History LoopholeAbuse / AnimatedFilm

* There is nothing in the rules that says [[AnimalAthleteLoophole a snail can't enter the Indy 500]], at least not in the world of ''{{WesternAnimation/Turbo}}''.
-->'''Tito''': Actually, I've been doing a lot of research, and there's nothing in the rules that says a snail can't enter the race.
-->'''Angelo''': Yeah, well, there's nothing that says this sponge can't enter the race either, but that doesn't mean it's ever gonna happen!
* This gem from ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' when the evil stepmother promises Cinderella permission to attend the ball ''if'' she finishes all the work and ''if'' she can find something suitable to wear.
-->'''Drizella:''' Mother! Do you realize what you just said!?\\
'''Lady Tremaine:''' Of course. I said ''"[[ExactWords if]]"''.
** And in ''Disney/CinderellaIIIATwistInTime'':
-->'''King:''' I FORBID YOU FROM TAKING ANOTHER STEP DOWN THESE STAIRS!
-->''(beat)''
-->'''Prince:''' Okay. ''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments (jumps out the window)]]''
* In Disney's ''Disney/PeterPan'', Tinker Bell gives Captain Hook the location of the Lost Boys' home if Hook agrees to take Wendy away, and adds that he not harm Peter, to which Hook confirms that he will not "lay a finger or a hook on Peter Pan." Later, after capturing the kids minus Peter, Hook lowers a timebomb into the lair.
** Hook abuses another loophole in the sequel. Since Wendy's daughter Jane is dissatisfied with her stay in Never Land, Hook gives her a whistle she can use to signal Hook and his men to set off a trap for Peter Pan at the opportune moment. Jane only agrees as long as Hook promises never to harm "a hair on Peter's head", only capturing him instead of harming. When the trap is set off (by one of the Lost Boys who finds her whistle and blows it, not knowing any better), Hook gleefully gloats over what he's going to do to Peter Pan. Jane angrily reminds him that he promised never to harm a hair on Peter's head. To keep his word, Hook plucks a single hair from Peter and gives it to Jane, saying ''this'' is the hair he said he wouldn't harm!
* In Disney's ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone'', Madam Mim immediately sets ground rules for her ShapeShifterShowdown with Merlin, among which is this: "No make-believe things", specifically, "Pink dragons and stuff." Being a foul cheat, she never had any intention of following them including at the climax when she becomes a purple dragon. When Merlin tries to call her out on this, she simply responds with, "Did I say 'No ''purple'' dragons?' ''Did I?!''" The "and stuff..." part of her "rules" clearly implies she did, but she's beyond caring at this point.
** Merlin one-ups her on this ''magnificently'' - while there's a rule that says "no turning into plants or minerals" he turns himself into a germ - which is neither - to infect her and win the duel.
** Another rule she gives is "no turning invisible," but when she signals for them to take their paces, she does just that. While it gives her an unfair advantage, the duel technically hadn't started yet.
* {{Invoked|Trope}} by Kuzco in ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', after he has been turned into a llama and goes back on a deal sealed with a handshake: "The funny thing about shaking hands.. you need hands!" (Cheerfully waves his hooves.)
* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': There Ain't No Rule saying a rat can't become a chef (in fact, the phrase "Anyone Can Cook" practically qualifies as ArcWords), but there ''is'' a rule that a rat can't be in a restaurant kitchen. Remy spends most of the film trying to be a chef without getting caught breaking the second rule.
* Disney's ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' has a plot ''filled'' with excessive Loophole Abuse. First of all, there's [[BigBad Dr. Facilier]] who promises his clients something they want ''figuratively'' and then screws them over by giving it to them ''literally''. For example, [[TheHero Naveen]] needed money, Facilier promised him ''green'', and Naveen ended up being transformed into a frog.
** Naveen can lift his curse by kissing a princess. He kisses the heroine Tiana, but since she's not a real princess, she changes into a frog as well. They are then presented a loophole way out; a kiss from Tiana's friend Charlotte will transform them both back, since Charlotte is daughter of the king of the Mardi Gras Parade and therefore temporarily a princess (as long as Mardi Gras lasts).
** The most uplifting / beautiful example of this trope comes in the final scenes; as [[spoiler:Charlotte's kiss fails to transform both back, as it was past midnight and her title of Princess had already lost its legitimacy, Naveen and Tiana decide to get married nevertheless - as frogs - and then find out why Mama Odie was [[ShipperOnDeck shipping them so desperately]]; as Tiana marries Naveen she becomes a princess, and as he kisses her, he thus kisses a princess and both are transformed back to humans]].
* Attempted by Merida in ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''. The rules say that the firstborn of each clan have the right to compete in a contest of her choosing to determine her suitor. Since Merida ''is'' the firstborn of her clan, she declares an archery contest, puts herself forward as an entrant, and wins it decisively. Unusually for this trope, RealityEnsues; nobody accepts the result, the competing clans nearly go to war over the insult, and she still has to be betrothed in the name of peace.
