History AudienceAlienatingEra / WesternAnimation

* It's safe to say that Creator/DCComics' [[WesternAnimation/DCComicsAnimated animation unit]] has been experiencing this for their TV stuff for CN when ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' and ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' got cancelled by Creator/CartoonNetwork, which marked the downfall of the DC Nation block. While ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' got a good reception from critics and fans, it was ScrewedByTheNetwork and eventually aired its remaining episodes on Creator/AdultSwim. It's widely agreed that ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' is responsible for this happening in addition to CN's overexposure of the show and to the point that ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'' was largely ignored by CN. That being said, the unit has regained some goodwill when in 2016, it was confirmed that ''Young Justice'' would be UnCanceled for a new season titled ''Outsiders'', which was warmly received by fans and critics when it debuted in January 2019 as well as ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn'' a few months later, so only time will tell if this ends the audience-alienating era or not.

* The sexy chanteuse WesternAnimation/BettyBoop had to be heavily {{Bowdlerise}}d by MoralGuardians after UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode came into effect in the mid-1930s. This led to a serious drop-off in the quality and popularity of her shorts, since her character is a [[MsFanservice sex symbol]] (yes, even with her big, giant head). When you see Betty dressed like a businesswoman, you are in for a boring cartoon. More specifically, pre-Hays Betty would often go on exciting and surreal adventures, where she was sexy but also had a place in the plot and was an active character. Post-Hays, her shorts can be summarized as "Betty sings, Betty has a problem, Grampy comes to fix it."

*** Happened again in-universe with ''The Itchy, Scratchy & Poochie Show's, where a "cool" cartoon dog voiced by Homer is added to the show to boost ratings. The episode ends up being entirely devoted to shilling Poochie, abandoning the violence the fans were hoping for in favour of a TotallyRadical rap number. Poochie was sent back to his home planet in the next episode.[[note]][[Main/BusCrash Poochie died on the way back to his home planet]][[/note]]

** The first example actually came quite early on, between around 1933 and 1935. After directors [[Creator/HarmanAndIsing Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising]] stormed out and took the studio's first star Bosko -- a fairly dull character by modern-day standards, but one who still has a certain appeal -- with them, their replacements created a new lead character called Buddy, who had even less personality than Bosko and starred in some of the most utterly bland and insipid cartoons ever made. His first replacement, Beans the Cat, was a ''little'' better-received, but not really much of an improvement (he had a bit of a rebellious streak early on, but this eventually faded). It wasn't until the arrival of Creator/TexAvery, and WesternAnimation/PorkyPig being turned into their headline star, that things really started looking up.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has been suffering this since its revival in 2008, with the show starting to [[RecycledScript recycle plots from previous seasons]], many fan-favorite characters [[DemotedToExtra getting sidelined]] (if not [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappearing altogether]]), the remaining characters suffering from {{Flanderization}}, and {{Retcon}}s and [[SeriesContinuityError continuity errors]] becoming more abundant. There was also the release of the [[Film/AFairlyOddMovieGrowUpTimmyTurner three]] [[Film/AFairlyOddChristmas poorly]] [[Film/AFairlyOddSummer received]] live-action films, the premise of which fans felt ruined the ending of and completely invalidates the message of "Channel Chasers". While fans are split on where exactly the show's audience-alienating era began, seasons 9 and 10, which gave us [[TheScrappy Sparky and Chloe]], are widely agreed to be the low point of the series. Nickelodeon's poor treatment of the show also didn't help. Then the show received a [[Series/TheFairlyOddParentsFairlyOdder live-action]] SequelSeries released on Paramount+ to overwhelmingly negative reactions. The show was removed from the service less than a year later and now the franchise lays dormant.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has been suffering this since its revival in 2008, with the show starting to [[RecycledScript recycle plots from previous seasons]], many fan-favorite characters [[DemotedToExtra getting sidelined]] (if not [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappearing altogether]]), the remaining characters suffering from {{Flanderization}}, and {{Retcon}}s and [[SeriesContinuityError continuity errors]] becoming more abundant. While fans are split on where exactly the show's audience-alienating era began, seasons 9 and 10, which gave us [[TheScrappy Sparky and Chloe]], are widely agreed to be the low point of the series. Nickelodeon's poor treatment of the show also didn't help.

