History WhatCouldHaveBeen / WesternAnimation

* What do ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'', ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'', ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'', ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'', ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', ''WesternAnimation/BravestWarriors'', and ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'' have in common? They were all originally pitched to be Nicktoons on Nickelodeon.

** Around the late 1930's, Creator/{{MGM}} Considered making animated shorts based on the Land of OZ books. But at the last minute, they opted to make an adataption of [[ComicStrip/TheKatzenjammerKids The Captain and the Kids]] instead.

[[caption-width-right:350:Apparently "Freedom Fighters" didn't sound cool enough.[[note]]The only character to not have gotten a radical look-transformation once the show finally started production was Sonic.[[/note]]]]

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheOwlHouse''

* What do ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'', ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'', ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'', ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'', ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', ''WesternAnimation/BravestWarriors'', and ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'' have in common? They were all originally pitched to be Nicktoons on Nickelodeon.

** ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' was pitched to Nickelodeon in 2002[[note]]before that, it was pitched to Creator/CartoonNetwork and Creator/FoxKids in 1996[[/note]] (when Dan was working on ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''), and while the pilot wasn't picked up at the time; creators Dan Povenmire (and sometimes Jeff "Swampy" Marsh) worked on shows like ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', and ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', but it wasn't until 2006 when after pitching to various networks, Disney Channel picked it up [[AdoredByTheNetwork successfully]] and it premiered in 2007.

* The 1980s Filmation series ''WesternAnimation/HeroHigh'' was originally meant to be a new entry in their line of Archie-based cartoons, but was changed at the last-minute due to their rights to Archie having expired!

* ''Film/SgtKabukimanNYPD'': An animated series was planned in order to cash in on the success of ''WesternAnimation/ToxicCrusaders'', itself a spinoff of ''Film/TheToxicAvenger''. The show was never made, but the promo can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SCQwfYCND8 here]].

*** Many fans of that series may not realize that [[http://info.sonicretro.org/Adventures_of_Sonic_the_Hedgehog#Production_History it was the first idea DIC presented to ABC]] of a ''Sonic''-themed television series. Upon seeing the pilot workprint, however, ABC was not fond of it and instead preferred [=SatAM=] over ''Adventures'', resulting in that series going to broadcast syndication once it was green-lit.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' was supposed to have Spidey team up with ComicBook/{{Iceman}} and [[Franchise/FantasticFour the Human Torch.]] However, the rights to the Torch were still being held up, so they ended up making [[CanonForeigner a new]] [[DistaffCounterpart heroine]] known as Firestar.

*** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''
*** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/BatmanBeyond''
*** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''
*** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/JusticeLeague''

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/DCAnimatedUniverse''

* Animation producer John Cawley pitched about three celebrity-starred pitches to Hanna Barbera during the late '80s; two of which were immediately rejected and one of which was taken into consideration but was eventually turned down. The two that were rejected was one that starred Creator/OprahWinfrey as a traveling reporter which Hanna-Barbera didn't think Winfrey was a strong-enough celebrity for her own show at the time and one that had Creator/WhoopiGoldberg as a multimillionaire Robin Hood-esque character, which the studio believed that the show should be more of a standard and generic use for the character, such as making her a private eye detective. The pitch that was taken to consideration was an Creator/EddieMurphy animated series where the actor plays a character performer portraying multiple characters. The idea fell through when the crew found out that Murphy thought the idea of doing Saturday Morning cartoons was 'silly'. Years later, Murphy would end up becoming the iconic voice of Donkey in the film franchise, ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} Shrek]]''.

* ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Rayman}} Rayman: The Animated Series]]''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/SwatKats''

* ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheMuppets Muppet Babies]]''

** [[http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/arts-entertainment-living/tuned-in/item/39870-pbs-launches-ready-jet-go-in-pbs-kids-block The Propulsions were originally going to be]] [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Voluntary Shapeshifters]] who shape-shifted into humans upon arriving on Earth. But then, Bartlett decided that all Bortronians are actually HumanAliens.

* ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'':
** Dreamworks considered telling ''Kipo'' as a feature film, but it was decided it would have been better suited for a television series due to its potential for worldbuilding.
** [[https://www.deviantart.com/radsechrist/art/Minji-v01-451653075 Kipo]] was originally named Minji.
** [[https://www.deviantart.com/radsechrist/art/Mandu1-451653485 Mandu]] was originally the name of the character that would become Wolf. Wolf was also conceptualized as white or Asian.
** [[https://www.deviantart.com/radsechrist/art/Kipo-poster-583811503 This concept poster]] depicts Wolf with another different design.
** In the original Webcomic Benson was a very muscular older man who wielded a really big sword

* A comment on [[https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrHPOkPMehu/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== an Instagram reel]] revealed that in 2022, a ''WesternAnimation/RoliePolieOllie'' reboot was pitched to Disney, and the team behind the show spent an entire year developing new locations and characters for the series. It wound up being rejected because it was too similar to the original series.

* [[''WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Rayman}}'' Rayman: The Animated Series]]

* [[''WhatCouldHaveBeen/Rayman'' Rayman: The Animated Series]]

* Originally, ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' were going to be called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsx0uF80n8U "the Whoopass Girls,"]] but Cartoon Network's censors, in one of the few times they've ''ever'' cracked down on anything considered risqué for children, objected.
** Also (in [=McCracken=]'s first sketch), [[http://cmcc.deviantart.com/art/1st-PPG-Drawing-75162491 the Girls originally had slightly different designs]] such as different dress styles, having lines drawn on their hands to represent fingers (as opposed to the fingerless nubs they currently have), their hair being drawn slightly different, etc. However the biggest design change was that Bubbles was originally the green one and Buttercup the blue. No one knows whether that design would have an impact on their names and personalities (or even the show itself).
** Buttercup's name was originally going to be [[TomboyishName Bud]], to accentuate her tomboy attitude. The reason it didn't stick was because one of [=McCracken=]'s friends found the name too short and abrupt when compared to the other two. The current name was suggested and taken as it had a nice ring to it, and while also keeping the B ThemeNaming.
** Season 5 was to have an episode, "Deja View", that had the Girls being whisked to an alternate universe Townsville with their alternate counterparts, the "Powerpunk Girls", trading places with them. Deadline and budget issues (the alternate universe scenes were to be CGI) caused the episode to be scrapped, but the storyline was retooled as issue #50 of the comic book.
** Rainbow the Clown was originally not going to be beaten up by the Powerpuffs at the end of "Mime for a Change". The executives wanted the Girls to beat him like they would with any normal villain.