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** Quite a few cartoons from the mid-70s onward were very, very Anvilicious. For example, there was ''{{Fat Albert|AndTheCosbyKids}}'' and the animated version of ''GilligansIsland''. ''Every'' single episode of those ended with the characters having learned a lesson, and usually drove it home about as hard as they could short of grabbing the audience and screaming it into their faces.
* Frequently happens in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', such as in one episode where a character explains to another character about how there is no global warming, climaxing with "What are you, a ''retard''?" ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' specializes in dropping anvils so hard that it [[CrossingTheLineTwice becomes part of the humor]].
* Frequently happens in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', such as in one episode where a character explains to another character about how there is no global warming, climaxing with "What are you, a ''retard''?" ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' specializes in dropping anvils so hard that it [[CrossingTheLineTwice becomes part of the humor]].
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** Quite a few cartoons from the mid-70s onward were very, very Anvilicious. For example, there was ''{{Fat ''WesternAnimation/{{Fat Albert|AndTheCosbyKids}}'' and the animated version of ''GilligansIsland''.''Series/GilligansIsland''. ''Every'' single episode of those ended with the characters having learned a lesson, and usually drove it home about as hard as they could short of grabbing the audience and screaming it into their faces.
* Frequently happens in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', such as in one episode where a character explains to another character about how there is no global warming, climaxing with "What are you, a ''retard''?"''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' ''South Park'' specializes in dropping anvils so hard that it [[CrossingTheLineTwice becomes part of the humor]].
* Frequently happens in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', such as in one episode where a character explains to another character about how there is no global warming, climaxing with "What are you, a ''retard''?"
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* Disney's ''{{Pocahontas}}'' is very {{Anvilicious}} in the way it portrays conflict between the two conflicting peoples, particularly during the final scene when Pocahontas makes her speech about what the evils of hatred have brought them to.
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* Disney's ''{{Pocahontas}}'' ''Disney/{{Pocahontas}}'' is very {{Anvilicious}} in the way it portrays conflict between the two conflicting peoples, particularly during the final scene when Pocahontas makes her speech about what the evils of hatred have brought them to.
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** It's particularly effective because, contrary to the opinion of some reviewers, it avoids portraying the white people and their mission as totally evil and [[MagicalNativeAmerican the natives as totally good]]. ''Pocahontas and John Smith'' were good; Governor Ratcliffe was bad. Everyone else was varying shades of grey, and although Ratcliffe was on an exploitative mission, the natives reacted with hostility and violence instead of any attempt at understanding, and each side absolutely dehumanized the other and saw them as animals unworthy of life. Even though the English miners committed the original wrong, the natives were far from innocent {{noble savage}}s.
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** It's particularly effective because, contrary to the opinion of some reviewers, because it avoids portraying the white people and their mission as totally evil and [[MagicalNativeAmerican the natives as totally good]]. ''Pocahontas Pocahontas and John Smith'' were good; Smith are good, and Governor Ratcliffe was bad. Everyone is bad, but everyone else was is varying shades of grey, and although Ratcliffe was on an exploitative mission, the natives reacted with hostility and violence instead of any attempt at understanding, and each side absolutely dehumanized the other and saw them as animals unworthy of life. Even though the English miners committed the original wrong, the natives were far from innocent {{noble savage}}s.
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** This is carried over into the sequel, via the depiction of the English. Yes, Pocahontas is horrified to see what "bear baiting" is, but she spends most of the first half of her trip there gushing over how awesome England and everyone and everything in it is.
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** This is carried over into the sequel, via the depiction of the English. Yes, While Pocahontas is horrified to see what "bear baiting" is, but she spends most of the first half of her trip there gushing over how awesome amazing England and everyone and everything in it is.
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** The episode "Decision 3012" is even less subtle than "Proposition Infinity", with [[BarackObama a nigh-messianic Presidential candidate (born in Kenya, grew up in Hawaii, was a community organizer, went to Harvard, and has a Nobel Prize) being persecuted by ignorant bigots who think he's not from around here]]. And then for good measure, they say Nixon created a BadFuture by building a fence to block illegal (alien) immigration, and [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong the other candidate is trying to prevent that]].
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** The episode "Decision 3012" is even less subtle than "Proposition Infinity", with [[BarackObama [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama a nigh-messianic Presidential candidate (born in Kenya, grew up in Hawaii, was a community organizer, went to Harvard, and has a Nobel Prize) being persecuted by ignorant bigots who think he's not from around here]]. And then for good measure, they say Nixon created a BadFuture by building a fence to block illegal (alien) immigration, and [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong the other candidate is trying to prevent that]].
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* Back in the old SEGA Genesis days, ''AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' ended occasional episodes with a "Sonic Says" section which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcrtkiLEGbE gave kids good advice]]. Which have been [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b5V3EFfPi0 completely]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Dksf5JJpQ&feature=related and thoroughly]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy260D8rt2k&feature=related brutalized]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscavzsaCgU&feature=related on Youtube]].
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* Back in the old SEGA Genesis days, ''AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' ended occasional episodes with a "Sonic Says" section which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcrtkiLEGbE gave kids good advice]]. Which have been [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b5V3EFfPi0 completely]] [[http://www.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Dksf5JJpQ&feature=related com/watch?v=3EXEYP1U5xw and thoroughly]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy260D8rt2k&feature=related brutalized]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscavzsaCgU&feature=related on Youtube]].
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** Smoking pot somehow turned Quahog into a utopia overnight. Moral of the story: drugs are the key to perfect happiness apparently. ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' was right. Especially considering this was stated immediately after a news report that the anchors stumbled through due to being stoned out of their minds. This makes the 'utopian Quahog' seem more like an InformedAbility and that the real situation should be the exact opposite of what Brian claims it to be.
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** Smoking pot somehow turned Quahog into a utopia overnight. Moral of the story: drugs are the key to perfect happiness apparently. ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' was right. Especially considering this was stated immediately after a news report that the anchors stumbled through due to being stoned out of their minds. This makes the 'utopian Quahog' seem more like an InformedAbility with the reason crime is down is because everyone is too stoned to do it and that the real situation should be the exact opposite of what Brian claims it to be.
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** More recently we have "Thanksgiving", in which Joe's son Kevin [[TheBusCameBack comes back]] and reveals that he deserted the army. Kevin is the only one who gets to debate his point with any modicum of intelligence, while everyone who disagrees with him just shouts angrily and makes nonsensical emotional arguments. The sole exception is Quagmire's father, a former Navy man himself, who says that soldiers know what they're getting into when they enlist. The episode ends up siding with Kevin by pointing out an incident when his usually LawfulGood father let a robber get away because he stole food to feed his starving family.
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** More recently we have "Thanksgiving", in which Joe's son Kevin [[TheBusCameBack comes back]] and reveals that he deserted the army. Kevin is the only one who gets to debate his point with any modicum of intelligence, while [[StrawmanBall everyone who disagrees with him him]] just shouts angrily and makes nonsensical emotional arguments. The sole exception is Quagmire's father, a former Navy man himself, who says that soldiers know what they're getting into when they enlist. The episode ends up siding with Kevin by pointing out an incident when his usually LawfulGood father let a robber get away because he stole food to feed his starving family.
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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'''s "Into the Wild Green Yonder": As the movie progresses the anvils get bigger and at the end they are banging hammers on them. At least we got [[spoiler: Leela admitting she loves Fry, finally.]]
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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'''s "Into the Wild Green Yonder": As the movie progresses the anvils get bigger and at the end they are banging hammers on them. At least we got [[spoiler: Leela admitting she loves Fry, finally.]]
