History TheArtifact / WesternAnimation

** The [[TeamPet animal companions]] Naga and Pabu, whose significance and screen time dropped steadily over the seasons. By book 4, they had nothing to do and barely even appeared. Understandable, given the breakneck pacing with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters all fighting for limited screen time. But even as far back as season 1, some fans felt they didn't add anything to the show and were only there so that ''The Legend of Korra'' would have counterparts to [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Appa and Momo]] from the original series.
** Another problem: Appa's main function was to be transportation; the Gaang was almost always traveling and he could fly in a world that was ([[SchizoTech mostly]]) medieval. Naga is a terrestrial animal in a setting where cars and blimps are commonplace.

*** The reasoning the cartoon gave for the beast modes of characters was that their modes were protective: the planet was infused with energy that would overload Cybertronians in minutes, and the only way to protect themselves was to use shells of organic material that could block it out. Essentially, beast modes were their equivalent to hazmat suits. At the end of the first season, the energy was converted to a stable form that was no longer harmful... but this had a side effect of also making beast modes rather useless. They were pointless for disguise, since the series took place in a prehistoric era and the modes generally weren't convincing anyway, and pointless for combat, since characters couldn't use weapons or gadgets in beast mode. This was given a bit of a bandage by the Transmetal concept, where characters could now use their beast modes as rapid transport, but even then, non-Transmetal characters in the later seasons have a habit of transforming for no other reason than to remind you they can.

** In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', Optimus Primal and Megatron were originally conceived of as simply being their G1 selves in new bodies. The TV series (and pretty much every version to follow) reinterpreted them as different people entirely, but [[OneSteveLimit kept their names]], and in Primal's case, [[IdenticalStranger his extremely Prime-ish face design.]] It's the equivalent of your boss taking the name "Babe Lincoln" and wearing a stovepipe hat and thick beard to work, and nobody ever commenting on it. Megatron got a later justification in the series for why he has the same name as the other one ("Megatron" is actually an {{Antichrist}}-esque figure in their religion, and both versions take on the name because they're {{Card Carrying Villain}}s), but Primal's reasons basically remain an enigma all the way to the end of the series.

* Creator/CartoonNetwork's action-animation block Creator/{{Toonami}} has one in the form of a quote: "''We won't be intimidated by criminal threats!''", a line taken from the [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons theatrical Superman cartoons]], which aired via the Cartoon Roulette. While the Superman cartoons (as well as the Cartoon Roulette itself and [[WesternAnimation/TheHerculoids the]] [[WesternAnimation/SpaceGhost other]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Birdman}} shows]] it presented) left the block in 2000 and never came back, the sound bite for the line itself was still used in various promos. Even the revived Toonami on Creator/AdultSwim still uses it in promos.

* TheMovie of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' introduced the engine Lady as a sort of BarrierMaiden keeping the magical bond between the Engines' world and the real world alive, but this magical bond is not only never mentioned in any other version, but Shining Time Station and the Messrs. Conductor have since been phased out entirely. Nevertheless, Lady continued to appear in a few stories released shortly after the film, despite having lost the one thing that made her special and interesting. She disappeared after she'd appeared in enough stories to justify the toys to kids who didn't see the movie.

* ''Franchise/Transformers'':

* The final season of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' does this to Optimus Prime, of all characters. They'd brought him back due to the heavy backlash over his death in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', so they couldn't very well kill him off again. But because of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters that had to be written in [[MerchandiseDriven due to the toyline]], all of the older characters like Blaster and Perceptor had been PutOnABus in favor of new characters with more marketable gimmicks (such as being a Head- or Targetmaster, or being part of a combination team). Prime is the only exception, and looks notably out of place with his '80s-era Mack Truck form and lack of gimmicky weapons when surrounded by futuristic cars and jets and all the -masters. Notably, in the Japanese continuity, which splits off right after he's brought back to life, he dies again almost immediately, replaced by a series of newer, more visually and technologically impressive leaders.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''

* WesternAnimation/PorkyPig saying the iconic “That’s all, folks!” is an artifact from when he was the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' SeriesMascot.

* The ExpositoryThemeTune of ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGoofs'' still retains the "Five little monsters were riding through space..." part in the Season 2 intro even though Stereo [[PutOnABus no longer appears in the show]], to the point that he's not even in the intro where they're shown crashing into Earth.