* Because in ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' he's now bound by the rules of the genie, Jafar can't kill Aladdin himself. This forces him to rely on proxies and indirect assassination attempts where he technically doesn't lay a finger on Al.
** Oh, and just because he can't kill you, [[JackassGenie doesn't mean he can't hurt you]]. That rule could just as easily be interpreted as [[FateWorseThanDeath "I won't allow you to die"]].
--->''[[ArcWords You'd be surprised what you can live through]].''
*** And if you ''really'' piss him off? He'll just break open the ground to reveal a lava pit. How can you prove the lava didn't just happen to be there, and you didn't just happen to fall into it?
** Before that, in [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} the original film]], when Aladdin is drowning, Genie shakes him back and forth, unable to help Aladdin because he can't help his master unless they wish for Genie to do so. Aladdin's head bobs down, Genie takes it as a "yes", and rescues him.
*** When stuck in the Cave of Wonders, Aladdin goads the Genie into blasting him and Abu out of there by saying that if the Genie "can't even bring people BackFromTheDead," there's no way that he could get Aladdin and Abu out. When they stop at a oasis, Genie states Aladdin already used up a wish, but Aladdin counters that he didn't ''wish'' to be out of there; Genie did that all on his own in a show of power. Genie is forced to concede.
---->'''Genie''': Boy. I feel sheepish. ''([[VisualPun turns into a sheep]])'' Alright, you ba-aaa-d boy, but no more freebies.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'', it's explicitly stated that a racer's number has to be out on the track, but not necessarily the car who actually has that number. [[spoiler: This is exploited by Lightning to allow Cruz to fulfill her dream of being a racer.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: when Lightning is about to accept his fate that he has to retire immediately following his bet with Sterling, he is also considered a winner because he started the race before switching with Cruz, so he wins the bet and doesn’t have to retire after all.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' uses this in the second event of the scare games, wherein the teams had to catch a flag without being caught by the librarian. However, there is only one rule: Don't get caught. While every team moves as silently and out-of-sight as possible, Oozuma Kappa manages to win by dividing their team to ''intentionally'' cause as much noise as possible so that the librarian will not look at Sully who [[LeeroyJenkins just sprinted towards the flag without regards for how much noise he was making]] or how the flag was actually captured during the ruckus. The announcers even admit that the only rule is "Don't get caught" and their win was legit, since they technically did not actually get caught until after they had won.
* In ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'', at the end of the film, Stitch has gone through some CharacterDevelopment and is no longer the menace to society that he once was. The Grand Councilwoman knows this, but the fact of the matter is that Stitch was sentenced to exile on an desert asteroid, and that sentence still stands: even she doesn't have the authority to give a pardon. At Mr. Bubbles' suggestion, Lilo informs the GC that she paid for Stitch at the animal shelter, therefore if the GC takes Stitch away, she's guilty of theft. The GC uses this as an excuse to alter Stitch's sentence to be exiled to ''Earth'', where he can live out his life with his newfound family.
* ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'':
** Blended with ExactWords. After Judy witnesses Nick and Finnick delivering the used Popsicle sticks as lumber to a small rodent construction site and hears Nick say they are "redwood", she tries to arrest him for false advertising. But Nick points out he didn't say the lumber was "redwood" but "red wood", with a space in the middle. (It's even rendered in the DVD subtitles that way.)
** When Judy doesn't have a warrant to enter the parking lot Otterton's limo is stored in, she tosses her pen recorder on the other side of the fence, tricking Nick into climbing the fence to retrieve it. Judy uses Nick's trespassing as "probable cause" to enter the parking lot.
----

