History Anvilicious / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' delivers its many, many messages with all the subtlety of a ten-pound sledgehammer, largely present in the post-[[{{Uncanceled}} un-cancelation]] episodes.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' delivers its many, many messages with all the subtlety of a ten-pound sledgehammer.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'''s love of skewering AcceptableTargets can bring it into this territory. The episode "The Candidate" comes to mind, as it bludgeons viewers to death with metaphors representing [[AuthorTract the writers' opinions]] on the 2016 U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump and his supporters, the environment, the economy, and so on.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''; even the theme song is anvilicious.

* ''WesternAnimation/PlanBee'' has a heavy handed Green Aesop that includes plenty of political subtext against George W. Bush. It also repeatedly makes references to UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, saying that a good queen should care for her subjects, as George III didn't.

** 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.

** How about the gun control story of "Let's Not Be Skeletons"? With such moments as a "Respect my rights!" line and K.O and Mr. Gar having a stand-off with their skeleton remotes, it is hardly subtle in its representation of the opposing side, to say nothing of how awkwardly it makes its own argument in both an in-universe and meta level. It's hard to see how being turned into a talking skeleton is a big deal when one of the supporting characters is a talking skeleton, and those who are transformed aren't much more than mildly annoyed by the act instead of, you know, dead or anything that truly has stakes. More distressing, though, is how opposing arguments are brought up in any real, non-caricature fashion ''once'' -- only to he outright ignored and never addressed ever again.

** The episode "Grande Size Me" [[ExecutiveMeddling focused]] on how it's better eating healthy food than fast food. Cue a ''Film/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.

** 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]] just shouts angrily and makes nonsensical emotional arguments. The sole exception is Quagmire's mother, a Navy veteran, 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.

->Poindexter: "You can't use our planet as a junkyard!"
->Captain: "Why not? ''You'' do."
->Audience: "Oooooh..."
->Captain: "Your rivers, your beaches, your canyons, your frankfurters, all filled with the filth you so frivolously fling!"
->Felix: "Poindexter, this is horrible. We're prisoners in a cartoon with a moral to it!"

** "Screams of Silence"'s plot repeatedly says "Domestic Abuse is Bad". This would carry a bit more weight if they [[CriticalResearchFailure portrayed the characters as more than]] [[FlatCharacter victim and asshole]], and didn't portray the police more useless than necessary (Joe's word is not enough to investigate the issue, despite being well known as a near incorruptible cop). It doesn't help that the solution was [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality murder]], rather than getting the man the help he clearly needs to stop being such a horrible person (which they did attempt ''with the victim'').

* Back in the old SEGA Genesis days, ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' ended occasional episodes with a "Sonic Says" section which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcrtkiLEGbE gave kids good advice]]. Which have been [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b5V3EFfPi0 completely]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EXEYP1U5xw and thoroughly]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy260D8rt2k&feature=related brutalized]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscavzsaCgU&feature=related on Youtube]].

* Spoofed mercilessly in a "U.S. Acres" short from ''WesternAnimation/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." At the end of the episode, Roy finally snaps and says this to the camera:

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'':

* ''Anvilicious/SouthPark''
* ''Anvilicious/StevenUniverse''

* ''Anvilicious/BojackHorseman''

->[[NoFourthWall Audience]]: "Oooooh..."
->Captain: [[GreenAesop "Your rivers, your beaches, your canyons, your frankfurters, all filled with the filth you so frivolously fling!"]]
->Felix: "Poindexter, this is horrible. [[SelfDeprecation We're prisoners in a cartoon with a moral to it!"]]

** Downplayed with "Project Ray Way," which has a clear message about consumerism and big brands vs. small independent businesses, but puts it mostly second to the humor, ShipTease between Rad and Raymond, and the parody of fashion culture.

* Speaking ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'', how about the gun control story of "Let's Not Be Skeletons"? With such moments as a "Respect my rights!" line and K.O and Mr. Gar having a stand-off with their skeleton remotes, it is hardly subtle in its representation of the opposing side, to say nothing of how awkwardly it makes its own argument in both an in-universe and meta level. It's hard to see how being turned into a talking skeleton is a big deal when one of the supporting characters is a talking skeleton, and those who are transformed aren't much more than mildly annoyed by the act instead of, you know, dead or anything that truly has stakes. More distressing, though, is how opposing arguments are brought up in any real, non-caricature fashion ''once'' -- only to he outright ignored and never addressed ever again.

