History Main / StoppedReadingTooSoon

[[folder: Film -- Animated]]

* Lampshaded in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', where the title character, after being rebuked for trying out a dangerous spell he found in an old book, comments that it really doesn't make any sense to put the warnings about horrible, mind-shattering potential consequences ''after'' the spell. As the villains stole a page (by ripping it from the book) with that particular spell on it, they also miss the warning.

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''{{Film/Dogma}}'':

* An episode of ''[[Series/{{Blackadder}} Blackadder Goes Forth]]'' has Captain Blackadder being court-martialed for shooting General Mellchett's prized pigeon, and he's stuck with [[TheDitz George]] as his lawyer. Fortunately, George opts to read a prepared statement in court. Unfortunately...

''({{Beat}} and then Blackadder turns over the paper he's reading from.)''\\
'''George:''' [[VerbalBackspace -of nothing more]] than trying to do his duty under difficult circumstances.

[[folder: Film - Animated]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': When Carl first met his wife Elle as children, she revealed that she wanted to one day go to Paradise Falls, having a memory book she intended to fill with photos of her adventures there. The pair grew up together, with Elle filling the first few pages of their childhood misadventures before they eventually married. Unfortunately, due to circumstances neither of them could control, they were unable to get to Paradise Falls before Elle passed away, with Carl's motivation throughout the movie to fulfill her dream in her memory. Upon eventually reaching Paradise Falls, Carl looks through Elle's photo book at their past together...and finds that she had filled what he thought were empty pages with pictures of their life together, with the end of the book being a message from her telling him to find another great adventure. This inspires Carl to go after Russell and Dug and help them save Kevin from Muntz.

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* ''WebVideo/{{Unskippable}}'': The episode for ''VideoGame/DeathByDegrees'' plays this straight during the discussion of an upcoming spy mission.

-->'''Dipper:''' [[LampshadeHanging "Who writes sentences like that?"]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', both the protagonists stop reading only a few pages into the book Iwase gave Takagi, one because he doesn't like the genre she wrote in, and the other because it was too "deep" for him. Thus they both miss the message she inserted between pages about halfway through the book.
* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', Genma read about "The Cat Fist Technique" and decided to teach it to Ranma. It required tying him up with fish sausage and locking him in a basement full of hungry cats. Genma didn't read the next page, which stated "Of course, anyone who does this is a complete lunatic who should have their head examined."
* In ''Anime/{{Slayers}}'' Lina is reading from the map of the dungeon about the various buttons, and Goury keeps acting before Lina has a chance to say what you should do about them. This leads to him pressing a mentioned hidden button before the instruction never to press it, then passing by the next button before the instruction not to walk by without pressing it. Naturally, all of these trigger traps.
* In ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'' when Suzu, Kirito and Yuzuri come to Wistal they bring along a note from [[BrilliantButLazy Shidan]] which they were told would tell them what to do in case Garak was in one of her moods where she's pissed and shoving her work off onto everyone else while sequestering herself in her office. Upon opening and reading said note Suzu and Kirito both decide Shidan is worthless since it's a page telling them that it's hopeless and they should just do whatever Garak tells them. When the note later falls to the floor while they're working Shirayuki discovers that Shidan had included a way to improve Garak's mood, he'd just put it on the back of the letter.

* Zuras, leader of ''ComicBook/TheEternals'', left a DeadManWriting voice recording for his daughter and successor Thena. Too bad that she hurled it away in grief before the message reached the "''There is something the new leader must know… a dreadful secret''" bit.

* ''{{Film/Hellboy|2004}}'': A variation; Abe Sapien reads off the description for the {{Hellhound}} from a book to Hellboy. Hellboy supposedly kills the hellhound before Abe finishes, after which he mentions the last few sentences about resurrection.

* Lampshaded in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', where the title character, after being rebuked for trying out a dangerous spell he found in an old book, comments that it really doesn't make any sense to put the warnings about horrible, mind-shattering potential consequences ''after'' the spell. As the villains stole a page (by ripping it from the book) with that particular spell on it, they also miss the warning.

* In ''Literature/TheIncredibleJourney'' a housekeeper finds only one page of a two-page note. This leads to confusion about who is going to be taking care of three pets for two weeks. This sets the plot in motion--the pets escape and have adventures before anyone realizes they're gone.
* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'', "How to Kill a Monster", the two main characters are trapped inside their grandparent's house with a monster inside. They find a letter from their grandparents telling them they left and warns them about the monster inside. After killing the monster and escaping from the house and into the swamp at night, they continue reading the letter explaining their grandparents lock them inside for their protection and to prevent them from leaving the house because there are more monsters in the swamp and they come out at night. After they finish reading, the kids have no idea what they are going to do next.

