History BottleEpisode / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'''s [[Recap/RickAndMortyS2E4TotalRickall Total Rickall]] was ''supposed ''to be one. It takes entirely in the Smiths house, and centers on the family, our core cast. And ''dozens'' of random and wacky new characters, plus flashbacks, so it ended up being one of the most expensive episodes of the season.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' has the appropriately titled "The Powerpuff Girls' Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever," which as the title suggests features the girls stuck inside the house because of the rain, so they in turn act out one of their own adventures. It's generally regarded as one of the funniest episodes in the series.

* WesternAnimation/TheTransformers: “Money is Everything” focusses entirely on [[MerchandiseDriven newly introduced characters the Technobots and the Terrorcons]], with only RecurringExtra Marissa Faireborne, [[DittoAliens the Quintessons]] and a guest character in a variety of new locales.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''
** ''WesternAnimation/AnyBondsToday'' just features WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, WesternAnimation/PorkyPig and WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd singing on a stage in front of patriotic and militaristic imagery. This is the only location seen in this propaganda WartimeCartoon.
** The shorts featuring WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner never take place outside the desert, and the title characters are the only characters who appear in those shorts. The exception to that rule is the short ''The Wild Chase'', where [[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird Sylvester]] and WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales make an appearance.
* WesternAnimation/TheTransformers: “Money is Everything” focusses entirely on [[MerchandiseDriven newly introduced characters the Technobots and the Terrorcons]], with only RecurringExtra Marissa Faireborne, [[DittoAliens the Quintessons]] and a guest character in a variety of new locales.
* A majority of episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', such as "Left in the Dark", "Get the Message", "Undie Pressure" (especially) and "Homespun", have the only background being at and within the titular household.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'':
** "Lo Scandalo" is one, the entire episode taking place inside Malory Archer's apartment.
** Season 6 Episode 5's "Vision Quest" has the entire cast stuck in an elevator for almost the entire duration of the episode. Between the characters' respective quirks and addictions, no cell phone service, and Pam [[UrineTrouble turning it into a Pee Bottle Episode]] after guzzling a forty-oz. then [[{{Squick}} trying to pour it back in the bottle]], the most dangerous mission may have been this one, where they were barely twenty feet away from the office.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': "Zim Eats Waffles", with the exception of the first minute and about twenty seconds at the end, consisted entirely of two camera angles. May have been due to a relatively large portion of the budget allocated to the second season finale (which was never made due to [[ExecutiveMeddling the series being canceled]]), although that remains unclear. The commentary actually states that this was the writer's intention. It's one of the series' most beloved episodes.
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE35MishMashMelee Mish Mash Melee]]" features only four ponies (Fizzy, Wind Whistler, Shady, and Gusty) and is set in a single location.
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E8LookBeforeYouSleep Look Before You Sleep]]" fits this trope, and may have been intended to conserve the budget, since it has only three speaking parts and is set mostly inside Twilight's treehouse. It's rumored they originally were well into another episode which had to be scrapped, and what we got was what they made in about a third of the time they'd normally have to make an episode.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E3TheGiftOfTheMaudPie The Gift of the Maud Pie]]" is this in terms of the number speaking roles (five characters by four voice actors). However, there is a ton of new designs and settings present throughout.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E5SisterhoovesSocial Sisterhooves Social]]", in terms of speaking roles, is centered mostly on Rarity, Applejack, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are absent, and Spike is given a cameo in the ending.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E20VivaLasPegasus Viva Las Pegasus]]": The majority of the episode takes place inside Gladmane's hotel, rather than the whole city of Las Pegasus.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E15TheHearthsWarmingClub The Hearth's Warming Club]]" is set inside the School of Friendship, with occasional shifts to the students' stories.
* ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'': The DVD commentary says that "Rubber Nipple Salesmen" was a BottleEpisode. The only fully-animated scenes are Ren and Stimpy driving the truck and standing outside someone's house whenever they had to sell rubber nipples and the GainaxEnding where the duo get thrown out and end up on the backs of two bulls who ride them off into the sunset. The animation budget they had for the episode was really tight, so John K. and the good people at Spumco couldn't animate Ren and Stimpy actually getting out of the truck or driving away.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** "Gary Takes a Bath", the eight-minute season 2 finale with one voice actor, only three characters (Mr. Krabs doesn't even talk) and a simple plot.