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** The "[[BrandX eyePhone]]" episode drops the anvil pretty hard. Especially the portion about E-waste ending up making the third planet in the Antares system a living hell. ''Proposition Infinity'' was a not-even-thinly-disguised anvilicious "shame on you" to anyone who isn't backing gay marriage.
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** The "[[BrandX eyePhone]]" episode ("Attack of the Killer App") drops the anvil pretty hard. Especially the portion about E-waste ending up making the third planet in the Antares system a living hell. ''Proposition Infinity'' was a not-even-thinly-disguised anvilicious "shame on you" to anyone who isn't backing gay marriage.
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** "The Mask Magician" also played it for laughs: When Timmy says what he learned through the episode, a flashing frame reading "Moral of the Story" appears for about two seconds, complete with sound effect.
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** "The Mask Masked Magician" also played it for laughs: When Timmy says what he learned through the episode, a flashing frame reading "Moral of the Story" appears for about two seconds, complete with sound effect.
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* The first seven seasons of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' had subtle morals, but starting on season 8, it had the anvil hit very hard. As of season 17, however, the series seem to have pulled back from this, having more subtle Aesops or odd stories which lack them altogether.
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** In all fairness, this was a propaganda piece from when America was gearing up for World War II. Several other propaganda pieces from the same time exist, including one based on the Three Little Pigs witch ended in artillery barrages.
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** In the episode "Canada on Strike!" they brutally attacked the Writers' Guild of America strike with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the knee. Made worse by the message essentially being [[CriticalResearchFailure "It's impossible to make money off the internet]], and you're a fool for giving up ''real'' opportunities trying to do so."
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** In Subverted in the episode "Canada on Strike!" they brutally attacked It appears as a mean parody of the Writers' Writers Guild of America strike, but as Matt Stone and Trey Parker explained on the episode's commentary, it's exactly how they perceived how the writer's strike with went down. They themselves tried to strike (not because they felt like they were being wronged in anyway, they just wanted time off from writing episodes) but were told they weren't in the union. They then claimed that most of the writers regretted voting for the strike and that the WGA screwed all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to writers over and no one actually benefitted from the knee. Made worse by the message essentially being [[CriticalResearchFailure "It's impossible to make money off the internet]], and you're a fool for giving up ''real'' opportunities trying to do so."strike.
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** It was parodied as early as "Pink Eye," in which Kyle starts going on a speech about how Halloween isn't about costumes and candy, but about loving, sharing, and giving to people - at which point Stan tells Kyle that he's talking about Christmas, and the Halloween really is just about costumes and candy.
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** It was parodied as early as "Pink Eye," in which Kyle starts going on a speech about how Halloween isn't about costumes and candy, but about loving, sharing, and giving to people - at which point Stan tells Kyle that he's talking about Christmas, and the that Halloween really is just about costumes and candy.
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* The "Noodles the Rabbit" segments of British dark animated comedy show ''Monkey Dust'' combine a scientist describing horrific animal experimentation to an uncaring executive over sad piano music and the experimental rabbit acting like Bugs Bunny. Naturally, the final segment shown ends with the scientist being killed by a [[AnvilOnHead falling anvil]].
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* The "Noodles the Rabbit" segments of British dark animated comedy show ''Monkey Dust'' ''WesternAnimation/MonkeyDust'' combine a scientist describing horrific animal experimentation to an uncaring executive over sad piano music and the experimental rabbit acting like Bugs Bunny. Naturally, the final segment shown ends with the scientist being killed by a [[AnvilOnHead falling anvil]].
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* ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' had 'What moral did we learn in this episode?' segments at the end of each episode.
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* ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' had 'What moral did we learn in this episode?' segments at the end of each episode.
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** They have taken some rather unsubtle shots at religion (Not All Dogs Go To Heaven and Road To The Multiverse).
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** They have taken some rather unsubtle shots at religion (Not religion. "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven Heaven" is essentially one long screed against organized religion, and Road the Utopian society seen briefly in "Road To The Multiverse).Multiverse" is as perfect as it is due to a complete lack of theism.
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*** This was made even worse by the fact that an earlier episode condemned robosexuality. Fry's Lucy Lu bot died in vain!
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This is more an example of Lost Aesop than this trope; you can\'t really be Anvilicious if you aren\'t clear on what the moral is.
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* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has [[BaseBreaker Feelin' Pinkie Keen]], which quite literally drops an anvil on the protagonist's head (amongst many other painful and humiliating things, [[DudeNotFunny some done to her within a wheelchair]]) for [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous daring]] to think that [[UnfortunateImplications science could explain something the other characters take in blind faith]]. In the end she ends up apologizing to the other characters--for her own suffering, no less--simply because she didn't believe them about something that she had no reason to take on faith. The show creator herself said she was upset with the way that episode was written, and wishes the dev team could redo it.
** The writer has said the intended message was about being willing to listen to your friends, even on things you don't necessarily agree with, but unfortunately it somehow got twisted into saying that scientists should admit God exists.
** The writer has said the intended message was about being willing to listen to your friends, even on things you don't necessarily agree with, but unfortunately it somehow got twisted into saying that scientists should admit God exists.
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** The writer has said the intended message was about being willing to listen to your friends, even on things you don't necessarily agree with, but unfortunately it somehow got twisted into saying that scientists should admit God exists.
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Because this episode has seven entries on the Dethroning Moment Of Suck page for a reason
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*''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has [[BaseBreaker Feelin' Pinkie Keen]], which quite literally drops an anvil on the protagonist's head (amongst many other painful and humiliating things, [[DudeNotFunny some done to her within a wheelchair]]) for [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous daring]] to think that [[UnfortunateImplications science could explain something the other characters take in blind faith]]. In the end she ends up apologizing to the other characters--for her own suffering, no less--simply because she didn't believe them about something that she had no reason to take on faith. The show creator herself said she was upset with the way that episode was written, and wishes the dev team could redo it.
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** Another episode had a surfer whose career apparently ended after he began using steroids. Cue shocked look from ''Shaggy'': "DRUGS?! Drugs can mess you up!" Well, he ''would'' know.
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** Another The same episode had a surfer whose career apparently ended after he began using steroids. Cue shocked look from ''Shaggy'': "DRUGS?! Drugs can mess you up!" Well, he ''would'' know.
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** Played for laughs in the lyrics of the song in "Sidetracked".
--> '''Agent Lyla''': It's a heavy-handed metaphor for how we work together!
--> '''Agent Lyla''': It's a heavy-handed metaphor for how we work together!
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** Let's not forget the earlier anti-pot episode where Peter and Lois thought smoking pot made them into talented folk singers when, in reality, [[spoiler: it turned them into drooling babbling idiots who only thought they were singing well.]] Chris admonishes them with a lecture at the end of the episode, which was only in the episode because Fox ordered them to put it in.
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** Let's not forget the earlier anti-pot episode where Peter and Lois thought smoking pot made them into talented folk singers when, in reality, [[spoiler: it turned them into drooling babbling idiots who only thought they were singing well.]] well. Chris admonishes them with a lecture at the end of the episode, which was only in the episode because Fox ordered them to put it in.
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* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' delivers its many, many messages with all the subtlety of a ten-pound sledgehammer. For example, Brian has changed from being the straight man and witty intellectual to becoming basically a vehicle for the current writer to deliver his/her agenda. One of the least subtle examples is the episode "Road To Germany", in which [[GodwinsLaw Stewie steals a Nazi's uniform after traveling back in time, and a [=McCain=]-Palin campaign button is attached to the uniform.]]