* 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''?" ''South Park'' 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}}.
** In many cases, Cartman will play a Strawman for the sole purpose of the audience being shown the evils of the other opinion and thus presenting their message not as "Do this" but rather "''Don't be like Cartman''", or for the main cast to tear Cartman down for his behavior (even though he never learns). It's clear the creators are at least aware of this, as Cartman, for all his insane ramblings and totally ridiculous opinion, ''does'' occasionally make some sense.
** "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.
** Subverted in the episode "Canada on Strike!" It appears as a mean parody of the 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 went down. They themselves tried to strike (not because they felt like they were being wronged in any way, 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 writers over and no one actually benefitted from the strike.
** 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 (see above).
** 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 that 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 final few minutes that give the impression of being actually sincere]].

* Anvilicious/BigMouth

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' delivers its many, many messages with all the subtlety of a ten-pound sledgehammer.
** 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 "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E3RoadToGermany 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. The message is that while it's true that you shouldn't have sex before you're ready, that time is different for everyone. And you should know what the dangers of sex are and how to protect yourself from them; lying to kids about it, trying to force them to remain virgins, or just trying to frighten them into staying away from sex is not going to make them any less curious about it.
** 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 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.
** 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, 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" is essentially one long screed against organized religion, and the Utopian society seen briefly in "Road To The Multiverse" is as perfect as it is due to a complete lack of Christianity.
** 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]] just shouts angrily and makes nonsensical emotional arguments. The sole exception is Quagmire's mother, a Navy veteran, 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.
** 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.
** "Screams of Silence"'s plot repeatedly says "Domestic Abuse is Bad". This would carry a bit more weight if they [[CriticalResearchFailure portrayed the characters as more than]] [[FlatCharacter victim and asshole]], and didn't portray the police more useless than necessary (Joe's word is not enough to investigate the issue, despite being well known as a near incorruptible cop). It doesn't help that the solution was [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality murder]], rather than getting the man the help he clearly needs to stop being such a horrible person (which they did attempt ''with the victim'').
** "Coma Guy" is about Peter going into a coma after a car accident and his family deciding to pull the plug on him. Peter comes back to life after Lois pulls the plug on his life support. His guilt-ridden family try to atone by doing embarrassing and gruelling things for his forgiveness but give up as Peter was never going to forgive them. The lesson is that some relationships aren't worth saving because people would rather exploit your guilt for all it's worth than forgive you.
* "One Beer", a [[ThreeShorts mini-episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', does a send-up of heavy-handed CantGetAwayWithNuthin cartoons about the dangers of underage drinking. They have a bottle of beer. Hamton 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, Hamton, 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 ''WesternAnimation/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." At the end of the episode, Roy finally snaps and says this to the camera:
-->'''Roy''': Kids, don't listen to any of this. These bears are dangerous. You should have opinions of your own! You should think and decide and not do what everyone else does! ''(the bears grab him)'' Use your own mind! Don't do what your friends do just because they're doing it, HAVE A BRAIN OF YOUR OWN! LET GO OF ME! THE GROUP ISN'T ALWAYS RIGHT!
* It could be said that the ''premise'' of ''WesternAnimation/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. Apparently, 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]]
** One episode of ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' is a crossover with ''Captain Planet'' and is basically an extended mockery of its anvil-dropping. Amongst other things, Lord Boxman lampshades that Dr. Blight polluting the world ForTheEvulz is [[StupidEvil idiotic]] ("Why would we want to destroy the world exactly? We do ''live'' on the world...") and the ending points out that beating little kids over the head with messages about climate change probably isn't going to change much; after all, [[FridgeLogic what are kids watching Saturday morning cartoons supposed to do about worldwide issues like global warming and pollution]]?
* Speaking ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'', how about the gun control story of "Let's Not Be Skeletons"? With such moments as a "Respect my rights!" line and K.O and Mr. Gar having a stand-off with their skeleton remotes, it is hardly subtle in its representation of the opposing side, to say nothing of how awkwardly it makes its own argument in both an in-universe and meta level. It's hard to see how being turned into a talking skeleton is a big deal when one of the supporting characters is a talking skeleton, and those who are transformed aren't much more than mildly annoyed by the act instead of, you know, dead or anything that truly has stakes. More distressing, though, is how opposing arguments are brought up in any real, non-caricature fashion ''once'' -- only to he outright ignored and never addressed ever again.