** "Reef Blower" is a NoDialogueEpisode that only focuses on [=SpongeBob=] and Squidward, and only the latter has any semblance of dialogue.
** "The Camping Episode" takes place mostly outside of [=SpongeBob=] and Squidward's houses. The only characters to appear are Spongebob, Patrick, Squidward, [[BearsAreBadNews a sea bear]] and [[RhinoRampage a sea rhinoceros]].
** Oddly, "Truth or Square," the 10th anniversary special, is one of these, with the majority of the animated portion taking place in the Krusty Krab's air ducts and the Patchy portion being shot entirely around Nickelodeon itself.
** "Big Sister Sam" takes place entirely on Conch Street. Simply put, there is only one background.
** "Yeti Krabs" takes place mostly in an empty Krusty Krab, with one scene showing a snowy mountainside and downtown Bikini Bottom.
** A rather large number of Season 1 episodes (ex., "Bubblestand", "Naughty Nautical Neighbors", "Opposite Day" (to some extent; the realtor's office is given very brief screen time), "Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost", "I Was a Teenage Gary", and "The Paper" (probably the straightest example on this list)) have the only background being Conch Street.
** Certain episodes such as "Graveyard Shift", "Imitation Krabs", "The Splinter" and "Krusty Dogs" have the only background being the Krusty Krab.
* The ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2021'' episode "Fusebox" consists almost entirely of one exterior shot of Sealab while the power is out.
* According to WordOfGod, ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' episode "Tag Sale... You're It!" was ''meant'' to be one of these by keeping the action on the Venture compound. Then the plot of the episode called for a large number of background, and the amount of work for the animators didn't really diminish.
** Since a lot of the characters are also voiced by the same two guys who write and direct the show, they've mentioned trying to keep costs down for some episodes by only using at most one other voice actor. And then you get Brock standing in the background not saying anything to give the feeling that he's involved in the episode, but they didn't want to shell out for Creator/PatrickWarburton so he doesn't say anything. For instance, ''[[Recap/TheVentureBrosS3E8TearsOfASeaCow Tears of a Sea Cow]]'' features only three voice actors, including Doc and Jackson.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has several:
** "Marceline's Closet", where Finn and Jake spend the majority of the episode [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin trapped in Marceline's closet.]]
** "Still", as evident by the fact that Finn and Jake are frozen the entire episode. One of the workers on the show even ''called'' it a Bottle Episode.
** "Card Wars" takes place entirely in the tree house and only features Finn, Jake and BMO.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'':
** "Lights Out", following action mostly by sound-effects and following the characters ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes.
** "Desperate Without Housewives" takes place mostly in one room of the Turner house with a static background despite the fact that 24 hours pass.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' has the appropriately titled "The Powerpuff Girls' Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever," which as the title suggests features the girls stuck inside the house because of the rain, so they in turn act out one of their own adventures. It's generally regarded as one of the funniest episodes in the series.
* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' has the special known as "''Dave and the Giant Pickle''", which is a simple retelling of the story of DavidVersusGoliath. According to the crew, they had spent so much money putting together their previous special "''Rack, Shack, and Benny''" that they had to make this particular special very simple, otherwise Big Idea Inc. would've gone bankrupt.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers''' unaired and unanimated series finale "Bye Bye Beavers" would have been this.

* The 1930 [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney short]] ''Fiddling Around'' was made in response to the sudden departure of Disney's key animator Creator/UbIwerks. It featured only WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, and it consisted him of performing violin tunes on a stage.
* One of the last second season episodes of ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' combined this with a clip show, taking place only at the beach and DK's treetop house with the majority of the action in flashbacks and with no original songs. This was lampshaded in the episode's title, "Message in a Bottle Show".
* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'':
** "Killing Time", the only three-minute episode, consists of the guys having to just talk to Nicholas Copernicus about becoming an astronomer for 30 seconds, while the rest is just them waiting for Larry's transport device to reboot.
** "Larry Upgrade," "Cabin Fever", and "Day of the Larrys" are all episodes where the Time Squad just don't go anywhere in history and remained on the satellite where HilarityEnsues.
** "Hate and Let Hate" is a zigzagged example. While it does mostly take place on the satellite (Larry and Tuddrussell arguing), there are also scenes of Otto being left on the desert island and trying to survive.