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* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' delivers its many, many messages with all the subtlety of a ten-pound sledgehammer. For example, Brian has changed from being the straight man and witty intellectual to becoming basically a vehicle for the current writer to deliver his/her agenda. One of the least subtle examples is the pre-2008 election episode "Road To Germany", in which [[GodwinsLaw Stewie steals a Nazi's uniform after traveling back in time, and a [=McCain=]-Palin campaign button is attached to the uniform.]]
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** "It's a Wishful Life" also played it for laughs: When Timmy says what he learned through the episode, a flashing frame reading "Moral of the Story" appears for about two seconds, complete with sound effect.
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** "It's a Wishful Life" "The Mask Magician" also played it for laughs: When Timmy says what he learned through the episode, a flashing frame reading "Moral of the Story" appears for about two seconds, complete with sound effect.
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** More recently we have "Thanksgiving", in which Joe's son Kevin [[TheBusCameBack comes back]] and reveals that he deserted the army. Kevin is the only one who gets to debate his point with any modicum of intelligence, while everyone who disagrees with him just shouts angrily and makes nonsensical emotional arguments. The sole exception is Quagmire's father, a former Navy man himself, who says that soldiers know what they're getting into when they enlist. The episode ends up siding with Kevin by pointing out an incident when his usually LawfulGood father let a robber get away because he stole food to feed a starving family.
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** More recently we have "Thanksgiving", in which Joe's son Kevin [[TheBusCameBack comes back]] and reveals that he deserted the army. Kevin is the only one who gets to debate his point with any modicum of intelligence, while everyone who disagrees with him just shouts angrily and makes nonsensical emotional arguments. The sole exception is Quagmire's father, a former Navy man himself, who says that soldiers know what they're getting into when they enlist. The episode ends up siding with Kevin by pointing out an incident when his usually LawfulGood father let a robber get away because he stole food to feed a his starving family.
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* ''ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'': The moral of one episode is that, if you want women to like you, you should listen to what they have to say. The villain is portrayed as immensely attractive for being a LovableRogue and treating the woman with disturbingly close smothering. The moral about listening repeated vigorously, much to the annoyance of Sheriff Stone. Subverted when the only thing Shaggy and Fred learn from this is that they can get earplugs and only pretend to listen to their female friends.
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* Original ''Thundercats'' was ''extremely'' anvil-heavy in most of its first episodes. Fortunately, they let up after a while and managed to make the show mostly fun.
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* Original ''Thundercats'' ''{{Thundercats}}'' was ''extremely'' anvil-heavy in most of its first episodes. Fortunately, they let up after a while and managed to make the show mostly fun.
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* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' delivers its many, many messages with all the subtlety of a ten-pound sledgehammer. For example, Brian has changed from being the straight man and witty intellectual to becoming basically a vehicle for the current writer to deliver his/her agenda. One of the least subtle examples is the episode "Road To Germany", in which [[GodwinsLaw Stewie steals a Nazi's uniform after traveling back in time, and a [=McCain=]-Palin campaign button is attached to the uniform.]]
** The episode where the abstinence-only agenda of schools is bashed by Lois.
** Also, the episode for legalizing marijuana, where the cops who pull over Peter and Brian don't mind that they have a bloody trash bag in their backseat, but go ballistic when they find out Brian has some pot.
** Smoking pot somehow turned Quahog into a utopia overnight. Moral of the story: drugs are the key to perfect happiness apparently. ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' was right. Especially considering this was stated immediately after a news report that the anchors stumbled through due to being stoned out of their minds. This makes the 'utopian Quahog' seem more like an InformedAbility and that the real situation should be the exact opposite of what Brian claims it to be.
** Let's not forget the earlier anti-pot episode where Peter and Lois thought smoking pot made them into talented folk singers when, in reality, [[spoiler: it turned them into drooling babbling idiots who only thought they were singing well.]] Chris admonishes them with a lecture at the end of the episode, which was only in the episode because Fox ordered them to put it in.
** They have taken some rather unsubtle shots at religion (Not All Dogs Go To Heaven and Road To The Multiverse).
** More recently we have "Thanksgiving", in which Joe's son Kevin [[TheBusCameBack comes back]] and reveals that he deserted the army. Kevin is the only one who gets to debate his point with any modicum of intelligence, while everyone who disagrees with him just shouts angrily and makes nonsensical emotional arguments. The sole exception is Quagmire's father, a former Navy man himself, who says that soldiers know what they're getting into when they enlist. The episode ends up siding with Kevin by pointing out an incident when his usually LawfulGood father let a robber get away because he stole food to feed a starving family.
** And when ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' wants to discuss factory farming, their approach is as follows: Compare it to the Holocaust. No explanation, no exploration of the cruelties and abuses of factory farms- just compare it to the Holocaust. With a pun. "Da-cow".
** 2007 episode "Boys Do Cry" (where the Griffins go to Texas) takes quite a few jabs at conservatives and Texans.
* "One Beer", a [[ThreeShorts mini-episode]] of ''TinyToonAdventures'', does a send-up of heavy-handed CantGetAwayWithNuthin cartoons about the dangers of underage drinking. They have a bottle of beer. Hampton notes they usually wouldn't touch such a thing, but Buster [[LampshadeHanging replies]] that they have to [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption act out of character]] [[IdiotBall for the plot to work]]. The single bottle of beer (split between Buster, Hampton, and Plucky, which means each got about four ounces) puts them into a foggy dreamland, in which they eventually drive a car off a cliff and die. Not surprisingly, the executives eventually refused to re-air the episode, because they felt it was so heavy-handed that it came off as sarcastic. (Which was, in fact, the series writers' intent all along; in response to some attempted ExecutiveMeddling by some figures at Warner Bros. Television, who thought ''Tiny Toons'' needed to be more "educational", all three segments of that particular episode ("''Elephant Issues''") were deliberately written to come across as moral sledgehammers delivered as un-subtly as possible, in hopes that it would discourage the censors and network execs from asking them to do it again. It worked.)
* Spoofed mercilessly in a "U.S. Acres" short from ''GarfieldAndFriends''. Roy got a job on "The Buddy Bears", an [[TastesLikeDiabetes obnoxiously cheerful]] kids' ShowWithinAShow, where part of his role as "Big Bad Buddy Bird" was to have [[AnvilOnHead sixteen-ton safes]] dropped on his head for not agreeing with the singing, dancing ursines. The quite literally {{anvilicious}} moral, according to the Buddy Bears: "[[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong Always go along with the group]], or someone may drop a sixteen-ton safe on you."
* It could be said that the ''premise'' of ''CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' was anvilicious. A group of eco superheroes who command the powers of nature to fight evil polluters. Yup, [[ForTheEvulz bad guys who don't produce anything; just pollute]]. Though in its defense, if they had written it as a cyberpunk story about a bunch of eco-terrorists fighting against the overwhelming power of the corporate menace, it wouldn't exactly have been able to appeal to children now would it? That's the lesson here: if it's U.S. children's television, it must make use of anvilicious aesops. Removing them makes the show no longer acceptable for children!