** If you ever see a cartoon with the opening described above, except with a company credit that reads "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts" instead of just "Creator/WarnerBros" and with an even stranger version of the opening theme, here's our advice: '''Don't'''. If you do, it'll be a cartoon of very poor quality, or in the case of Korean-redrawn black-and-white Porky shorts, a good black-and-white cartoon inadequately reanimated in color. The exceptions are ''WesternAnimation/NormanNormal1968'', which can be found on the sixth ''Golden Collection'' DVD (and was the first Seven Arts-era cartoon to even be released on ''any'' form of home media) and, to a lesser extent, ''WesternAnimation/RabbitStewAndRabbitsToo'', which was accessible through Creator/HBOMax.

** The more major Audience-Alienating Era set in during [[UsefulNotes/LooneyTunesInTheSixties the 1960s]] after the original animation unit was shuttered and work was turned over to Creator/DePatieFrelengEnterprises. You know something has GoneHorriblyWrong when WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck is chasing WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales around for some reason. Fortunately, this Audience-Alienating Era comes with fair warning: if you catch a cartoon that features the familiar characters but the opening sequence is a bunch of trippy shapes in a black background rather than the familiar rings (keep in mind this opening was originally made for Creator/ChuckJones' ''WesternAnimation/NowHearThis'' and [[WesternAnimation/BartholomewVersusTheWheel other]] [[WesternAnimation/NormanNormal1968 experimental]] [[WesternAnimation/SenorellaAndTheGlassHuarache one-shots]] prior to Termite Terrace’s shutdown), you're going to get to see their Audience-Alienating Era.

** There seemed to ''finally'' be [[HopeSpot a light at the end of the tunnel]] in the late '10s. ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesCartoons'' was very well received, ''WesternAnimation/GreenEggsAndHam2019'' ended up being an [[SleeperHit unexpected hit]], and both shows have been noted for their strong writing and excellent animation. The company released a [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 revival]] of ''Animaniacs'' in 2020, and while fans were initially split, many initial naysayers grew more optimistic after it was confirmed that Steven Spielberg would be producing again and that much of the original show's cast would be returning. [[YankTheDogsChain And then came]] David Zaslav, [[TyrantTakesTheHelm the new CEO of Warner Bros.]] who came from the Creator/DiscoveryChannel after WB's merger with Discovery. He took over in 2022 and, drawing on his experience turning Discovery into a low-budget RealityTV content farm, put the bean-counters in charge and immediately began alienating WB's animation talent. Not only did he cancel highly-anticipated shows like ''Batman: Caped Crusader'' and films like ''Scoob! Holiday Haunt'' that were in some cases already finished (along with various live-action projects), he went the extra mile and had numerous animated series removed from Creator/HBOMax, allegedly just to save money on residuals and tax write-offs. Many animators have vowed never to work at Warner Bros. again as long as Zaslav is in charge, especially since many of the cancelations and removals seemed like they were aimed at shows prominently featuring female and non-white leads, and the future of the company's animation division has turned increasingly grim.

** There seemed to ''finally'' be a light at the end of the tunnel in the late '10s. ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesCartoons'' was very well received, ''WesternAnimation/GreenEggsAndHam2019'' ended up being an [[SleeperHit unexpected hit]], and both shows have been noted for their strong writing and excellent animation. The company released a [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 revival]] of ''Animaniacs'' in 2020, and while fans were initially split, many initial naysayers grew more optimistic after it was confirmed that Steven Spielberg would be producing again and that much of the original show's cast would be returning. [[HopeSpot And then]] came David Zaslav, [[TyrantTakesTheHelm the new CEO of Warner Bros.]] who came from the Creator/DiscoveryChannel after WB's merger with Discovery. He took over in 2022 and, drawing on his experience turning Discovery into a low-budget RealityTV content farm, put the bean-counters in charge and immediately began alienating WB's animation talent. Not only did he cancel highly-anticipated shows like ''Batman: Caped Crusader'' and films like ''Scoob! Holiday Haunt'' that were in some cases already finished (along with various live-action projects), he went the extra mile and had numerous animated series removed from Creator/HBOMax, allegedly just to save money on residuals and tax write-offs. Many animators have vowed never to work at Warner Bros. again as long as Zaslav is in charge, especially since many of the cancelations and removals seemed like they were aimed at shows prominently featuring female and non-white leads, and the future of the company's animation division has turned increasingly grim.

