Line #36 DemBones/WesternAnimation


1	%%Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=5evu1sxw
2	%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700
3	%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
4	%%
5	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vlcsnap_2015_05_25_18h17m32s239.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:Don't ask why he's got a more realistic-looking skull on the side.]]
7
8	[[DemBones Types of skeletons]] in WesternAnimation television series.
9	----
10	* Skeletons were a common sight in [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation old cartoons]], usually dancing and living it up like undead party animals. Creator/{{Disney}}'s [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Silly Symphony]] ''WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance'' (1929) is the most obvious example, but Disney also made ''The Haunted House'' (also 1929) and ''WesternAnimation/TheMadDoctor'' (1933) with the same dancing skeleton characters.
11	** [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Fleischer]] had skeleton characters in numerous [[WesternAnimation/BettyBoop Betty Boop and Bimbo]] shorts...
12	** And Creator/VanBeurenStudios had them in Tom and Jerry's ''Wot a Night'' (1931) and ''Plane Dumb'' (1932) among others.
13	** The early Merrie Melodie ''Hittin' the Trail to Hallelujah Land'' (1931) features dancing skeletons too.
14	** Creator/ColumbiaCartoons had the Creator/UbIwerks-directed remake of The Skeleton Dance, called "Skeleton Frolic" (1937).
15	** Two skeletons appear in ''WesternAnimation/WhoKilledWho'', one regular and another with red bones (a ShoutOut to Red Skelton). There's also a skeletal cuckoo in a clock.
16	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'': A magic ring allows its wielder to animate and control an army of skeletons. The ring passes through several hands before Puss in Boots decides the Skeletons are nice, and [[FreeingTheGenie Frees the Genie]], in a sense, by giving the ring to the skeletons and inviting them to live in San Lorenzo.
17	* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'': One episode features a villain with skeleton minions. Aladdin and crew pull off the standard "knock the minions together" knockout, only for the skeletons to [[PullingThemselvesTogether pull themselves]] [[InvincibleMinorMinion back together]] into ''new shapes''. Two got [[GrievousHarmWithABody smash together]] to form a centaur with four arms and two heads.
18	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': Mr. Skullhead; usually he appears in the "Good Idea, Bad Idea" segments, but sometimes appears in others, including a musical skit which was a {{Homage}} to the song that's the {{Trope Namer\|s}}. Before that he was born doing skits for ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''; the skull is inspired by Elmyra's skull on her headband.
19	* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': In "Totem Pole", Shake and Carl visit a rock band performance and are used to build a troll pole, which ends up summoning hundreds of skeletons from the ground leaving them trapped in the building without anyway to escape.
20	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'': A recurring character is Jacques, a skeleton with a French accent who wears a beret and is mildly obsessed with building his muscles... of which he of course has none.
21	* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has [[GhostPirate Black John]] [[AnthropomorphicFood Licorice]], a [[EvilVsEvil rival]] [[SweetTooth candy pirate]] of [[CaptainColorbeard Stickybeard's]] and a one-time villain appearing in the episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS5E12AOperationLICORICE Operation L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.]]". Thanks to a cursed licorice tree [[SkeletonCrew Black John and his crew]] chopped down and stole, a curse was placed on them that turned them into black licorice skeletons that only come alive at dusk, [[WeakenedByTheLight then are reduced to piles of licorice bones at dawn until they come alive at dusk again]], unless they could replant a Red Stalk Seed on the very island where they once destroyed the red licorice stalk forest in order to become human again, which Heinrich Von Marzipan accidentally ate during his time at the Kids Next Door prison, and is kidnapped by them as a result, [[EnemyMine forcing Numbuh Five to join forces with Stickybeard to find him]]. Black John is described to be a more vicious candy pirate who'd "do anything for candy, even steal it from his mom". [[VillainSong The song]] [[PirateSong Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about him]] is very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejH9RBmV9s self-explanatory]].
22	* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': One of Youngblood's minions in "Pirate Radio". Also, one of the ghosts Vlad sent after Danny in "Kindred Spirits" looked like a BedsheetGhost; but in reality, the bedsheet was covering one of these, albeit with black bones. Not to mention Pariah Dark's army which is composed of skeleton warriors.
23	* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'': When the children confront Venger in the Dragons' Graveyard, he summons draconic skeletons to attack them. There's also Dekion, the skeletal Celestial Knight {{curse}}d due to his cowardice.