** One episode had Dr. Blight producing beef -via mutated, drugged-up, oversized cattle. To hammer the point home, the African village chief who was helping Blight -and eating many many burgers made from the freak cattle- went on a crazy rampage and had to be restrained. [[SarcasmMode Yes, mass-produced beef is bad.]] Ibex and other meat produced via older, pre-industrial methods is better. [[note]]If you don't mind the parasites and diseases that cut down on how much meat is produced, or getting ill after eating meat with said bugs.[[/note]]
** Quite a few cartoons from the mid-70s onward were very, very Anvilicious. For example, there was ''{{Fat Albert|AndTheCosbyKids}}'' and the animated version of ''GilligansIsland''. ''Every'' single episode of those ended with the characters having learned a lesson, and usually drove it home about as hard as they could short of grabbing the audience and screaming it into their faces.
* Frequently happens in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', such as in one episode where a character explains to another character about how there is no global warming, climaxing with "What are you, a ''retard''?" ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' specializes in dropping anvils so hard that it [[CrossingTheLineTwice becomes part of the humor]].
** Each episode in which the denouement dialogue begins with "You know, I learned something today..."
** Whenever either Stan or Kyle makes a speech accompanied by a gentle piano {{leitmotif}}.
** "Christian Rock Hard" brutally parodied this trope. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny attempt to illegally download songs off the Internet for free. They download ''one'' song and ''[[DigitalPiracyIsEvil almost instantly, an entire FBI squad busts into the house, holds the kids at gunpoint and arrests them]].'' This was also a CantGetAwayWithNuthin moment. When Stan asks what's wrong with downloading music, the officer responds that an artist will have to buy a slightly smaller island for his kid, or wait a few days before buying a gold plated swimming pool.
** In the episode "Canada on Strike!" they brutally attacked the Writers' Guild of America strike with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the knee. Made worse by the message essentially being [[CriticalResearchFailure "It's impossible to make money off the internet]], and you're a fool for giving up ''real'' opportunities trying to do so."
** They made fun of this trope (and themselves) in "Cartoon Wars" (the one where they kept making fun of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'').
--> "Random Guy (about Family Guy)": "I just want to watch a show that isn't preachy and up its own ass with messages."
** That quote started life as a TakeThatMe and ended up as HilariousInHindsight.
** It was parodied as early as "Pink Eye," in which Kyle starts going on a speech about how Halloween isn't about costumes and candy, but about loving, sharing, and giving to people - at which point Stan tells Kyle that he's talking about Christmas, and the Halloween really is just about costumes and candy.
** One instance where they dropped the anvil on their foot was "Britney's New Look". Yes, it had a damn fine point - don't get so into celebrities. However, it sacrificed virtually all humor to do so, save for a throw-away gag here and there. The result is a very dark and borderline disturbing social commentary.
** Pretty much every episode for the last four or five seasons have all but dropped any hints of subtlety, whether it's for a message or a joke. Take "Your Getting Old" for example, which paints Matt and Trey's view of a what a cynical person who doesn't like anything acts like.
** "Eat, Pray, Queef" is top of the litter in regards to this trope. The near entirety of the episodes's duration reads like a twisted ''South Park'' take on [[DoubleStandard gender oppression]] and women's rights struggles, to the point where it could very well be a parody until the [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped final few minutes that give the impression of being actually sincere]].
* Practically every episode of ''TheProudFamily'', with its suburban upper-middle-class Black-American family learning [[AnAesop some lesson]], often concerning race relations.
** The show drops the anvil especially hard in the episode "EZ Jackster". The scriptwriters manage to slam ''Film/TheMatrix'' movies (the "bad kid" is black and dressed like Morpheus did in the movies) '''and''' hit the audience over the head with a story about how [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil illegally downloading music]] and nice kids don't do it. Oh, and it [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything visually equates illicit filesharing to drug abuse]]. Seriously.
* Parodied on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' cartoon, where the final sequence to many episodes was the "Wheel of Morality", a Big 6 style wheel the characters would spin to randomly determine the moral of the episode in a parody of AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle. ("Wheel of Morality, turn turn turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn!") One short played up the randomness and gameshow / gambling aspect by having the result be a prize in the form of a free vacation. What makes this especially amusing is that the creative team on the show was pressured to include lessons in the format. The above was only one response, while another, vastly more scathing one has Slappy Squirrel go through plastic surgery to start her career over... so she can make cartoons more violent, just like they used to be.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies1980s Pound Puppies]]'': At one point, the adult puppies (?) tell one of the [[DepartmentofRedundancyDepartment child puppies]] (?!) a story about how a kid lying about breaking a vase causes the death of everyone they know and the destruction of their whole fantasy world.
* ''CartoonAllStarsToTheRescue'' uses healthy doses of {{Narm}} and horror to create a special so {{Anvilicious}} that it may very well be a form of brainwashing. The show put the drug addict kid through what can only be described as a Cartoon Carnival of Souls as part of their DrugsAreBad argument.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' had 'What moral did we learn in this episode?' segments at the end of each episode.
** Including [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5gNSqJyzn8 this]] little gem. Sure, it's a great lesson, but the delivery, as with ''any'' kids show that tries the same thing, means it almost always comes off sounding like [[SpoofAesop they're just trying to make you laugh more.]]
** That one is made a BrokenAesop by the people He-Man says to go to in case you're being molested; your parent, teacher, minister or rabbi. Chances are one of those people is more likely to be the molester themselves than some stranger off the street.
** This one might be a case of SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped. Lou Scheimer related in a recent DVD extra for the cartoon how he received a letter from a parent of a child who came forward about their own abuse after having seen He-Man and She-Ra talk about it. Scheimer said that it was probably [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the most significant accomplishment of his career]].
** There's the ''She-Ra'' episode ''The Price of Freedom''. [[spoiler:A village enslaved to the Horde give up everything but the clothes on their backs to escape to freedom, while He-Man comes probably the closest ever, in that particular declared kids' show, to ''dying'' when he helps them escape after She-Ra's gone for reinforcements. It's hammered in again and again about how freedom is worth any price.]] Yet the 'what did we learn this episode?' was about the dangers of ''fire'', based on the village being burnt. Wrong anvil.
* ''{{Freakazoid}}'': In one episode the story is interrupted by a member of the censor board. At the end she is hit with an anvil [[DontExplainTheJoke because censors are bad, geddit?]]
* ''GIJoe'' taught us all that [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AjcDW7zIY8 knowing is half the battle]]. So now you know. The other half? Blowing shit up.
* In later years, ''{{Popeye}}'' cartoons were sometimes used as a way to get kids to eat their vegetables, particularly spinach, as the title character uses it as a SuperSerum. Sometimes, it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL3WNqs5ZzA worked]].
* Back in the old SEGA Genesis days, ''AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' ended occasional episodes with a "Sonic Says" section which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcrtkiLEGbE gave kids good advice]]. Which have been [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b5V3EFfPi0 completely]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Dksf5JJpQ&feature=related and thoroughly]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy260D8rt2k&feature=related brutalized]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscavzsaCgU&feature=related on Youtube]].
* The episode "Grande Size Me" in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' [[ExecutiveMeddling focused]] on how it's better eating healthy food than fast food. Cue a ''SuperSizeMe'' parody, Comicbook/IncredibleHulk transformation and BreakingTheFourthWall. Lampshaded and played for laughs at the end of the episode where Ron gives a speech to the viewer about [[FantasticAesop how mutating your DNA is bad, and you should never do it]]. Bonus points for ignoring the concept of portion control.
* ''ThePolarExpress'' makes sure that no one misses its religious message. The plot revolves around a boy who is tortured by doubts of Santa Claus, who is shown to be like a god to everyone at the North Pole. The boy is a stereotypical {{woobie}} just because "Christmas doesn't work for him." Everyone who doesn't believe in Santa is annoying, scary, or both and the most spiritual of the kids apparently is the best leader... yes, we got the message.