** If you ever see a cartoon with the opening described above, except with a company credit that reads "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts" instead of just "Creator/WarnerBros" and with an even stranger version of the opening theme, here's our advice: '''Don't'''. If you do, it'll be a cartoon of very poor quality, or in the case of Korean-redrawn black-and-white Porky shorts, a good black-and-white cartoon inadequately reanimated in color. The exceptions being ''WesternAnimation/NormanNormal1968'', which can be found on the sixth ''Golden Collection'' DVD (and was the first Seven Arts-era cartoon to even be released on ''any'' form of home media) and, to a lesser extent, ''WesternAnimation/RabbitStewAndRabbitsToo'', which was accessible through Creator/HBOMax.

** The more major Audience-Alienating Era set in during [[UsefulNotes/LooneyTunesInTheSixties the 1960s]] after the original animation unit was shuttered and work was turned over to Creator/DePatieFrelengEnterprises. You know something has GoneHorriblyWrong when WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck is chasing WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales around for some reason. Fortunately, this Audience-Alienating Era comes with fair warning: if you catch a cartoon that features the familiar characters but the opening sequence is a bunch of trippy shapes in a black background rather than the familiar rings (keep in mind this opening was originally made for Creator/ChuckJones' ''WesternAnimation/NowHearThis'' and [[WesternAnimation/BartholomewVersusTheWheel other]] [[WesternAnimation/NormanNormal experimental]] [[WesternAnimation/SenorellaAndTheGlassHuarache one-shots]] prior to Termite Terrace’s shutdown), you're going to get to see their Audience-Alienating Era.

** The more major Audience-Alienating Era set in during [[UsefulNotes/LooneyTunesInTheSixties the 1960s]] after the original animation unit was shuttered and work was turned over to Creator/DePatieFrelengEnterprises. You know something has GoneHorriblyWrong when WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck is chasing WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales around for some reason. Fortunately, this Audience-Alienating Era comes with fair warning: if you catch a cartoon that features the familiar characters but the opening sequence is a bunch of trippy shapes in a black background rather than the familiar rings (keep in mind this opening was originally made for Creator/ChuckJones' ''WesternAnimation/NowHearThis'' and [[WesternAnimation/BartholomewVersusTheWheel other experimental]] [[WesternAnimation/SenorellaAndTheGlassHuarache one-shots]] prior to Termite Terrace’s shutdown), you're going to get to see their Audience-Alienating Era.

** If you ever see a cartoon with the opening described above, except with a company credit that reads "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts" instead of just "Creator/WarnerBros" and with an even stranger version of the opening theme, here's our advice: '''Don't'''. If you do, it'll be a cartoon of very poor quality, or in the case of Korean-redrawn black-and-white Porky shorts, a good black-and-white cartoon inadequately reanimated in color. The exceptions being ''WesternAnimation/NormanNormal1968'', which can be found on the sixth ''Golden Collection'' DVD (and was the first Seven Arts-era cartoon to even be released on ''any'' form of home media) and, to a lesser extent, ''WesternAnimation/RabbitStewAndRabbitsToo'', which is accessible on Creator/HBOMax.

** The [[WesternAnimation/Ben102016 2016 reboot]] is considered to be this, with fans not happy with the reboot being more comedic than the original series, having the episode length cut from 220 minutes to 11, and the fact that it gets flack for similar reasons as ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'', though it has [[GrowingTheBeard gotten better in recent seasons]]. This has gotten to the point that the sequels have been viewed more positively, though they're still divisive, with ''Omniverse'' being the most divisive of the sequels.