* Parodied and deconstructed on ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' in the aptly named "Bottle Episode", in which the Titans spend the entire episode trapped inside a giant bottle and flashing back to clips of past adventures.
* Spoofed in the ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'' episode "Blackwatch Plaid", which is almost entirely made up of scenes from other episodes re-dubbed and live action scenes (which are cheaper to do than animation). Really hilarious when the ending has Harvey discussing how to stop Phil's [[BigBrotherIsWatching extreme monitoring]]...which, thanks to reusing a scene, has Phil ''right in the room with Harvey''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E13KikisPizzaDeliveryService Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service]]" makes use of only three characters (Steven, Kiki and Jenny), two voice actors (Kiki and Jenny share a voice actress), and three settings (Steven's house, Fish Stew Pizza and Kiki's dreams).
** "Future Boy Zoltron," which is set entirely in Funland and often re-uses the same camera angles.
* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'':
** The episode "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS3E09BestThingThatEverHappened Best Thing That Ever Happened]]" involves Bojack firing Princess Carolyn as his agent. He and Princess Carolyn are the only main characters who appear, and the entire episode takes place at Elefante, the restaurant that Bojack owns. (It's a long story.)
** The episode "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS5E06FreeChurro Free Churro]]" is focused entirely on Bojack giving a eulogy at [[spoiler: his mother's]] funeral. Aside from a flashback with his father in TheTeaser, Bojack is the only character to have any dialogue and Creator/WillArnett provides the voices for both speaking roles. The only other characters to appear do so at the very end, [[spoiler: when Bojack realizes too late that he's at the wrong funeral]].
** [[Recap/BojackHorsemanS6E11SunkCostAndAllThat "Sunk Cost and All That"]] is an interesting subversion. All the characters enter and leave [=BoJack=]'s office, and there are times when the focus shifts to Mister Peanutbutter at Elafino, but the episode begins and ends with an empty shot of [=Bojack=]'s office, and the audience's perspective never leaves the room when the episode takes place in it, even when [=BoJack=] isn't there.
** The series finale consists of four conversations between [=BoJack=] and each of the other four regulars. No other voice acting is featured.
* There were a couple of bottle episodes on ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels''.
** "The Honorable Ones" involved Zeb and Imperial Agent Kallus marooned on an ice moon.
** "The Forgotten Droid" is mainly just Chopper and the introduction of his somewhat counterpart AP-5.
* The ''WesternAnimation/GlitchTechs'' episode "Find That Glitch" takes place almost entirely inside one room. A glitch is on the loose and everyone is kept inside until Phil and Inspector 7 can find out who it is.
* ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek''
** "[[Recap/CraigOfTheCreekS1E35DeepCreekSalvage Deep Creek Salvage]]" just takes place at the spot of the Creek where Craig, Kelsey, and J.P. are trying to retrieve the gold bar.
** "[[Recap/CraigOfTheCreekS3E21BreakingTheIce Breaking the Ice]]" just takes place at the Deserted Playhouse Island, where Craig, Wildernessa, and Cheesesticks are stranded. There's also only two actors in the entire episode.
* In the episode "[[Recap/JurassicWorldCampCretaceousS4E01BeneathTheSurface Beneath the Surface]]" from ''WesternAnimation/JurassicWorldCampCretaceous'' the characters are on a boat in the middle of the ocean for almost the entire episode.

* According to WordOfGod, ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' episode "Tag Sale... You're It!" was ''meant'' to be one of these by keeping the action on the Venture compound. Then the plot of the episode called for a large number of background, and the amount of work for the animators didn't really diminish.

* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'':
** A handful of episodes, such as "Space Chicken", "Dinner Party" and "Dream Weaver" (especially), have the only setting being the Greens' house. Certain episodes such as "Critterball Crisis", "Family Legacy" and "Skunked" also only take place around said home and Big Coffee.
** "Winner Winner" and "Valentine's Dance" are set only at the Community Center, while "Swimming Fool" takes place entirelly at the center's pool.
** "Fill Bill" takes place entirely at the seafood restaurant the Greens visit, which they get banned from in the end.
** "Photo Op" takes place entirely inside a mall the Greens go to, and we never get to see what it looks like on the outside.
** Oddly, "Blood Moon", the show's first double-length episode, is this, with the entire episode set around the Greens' home lane, mainly inside their house before escaping to the Elkins building next door.
** "Shark Objects" takes place completely at the beach.
** "Football Camp" is set entirely within the Bengals stadium, minus Remy's flashbacks and a brief scene in his game room.
** There is an episode literally called "Cheap Show", built entirely around this, with the entire episode set in the Greens' living room because of Bill wanting the family to stay home to save money for what he calls his "[[LampshadeHanging production budget]]". This leads to the characters reminiscing in a Clip Show Style, Tilly telling a story entirely through storyboards, and Cricket battling something in the dark.

** Season 8's "Brian & Stewie" is about Brian and Stewie coming to terms with each other while locked in a bank vault. The entire episode was free of the show's normal conventions (cutaway gags, recurring characters, burns against celebrities, flashbacks). It's basically just Creator/SethMacFarlane TalkingToHimself -- no Alex Borstein playing Lois, no Seth Green as Chris, not even Mila Kunis as Meg -- for 22 minutes. It's about as minimal as an episode can get, which people either applauded for being different or jeered because of the gross, diaper-eating scene or thinking that the episode is an excuse for Creator/SethMacFarlane to hog the spotlight.

* The 1930 [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney short]] ''Fiddling Around'' was made in response to the sudden departure of Disney's key animator Creator/UbIwerks. It featured only MickeyMouse, and it consisted him of performing violin tunes on a stage.

** Season 8's "Brian & Stewie" is about Brian and Stewie coming to terms with each other while locked in a bank vault. The entire episode was free of the show's normal conventions (cutaway gags, recurring characters, burns against celebrities, flashbacks). It's basically just Creator/SethMacFarlane TalkingToHimself -- no Alex Borstein playing Lois, no Seth Green as Chris, not even Mila Kunis as the DesignatedMonkey Meg -- for 22 minutes. It's about as minimal as an episode can get, which people either applauded for being different or jeered because of the gross, diaper-eating scene or thinking that the episode is an excuse for Creator/SethMacFarlane to hog the spotlight.
** Season 16's "Send in Stewie, Please" focuses on Stewie and a child psychiatrist voiced by Creator/IanMcKellen, and is similarly doesn't have any cutaways, and didn't even air with commercials during its original broadcast to boot.

** ''WesternAnimation/AnyBondsToday'' just features WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, WesternAnimation/PorkyPig and WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd singing on a stage in front of patriotic and militaristic imagery. This the only location seen in this propaganda WartimeCartoon.

* According to WordOfGod, ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' episode "Tag Sale... You're It!" was ''meant'' to be one of these by keeping the action on the Venture compound. Then the plot of the episode called for [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Loads and Loads of Background Characters]], and the amount of work for the animators didn't really diminish.

** "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S1E24Frenemies Frenemies]]" is set almost entirely in the day camp room, with a handful of short scenes in Blythe's room and at the storefront. Nevertheless, the episode is indoors from beginning to end, and only the main characters are present.

* A good chunk of episodes in ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' either take place primarily within the Aqua Teens residence or just focus solely on the Aqua Teens themselves (with their neighbor Carl sometimes joining in). This is justified due to the show's LimitedAnimation and slightly MinimalistCast.