* The "Noodles the Rabbit" segments of British dark animated comedy show ''Monkey Dust'' combine a scientist describing horrific animal experimentation to an uncaring executive over sad piano music and the experimental rabbit acting like Bugs Bunny. Naturally, the final segment shown ends with the scientist being killed by a [[AnvilOnHead falling anvil]].
* ''APupNamedScoobyDoo'':
** In one episode, the villain was using dolphins in his drug smuggling operation. When Velma mentioned drugs, she said it after a pause to give it more emphasis. Scooby then responded in disgust. This happens twice in nearly the exact same wording. The fact that it's a Scooby-Doo spinoff makes it even funnier.
** Another episode had a surfer whose career apparently ended after he began using steroids. Cue shocked look from ''Shaggy'': "DRUGS?! Drugs can mess you up!" Well, he ''would'' know.
* ''FernGully'': Humans suck, pollution is the devil and cutting down trees is pure evil because as any fairy will tell you they feel pain. The animated musical. Becomes a bit [[{{Irony}} ironic]] when you realize that the [[TimCurry spirit of]] [[EvilIsSexy pollution]] is the [[JustHereForGodzilla main reason most people watch the movie in the first place.]]
* The ''DonaldDuck'' episode "DerFuehrersFace": "Boy, am I glad to be a citizen of the [[{{Eagleland}} United States of America]]!"
* The ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episode "Dead Duck", where Darkwing has a dream that he died in a motorcycle crash due to not wearing a helmet. However, the anvilicious message of "wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle" is somewhat odd when considering that Launchpad never wears a helmet when riding/driving the Ratcatcher. [[BrokenAesop Plus it doesn't connect with the extreme but short-term consequences of every other violent situation in that show]], where Darkwing is frequently flattened, burnt, electrocuted, turned into a balloon animal, etc., but fine after the next cutaway.
* ''TheFairlyOddparents'':
** BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor. Also, "It's A Wishful Life" states: "Do nice things to be nice, not to get rewarded" after showing Timmy how much better things were [[WonderfulLife without him]] after he wanted some acknowledgement.
** "It's a Wishful Life" also played it for laughs: When Timmy says what he learned through the episode, a flashing frame reading "Moral of the Story" appears for about two seconds, complete with sound effect.
* ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' goes ahead and mocks this with a [[AntiHero "he]][[WellIntentionedExtremist ro"]] called 'The Lesson', who tries to literally [[DropTheHammer hammer home]] various [[AnAesop messages]] into peoples' heads (usually [[ThisLoserIsYou Yang]]). Even Yin, who agrees with him on principle, thinks he's a jerk and helps foil him.
* ''{{Duckman}}'' did this a few times. Unlike most other cartoons, though, it stayed funny while it did it; ''Duckman'' was really one of the first primetime animated shows that could be good ''and'' dramatic. A good example was the episode "America the Beautiful", where Duckman and Cornfed chase down a missing model named (of course) America, going through her ex-lovers, which represented the repressed '50s, the radically liberal '60s, the hedonistic, shallow '70s, and the greed-crazed '80s. Unable to find her, Duckman wallows in despair, represented by the cynical detachment of the '90s, before finding America in a dump, having given up all hope for a better tomorrow. Duckman finally convinces her that, although survival is difficult, they had to keep trying to make the world a better place, for the sake of their children.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' plays with this in episode 14 "The Fortuneteller". We have Sokka, the advocater of science and reason, and the villagers mocking him for his logical ways. No, seriously, they call him "Mr. Logic and Reason," or some variation of that. One of the Fortuneteller's predictions is that a volcano will ''not'' destroy the entire village. Three guesses as to what happens, the first two don't count. Of course, SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped. [[spoiler: The end of the episode, in which a SelfFulfillingProphecy is played with- the Fortuneteller's incorrect prophecy validated itself by forcing the Gaang to stop the volcano- loosens up on this, and the main ScrewDestiny moral is delivered with much more subtlety.]]
** It's not so much ScrewDestiny as 'shape your own destiny'. Aang may be TheChosenOne but he has to work at it.
** Let's not forget "The Painted Lady," where the GreenAesop was dialed UpToEleven. It's a testament to the writers' skill that they managed to work in such a heavy-handed message that was most likely [[ExecutiveMeddling mandated by the network]] while still keeping the characters in-character. Although Katara's dialogue could have used some more work. Though it's worth noting that another message of the episode was "Don't wait for someone else to help you; help yourselves."
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has had 3 episodes so far ("Phineas and Ferb get Busted", "Quantum Boogaloo", "The Wizard of Odd") dispensing the wisdom that creativity and imagination are important; so important, in fact, that if these were to be stripped away, the results would be catastrophic.
** The first showcases the main characters getting [[MindRape mind raped at the hands of a reform school]] resulting in all of their beloved qualities getting stripped away, [[Literature/AClockworkOrange Clockwork Orange]] style. The second presents a dystopian society resulting from MoralGuardians banning creativity and imagination and [[MoralEventHorizon locking up kids at a young age until they reach adulthood]]. The third claims that the "straight and narrow" is the worst way to live life.
** There's also "Attack of the 50 foot Sister", which claims that girls shouldn't be obsessed with having a perfect look.
** On the DVDCommentary for that episode, co-writer Jon Colton Barry says the moral (or "takeaway" as they call them) is basically 'no one's perfect, everyone has insecurities and it's okay to try to fix them, but be aware that there are some people out there who will manipulate those insecurities for their own gain.' Or something like that.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'''s "Into the Wild Green Yonder": As the movie progresses the anvils get bigger and at the end they are banging hammers on them. At least we got [[spoiler: Leela admitting she loves Fry, finally.]]
** The "[[BrandX eyePhone]]" episode drops the anvil pretty hard. Especially the portion about E-waste ending up making the third planet in the Antares system a living hell. ''Proposition Infinity'' was a not-even-thinly-disguised anvilicious "shame on you" to anyone who isn't backing gay marriage.
** The episode "Decision 3012" is even less subtle than "Proposition Infinity", with [[BarackObama a nigh-messianic Presidential candidate (born in Kenya, grew up in Hawaii, was a community organizer, went to Harvard, and has a Nobel Prize) being persecuted by ignorant bigots who think he's not from around here]]. And then for good measure, they say Nixon created a BadFuture by building a fence to block illegal (alien) immigration, and [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong the other candidate is trying to prevent that]].
** Parodied in the episode where the Brains come to Earth. After using books to defeat the Big Brain, Fry holds up a book and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall looks at the screen]], saying "All thanks to the books at my local library!"
* ''Tommy Zoom'', a cartoon/live action kids' show, has Tommy the hero battle the evil Polluto. His schemes are all about him conquering Earth by pollution.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' - Even the theme song is anvilicious.
** "Having fun isn't hard/when you've got a library card!" [[Series/ParksAndRecreation Just more vicious pro-library propaganda]].
* ''InspectorGadget'' never even bothered to make their anvil messages into part of the plot. They were merely tacked on as filler.
* ''{{Superfriends}}''. Almost every episode of the 1973/74 series had environmentalism as a major theme, with preaching against air and water pollution, encouraging energy conservation, etc.
* Disney's ''{{Pocahontas}}'' is very {{Anvilicious}} in the way it portrays conflict between the two conflicting peoples, particularly during the final scene when Pocahontas makes her speech about what the evils of hatred have brought them to.
** And the "Savages" [[CrowdSong song]] just hammers the anvil further down.
--> '''Ratcliffe:''' ''They're not like you and me, which means they must be evil!''