** The late [[TheSeventies 1970s]] and early [[TheEighties '80s]]. Between the addition of [[TheScrappy Scrappy-Doo]], the removal of the entire gang except for Shaggy (himself no longer a hippie), and every episode featuring "[[TangledFamilyTree cousin so and so]]", there's a reason that the original 1969-70 version is the most well-known. Ironically, at the time the Scrappy era actually [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued the show from the Scrappy heap]], as the ScoobyDooHoax was getting stale and the change in format was a successful attempt to revive the show. ([[http://www.povonline.com/scrappydays/scrappy01.htm This six-part essay]] by Creator/MarkEvanier goes into detail.) It was only [[CondemnedByHistory later]] that fans turned against Scrappy and regarded him as a symbol of everything wrong with that period of the show.

** The shorts directed by Creator/GeneDeitch and produced through William L. Snyder's Rembrandt Films are seen as another audience-alienating era by many, between the low-quality animation[[labelnote:Explanation]]Deitch and his crew were given a budget of $10,000 per short-- paltry even for the time[[/labelnote]], the sound design became alien-like and out-of-place (and was often out of sync with the cartoons) and the plots greatly suffered: Jerry was much more malicious towards Tom, who became more of a needlessly-tormented ButtMonkey; evident in that the shorts were ''much'' more violent to him, ranging from him being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- draw particular ire for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits violent acts of animal abuse towards him, ranging from searing his head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', whose actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sheds tears in his eyes]].

** The shorts directed by Creator/GeneDeitch and produced through William L. Snyder's are seen as another audience-alienating era by many, between the low-quality animation[[labelnote:Explanation]]Deitch and his crew were given a tight budget of $10,000 per short-- a paltry budget even for the time[[/labelnote]], the sound design became alien-like and out-of-place (and was often out of sync with the cartoons) and the plots greatly suffered: Jerry was much more malicious towards Tom, who became more of a needlessly-tormented ButtMonkey; evident in that the shorts were ''much'' more violent to him, ranging from him being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- draw particular ire for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits violent acts of animal abuse towards him, ranging from searing his head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', whose actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sheds tears in his eyes]].

** The shorts directed by Creator/GeneDeitch fall in this category for many fans. For one, the animation was a whole lot cheaper (with prominent errors throughout), the sound design became alien-like and out-of-place (to the point where they would be out of sync with the action or just not play in scenes that ''needed'' them) and the plots greatly suffered: Jerry was much more malicious towards Tom, who became more of a needlessly-tormented ButtMonkey; evident in that the shorts were ''much'' more violent, ranging from him being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- are infamous for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals violent acts of animal abuse towards him]] over simple mistakes [[MisplacedRetribution that were largely Jerry's fault to begin with]], ranging from searing Tom's head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', whose actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sobs in defeat]].

** Ironically, WesternAnimation/PorkyPig actually managed to avert this. Though he was pretty decisively upstaged by WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck and WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and never regained the star power he had in the 1930's, he was repurposed as a sidekick to Daffy, Sylvester and others and continued to appear in very funny cartoons (i.e. ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'', ''WesternAnimation/RobinHoodDaffy'') until the end of his career. In fact, he actually managed to make one more appearance in the [=DePatie=]-Freleng era, something Bugs ''didn't'' manage to do.

** The shorts directed by Creator/GeneDeitch fall in this category for many fans. For one, the animation was a whole lot cheaper (with prominent errors throughout), the sound design became alien-like and out-of-place (to the point where they would be out of sync with the action or just not play in scenes that ''needed'' them) and the plots greatly suffered: Jerry was much more malicious towards Tom, who became more of a needlessly-tormented ButtMonkey; evident in that the shorts were ''much'' more violent, ranging from him being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- are infamous for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals violent acts of animal abuse towards him]] over simple mistakes [[MisplacedRetribution that were largely Jerry's fault to begin with]], ranging from searing Tom's head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', who's actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sobs in defeat]].