* Parodied twice in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. Once, in-universe, a vital note is hidden behind chapters and chapters about somebody picking a snack. On another occasion, the ''author'' actually buries us in boring information before writing a note to his sister.
* ''Science Made Stupid'' by Tom Weller, a parody of grade school science textbooks, includes a page on how to build a backyard nuclear reactor. It gives directions for materials and assembly; then only '''after''' assembling the fuel elements does it tell you that the control rods must be inserted first.
* In the case of the prophecy of TheChosenOne from ''Literature/HarryPotter'', it's a case of Stopped Listening Too Soon, as Snape heard only half of the prophecy before being caught and thrown out. As a result, [[BigBad Voldemort]] would end up acting on incomplete information and ultimately set the stage for his own downfall.

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': It happens to Miss Brooks in "Clay City Chaperone". Mr. Conklin, excited about the big game, becomes "memo-happy" (in the words of [[HighSchoolHustler Walter Denton]]. Miss Brooks is given identical "Schedule A" and "Schedule B" directing her to chaperone the cheerleaders and school band on the first of two buses going to the big game in Clay City. When Mr. Conklin sends Miss Brooks a "Schedule C" that begins the same way as the previous messages, a preoccupied Miss Brooks does not read the whole thing. It turns out that "Schedule C" had directed Miss Brooks to hold the bus to board not only the cheerleaders and school band, but the actual football team and Mr. Conklin as well. The episode ends with a BlackComedyBurst as Miss Brooks mimes strangling herself with the telephone extension cord, when Mr. Conklin informs her that he and the entire football team had been left behind in [[EverytownAmerica Madison]]. This was a [[SoundToScreenAdaptation remake of the radio episode]] "Chaperone to the Cereal Bowl".

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** One ploy that WesternAnimation/WileECoyote uses on the Road Runner in the cartoon "WesternAnimation/HopalongCasualty" is to leave a pile of bird seed laced with [[AcmeProducts Acme]] [[WeSellEverything Earthquake Pills]]. The target ingests the entire bait, then departs unaffected. The coyote disgustedly eats the remaining pills, about half the bottle. A moment later, his eye catches the fine print at the bottom of the label: "Caution: Not effective on road runners." Cue the coyote's leg quivering ominously.
** In "WesternAnimation/FreezeFrame", Wile E. lures the Road Runner into a snowy place and tries to catch him by riding a sled. After being mauled by the sled dogs that were said to catch up with road runners, he further reads the pamphlet and finds out "sled dogs love coyotes. [[AmbiguousSyntax Especially for supper]]".
** In "I Got Plenty of Mutton", a hungry wolf sees an article in the newspaper about a sheepdog leaving its flock to help [[WartimeCartoon the war effort]]. Believing the flock was defenseless, the wolf rushes off to prey on the sheep...only to find a large mean-looking ram sheep in the field. Looking back over the paper, the wolf saw that the article continued on, saying that the flock would now be guarded by a wolf-destroying ram called Killer Diller, [[TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat while adding that Killer was the ram in front of him]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/MikeTysonMysteries'', "Is Magic Real?", Mike receives a note from an old Wizard asking if magic is real. When Mike finds the Old Wizard working in a parking garage, he assumes it must be magic if he was able to find him by chance until the Old Wizard points out that he told Mike where to meet him in his note. When Mike correctly guesses the Old Wizard's backstory, he also assumes it must be magic until the Old Wizard points out again that he included his backstory, in comic form, in his note.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E17HeartsAndHoovesDay "Hearts and Hooves Day"]], the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a storybook about a prince and princess who fell in love with each other thanks to a love potion, and decide to use it on Big Macintosh and Cheerilee. It's only afterward that they read on and find out that the prince and princess were ''so'' in love with each other, that [[LoveRuinsTheRealm their respective kingdoms fell into ruin]] because they literally couldn't stop looking at each other.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', episode [[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS4E14TheRomantic "The Romantic"]]: In the school lab, Penny reads Gumball's note.
-->'''Penny:''' "Mix the liquids and you will see..."\\
''(Penny mixes two chemicals into a beaker; they bubble and begin to form a MuckMonster)''\\
'''Penny:''' "... that chemistry is unpredictable as we are." [[OhCrap Probably should have read the whole thing first.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'': In "Chapter 8", Hilda discovers a spell book with a ritual for summoning Tide Mice; magical creatures that can give good luck to any person. She decides to use this on David and her mom to help them pass an audition and get a new job respectively. However, she only copies the page that contains the instructions for summoning the Tide Mice, and doesn't bother to read the footnotes, asterisks, etc. This comes back to bite her when it's revealed the Tide Mice will eventually steal the souls of their victims.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS3E10BOperationJEWELS Operation JEWELS]]" the greedy Heinrich von Matzipan breaks into the tomb of "King Two-Tons-of-Candy" and starts reading the inscription on the side of the tomb "From the forehead, ye shall control the sarcophagus. But share not--blah, blah, blah. Who gives a caramel?" Just as Heinrich prepares to insert the jewel into the Pharaoh's headpiece, Numbuh Five then enters and points out that if he'd finished, he'd see that the last sentence is "But share not, and only taste asparagus." He blows her off and transforms himself into a giant candy mummy and proceeds with the ritual. Sure enough, the aforementioned curse takes effect and [[NeverMyFault he blames her]]. She retorts [[IWarnedYou she did warn him]], [[UnstoppableRage not that it does her any good]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E13BossMabel Boss Mabel]]", a Gremloblin is attacking the Mystery Shack and Dipper is looking for a way to stop it and he reads "Throw water on the beast" Mabel does so and it angers the monster, then Dipper continues reading it and it says "as a last resort as water will make it much much scarier." To this he responds:
-->'''Dipper:''' [[LampshadeHanging "Who writes sentences like that?"]]
* Used dramatically in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "[[Recap/TeenTitansS3E6Spellbound Spellbound]]", where Raven reads a book telling the story of a wizard who did battle with an evil dragon. Due to constant interruptions from emergencies and the other Titans, she doesn't get past the part where the wizard used that very book against the dragon, after which, she finds out that a being named Malchior, the name of the wizard in the story, is trapped within the book, having been in it since that battle. It's not until Raven breaks the curse and frees Malchior does she discover that he had illusioned the book to switch the characters' names, meaning that rather than the wizard, Malchior was the evil dragon.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': In "Peel of Fortune", Daffy steals Bugs' plans for an automatic carrot peeler, which he sells as his own and makes a fortune off of. However, Daffy only read the first three steps to building it, he leaves out a vital component for the device -- a cooling system. [[StolenCreditBackfire As a result, the carrot peelers Daffy sells prove to be defective and a lot of angry customers want their money back.]]