** Klaus the [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp East German athlete]] in a goldfish's body, seems to serve no narrative purpose in later episodes. Originally he was a much more mean-spirited character with a [[TheCasanova unrequited crush]] on Francine, and was intended as a foil to Roger, but with Roger's shift from sheltered and somewhat sympathetic JerkWithAHeartOfGold to largely-independent HeroicComedicSociopath, that's pretty much fallen by the wayside. Klaus mostly TookALevelInKindness as a result, however, ironically becoming the lonely one.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' had a gag where Gazpacho points to the Creator/CartoonNetwork channel bug, explaining that it doesn't come off the screen. The bug is a permanent part of the episode, but the CN logo has changed since the episode originally aired, making it a bit confusing when the episode airs with the updated logo as the ''actual'' network bug. ''Chowder'' also eventually had reruns on Creator/{{Boomerang}}, [[FormatSpecificJoke which also ruined the gag]].

* TheMovie of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' introduced the engine Lady as a sort of BarrierMaiden keeping the magical bond between the Engines' world and the real world alive, but this magical bond is not only never mentioned in any other version, but Shining Time Station and the Messrs. Conductor have since been phased out entirely. Nevertheless, Lady continued to appear in a few stories released shortly after the film, despite having lost the one thing that made her special and interesting. She disappeared after she'd appeared in enough stories to justify the toys to kids who didn't see the movie.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DisneySingAlongSongs'' VHS series, Professor Owl from the WesternAnimation/AdventuresInMusicDuology was originally the host, with Jiminy Cricket and Professor Ludwig Von Drake occasionally taking over. In later entries, Professor Owl only appears to say "And now, here is your host, [Jiminy Cricket / Professor Ludwig Von Drake]!", and [[TheOtherDarrin in a completely different voice from the intro and earlier videos]], at that. The most likely reason is that the between-song segments were composed entirely of StockFootage of old cartoons, and Cricket and Von Drake -- particularly the latter, who by the end was the only one hosting -- had a good deal more material to draw from.

* The WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb theme-song has the titular boys saying that they want to "Drive their sister insane!" However, [[CharacterizationMarchesOn their personalities changed a bit during development]], and now the boys are incredibly nice, and want to help their sister out--she's just too amped up to realise. However, because it rhymes and is so intrinsic, the line stays.

** The friendship letters to Princess Celestia were phased out with a partial reason being so that Twilight Sparkle doesn't have to be shoehorned into every episode.

* InUniverse example in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. A recurring theme of the show is asking whether or not the Avatar itself is an artifact of the world. The {{Big Bad}}s certainly think so, and each has tried in their own way to create a world where the Avatar no longer exists. Granted, [[spoiler:with the new Air Nation taking the role of international peacekeepers following season three]], they [[VillainHasAPoint may have a point]].

* WesternAnimation/PorkyPig saying the iconic “That’s all, folks!” is an artifact from when he was the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' mascot.

* The friendship letters to Princess Celestia in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' may count. For the most part, their point was simply to [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle recap the episode's intended Aesop]] early in the series, yet as time went by towards the end of the second season and into the third they seemed to get increasingly phased out as largely superfluous...to the point where "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E15TheSuperSpeedyCiderSqueezy6000 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000]]" stands out a bit by virtue of Applejack deciding to write one again without prompting from anybody else. Granted, this is just to boast that she knew the episode's moral all along and that everyone should have listened to her instead of play with the IdiotBall all day, but still...
** As of the Season 4 episode "Castle Mane-ia", the friendship letters have been replaced by {{diar|y}}ies. The journal itself becomes an artifact when Spike still holds it in the opening of season 5 despite its absence after fulfilling its role in the season 4 finale.

** Subverted with WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck's signature "WOO HOO WOO HOO" laugh. He was originally an insane {{Cloudcuckoolander}} comparable to WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker. Though soon became the a more levelheaded JerkAss he's known as being, albeit with a few screwball elements, he keeps his manical laughter during occasional {{Character Check}}s to his former personality or in adaptatations that gave him a CharacterRerailment.