** Aside from original cartoons being shoved to the side in favor of more adaptations of existing [[CashCowFranchise cash cows]], the studio seems to have no real idea of how to handle WB's vault of animated properties, with their handling of ''Looney Tunes'', ''Scooby-Doo'', and ''Tom and Jerry'' (as mentioned above) criticized for either being trotted out in polarizing new directions or being [[StrictlyFormula stale rehashes of the original shows/shorts]]. WBA has also garnered notoriety for being a factory [[FranchiseZombie with an unending stream of annual]] DirectToVideo low-quality "[[BlatantLies Original Movie]]" films for their properties not seen since the era of DTV Disney Cheapquels, often shoehorning their characters into [[JustForFun/XMeetsY crossovers]] with either the Wrestling/{{WWE}} or other unrelated properties WB owns (like ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'', and ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' in the case of ''Tom and Jerry''). While their DC animated films and shows are considerably more acclaimed, they have been [[ScrewedByTheNetwork repeatedly thrown under the bus]] following Cartoon Network's NetworkDecay and its own Audience-Alienating Era. Moreover, if [[https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/6jekz1/creator_of_be_cool_scooby_doo_comments_on_the/ this lengthy account]] by one of the former creators for ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo'' is anything to go by, studio management [[ExecutiveMeddling is set to full ineptitude]], with executives blamed for the show's behind-the-scenes TroubledProduction.

* It's safe to say that Creator/DCComics' [[WesternAnimation/DCComicsAnimated animation unit]] has been experiencing this for their TV stuff for CN when ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' and ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' got cancelled by Creator/CartoonNetwork, which marked the downfall of the DC Nation block. While ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' got a good reception from critics and fans, it was ScrewedByTheNetwork and eventually aired its remaining episodes on Creator/AdultSwim. It's widely agreed that ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' is responsible for this happening in addition to CN's overexposure of the show and to the point that ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'' was largely ignored by CN. That being said, the unit has regained some goodwill when in 2016, it was confirmed that ''Young Justice'' would be UnCanceled for a new season titled ''Outsiders'', which was warmly received by fans and critics when it debuted in January 2019 as well as ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn'' a few months later, so only time will tell if this ends the audience-alienating era or not.

** In general, the TurnOfTheMillennium was '''awful''' for the franchise in several ways. In addition to the aforementioned failure of the theatrical shorts and the ''Back in Action'' movie, there was ''WesternAnimation/BabyLooneyTunes'', which was panned as a generic EdutainmentShow trying to capitalize on a [[SpinOffBabies dying trend]] (though [[VindicatedByHistory people have warmed up to the series in the years since]]), and there was ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'', in which the descendants of the ''Looney Tunes'' characters are {{Animesque}} superheroes in the far-future akin to Creator/KidsWB's non-''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]'' biggest hits, ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' and ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', though with a less clear direction on what they were doing, given the radical {{Tone Shift}}s from previous incarnations of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise. While ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' was received more positively, Creator/CartoonNetwork [[ScrewedByTheNetwork cancelled and banished it to]] {{Creator/Boomerang}} (a network that isn't available on many cable providers) before it could even conclude its run.

** The shorts directed by Creator/GeneDeitch fall in this category for many fans. For one, the animation was a whole lot cheaper (with prominent errors throughout), the sound design became more alien-like and out-of-place (to the point where they would be out of sync with the action or just not play in scenes that ''needed'' them) and the plots greatly suffered: Jerry was much more malicious towards Tom, who became more of a needlessly-tormented ButtMonkey, evident in that the shorts were ''much'' more violent, ranging from being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- are infamous for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals violent acts of animal abuse towards him]] over simple mistakes [[MisplacedRetribution that were largely Jerry's fault to begin with]], ranging from searing Tom's head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', who's actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sobs in defeat]].

** The Creator/GeneDeitch cartoons fall in this category for many fans. For one, the animation was a whole lot cheaper (with prominent errors throughout), the sound effects became more alien-like and out-of-place (to the point where they would be out of sync with the action or just not play in scenes that ''needed'' sound effects) and the plots greatly suffered, with Jerry being much more malicious towards Tom, the scales being tipped against him way too fucking much, and through it all, the shorts featured a lot more violence against him, ranging from being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts Deitch directed, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- are infamous for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals violent PETA-enraging acts of animal abuse towards him]] over simple mistakes [[MisplacedRetribution that were largely Jerry's fault to begin with]], ranging from searing Tom's head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', who's actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sobs in defeat]].