** It's particularly effective because, contrary to the opinion of some reviewers, it avoids portraying the white people and their mission as totally evil and [[MagicalNativeAmerican the natives as totally good]]. ''Pocahontas and John Smith'' were good; Governor Ratcliffe was bad. Everyone else was varying shades of grey, and although Ratcliffe was on an exploitative mission, the natives reacted with hostility and violence instead of any attempt at understanding, and each side absolutely dehumanized the other and saw them as animals unworthy of life. Even though the English miners committed the original wrong, the natives were far from innocent {{noble savage}}s.
** Colors of the Wind is extremely anvilicious though. Being in touch with nature does not mean that Indians won't shoot bears for sport, for example.
** This is carried over into the sequel, via the depiction of the English. Yes, Pocahontas is horrified to see what "bear baiting" is, but she spends most of the first half of her trip there gushing over how awesome England and everyone and everything in it is.
* The ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' episode "Ramlak Rising" is a WholePlotReference to ''Literature/MobyDick'' crammed into a 22-minute runtime, which results in its Ahab-{{homage}} and its message of HeWhoFightsMonsters and RevengeBeforeReason being very blatant and broadly drawn. When we meet Captain Tunar, he isn't JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, he's already mid-leap.
* Original ''Thundercats'' was ''extremely'' anvil-heavy in most of its first episodes. Fortunately, they let up after a while and managed to make the show mostly fun.
** '''Tigra:''' "Rules only work if everyone agrees to follow them. Otherwise, they're just words." Leaning on the Fourth Wall, yet.
----
** The episode where the abstinence-only agenda of schools is bashed by Lois.
** Also, the episode for legalizing marijuana, where the cops who pull over Peter and Brian don't mind that they have a bloody trash bag in their backseat, but go ballistic when they find out Brian has some pot.
** Smoking pot somehow turned Quahog into a utopia overnight. Moral of the story: drugs are the key to perfect happiness apparently. ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' was right. Especially considering this was stated immediately after a news report that the anchors stumbled through due to being stoned out of their minds. This makes the 'utopian Quahog' seem more like an InformedAbility and that the real situation should be the exact opposite of what Brian claims it to be.
** Let's not forget the earlier anti-pot episode where Peter and Lois thought smoking pot made them into talented folk singers when, in reality, [[spoiler: it turned them into drooling babbling idiots who only thought they were singing well.]] Chris admonishes them with a lecture at the end of the episode, which was only in the episode because Fox ordered them to put it in.
** They have taken some rather unsubtle shots at religion (Not All Dogs Go To Heaven and Road To The Multiverse).
** More recently we have "Thanksgiving", in which Joe's son Kevin [[TheBusCameBack comes back]] and reveals that he deserted the army. Kevin is the only one who gets to debate his point with any modicum of intelligence, while everyone who disagrees with him just shouts angrily and makes nonsensical emotional arguments. The sole exception is Quagmire's father, a former Navy man himself, who says that soldiers know what they're getting into when they enlist. The episode ends up siding with Kevin by pointing out an incident when his usually LawfulGood father let a robber get away because he stole food to feed a starving family.
** And when ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' wants to discuss factory farming, their approach is as follows: Compare it to the Holocaust. No explanation, no exploration of the cruelties and abuses of factory farms- just compare it to the Holocaust. With a pun. "Da-cow".
** 2007 episode "Boys Do Cry" (where the Griffins go to Texas) takes quite a few jabs at conservatives and Texans.
* "One Beer", a [[ThreeShorts mini-episode]] of ''TinyToonAdventures'', does a send-up of heavy-handed CantGetAwayWithNuthin cartoons about the dangers of underage drinking. They have a bottle of beer. Hampton notes they usually wouldn't touch such a thing, but Buster [[LampshadeHanging replies]] that they have to [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption act out of character]] [[IdiotBall for the plot to work]]. The single bottle of beer (split between Buster, Hampton, and Plucky, which means each got about four ounces) puts them into a foggy dreamland, in which they eventually drive a car off a cliff and die. Not surprisingly, the executives eventually refused to re-air the episode, because they felt it was so heavy-handed that it came off as sarcastic. (Which was, in fact, the series writers' intent all along; in response to some attempted ExecutiveMeddling by some figures at Warner Bros. Television, who thought ''Tiny Toons'' needed to be more "educational", all three segments of that particular episode ("''Elephant Issues''") were deliberately written to come across as moral sledgehammers delivered as un-subtly as possible, in hopes that it would discourage the censors and network execs from asking them to do it again. It worked.)
* Spoofed mercilessly in a "U.S. Acres" short from ''GarfieldAndFriends''. Roy got a job on "The Buddy Bears", an [[TastesLikeDiabetes obnoxiously cheerful]] kids' ShowWithinAShow, where part of his role as "Big Bad Buddy Bird" was to have [[AnvilOnHead sixteen-ton safes]] dropped on his head for not agreeing with the singing, dancing ursines. The quite literally {{anvilicious}} moral, according to the Buddy Bears: "[[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong Always go along with the group]], or someone may drop a sixteen-ton safe on you."
* It could be said that the ''premise'' of ''CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' was anvilicious. A group of eco superheroes who command the powers of nature to fight evil polluters. Yup, [[ForTheEvulz bad guys who don't produce anything; just pollute]]. Though in its defense, if they had written it as a cyberpunk story about a bunch of eco-terrorists fighting against the overwhelming power of the corporate menace, it wouldn't exactly have been able to appeal to children now would it? That's the lesson here: if it's U.S. children's television, it must make use of anvilicious aesops. Removing them makes the show no longer acceptable for children!
** One episode had Dr. Blight producing beef -via mutated, drugged-up, oversized cattle. To hammer the point home, the African village chief who was helping Blight -and eating many many burgers made from the freak cattle- went on a crazy rampage and had to be restrained. [[SarcasmMode Yes, mass-produced beef is bad.]] Ibex and other meat produced via older, pre-industrial methods is better. [[note]]If you don't mind the parasites and diseases that cut down on how much meat is produced, or getting ill after eating meat with said bugs.[[/note]]
** Quite a few cartoons from the mid-70s onward were very, very Anvilicious. For example, there was ''{{Fat Albert|AndTheCosbyKids}}'' and the animated version of ''GilligansIsland''. ''Every'' single episode of those ended with the characters having learned a lesson, and usually drove it home about as hard as they could short of grabbing the audience and screaming it into their faces.
* Frequently happens in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', such as in one episode where a character explains to another character about how there is no global warming, climaxing with "What are you, a ''retard''?" ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' specializes in dropping anvils so hard that it [[CrossingTheLineTwice becomes part of the humor]].
** Each episode in which the denouement dialogue begins with "You know, I learned something today..."
** Whenever either Stan or Kyle makes a speech accompanied by a gentle piano {{leitmotif}}.
** "Christian Rock Hard" brutally parodied this trope. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny attempt to illegally download songs off the Internet for free. They download ''one'' song and ''[[DigitalPiracyIsEvil almost instantly, an entire FBI squad busts into the house, holds the kids at gunpoint and arrests them]].'' This was also a CantGetAwayWithNuthin moment. When Stan asks what's wrong with downloading music, the officer responds that an artist will have to buy a slightly smaller island for his kid, or wait a few days before buying a gold plated swimming pool.
** In the episode "Canada on Strike!" they brutally attacked the Writers' Guild of America strike with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the knee. Made worse by the message essentially being [[CriticalResearchFailure "It's impossible to make money off the internet]], and you're a fool for giving up ''real'' opportunities trying to do so."