** Pip is yet another example. During the first four seasons, he was the resident ButtMonkey, a nice boy constantly bullied by everyone else, and a classmate of the four main boys with possibly the most screentime right after them (excluding Wendy and a few adult characters). After his ADayInTheLimelight episode in Season 4, he would become a LivingProp, with his initial role being basically replaced by Butters, whom the creators themselves stated to work better as such character. This would continue for several seasons until he was KilledOffForReal in the fourteenth one.

** Pip is yet another example. During the first four seasons, he was the resident ButtMonkey, a nice boy constantly bullied by everyone else, and a classmate of the four main boys with possibly the most screentime right after them (excluding Wendy and a few adult characters). After his ADayInTheLimelight episode, he would only have silent cameos in the background at best, with his initial role being basically replaced by Butters, whom the creators themselves stated to work better as such character. This would continue for several seasons until he was KilledOffForReal in the fourteenth one.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' started with 22 contestants in the first season, but while the second and third seasons still had most of the cast competing, a few characters were stuck watching from the sidelines. With such a large main cast, some pairs of characters were NotSoDifferent from one another, which made a few like [[HairTriggerTemper Eva]], [[TheDividual Katie and Sadie]] redundant as [[TeamMom Cour]][[{{Tsundere}} tney]], [[DumbBlonde Lindsay]] and [[{{Geek}} Beth]] respectively took on their defining traits. The three only competed in the first season as a result, and have been OutOfFocus ever since.

* WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse's ears. No matter how he turns his head, [[CheatedAngle they stay in the same position, in direct violation of the rules of perspective]]. This is a relic of the time Mickey was created (the late 1920s), when designs were simple and crude, but as the animators improved their drawing skills and the style became more elaborate, Mickey's design began to look archaic by comparison. His immense popularity made a complete redesign impossible, so only small, judicious changes were made over time. There was a time in the early 1940s when the ears were altered to look more like real mouse ears, as well as giving them dimension, but that change was short-lived and the round ears returned. Nowadays it's accepted as a crucial element in Mickey's design (even 3D depictions of the character like ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'', ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'', and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' have special adjustments to keep the ears the same from every angle), and is even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] on occasion.

* Classic animation example: WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse's ears. No matter how he turns his head, [[CheatedAngle they stay in the same position, in direct violation of the rules of perspective]]. This is a relic of the time Mickey was created (the late 1920s), when designs were simple and crude, but as the animators improved their drawing skills and the style became more elaborate, Mickey's design began to look archaic by comparison. His immense popularity made a complete redesign impossible, so only small, judicious changes were made over time. There was a time in the early 1940s when the ears were altered to look more like real mouse ears, as well as giving them dimension, but that change was short-lived and the round ears returned. Nowadays it's accepted as a crucial element in Mickey's design (even 3D depictions of the character like ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'', ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'', and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' have special adjustments to keep the ears the same from every angle), and is even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] on occasion.

* Classic animation example: WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse's ears. No matter how he turns his head, [[CheatedAngle they stay in the same position, in direct violation of the rules of perspective]]. This is a relic of the time Mickey was created (the late 1920s), when designs were simple and crude, but as the animators improved their drawing skills and the style became more elaborate, Mickey's design began to look archaic by comparison. His immense popularity made a complete redesign impossible, so only small, judicious changes were made over time. There was a time in the early 1940s when the ears were altered to look more like real mouse ears, as well as giving them dimension, but that change was short-lived and the round ears returned. Nowadays it's accepted as a crucial element in Mickey's design (even [[WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse CG]] [[VideoGame/EpicMickey versions]] of the character have special adjustments to keep the ears the same from every angle), and is even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] on occasion.

* The ExpositoryThemeTune of ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGoofs'' still retains the "Five little monsters were riding through space..." part in the Season 2 intro even though Stereo [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome no longer appears in the show]], to the point that he's not even in the intro where they're shown crashing into Earth.

* The ExpositoryThemeTune of ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGoofs'' retains the "Five little monsters" part in Season 2 even though Stereo [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome no longer appears in the show]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' had a gag where Gazpacho points to the Creator/CartoonNetwork channel bug, explaining that it doesn't come off the screen. The bug is a permanent part of the episode, but the CN logo has changed since the episode originally aired, making it a bit confusing when the episode airs with the updated logo as the ''actual'' network bug. ''Chowder'' also eventually had reruns on Creator/{{Boomerang}}, which also ruined the gag.