** Even before the above two examples, the Creator/GeneDeitch cartoons fall in this category for many fans. For one, the animation was a whole lot cheaper (with prominent errors throughout), the sound effects became more alien-like and out-of-place (to the point where they would be out of sync with the action or just not play in scenes that ''needed'' sound effects) and the plots greatly suffered, with Jerry being much more malicious towards Tom, the scales being tipped against him way too fucking much, and through it all, the shorts featured a lot more violence against him, ranging from being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts Deitch directed, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- are infamous for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals violent PETA-enraging acts of animal abuse towards him]] over simple mistakes [[MisplacedRetribution that were largely Jerry's fault to begin with]], ranging from searing Tom's head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', who's actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sobs in defeat]].

** Even before the above two examples, the Creator/GeneDeitch cartoons fall in this category for many fans. For one, the animation was a whole lot cheaper (with prominent errors throughout), the sound effects became more alien-like and out-of-place (to the point where they would be out of sync with the action or just not play in scenes that ''needed'' sound effects) and the plots greatly suffered, with Jerry being much more malicious towards Tom, who became even more of a ButtMonkey, with the scales being tipped against him way too much, and through it all, he became more of a needlessly-tormented ButtMonkey with a lot more violence against him, ranging from being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts Deitch directed, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- are infamous for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals violent PETA-enraging acts of animal abuse towards him]] over simple mistakes [[MisplacedRetribution that were largely Jerry's fault to begin with]], ranging from searing Tom's head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', who's actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sobs in defeat]].

** Even before the above two examples, the Creator/GeneDeitch cartoons fall in this category for many fans. For one, the animation was a whole lot cheaper (with prominent errors throughout), the sound effects became more alien-like and out-of-place (to the point where they would be out of sync with the action or just not play in scenes that ''needed'' sound effects) and the plots greatly suffered, with Jerry being much more malicious towards Tom, who became even more of a ButtMonkey, with the scales being tipped against him way too fucking much, and through it all, he became more of a needlessly-tormented ButtMonkey with a lot more violence against him, ranging from being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker Than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts Deitch directed, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- are infamous for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals violent PETA-enraging acts of animal abuse towards him]] [[DisproportionateRetribution over simple mistakes]] [[MisplacedRetribution that were largely Jerry's fault to begin with]], ranging from searing Tom's head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously offscreen (to the point where ''Jerry'', who's actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was ''[[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]]''), followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, [[EsotericHappyEnding all while happy music plays as Tom sobs in defeat]].

** Even before the above two examples, the Creator/GeneDeitch cartoons fall in this category for many fans. For one, the animation was a whole lot cheaper (with prominent errors throughout, the sound effects became more alien-like and out-of-place (to the point where they would be out of sync with the action or just not play in scenes that ''needed'' sound effects) and the plots greatly suffered. Not only were the scales tipped against Tom way too fucking much, Jerry was much more malicious towards Tom, who became even more of a ButtMonkey, with a lot more painful violence displayed towards him, ranging from being dunked in a pot of boiling water ("Landing Stripling") to being BuriedAlive ("Buddies... Thicker than Water"). Among the thirteen shorts Deitch directed, three of them-- "Down and Outing", "High Stakes", and "Sorry Safari"-- are infamous for wrecking with the formula by giving Tom an [[FatBastard owner]] who commits [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals violent, horrifying, PETA-enraging acts of animal abuse towards him]] [[DisproportionateRetribution over simple mistakes]] [[MisplacedRetribution that were largely Jerry's fault to begin with]], ranging from searing Tom's head with a griddle for ruining his steak with a bottle of soda that Jerry shook up beforehand, or wrapping a gun around Tom's head and firing it, making him go deaf '''in both ears''' due to Tom (supposedly) messing with his guns, which the cartoons try to portray as [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty funny]] when it clearly isn't. To explain ''just'' how much the character wrecked the formula, "Down and Outing" (the first of the shorts featuring him), ends with him beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom so viciously (to the point where ''Jerry'', who's actions resulted in Tom being beaten, was [[EveryoneHasStandards ''horrified'']]), [[EsotericHappyEnding followed by him tying Tom inside the fish bucket and hitting him with fish, all while happy music plays as Tom sobs in pain]].