** They made fun of this trope (and themselves) in "Cartoon Wars" (the one where they kept making fun of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'').
--> "Random Guy (about Family Guy)": "I just want to watch a show that isn't preachy and up its own ass with messages."
** That quote started life as a TakeThatMe and ended up as HilariousInHindsight.
** It was parodied as early as "Pink Eye," in which Kyle starts going on a speech about how Halloween isn't about costumes and candy, but about loving, sharing, and giving to people - at which point Stan tells Kyle that he's talking about Christmas, and the Halloween really is just about costumes and candy.
** One instance where they dropped the anvil on their foot was "Britney's New Look". Yes, it had a damn fine point - don't get so into celebrities. However, it sacrificed virtually all humor to do so, save for a throw-away gag here and there. The result is a very dark and borderline disturbing social commentary.
** Pretty much every episode for the last four or five seasons have all but dropped any hints of subtlety, whether it's for a message or a joke. Take "Your Getting Old" for example, which paints Matt and Trey's view of a what a cynical person who doesn't like anything acts like.
** "Eat, Pray, Queef" is top of the litter in regards to this trope. The near entirety of the episodes's duration reads like a twisted ''South Park'' take on [[DoubleStandard gender oppression]] and women's rights struggles, to the point where it could very well be a parody until the [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped final few minutes that give the impression of being actually sincere]].
* Practically every episode of ''TheProudFamily'', with its suburban upper-middle-class Black-American family learning [[AnAesop some lesson]], often concerning race relations.
** The show drops the anvil especially hard in the episode "EZ Jackster". The scriptwriters manage to slam ''Film/TheMatrix'' movies (the "bad kid" is black and dressed like Morpheus did in the movies) '''and''' hit the audience over the head with a story about how [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil illegally downloading music]] and nice kids don't do it. Oh, and it [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything visually equates illicit filesharing to drug abuse]]. Seriously.
* Parodied on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' cartoon, where the final sequence to many episodes was the "Wheel of Morality", a Big 6 style wheel the characters would spin to randomly determine the moral of the episode in a parody of AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle. ("Wheel of Morality, turn turn turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn!") One short played up the randomness and gameshow / gambling aspect by having the result be a prize in the form of a free vacation. What makes this especially amusing is that the creative team on the show was pressured to include lessons in the format. The above was only one response, while another, vastly more scathing one has Slappy Squirrel go through plastic surgery to start her career over... so she can make cartoons more violent, just like they used to be.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies1980s Pound Puppies]]'': At one point, the adult puppies (?) tell one of the [[DepartmentofRedundancyDepartment child puppies]] (?!) a story about how a kid lying about breaking a vase causes the death of everyone they know and the destruction of their whole fantasy world.
* ''CartoonAllStarsToTheRescue'' uses healthy doses of {{Narm}} and horror to create a special so {{Anvilicious}} that it may very well be a form of brainwashing. The show put the drug addict kid through what can only be described as a Cartoon Carnival of Souls as part of their DrugsAreBad argument.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' had 'What moral did we learn in this episode?' segments at the end of each episode.
** Including [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5gNSqJyzn8 this]] little gem. Sure, it's a great lesson, but the delivery, as with ''any'' kids show that tries the same thing, means it almost always comes off sounding like [[SpoofAesop they're just trying to make you laugh more.]]
** That one is made a BrokenAesop by the people He-Man says to go to in case you're being molested; your parent, teacher, minister or rabbi. Chances are one of those people is more likely to be the molester themselves than some stranger off the street.
** This one might be a case of SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped. Lou Scheimer related in a recent DVD extra for the cartoon how he received a letter from a parent of a child who came forward about their own abuse after having seen He-Man and She-Ra talk about it. Scheimer said that it was probably [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the most significant accomplishment of his career]].
** There's the ''She-Ra'' episode ''The Price of Freedom''. [[spoiler:A village enslaved to the Horde give up everything but the clothes on their backs to escape to freedom, while He-Man comes probably the closest ever, in that particular declared kids' show, to ''dying'' when he helps them escape after She-Ra's gone for reinforcements. It's hammered in again and again about how freedom is worth any price.]] Yet the 'what did we learn this episode?' was about the dangers of ''fire'', based on the village being burnt. Wrong anvil.
* ''{{Freakazoid}}'': In one episode the story is interrupted by a member of the censor board. At the end she is hit with an anvil [[DontExplainTheJoke because censors are bad, geddit?]]
* ''GIJoe'' taught us all that [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AjcDW7zIY8 knowing is half the battle]]. So now you know. The other half? Blowing shit up.
* In later years, ''{{Popeye}}'' cartoons were sometimes used as a way to get kids to eat their vegetables, particularly spinach, as the title character uses it as a SuperSerum. Sometimes, it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL3WNqs5ZzA worked]].
* Back in the old SEGA Genesis days, ''AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' ended occasional episodes with a "Sonic Says" section which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcrtkiLEGbE gave kids good advice]]. Which have been [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b5V3EFfPi0 completely]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Dksf5JJpQ&feature=related and thoroughly]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy260D8rt2k&feature=related brutalized]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscavzsaCgU&feature=related on Youtube]].
* The episode "Grande Size Me" in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' [[ExecutiveMeddling focused]] on how it's better eating healthy food than fast food. Cue a ''SuperSizeMe'' parody, Comicbook/IncredibleHulk transformation and BreakingTheFourthWall. Lampshaded and played for laughs at the end of the episode where Ron gives a speech to the viewer about [[FantasticAesop how mutating your DNA is bad, and you should never do it]]. Bonus points for ignoring the concept of portion control.
* ''ThePolarExpress'' makes sure that no one misses its religious message. The plot revolves around a boy who is tortured by doubts of Santa Claus, who is shown to be like a god to everyone at the North Pole. The boy is a stereotypical {{woobie}} just because "Christmas doesn't work for him." Everyone who doesn't believe in Santa is annoying, scary, or both and the most spiritual of the kids apparently is the best leader... yes, we got the message.
* The "Noodles the Rabbit" segments of British dark animated comedy show ''Monkey Dust'' combine a scientist describing horrific animal experimentation to an uncaring executive over sad piano music and the experimental rabbit acting like Bugs Bunny. Naturally, the final segment shown ends with the scientist being killed by a [[AnvilOnHead falling anvil]].
* ''APupNamedScoobyDoo'':
** In one episode, the villain was using dolphins in his drug smuggling operation. When Velma mentioned drugs, she said it after a pause to give it more emphasis. Scooby then responded in disgust. This happens twice in nearly the exact same wording. The fact that it's a Scooby-Doo spinoff makes it even funnier.
** Another episode had a surfer whose career apparently ended after he began using steroids. Cue shocked look from ''Shaggy'': "DRUGS?! Drugs can mess you up!" Well, he ''would'' know.
* ''FernGully'': Humans suck, pollution is the devil and cutting down trees is pure evil because as any fairy will tell you they feel pain. The animated musical. Becomes a bit [[{{Irony}} ironic]] when you realize that the [[TimCurry spirit of]] [[EvilIsSexy pollution]] is the [[JustHereForGodzilla main reason most people watch the movie in the first place.]]
* The ''DonaldDuck'' episode "DerFuehrersFace": "Boy, am I glad to be a citizen of the [[{{Eagleland}} United States of America]]!"
