History OlderThanTheyThink / WesternAnimation

** Fans of [[Creator/DisneyChannel Disney Junior]] believe that shows like ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'' and ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' were some of the first preschool shows to not have any FakeInteractivity[[note]]Barring the end credits during the first season of ''Doc [=McStuffins=]''[[/note]], when in reality, preschool shows without FakeInteractivity, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'', ''WesternAnimation/HandyManny'', and ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'', have existed quite a while before the Disney Junior block was a thing.

* Most people are also unaware that Peppa Pig's debut in the United States came from Tickle U, a short-lived block that aired preschool shows on Cartoon Network from 2005 to 2007, even being redubbed with America voice actors.

* You know that routine on ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' that Shaggy and Scooby-Doo had. Shaggy makes a {{pun}}. Scooby-Doo laughs, then says, "I don't get it." It comes from ''Hang in There, Scooby-Doo'' on ''The Franchise/ScoobyDoo/Dynomutt Show''. The gang had found a cassette of rock music in the cavern.
-->'''Shaggy:''' Those cave teenagers love their rock music?
-->'''Scooby-Doo:''' (laughs) I don't get it.

** A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' goes like this: Shaggy makes a {{pun}}, Scooby laughs and then says, "I don't get it." This gag originates from ''Hang in There, Scooby-Doo'' on ''The Franchise/ScoobyDoo/Dynomutt Show'', specifically from a scene in which the gang had finds a cassette of rock music in the cavern.
-->'''Shaggy:''' Those cave teenagers love their rock music?
-->'''Scooby-Doo:''' (laughs) I don't get it.
** ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' is often mistaken for the first entry in the franchise in which the gang deal with [[RealAllAlong real monsters]], instead of the usual criminals [[ScoobyDooHoax disguised as monsters]]. However, ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' featured real monsters a full decade before the movie, albeit PlayedForLaughs. Several tv specials such as ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMeetsTheBooBrothers'' (1987) and ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheGhoulSchool'' (1988) also featured real monsters. Even the original ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' series hinted at truly supernatural elements existing alongside the hoaxes.
** ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' is often thought of as the first ''Scooby-Doo'' show to feature a DarkerAndEdguer tone that deconstructs its typical tropes and features an overarching plot. ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsOfScoobyDoo'' did both in 1985.

* The ScoobyDoobyDoors gag is commonly associated with ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'', hence the trope name. But Creator/TexAvery already did this gag in the 1940s, two decades before ''Scooby-Doo'' went on the air.

* Thought ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' was the first ''Scooby-Doo'' cartoon that deconstructed [[ScoobyDooHoax its previous elements]] and cliches, introduced real and [[KnightOfCerebus heinous, evil and dangerous villains]] instead of just guys in costumes to make a new DarkerAndEdgier iteration? The direct-to-video movies of the late-90's-early 2000's did it first. Starting with ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland''.
** Farther than that even, the ‘80s saw ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsOfScoobyDoo'' which first introduced real monsters and an overarching plot.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' was the first ''Scooby'' show to introduce [[RealAfterAll real]] monsters to the adventures, though its PlayedForLaughs compared to its successors.

** You know, Kim Possible? The [[BuffySpeak slang-happy]], petite, fashion-forward cheerleader who [[ActionGirl fights bad guys]] and occasionally saves the world while trying to maintain a normal social life, with the help of her two classmates, a [[CoolLoser nerdy]] computer hacker and an [[ButtMonkey ineffectual partner]] with HiddenDepths who's secretly in love with her? They occasionally butt heads with the [[AlphaBitch mean rich girl]], or Kim's [[DarkActionGirl snarky brunette]] [[ShadowArchetype nemesis]] who defected from the good guys to [[TheDragon hench]] for a perky villain-. No, wait, I was thinking of Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'' is not the first animated series based on a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign. Long before Creator/MatthewMercer started DM-ing for ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', which would serve as the basis of ''[=TLoVM=]'', Ryo Mizuno wrote stories based on a ''[=DnD=]'' campaigned that he DM-ed for, later published as novels and spawning animated adaptations of its own, called ''Literature/RecordOfLodossWar''.

