History CaptainErsatz / WesternAnimation

* Around the same time Foxy was created, the Creator/VanBeurenStudios cartoon plant cooked up with their own blatant knockoff of Mickey, called Milton Mouse. Incidentally, by the time of "Hot Tamale", Milton looked identical to another Mickey Mouse clone: Foxy, of Warner Bros. cartoons. As with Foxy, Walt quickly got wind of Van Beuren's ripoff and forced them to never use Milton again. This didn't stop them from creating another, less blatant ersatz of Mickey, called Cubby Bear.

* Clearly done for copyright reasons, ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' has Henry Skreever (Literature/HarryPotter), the Scare-Your-Pants-Off Books ({{Literature/Goosebumps}}), Persimmony Glitchet ([[Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents Lemony Snicket]]), Bionic Bunny (Franchise/{{Superman}} and Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan), Dark Bunny (Franchise/{{Batman}}), Mary Moo Cow ([[Series/BarneyAndFriends Barney the Dinosaur]]... although given that an episode focuses on its cancellation in favor of "Stock Market Today", it may also be an homage to the locally produced children's shows which were once popular in the 70's and 80's), the Love Ducks (Series/{{Teletubbies}}) and the Vegimorphs (''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'').

* Cool Cat was widely considered to be a [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Warner Bros.]]-created Captain Ersatz of WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther.

** There is also an Ersatz of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' universe. Harry Potter (a parseltongued wizard who can talk to snakes) is replaced by Nigel Planter (a partial-tongue "wizard" who can talk to snacks), Lord Voldemort is replaced by Lord Moldybutt (complete with the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named title), and Dean Toadblatts replacing Dumbledore in title and Snape in his attitude toward Nigel. It also featured [[CaptainErsatz Ersatz]]es of [[TheRival Draco]] and [[TheSpock Hermione]].

** This trope was poofed in a parody of ''Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'' on the show, "Whose name that we changed so nobody would sue."

** When Foxy became victim of ScrewedByTheLawyers, a second Mickey Mouse rip-off was created named Piggy (Piggy's first cartoon, "You Don't Know What You're Doin'!", was supposed to be Foxy's fourth cartoon before Walt Disney threatened legal action). Piggy himself only lasted two shorts for unknown reasons (one of which is part of the Censored Eleven), and for several years, the rest of the ''Merrie Melodies'' output would be one-shots.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' has quite a few. Dr. Orpheus is ComicBook/DoctorStrange. Jefferson Twilight is ComicBook/{{Blade}}. The Groovy Gang are a bunch of psychotic parodies of Mystery, Inc. from ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''. Professor Impossible and his family are {{deconstruction}}s of the ComicBook/FantasticFour. There are a lot, and they're mostly played for laughs. Surprisingly ''averted'' with Jonny Quest, Race Bannon, and Dr. Zin. When the creators found out the same people own the right to their show and ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'', they had them make ''actual'' appearances. Later on, they had to start calling him "Action Johnny" for trademark reasons. Intellectual property law is a cruel mistress.

** Superman X from ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'' is mostly a CompositeCharacter, but his costume and backstory were heavily lifted from the modern ComicBook/{{Superboy}}.

* The ProWrestlingEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' has a shocking number of comic book characters getting the treatment: ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, ComicBook/WonderMan, [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGallery Killer Croc]], even a gang boss based somewhat on Kingpin. The clincher? [[spoiler:Wolverine and Killer Croc were adopted by [[Franchise/SpiderMan Aunt May]].]]

** The Justice Friends are Ersatzes of the ComicBook/{{Avengers}}, including [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Major Glory]], [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Val Hallen]], and [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk The Infraggable Krunk]]. Other episodes would introduce more members into the team like [[ComicBook/IronMan Living]] [[ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} Bullet]], [[ComicBook/BlackPanther White Tiger]], Fantone (Vision), [[ComicBook/ScarletWitch Miss Spell]], and Capital G (Bill Foster as Giant-Man).

''WesternAnimation/HamsterAndGretel'' has a running gag of parodies with overly long and literal names, including [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire ''England but with Dragons'']], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker ''The Ocean but with Monsters'']], and [[Franchise/HarryPotter ''Larry the Magic Boy and the School that is Also Magic'']].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' had a lot of parodies such as [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Mary Moo Cow]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Dark Bunny]] and [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Bionic Bunny]], etc.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': One of Stumpy's favorite superheroes is Ratman, who is a stand-in for Batman. He has a sidekick named Robquack (Robin as a FunnyAnimal duck) and a butler, and uses gadgets such as a grappling gun. His costume is also very similar to Batman's.