* The ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode "Zim Eats Waffles", with the exception of the first minute and about twenty seconds at the end, consisted entirely of two camera angles. May have been due to a relatively large portion of the budget allocated to the second season finale (which was never made due to [[ExecutiveMeddling the series being canceled]]), although that remains unclear. The commentary actually states that this was the writer's intention. It's one of the series' most beloved episodes.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E8LookBeforeYouSleep Look Before You Sleep]]" fits this trope, and may have been intended to conserve the budget, since it has only three speaking parts and is set mostly inside Twilight's treehouse. It's rumored they originally were well into another episode which had to be scrapped, and what we got was what they made in about a third of the time they'd normally have to make an episode.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E3TheGiftOfTheMaudPie The Gift of the Maud Pie]]" is this in terms of the number speaking roles (five characters by four voice actors). However, there is a ton of new designs and settings present throughout.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E5SisterhoovesSocial Sisterhooves Social]]", in terms of speaking roles, is centered mostly on Rarity, Applejack, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are absent, and Spike is given a cameo in the ending.
** The majority of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E20VivaLasPegasus Viva Las Pegasus]]" takes place inside Gladmane's hotel, rather than the whole city of Las Pegasus.
** The entirety of "The Hearth's Warming Club" is set inside the School of Friendship, with occasional shifts to the students' stories.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'' has Mish Mash Melee, which only has four ponies (Fizzy, Wind Whistler, Shady, and Gusty) and is set in a single location.
* The ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'' DVD commentary says that "Rubber Nipple Salesmen" was a BottleEpisode. The only fully-animated scenes were Ren and Stimpy driving the truck and standing outside someone's house whenever they had to sell rubber nipples and the GainaxEnding where the duo get thrown out and end up on the backs of two bulls who ride them off into the sunset. The animation budget they had for the episode was really tight, so John K. and the good people at Spumco couldn't animate Ren and Stimpy actually getting out of the truck or driving away.
* "A Third Dad Cartoon" from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' consists entirely of a single shot of Dexter's Dad preparing to take a golf swing as Dexter and Dee Dee watch, only for it start raining and for them to go home. There is no music in the episode or anything resembling a conflict, and Dexter and Dee Dee are completely silent.

** "Gary Takes A Bath". 8-minute season 2 finale with one voice actor, only three characters (Mr. Krabs doesn't even talk) and a simple plot.
** The NoDialogueEpisode "Reef Blower", which only focuses on [=SpongeBob=] and Squidward, and only the latter has any semblance of dialogue.

* A majority of episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse", such as "Left in the Dark", "Get the Message", Undie Pressure" (especially) and "Homespun", have the only background being at and within the titular household.

** There’s also a number of episodes (“Dollar Day”, “Secret Shopper”, “Jingle Fever”, “The Great Bicycle Mystery” (save for some scenes on the street), “A Bopwork Orange”, “Frosty Mart Dream Vacation”, “Champ of Chomp”, “Get You Next Time”, Put That Cookie Down!”) where the only setting is the Frosty Mart.
** A handful of episodes (“Brain Drain”, “The Tell-Tale Toy”, “Cold War” (though the school appears at the beginning and the Frosty Mart is featured in a phone call), “No Toy Story”, “Lucky Chums”), have the only background being the Fanlair.

** The shorts featuring WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner never take place outside the desert, and the title characters are the only characters who appear in those shorts. The exception to that rule is the short ''The Wild Chase'', where [[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird Sylvester]] and WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales makes an appearance.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', being a long runner, inevitably has a few of these. Examples include:
** Lisa's First Word, which takes place entirely in the Simpson household and focuses on Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Krusty has a small cameo.
** Another Simpsons Clip Show, in which 90 percent of the episode is footage from past episodes, and the only new footage has just Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Homer and Marge.
** All Singing All Dancing has clips from past episodes and the new footage takes place entirely in the Simpson household with the family. Snake has a cameo.

* In the episode [[Recap/JurassicWorldCampCretaceousS4E01BeneathTheSurface Beneath the Surface]]" from ''WesternAnimation/JurassicWorldCampCretaceous'' the characters are on a boat in the middle of the ocean for almost the entire episode.

** The series finale consists of four conversations between BoJack and each of the other four regulars. No other voice acting is featured.