* In ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'', at the end of the film, Stitch has gone through some CharacterDevelopment and is no longer the menace to society that he once was. The Grand Councilwoman knows this, but the fact of the matter is that Stitch was sentenced to exile on an uninhabited planet, and that sentence still stands: even she doesn't have the authority to give a pardon. At Mr. Bubbles' suggestion, Lilo informs the GC that she paid for Stitch at the animal shelter, therefore if the GC takes Stitch away, she's guilty of theft. The GC uses this as an excuse to alter Stitch's sentence to be exiled to ''Earth'', where he can live out his life with his newfound family.

-->'''Tito''': Actually, I've been doing a lot of research, and there's nothing in the rules that says a snail can't enter the race.\\
'''Angelo''': Yeah, well, there's nothing that says this sponge can't enter the race either, but that doesn't mean it's ever gonna happen!

-->'''Tito''': Actually, I've been doing a lot of research, and there's nothing in the rules that says a snail can't enter the race.

* This gem from ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' when the evil stepmother promises Cinderella permission to attend the ball ''if'' she finishes all the work.

** Also, [[when Lightning is about to accept his fate that he has to retire immediately following his bet with Sterling, he is also considered a winner because he started the race before switching with Cruz, so he wins the bet and doesn’t have to retire after all.]]

* In ''Film/LiloAndStitch'', at the end of the film, Stitch has gone through some CharacterDevelopment and is no longer the menace to society that he once was. The Grand Councilwoman knows this, but the fact of the matter is that Stitch was sentenced to exile on an uninhabited planet, and that sentence still stands: even she doesn't have the authority to give a pardon. At Mr. Bubbles' suggestion, Lilo informs the GC that she paid for Stitch at the animal shelter, therefore if the GC takes Stitch away, she's guilty of theft. The GC uses this as an excuse to alter Stitch's sentence to be exiled to ''Earth'', where he can live out his life with his newfound family.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'', it's explicitly stated that a racer's number has to be out on the track, but not necessarily the car who actually has that number. [[spoiler: This is exploited by Lightning to allow Cruz to fulfill her dream of being a racer.]]

** She has no loophole to excuse her turning invisible, though.
*** ''Technically'' it was while they were taking paces, therefore being before the duel had actually started. A move that ignores the spirit of the rule while following the letter.

-->'''King:''' I FORBID YOU TO TAKE ONE MORE STEP DOWN THESE STAIRS!

'''Lady Tremaine:''' Of course. I said ''"if"''.

** After Judy witness Nick and Finnick use the giant Popsicle she bought for them to sell them in smaller portions and sold the used Popsicle sticks as lumber to a construction site for small rodents, she tries to arrest Nick for selling food without a permit and false advertising. But Nick points out that he has the permits to sell them and he never said the lumber were redwood but "red wood" lumber.

*** When stuck in the Cave of Wonders, Aladdin goads the Genie into blasting him and Abu out of there by saying that if the Genie "can't even bring people BackFromTheDead," there's no way that he could get Aladdin and Abu out. When they stop at a oasis, Genie states Aladdin already used up a wish, but Aladdin counters that he didn't ''wish'' to be out of there; Genie did that all on his own in a show of power. Genie is forced to consent.

* ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'': As a [[OurGeniesAreDifferent genie]], [[BigBad Jafar]] is [[ThouShaltNotKill incapable of killing anyone outright]]. However, he quickly finds that this rule doesn't stop him from setting up people to be killed indirectly, such as dangling them from a lock over a pit of lava, teleporting them to the bottom of the ocean and threatening to drown them, or setting up their execution by framing them for murder. Or making them ''[[FateWorseThanDeath wish]]'' [[FateWorseThanDeath they were dead]]:
-->'''Jafar''': You'd be surprised what you can live through.