** ''[[WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut Bigger, Longer and Uncut]]'' featured an assortment of original songs that were obvious tributes to numbers from classic American musicals. ''Oklahoma!'' got quoted quite a bit ("Mountain Town"/"O What a Beautiful Morning"; "Uncle Fucka"/the title song; and "It's Easy, Mmmkay?"/"The Farmer and the Cowman"), but there were others. "Kyle's Mom's a Big Fat Bitch" was a pretty generic tribute to early 1900s musicals in general, complete with a "showstopper" climax followed by a "Good evening, friends!" finale. "La Resistance" is derived from "One Day More" from ''Theatre/LesMiserables''.

** '[['WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut Bigger, Longer and Uncut]]'' featured an assortment of original songs that were obvious tributes to numbers from classic American musicals. ''Oklahoma!'' got quoted quite a bit ("Mountain Town"/"O What a Beautiful Morning"; "Uncle Fucka"/the title song; and "It's Easy, Mmmkay?"/"The Farmer and the Cowman"), but there were others. "Kyle's Mom's a Big Fat Bitch" was a pretty generic tribute to early 1900s musicals in general, complete with a "showstopper" climax followed by a "Good evening, friends!" finale. "La Resistance" is derived from "One Day More" from ''Theatre/LesMiserables''.

** TheMovie featured an assortment of original songs that were obvious tributes to numbers from classic American musicals. ''Oklahoma!'' got quoted quite a bit ("Mountain Town"/"O What a Beautiful Morning"; "Uncle Fucka"/the title song; and "It's Easy, Mmmkay?"/"The Farmer and the Cowman"), but there were others. "Kyle's Mom's a Big Fat Bitch" was a pretty generic tribute to early 1900s musicals in general, complete with a "showstopper" climax followed by a "Good evening, friends!" finale. "La Resistance" is derived from "One Day More" from ''Theatre/LesMiserables''.

* The Ogre from ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' is a CaptainErsatz of the 1930s professional wrestler French Angel, who was a FountainOfExpies in the pro wrestling world.

** There was also a recurring character named [[DarthWiki/DarthVader Dark Vegan]] and an episode in which the main character is sent to another planet to learn how to be a "Rib-Eye Knight".

** The Justice Friends are Ersatzes of the ComicBook/{{Avengers}}, including [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Major Glory]], [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Val Hallen]], and [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk The Infraggable Krunk]]. Other episodes would introduce more members into the team like [[ComicBook/IronMan Living]] [[ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} Bullet]], [[ComicBook/BlackPanther White Tiger]], Fantone (Vision), [[ComicBook/ScarletWitch Miss Spell]], and Capital G (Bill Foster as Giant-Man).

*** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' ''finally'' bucked the Black Lightning trend, with his appearance as the de facto leader of the Outsiders. Since he's a teen on this show he's now a CaptainErsatz of Comicbook/{{Static}}, which was lampshaded by Wildcat during the Outsiders' HeelFaceTurn -- "It'll take more than a little WesternAnimation/StaticShock to keep me down!"

** Miss Cud, a recurring supporting character in the Beans and early Porky shorts, is one to Disney's Clarabelle Cow, with whom she also shared a voice actress(Elvia Allman).

** Made more suspicious by the fact that in another episode the teen Spies were wearing the same colors as the [=PPG=]s (not the exact dresses, but the colors matched still!).
* ''WesternAnimation/Arthur'' had a lot of parodies such as [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Mary Moo Cow]], [[Franchise/Batman Dark Bunny]] and [[Franchise/Superman Bionic Bunny]], etc.

** "Heroes" had three obvious references to the Comicbook/FantasticFour in form of another superhero team called the Terrific Trio: the stand-in for Mr. Fantastic was changed to "the 2D man", the Invisible Woman gained ice powers and was dubbed Freon, and the Thing and the Human Torch were merged into one character, Magma. The idea is then ruthlessly deconstructed with the "accident" [[spoiler:having been set up by a jealous admirer]]. Plus the mutation not only causes an end to normal life, but eventually ''psychosis''. [[TakeThat Then they all go rogue and die]]. And the captain of the ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}-like organization is not Nick Fury mixed with J. Jonah Jameson with a Hitler mustache.

** Also ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', considering the group's use of themed colors, they inhabit a "Go Tower", and the fact that the show was pretty popular at the time.

* The Ogre from WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} is a CaptainErsatz of the 1930s professional wrestler French Angel, who was a FountainOfExpies in the pro wrestling world.