the role as a result.
* Puppet example: Several Muppets that returned in ''Muppets Now'' had to be rebuilt since their original puppets got destroyed or deteriorated several years prior.

** Also averted with Creatr/JerryNelson, who passed in 2012. Due to fading health, his Muppet involvement had mostly been reduced to voicing his characters on ''Sesame Street'', with other puppeteers having taken over the majority of his characters prior to his death. Afterwards, Matt Vogel took over the characters that Jerry was still voicing, including the Count.
** Unfortunately played straight with Creator/RichardHunt, whose 1992 passing resulted in many of his characters (including most, if not all, of his ''Sesame'' characters) being retired or reduced to bit parts for many years.

** Another aversion was Creator/CarollSpinney, who retired a year before his death, though several segments he recorded would not air until afterwards[[note]]however, the last episode he was involved in had his vocals dubbed over with Matt Vogel, possibly because Spinney's age was very much showing through his voice at that point[[/note]]. The first new episode to air after his passing featured an InMemoriam tag at the end that said, "Thank you for bringing so much life to Big Bird and Oscar. We'll miss you, Caroll."

** Perhaps the most famous example of this trope was Will Lee, who played Mr. Hooper during the show's first decade. He was ill with cancer during his later years on the show and passed away from it in 1982. The cast decided to make an episode in response to his death, which became one of ''Sesame Street''[='=]s signature moments.

* Long-running MMO ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'' brought back legendary voice actor Creator/KevinConroy to reprise the role of Franchise/{{Batman}}, and has continued to play the part in various additional campaigns added to the game, up until he died from cancer in November 2022. He also reprised the role in ''VideoGame/MultiVersus'', which released a few months before his death, and posthumously for ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'', a game set in the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'', prior to his death, with the World Premiere trailer including a dedication to Conroy. Creator/MarkHamill retired as Joker, Batman's iconic ArchEnemy, in response to Kevin Conroy's death.

** Regarding ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', Gunter's Japanese voice actor Creator/RokuroNaya passed away from cancer in November 2014, seven months before Fates' Japanese release. He did manage to record all of Gunter's lines before his death, and they were used accordingly.
** Creator/BillyKametz died of stage IV colon cancer on June 9, 2022, fifteen days before the worldwide releases of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'', where he reprised [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Ferdinand von Aegir]], and ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFilesNirvanaInitiative'', where he played Tearer.

* Master Xehanort, the [[spoiler:assumed]] BigBad of the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, became an infamous case of losing voice actors in multiple languages. His Japanese actor Creator/ChikaoOhtsuka died of heart failure in January 2015, first English actor Creator/LeonardNimoy died of lung cancer in February 2015, while second actor Creator/RutgerHauer died from an unspecified illness in July 2019. He has since been recast to Chikao's son Creator/AkioOtsuka (who also voiced Xehanort's Heartless "Ansem") in Japanese and Creator/ChristopherLloyd in English.

* Narrowly averted by Creator/RobinSachs, who passed away shortly before the release of the final piece of content for the original ''Franchise/MassEffect'' trilogy, ''Citadel'', where he voiced the gruff old mercenary Zaeed Massani since ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. Sachs had actually managed to finish recording all of his lines before his death, and the entire DLC was later [[InMemoriam dedicated to his memory]].

* Creator/DaisukeGori, the Japanese voice actor for Pigma Dengar, General Pepper, and Andross in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'', who also [[RoleReprise reprised his role]] as Pigma in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', died of suicide in early 2010, which necessitated a [[TheOtherDarrin complete recast of the character]] for future ''Star Fox'' games starting with ''64 3D''.

* With Creator/YukoMizutani succumbing to breast cancer on May 17, 2016, it's unknown who will be the replacement of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' character Excellen Browning's voice following the release of ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration The Moon Dwellers]]''. Knowing Banpresto, however, it might not be such a problem as they would simply re-use her pre-recorded lines (as they have kept using recorded voices of Creator/HirotakaSuzuoki to voice [[Anime/Daitarn3 Banjo Haran]] long after his death), but it might come at the cost of Excellen having lesser prominence compared to before, something that has been happened since probably ''2nd Original Generations''.

** Maruko's VA Creator/{{TARAKO}} passed away on March 4, 2024, causing the show to go on hiatus and air reruns until Maruko got a new voice actress, only airing one new episode featuring [[SwanSong her final episode voicing the title character]] on March 24th.

** Maruko's VA Creator/{{TARAKO}} died in March 4, 2024, with [[SwanSong her final episode voicing the title character]] is scheduled to air posthumously in March 24.