** Farther than that even, the ‘80s saw ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsOfScoobyDoo'' which first introduced real monsters and an over-arcing plot.

* “The Rubberface of Comedy,” the first half of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheBatman The Batman’s]]'' two-part Season 1 finale, was the first attempt at adapting ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' into another medium, predating [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheKillingJoke the official adaptation]] by over a decade.

* Who first used HumongousMecha? Was it ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''? The Japanese ''[[Series/SpiderManJapan Spider-Man]]''? Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''? The Martian tripods from the original ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' book from 1898? The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda Tale of Garuda]] from ''ancient Hindu legend'' had a robot with [[ChainsawGood rotary saws for hands]]. This one is officially one of TheOldestOnesInTheBook.

* Adult animation? Most people think ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' were the first to specifically aim more at an adult audience. In fact, Creator/RalphBakshi created the first adult cartoon features in the 1970s, pioneering topics such as sex, drugs, bloody violence and politics. And even before Bakshi you had the 1955 British AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', satirizing Communism as an animal fable. Not to mention ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'' and ''WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons'' in the 1930s and 1940s making adult jokes and sexual innuendo. You might think that Bakskhi at least can attribute the first animated pornographic film to his name, ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat''? Not quite, in 1928 (!) a silent black-and-white short cartoon was made called "Eveready Harton in Buried Treasures" featuring a man with a giant RagingStiffie walking around looking for a woman. This short has remained anonymous however, fell into the public domain and was only rediscovered in the 1970s.

* ''"The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"'' did NOT originate with ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', It even has its own lyrics that are different than the ones Daffy sing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOg2wL9W_Vs Here is a link to a Website/YouTube video with people singing the (slightly modified for gender) original lyrics]].

** One of the best known examples ''in pop culture'' would be Ashley Wilkes of ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'', a film consistantly put in top 10 lists.

* You know that routine on ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' that Shaggy and Scooby-Doo had. Shaggy makes an IncrediblyLamePun. Scooby-Doo laughs, then says, "I don't get it." It comes from ''Hang in There, Scooby-Doo'' on ''The Franchise/ScoobyDoo/Dynomutt Show''. The gang had found a cassette of rock music in the cavern.

* Adult animation? Most people think ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' were the first to specifically aim more at an adult audience. In fact, Creator/RalphBakshi created the first adult cartoon features in the 1970s, pioneering topics such as sex, drugs, bloody violence and politics. And even before Bakshi you had ''WesternAnimation/AnimalFarm'' (1955), a British animated feature based on Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', satirizing Communism as an animal fable. Not to mention ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'' and ''WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons'' in the 1930s and 1940s making adult jokes and sexual innuendo. You might think that Bakskhi at least can attribute the first animated pornographic film to his name, ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat''? Not quite, in 1928 (!) a silent black-and-white short cartoon was made called "Eveready Harton in Buried Treasures" featuring a man with a giant RagingStiffie walking around looking for a woman. This short has remained anonymous however, fell into the public domain and was only rediscovered in the 1970s.

* “The Rubberface of Comedy,” the first half of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheBatman The Batman’s]]'' two-part Season 1 finale, was the first attempt at adapting ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' into another medium, predating [[WesternAnimation/TheKillingJoke the official adaptation]] by over a decade.

** The Misfits were [[NamesTheSame originally]] a horror-themed punk band from New Jersey formed in 1977, NOT an original creation as a fictonal band in ''Jem''. The band was obscure at the time and had split up 2 years prior to the cartoon's creation, so it was unlikely anyone involved knew of them at the time, but when the band themselves tried to prevent Hasbro from using the name, Hasbro chose to go ahead regardless due to "legal loopholes" involving trademarks. Then former frontman Glenn Danzig gave his approval when he learned of it, no doubt due to his anger with the rest of the band at the time. While the band themselves have not taken any legal action to this day, Jerry Only and the rest of the band refuse to publicly acknowledge the cartoon even exists and will not answer questions concerning their thoughts on it (perhaps to avoid giving the series any attention at all). ''Jem'' fans likewise sometimes get angry when it's mentioned, believing the band has no right to complain (and yes, we shall point out the irony in anger over copied names, what with ''Jem'' having been the name of a character in Harper Lee's ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' some 20 years prior). Reportedly, the original intro was replaced because the original intro featured The Misfits proudly exclaiming their band name.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' was the first show to introduce real actual monsters, albeit its all presented much more humorously than it's successors.