24	* ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'' has the Rivera family's greatest enemy, Sartana of the Dead and her undead army. Her ethnicity makes her a ''genuine'' calaca.
25	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': TheGrimReaper is this underneath his robes. In one episode we see him in normal person clothes.
26	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freaktown}}'': Ben Bones, the protagonist. He's also able to disassemble himself if needed.
27	* ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'':
28	** ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'': The villain Scared Stiff is an odd robotic version of this. There's also the company phone, Ansa-Bone.
29	** ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': Several of the ghosts they face are walking skeletons including; the Scottish soldiers in "Bustman's Holiday", the Pirates in "Sea Fright", the train passengers in "Knock, Knock" and some [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment dancing and singing skeletons]] in "The Haunting of Heck House".
30	* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'': In "The Phantom Brigade" a skeleton rises up from the floor to threaten Cobra Commander into giving up control of three spirits. The Commander is reasonably freaked out and even the Joes who walk in on the scene can't believe what they're seeing.
31	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': [[TheGrimReaper Grim]] is like this under his robes (which leads to a ''lot'' of humorous situations). More than once, the other two protagonists, Billy and Mandy, have taken him apart in order to carry him in a backpack or other small container. The show also provides the image for the subpage.
32	* ''WesternAnimation/HeathcliffAndTheCatillacCats'': ''Dingbat and the Creeps'' has Sparerib, a broad skeleton that could arrange himself into several configurations, like a floor lamp in the opening.
33	* ''WesternAnimation/LucyTheDaughterOfTheDevil'': Becky, Satan's administrative assistant, is an animated skeleton.
34	* ''WesternAnimation/NotWithoutMyHandbag'': The BackFromTheDead version of Auntie is a skeleton with a dress and hairdo.
35	* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' has a character named A Real Magic Skeleton, who is... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin you can probably guess]]
36	* ''WesternAnimation/OlliversAdventures'': In the episode "Warpo General Hospital", when Ollie is sent there for getting stuck in a funny face, he meets the resident doctor, who's a living skeleton. He seems to have no idea what Ollie's problem is, and does treatments on him that make no sense. Plus, he regularly falls apart. [[spoiler:Ollie discovers he has a calcium deficiency, which is the source of his current state. He fixes him up by having him drink a mixture of carrots (to improve his eyesight) and milk (to strengthen his bones).]]
37	* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'': The residents of [[spoiler:Pottsfield]] once they make TheReveal. [[spoiler:They're all dressed up in pumpkins and straw when Wert and Greg meet them, but at the end of the episode, we see a skeleton rise out of a freshly-dug grave and dress up like all the others.]]
38	* ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom'': Skull Boy. He's also [[BoyMeetsGhoul the main characters's love interest.]] There's also a band called the Skeletunes, which Skullboy sometimes hangs out with.
39	* ''WesternAnimation/SkeletonWarriors''. In this one, the "curse" of becoming a skeleton could be reversed by removing a ruby in their chest, as they were immortal otherwise.
40	* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManUnlimited'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage]] has a very skeletal appearance.
41	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': One episode has Mr. Krabs battling an army of living fish skeletons in a cemetery [[ItMakesSenseInContext to reclaim a "#1 Fan!" soda-drinking hat SpongeBob had buried]]. His weapon happened to be the skull of a swordfish.
42	* ''WesternAnimation/SuperTed'': One of the baddies is a skeleton accidentally awakened by Texas Pete who comes along for the ride.
43	* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' had a recurring villain, The Pastmaster (an ancient sorcerer who keeps trying to bring back the Dark Ages). One of his shticks was reanimating skeletons, as he demonstrated in his first appearance. It wasn't very effective, as an Enforcer helicopter sees them, asks them to stand down, and then delivers a [[BondOneLiner parody on the Miranda Rights]] right before shredding them to bits with the on-board Gatling (well, laser, but it looks like a Gatling):
44	-->"You have the right to remain buried!"
45	* Out of all of Elmyra's [[RaisingTheSteaks zombie pets]] seen in the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' segment "Night of the Living Pets", Goldie the goldfish is the only one that is merely a walking skeleton.
46	* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': Dean is aware of the trope -- when he investigates a plane crash and sees the charred skeletal remains of the crew he cries out "Brock! I think I figured out why the plane crashed -- there were ''SKELETONS'' driving it!"
47	* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': Lord Hater is a skeletal being, although he may just be alien rather than undead.

Context DemBones / WesternAnimation