* Quite a few cartoons from the mid-70s onward were very, very Anvilicious. For example, there was ''WesternAnimation/{{Fat Albert|AndTheCosbyKids}}'' and the animated version of ''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''?" ''South Park'' 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}}.
** In many cases, Cartman will play a Strawman for the sole purpose of the audience being shown the evils of the other opinion and thus presenting their message not as "Do this" but rather "''Don't be like Cartman''", or for the main cast to tear Cartman down for his behavior (even though he never learns). It's clear the creators are at least aware of this, as Cartman, for all his insane ramblings and totally ridiculous opinion, ''does'' occasionally make some sense.
** "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.
** Subverted in the episode "Canada on Strike!" It appears as a mean parody of the 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 went down. They themselves tried to strike (not because they felt like they were being wronged in any way, 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 writers over and no one actually benefitted from the strike.
** 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 (see above).
** 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 that 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 final few minutes that give the impression of being actually sincere]].
* Practically every episode of ''WesternAnimation/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]] is bad and nice kids don't do it. Not to mention that it [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything visually equates illicit filesharing to drug abuse]].

* ''[[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.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' had 'What moral did we learn in this episode?' segments at the end of each episode.
** Including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5gNSqJyzn8 this]]. 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.
*** 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 [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{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,.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'' taught us all that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AjcDW7zIY8 knowing is half the battle]]. So now you know. The other half? Blowing shit up.
* In later years, ''WesternAnimation/{{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 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL3WNqs5ZzA worked]].
* Back in the old SEGA Genesis days, ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' ended occasional episodes with a "Sonic Says" section which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcrtkiLEGbE gave kids good advice]]. Which have been [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b5V3EFfPi0 completely]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EXEYP1U5xw and thoroughly]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy260D8rt2k&feature=related brutalized]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscavzsaCgU&feature=related on Youtube]].
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''
** "October 31st" fixates so much on how lying is wrong that any momentum from the show's first holiday episode is pretty much ruined by how heavy-handed the moral is...
** The episode "Grande Size Me" [[ExecutiveMeddling focused]] on how it's better eating healthy food than fast food. Cue a ''Film/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.
* ''WesternAnimation/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 ''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]].
* ''WesternAnimation/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.
** 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/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.
* ''WesternAnimation/FerngullyTheLastRainforest'': Humans suck, pollution is the devil and cutting down trees is pure evil because as any fairy will tell you they feel pain. Becomes a bit [[{{Irony}} ironic]] when you realize that the [[Creator/TimCurry spirit of]] [[EvilIsSexy pollution]] is the [[JustHereForGodzilla main reason most people watch the movie in the first place.]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' episode "WesternAnimation/DerFuehrersFace": "Boy, am I glad to be a citizen of the [[{{Eagleland}} United States of America]]!"

* ''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.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{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. [[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 up. 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 [[AndIMustScream 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.
** "The Chronicles of Meap: More Than Meaps The Eye" is so comically unsubtle in its moral of "don't judge a book by its cover" you have to wonder if they were doing it on purpose. In fact, one of the first scenes in the episode is Candace ''literally'' judging books by their covers.
** Played for laughs in the lyrics of the song in "Sidetracked".
---> '''Agent Lyla''': It's a heavy-handed metaphor for how we work together!

* ''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]].
** "Arthur's Big Hit": Never hit your younger sibling, even if they damage something you worked on for weeks. Otherwise you'll find yourself hated by all of your friends while said sibling [[KarmaHoudini probably gets away with no punishment]].
** "Bleep": When you curse, you are saying "I want to hurt your feelings". Due to the bad handling of their respective Aesops, this and "Arthur's Big Hit" are often seen as the show's lowest points.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/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.

* The ''WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011'' 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 ''WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats|1985}}'' 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 first seven seasons of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' 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.
* The ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' episode “The Widening Gyre” was basically a half-hour story about Ben, Gwen, and Kevin fighting...the newly-sentient [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch Pacific Trash Vortex]]. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking With assistance from]] [[{{Expy}} expies]] of [[Series/TheXFiles Mulder and Scully.]] Yeah. Kevin even lampshades this, referencing (but not naming) the above-mentioned ''Captain Planet''.