History Main / FailedAttemptAtScaring

* ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'': In "Creepy Trip to Lemon Twist," Dick Dastardly and Muttley try to scare Luke and Blubber (Arkansas Chuggabug) out of the race by posing as ghosts. It fails miserably as Luke and Blubber look as if Dick and Muttley had lost their minds. It didn't help that two real ghosts were behing them and exposed them.

* ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFUMOFFU'': Zig-zagged in one episode. Kaname tells a scary story, which very much terrifies Kiyoko and Mizuki. However, Sousuke is unfazed. Suggesting that a trip to a real haunted location might prove more effective, Kaname and Mizuki take Sousuke to an abandoned hospital that is reputed to be haunted (Kiyoko is excused due to a recent run-in with a sex offender). Mizuki is immediately scared off when she sees an old woman in the hospital window. Kaname thinks Mizuki is just being paranoid...until Sousuke reveals he also saw the woman but wasn't frightened because she wasn't armed. Throughout the hospital, Kaname and Sousuke encounter classic haunted house tropes, like mysterious phone calls from people claiming to be burning in a fire (the hospital was closed after a fire), whispering voices, things moving in the shadows, ghostly apparitions, and even a blood-soaked girl holding a hammer saying "Go home or drop dead." in a CreepyMonotone. All of this has Kaname freaked out, but Sousuke, a veteran of numerous battlefields, is utterly unfazed. It turns out the whole thing was an effort by some local kids to do the hospital as a haunted house to keep teens and hooligans from using the hospital as a make-out spot or harassing the man who lived there (the son of the former hospital director).

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'': A major plot point is that today's kids are harder for the monsters of M.I. to scare, resulting in an energy crisis caused by a scream shortage. Not helped by the fact that monsters think human kids are extremely toxic, making their jobs even tougher.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': The main conflict of the prequel is Mike wanting to be a scarer despite the fact that he isn't naturally scary-looking. [[spoiler:When he does sneak into the human world to scare some kids, they just laugh at him.]]

--> '''Sheldon:''' I tried to scare an Indian with a snake! Come on, Cooper, you're better than this.

* ''Series/SaluteYourShorts'': After Budnick tells the other kids a ghost story, they make plans to get him back. They challenge him to spend the night alone out in the woods while they devise various means to try and scare him. Budnick anticipates this and leaves a number of warnings that will alert him to their presence, so he hears them coming and is able to foil all their attempts. [[spoiler:Except for the last one, where they trick him into walking into some spiderwebs. [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes He hates spiders]].]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': "[[Recap/TheVentureBrosS3AVeryVentureHalloween A Very Venture Halloween]]" opens with a series of flashbacks showing Hank and Dean trying to scare their father and Brock on three different Halloweens. First as vampires, then as mummies, then by [[FakingTheDead faking their deaths by pretending a bookcase crushed their heads]]. Dr. Venture isn't the least bit scared by any of these, and on the last attempt is more annoyed that he has to [[spoiler:get their clones ready again]], much to the confusion of the boys.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': A major plot point is that today's kids are harder for the monsters of M.I. to scare, resulting in an energy crisis caused by a scream shortage. Not helped by the fact that monsters think human kids are extremely toxic, making their jobs even tougher.

** In "Remembrance of Courage's Past", Courage has gone into a ThousandYardStare overnight from [[spoiler:his repressed memories of losing his parents]]. When Muriel expresses concern, Eustace meanly offers a "cure" and pulls out his [[RunningGag Ooga-Booga-Booga mask]], Courage [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness doesn't even flinch or acknowledge the scare]]. At that point, even Eustace is surprised at the odd behavior.

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': The titular scarecrow from "Night of the Scarecrow" tries hard to be scary like the rest of his family, but it just doesn't work for him. In the end, the Bagges convince him to become a hay ride driver who is liked by children instead.

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