** Maruko's VA Tarako died in March 4, 2024, with her final episode is scheduled to air posthumously in March 24.

* In August 2018, Momoko Sakura, the creator of ''Manga/ChibiMarukoChan'', died of breast cancer while the anime adaptation of said manga was still on the air. But unlike the ''Shin-chan'' and ''Sazae-san'' examples, Momoko had little involvement in the anime after 1996 (which was when the original manga ended), only returning to the show to write three MilestoneCelebration episodes.[[labelnote: *]]These were "The Day I Was Born", the show's 1,000th episode that aired in 2012, and "Maruko Sings A Song In The Bath" and "I Love Tama-Chan", the episodes that aired on the day of the show's 25th anniversary in 2015.[[/labelnote]]

* Series creator Creator/AkiraToriyama passed away from acute subdural hematoma during ''Anime/DragonBallDaima's'' production, leaving it the final ''Franchise/DragonBall'' project made with his involvement.

* Seiyuu Creator/TomokoKawakami spoke to Creator/KunihikoIkuhara to see if they'd [[Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena work together again]] in his latest series, ''Anime/{{Penguindrum}}''. Sadly, Kawakami succumbed to ovarian cancer in 2011.

** Also averted with Jerry Nelson, who passed in 2012. Due to fading health, his Muppet involvement had mostly been reduced to voicing his characters on ''Sesame Street'', with other puppeteers having taken over the majority of his characters prior to his death. Afterwards, Matt Vogel took over the characters that Jerry was still voicing, including the Count.
** Unfortunately played straight with Richard Hunt, whose 1992 passing resulted in many of his characters (including most, if not all, of his ''Sesame'' characters) being retired or reduced to bit parts for many years.

** Another aversion was Carroll Spinney, who retired a year before his death, though several segments he recorded would not air until afterwards[[note]]however, the last episode he was involved in had his vocals dubbed over with Matt Vogel, possibly because Carroll's age was very much showing through his voice at that point[[/note]]. The first new episode to air after his passing featured an InMemoriam tag at the end that said, "Thank you for bringing so much life to Big Bird and Oscar. We'll miss you, Carroll."

*** Joe also wrote several songs for ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', including its theme song; that show aired its second episode on the day he died. He only wrote songs for the first season, with Margaret Jones writing songs that appeared later in the show's run.

** Michael Jeter, who played Mr. Noodle's brother, suffered a fatal seizure in 2003, while the ''Series/ElmosWorld'' segments were still in production. The character would not return to the segments until 2017, when ''Elmo's World'' itself was rebooted.

** Creator/UnshoIshizuka, who voiced Professor Oak and the narrator in Japanese, and who had a few voices for Pokemon [[NonDubbedGrunts retained in the English dub]][[note]]Kingler, Gyarados, Onix / Steelix, etc[[/note]], passed away from esophageal cancer in 2018. He was replaced by Creator/KenyuHoriuchi for Oak and the narrator, while his audio tracks for the Pokemon remained in use throughout the series, though those he only recently started voicing (like Kiawe's Charizard) were recast to other actors. His original narration for ''Anime/MewtwoStrikesBack'' was also retained in its remake ''Anime/MewtwoStrikesBackEvolution''.

* Four months before the American VHS release of ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'', Phil Hartman, who played Jiji, was murdered in his home. Said release of the film ends with a dedication to Hartman.

* Audrey Wells was hired to write the screenplay for the Creator/{{Netflix}} film ''WesternAnimation/OverTheMoon'' in September 2017 but died the next year. Thus, ''Over the Moon'' is her last film. It was eventually released on October 23, 2020.

* Creator/DonRickles had signed on to reprise his role as Mr. Potato Head in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'', only to die suddenly in 2017 before getting to record any lines. As Mr. Potato Head is a major character in the series, he either had to be recast or removed entirely, neither of which was desirable as Pixar felt Rickles' personality was inseparable from the character. Ultimately, with the blessing of Rickles' estate, director Josh Cooley [[https://ew.com/movies/2019/03/28/toy-story-4-potato-head/ decided]] [[TakeAThirdOption to go through years of unreleased recordings]] [[FakeShemp of Rickles playing the character]], much like how the late Creator/PaulNewman "reprised" his role as Doc Hudson in ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'' almost a decade after his death, to construct a new performance for Mr. Potato Head in honor of Rickles. When ''Toy Story 5'' was announced, however, they finally decided to recast him (as well as Mrs. Potato Head, due to the death of Creator/EstelleHarris).

* ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'': Will Ryan, who played several characters in this radio show, most notably Eugene Meltsner, lost his battle with cancer on November 19, 2021. It is unknown what will happen to the roles he played.