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': It happens to Miss Brooks in "Clay City Chaperone". Mr. Conklin, excited about the big game, becomes "memo-happy" (in the words of [[HighSchoolHustler Walter Denton]]. Miss Brooks is given identical "Schedule A" and "Schedule B" directing her to chaperone the cheerleaders and school band on the first of two buses going to the big game in Clay City. When Mr. Conklin sends Miss Brooks a "Schedule C" that begins the same way as the previous messages, a preoccupied Miss Brooks does not read the whole thing. It turns out that "Schedule C" had directed Miss Brooks to hold the bus to board not only the cheerleaders and school band, but the actual football team and Mr. Conklin as well. The episode ends with a DarkHumourBurst as Miss Brooks mimes strangling herself with the telephone extension cord, when Mr. Conklin informs her that he and the entire football team had been left behind in [[EverytownAmerica Madison]]. This was a [[SoundToScreenAdaptation remake of the radio episode]] "Chaperone to the Cereal Bowl".

* ''WesternAnimation/CodeNameKidsNextDoor'' episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS3E10BOperationJEWELS Operation JEWELS]]" the greedy Heinrich von Matzipan breaks into the tomb of "King Two-Tons-of-Candy" and starts reading the inscription on the side of the tomb "From the forehead, ye shall control the sarcophagus. But share not--blah, blah, blah. Who gives a caramel?" Just as Heinrich prepares to insert the jewel into the Pharaoh's headpiece, Numbuh Five then enters and points out that if he'd finished, he'd see that the last sentence is "But share not, and only taste asparagus." He blows her off and transforms himself into a giant candy mummy and proceeds with the ritual. Sure enough, the aforementioned curse takes effect and [[NeverMyFault he blames her]]. She retorts [[IWarnedYou she did warn him]], [[UnstoppableRage not that it does her any good]].

* In ''Film/GhostWorld'', Seymour discovers Enid's SignificantSketchbook at one point and feels crushed when he sees a portrait of himself showing him as depressing and alone. When confronting Enid, she points him to the later pages in her sketchbook which has many more portraits of Seymour in a completely different light, which he didn't see when initially skimming the pages. Seymour is visibly touched by this discovery.

* There's a HiddenPurposeTest commonly used in schools to test how closely students read instructions. Students are given a list of instructions: the first item is to read the entire list before doing anything, the second is to sign your name, the next several ones are to make a series of drawings, and the last is to ignore every step between the second and last as soon as you read it. The "correct" answer is to turn in a test with a signature and nothing else, as the whole thing [[InvokedTrope was an attempt to trick people into following the instructions wrong by starting when they're only part-way through]]. It doesn't always work: there are plenty of students that read the whole thing before acting but don't understand that the last step overrides the intermediary parts--mostly because, depending on how it's written, [[LogicBomb you shouldn't be following the last instruction as soon as you read it]].

* Played for laughs on an episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'' as a flashback has Henry finding a young Shawn writing a report on ''Literature/CharlottesWeb'' despite how he only started reading it an hour ago. Shawn, priding himself on his deductive skills, tells Henry there's no need as "it's obvious from the first four chapters that Wilbur wins first prize at the fair and he and Charlotte live happily ever after." A smirking Henry bets Shawn a trip to Disneyland if he gets an A and Shawn starts planning which rides to go on, unaware he's in for an epic failing grade.

* In ''[[Manga/LoveHina Love Hina Christmas Special: Silent Eve]]'', Su and Sara find Naru's letter to Kintaro and only bother to read one word in the middle of the page (love) before jumping to conclusions, setting off the whole IdiotPlot.