* The ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episode "Dead Duck", where Darkwing has a dream that he died in a motorcycle crash due to not wearing a helmet. However, the anvilicious message of "wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle" is somewhat odd when considering that Launchpad never wears a helmet when riding/driving the Ratcatcher. [[BrokenAesop Plus it doesn't connect with the extreme but short-term consequences of every other violent situation in that show]], where Darkwing is frequently flattened, burnt, electrocuted, turned into a balloon animal, etc., but fine after the next cutaway.
* ''TheFairlyOddparents'':
** BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor. Also, "It's A Wishful Life" states: "Do nice things to be nice, not to get rewarded" after showing Timmy how much better things were [[WonderfulLife without him]] after he wanted some acknowledgement.
** "It's a Wishful Life" also played it for laughs: When Timmy says what he learned through the episode, a flashing frame reading "Moral of the Story" appears for about two seconds, complete with sound effect.
* ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' goes ahead and mocks this with a [[AntiHero "he]][[WellIntentionedExtremist ro"]] called 'The Lesson', who tries to literally [[DropTheHammer hammer home]] various [[AnAesop messages]] into peoples' heads (usually [[ThisLoserIsYou Yang]]). Even Yin, who agrees with him on principle, thinks he's a jerk and helps foil him.
* ''{{Duckman}}'' did this a few times. Unlike most other cartoons, though, it stayed funny while it did it; ''Duckman'' was really one of the first primetime animated shows that could be good ''and'' dramatic. A good example was the episode "America the Beautiful", where Duckman and Cornfed chase down a missing model named (of course) America, going through her ex-lovers, which represented the repressed '50s, the radically liberal '60s, the hedonistic, shallow '70s, and the greed-crazed '80s. Unable to find her, Duckman wallows in despair, represented by the cynical detachment of the '90s, before finding America in a dump, having given up all hope for a better tomorrow. Duckman finally convinces her that, although survival is difficult, they had to keep trying to make the world a better place, for the sake of their children.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' plays with this in episode 14 "The Fortuneteller". We have Sokka, the advocater of science and reason, and the villagers mocking him for his logical ways. No, seriously, they call him "Mr. Logic and Reason," or some variation of that. One of the Fortuneteller's predictions is that a volcano will ''not'' destroy the entire village. Three guesses as to what happens, the first two don't count. Of course, SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped. [[spoiler: The end of the episode, in which a SelfFulfillingProphecy is played with- the Fortuneteller's incorrect prophecy validated itself by forcing the Gaang to stop the volcano- loosens up on this, and the main ScrewDestiny moral is delivered with much more subtlety.]]
** It's not so much ScrewDestiny as 'shape your own destiny'. Aang may be TheChosenOne but he has to work at it.
** Let's not forget "The Painted Lady," where the GreenAesop was dialed UpToEleven. It's a testament to the writers' skill that they managed to work in such a heavy-handed message that was most likely [[ExecutiveMeddling mandated by the network]] while still keeping the characters in-character. Although Katara's dialogue could have used some more work. Though it's worth noting that another message of the episode was "Don't wait for someone else to help you; help yourselves."
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has had 3 episodes so far ("Phineas and Ferb get Busted", "Quantum Boogaloo", "The Wizard of Odd") dispensing the wisdom that creativity and imagination are important; so important, in fact, that if these were to be stripped away, the results would be catastrophic.
** The first showcases the main characters getting [[MindRape mind raped at the hands of a reform school]] resulting in all of their beloved qualities getting stripped away, [[Literature/AClockworkOrange Clockwork Orange]] style. The second presents a dystopian society resulting from MoralGuardians banning creativity and imagination and [[MoralEventHorizon locking up kids at a young age until they reach adulthood]]. The third claims that the "straight and narrow" is the worst way to live life.
** There's also "Attack of the 50 foot Sister", which claims that girls shouldn't be obsessed with having a perfect look.
** On the DVDCommentary for that episode, co-writer Jon Colton Barry says the moral (or "takeaway" as they call them) is basically 'no one's perfect, everyone has insecurities and it's okay to try to fix them, but be aware that there are some people out there who will manipulate those insecurities for their own gain.' Or something like that.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'''s "Into the Wild Green Yonder": As the movie progresses the anvils get bigger and at the end they are banging hammers on them. At least we got [[spoiler: Leela admitting she loves Fry, finally.]]
** The "[[BrandX eyePhone]]" episode drops the anvil pretty hard. Especially the portion about E-waste ending up making the third planet in the Antares system a living hell. ''Proposition Infinity'' was a not-even-thinly-disguised anvilicious "shame on you" to anyone who isn't backing gay marriage.
** The episode "Decision 3012" is even less subtle than "Proposition Infinity", with [[BarackObama a nigh-messianic Presidential candidate (born in Kenya, grew up in Hawaii, was a community organizer, went to Harvard, and has a Nobel Prize) being persecuted by ignorant bigots who think he's not from around here]]. And then for good measure, they say Nixon created a BadFuture by building a fence to block illegal (alien) immigration, and [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong the other candidate is trying to prevent that]].
** Parodied in the episode where the Brains come to Earth. After using books to defeat the Big Brain, Fry holds up a book and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall looks at the screen]], saying "All thanks to the books at my local library!"
* ''Tommy Zoom'', a cartoon/live action kids' show, has Tommy the hero battle the evil Polluto. His schemes are all about him conquering Earth by pollution.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' - Even the theme song is anvilicious.
** "Having fun isn't hard/when you've got a library card!" [[Series/ParksAndRecreation Just more vicious pro-library propaganda]].
* ''InspectorGadget'' never even bothered to make their anvil messages into part of the plot. They were merely tacked on as filler.
* ''{{Superfriends}}''. Almost every episode of the 1973/74 series had environmentalism as a major theme, with preaching against air and water pollution, encouraging energy conservation, etc.
* Disney's ''{{Pocahontas}}'' is very {{Anvilicious}} in the way it portrays conflict between the two conflicting peoples, particularly during the final scene when Pocahontas makes her speech about what the evils of hatred have brought them to.
** And the "Savages" [[CrowdSong song]] just hammers the anvil further down.
--> '''Ratcliffe:''' ''They're not like you and me, which means they must be evil!''
** It's particularly effective because, contrary to the opinion of some reviewers, it avoids portraying the white people and their mission as totally evil and [[MagicalNativeAmerican the natives as totally good]]. ''Pocahontas and John Smith'' were good; Governor Ratcliffe was bad. Everyone else was varying shades of grey, and although Ratcliffe was on an exploitative mission, the natives reacted with hostility and violence instead of any attempt at understanding, and each side absolutely dehumanized the other and saw them as animals unworthy of life. Even though the English miners committed the original wrong, the natives were far from innocent {{noble savage}}s.
** Colors of the Wind is extremely anvilicious though. Being in touch with nature does not mean that Indians won't shoot bears for sport, for example.
** This is carried over into the sequel, via the depiction of the English. Yes, Pocahontas is horrified to see what "bear baiting" is, but she spends most of the first half of her trip there gushing over how awesome England and everyone and everything in it is.
* The ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' episode "Ramlak Rising" is a WholePlotReference to ''Literature/MobyDick'' crammed into a 22-minute runtime, which results in its Ahab-{{homage}} and its message of HeWhoFightsMonsters and RevengeBeforeReason being very blatant and broadly drawn. When we meet Captain Tunar, he isn't JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, he's already mid-leap.
* Original ''Thundercats'' was ''extremely'' anvil-heavy in most of its first episodes. Fortunately, they let up after a while and managed to make the show mostly fun.
** '''Tigra:''' "Rules only work if everyone agrees to follow them. Otherwise, they're just words." Leaning on the Fourth Wall, yet.
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