** Farther than that even, the ‘80s saw The Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby Doo which first introduced real monsters and an over-arcing plot.

* ClassicalMusic in cartoons is often associated with WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes, who used a lot of StandardSnippet music from symphonies, {{Opera}} and the like. Yet the Looney Tunes just copied this practice from the ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'' cartoons from Walt Disney Productions who did this since 1930. For instance, it's Mickey Mouse who first performed Music/FranzLiszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody" on a piano in the early 1930s, years before the more famous cartoons ''WesternAnimation/TheCatConcerto'' with Tom & Jerry and ''WesternAnimation/RabbitRhapsody'' with Bugs Bunny.

* Stylized LimitedAnimation is associated with the UPA cartoons of the 1950s. Yet Creator/ChuckJones already made a cartoon like this in 1942, ''WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys'', and was almost fired over it!

* To this day, there are still fans of the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' cartoon who are surprised when they find out the cartoon was preceded by the ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' comic book by ''41 years''.

** Long before the G4 television show, shows starring a leading female cast like ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'', ''Anime/SailorMoon'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' already had sizable male fanbases, while ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} Arthur]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans The Backyardigans]]'', and ''[[Series/SesameStreet Sesame Street]]'' already appealed to people well above the preschool and kindergarten age ranges.

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' got a lot of flack for being LighterAndSofter and having multiple improbable crossovers and where spidey faces foes not in his RoguesGallery. They probably never heard of [[http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/title/spiderman_super_stories-2.html Spidey]] [[http://notthebeastmaster.typepad.com/weblog/2004/03/hey_kids_death.html Super]] [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/06/14/i-lova-ya-but-youre-strange-2/ Stories]]

* [[{{Animesque}} Anime-influenced]] Western animation is actually this. Most casual fans will tell you this phenomenon began either in the 1980s (when series like ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' were produced with the aid of Japanese studios) or in the 1990s (when the [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse DCAU cartoons]] took cues from classic anime). They're both wrong. The first Western animated series to deliberately use anime tropes was 1966's ''WesternAnimation/FrankensteinJr'', a SuperRobot series about a [[KidWithTheRemoteControl Kid With The Remote Control]] for a giant robot created by his scientist father. [[Anime/{{Gigantor}} Sound familiar?]]

* Speaking of Creator/CartoonNetwork, it has recently become common to blame network CEO Christina Miller for the poor performance of its more "serious" action-based cartoons, with many viewers even accusing her of subscribing to the AnimationAgeGhetto. But this problem actually dates back several years earlier, with ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', and ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' all being cancelled in a short period of time before Miller arrived.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' is one of those series associated heavily with the late 90s and early 2000s. The first book (''[[Literature/{{Arthur}} Arthur's Nose]]'') came out all the way in 1976. Several generations grew up with the characters before the cartoon came out.

* An adult cartoon about an anthropomorphic horse celebrity making his way through Hollywood, set in a world where humans live alongside FunnyAnimals. WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman? Nope - Creator/KlaskyCsupo did it first with their 2004 pilot "You Animal!"

* While the general public believe ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' was the first time Charlie Brown and the other characters were in animated form. [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} The Peanuts characters]] didn't make their animation debut until 1959, such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QCfkHxKf5M introducing Ernie]] [[Music/TennesseeErnieFord Ford]] for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwYV3RM4Q3w "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EHtX2FEVyA appeared in a series]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8oA9pRSOU0 of commercials]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxkM6WbGHpY for Ford Motors.]]

* Some people associate "Whoop whoop whoop!" noises with [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Zoidberg]], [[WeirdAlEffect unaware that this is a reference to]] ''Film/TheThreeStooges''.