History NeverTrustATrailer / AnimatedFilms

* There's the 1954 animated movie version of Orwell's ''WesternAnimation/AnimalFarm'' which faithfully follows the novel, and the 1999 version that, more or less, still faithfully follows it. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGCo5Tva39s One trailer]] makes it look much like ''Babe'', whereas another gets the drama tone down right.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheMagicRoundabout Doogal]]'':

* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'':
** Early trailers, commercials, and ads for the first film depict Scrat as a member of the RagtagBunchOfMisfits, when in reality Scrat doesn't actually travel or interact with the group, save for one brief moment in the middle of the film when they ask him for directions. The trailers also omit the villains and some of the heavier elements.
** In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown'', several trailers fail to mention or acknowledge [[KidAppealCharacter Crash and Eddie]], as well as Ellie's role or purpose in the film. However, [[TrailerJokeDecay one frequently-aired commercial did show the "I believe I can fly!" scene]] (a scene which involves Crash and Eddie).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''

* All of the trailers for ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' made it out to be a slapstick, comedic parody in the same vein as most of [=DreamWorks'=] animated features. Granted, this could be excused by the fact that the title character is voiced by Jack Black - but considering his usual style of acting and choice in film roles, this would seem to be a very strong example of MisaimedMarketing twice over. Most fans of Jack Black's usual work would not go to see him in an animated feature, and most parents would not want their kids to see an animated feature which starred Jack Black. In any case, the movie instead turned out to be a pretty serious, epic action film with almost mythic proportions at times. The comedy was all still there, but spaced out and used as comic relief to lighten the tension. Which means people coming to the film solely for Jack Black comedy were probably disappointed, and those who might have enjoyed the action never got a chance to see it because they were driven away by the trailers.

* This seems standard for [=DreamWorks=] now, as the early trailers and promotion for ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' also tried (not very successfully, considering the box office opening) to make it out to be a zany [=DreamWorks=] comedy, when it is actually a fantasy adventure story; its humor is incidental to the plot. It wasn't until the final trailer that the promotion became more honest about the film's dramatic elements.

* All of the trailers for ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' made it out to be a slapstick, comedic parody in the same vein as most of Dreamworks's animated features. Granted, this could be excused by the fact that the title character is voiced by Jack Black - but considering his usual style of acting and choice in film roles, this would seem to be a very strong example of MisaimedMarketing twice over. Most fans of Jack Black's usual work would not go to see him in an animated feature, and most parents would not want their kids to see an animated feature which starred Jack Black. In any case, the movie instead turned out to be a pretty serious, epic action film with almost mythic proportions at times. The comedy was all still there, but spaced out and used as comic relief to lighten the tension. Which means people coming to the film solely for Jack Black comedy were probably disappointed, and those who might have enjoyed the action never got a chance to see it because they were driven away by the trailers.

* Dreamworks' ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' made it out to be far zanier than it really was, and obscured Susan's status as the main character and instead played her condition for far more humor than in the movie itself.
* This seems standard for Dreamworks now, as the early trailers and promotion for ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' also tried (not very successfully, considering the box office opening) to make it out to be a zany Dreamworks comedy, when it is actually a fantasy adventure story; its humor is incidental to the plot. It wasn't until the final trailer that the promotion became more honest about the film's dramatic elements.

** By playing up some {{Subverted Trope}}s and the one scene in the film where Rapunzel overpowers the main male character, while using a punk-pop song by singer Music/{{Pink}}, the trailers led some to believe it was a Creator/{{Dreamworks}}-style parody of traditional fairy tales, rather than a fairly straightforward version of the story that updates Rapunzel to an ActionGirl.

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'':

** The trailers for the third film show Gru exclaiming "We're going back to villainy" to the minions and gives the impression that he and his twin brother will be forming a supervillain team together. However, the quote is taken out of context, and what Gru actually says is "This DOESN'T mean we're going back to villainy" after losing his job as a secret agent. He does team up with his brother for a heist, but only to steal a valuable gem back from a rival supervillain, and only in order to get his job at the agency back.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ1CATNbXg0 The trailer]] for the Pixar movie ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' makes the movie look like an action adventure movie in which the last robot on Earth must save the planet. It's actually a love story about two robots who find love. Also, the trailer advertises Captain [=McCrea=] as a villain, as a made-for-trailer quote in his voice says, "Arrest that robot!" In the film, [=McCrea=]'s just a supporting protagonist. In addition, in the movie, the clip that plays in the trailer actually has him saying "Mutiny!!!" to Auto after the latter [[spoiler:betrays him by badly damaging Wall-E, throwing him in the garbage chute along with EVE, and leaving in in his room, just to follow his A113 order to not return to Earth]].

* On the original VHS releases of the ''Creator/HannaBarbera Superstars 10'' movies, the trailers for ''Rockin' With Judy Jetson'' and ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheReluctantWerewolf'' did not use clips from the actual movies in question. Instead, the ''Rockin' with Judy Jetson'' trailer used clips from the original ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Jetsons]]'' episode "A Date with Jet Screamer", while the ''Reluctant Werewolf'' trailer used clips from ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo and Scrappy-Doo'' episode "Moonlight Madness". Also, the trailer for ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose'' mistakenly identifies antagonists Dread Baron and Mumbly as [[WesternAnimation/WackyRaces Dastardly and Muttley]].

* Good god, ''WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}}'' was bad about this. The trailers, marketing, and [[LyingCreator even]] [[Creator/PatrickStewart his own voice actor]] stated that Max Winters was the main villain, and from the looks of things he was trying to unleash a bunch of horrific monsters on the world. [[spoiler:Winters is really TheAtoner who already unleashed the monsters centuries ago and is now trying to stop them, something that's made clear as early as the first five minutes.]] Additionally, the materials made it look like it would focus on all four turtles equally, but in the actual film, [[SpotlightStealingSquad Leonardo and Raphael]] are the only two with any real relevance to the story: Michelangelo and Donatello both have about 20 minutes of screentime each at most.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nOEH1Fy5vI A TV spot]] for ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' (which can also be seen on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases) focused on the action scenes and the slapstick battle between the Enchanted Objects and the mob as opposed to the love story that dominates the film. The slapstick, in particular, was emphasized to ride the coattails of the previous year's hit ''Film/HomeAlone''. Shockingly (and rather not surprisingly), the same commercial portrays the independent, headstrong Belle as the DamselInDistress that needs to be saved by Beast and the Enchanted Objects. The aforementioned comic battle in the film itself is the Enchanted Objects protecting the Beast and themselves – Belle has nothing to do with it. By contrast, the theatrical trailer is an accurate rundown of the story.

** Other trailers spoofed ''Film/BruceAlmighty'' and ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', but only in the trailers.

* The emoji gag from ''WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie'' trailer made many fans uneasy, fearing the movie would be packed with jokes about pop culture and social media that would date it in an instant. Much to their relief, the actual film preserves the Peanuts' timeless feel and makes no attempt to [[WereStillRelevantDammit awkwardly shoehorn in references to contemporary culture]].

** The teaser for didn't even show anything about the story or even our two female leads of Anna and Elsa. Instead, it was a quick one-to-two-minute gag involving Olaf (the snowman Elsa creates that she unknowingly brings to life) sneezing his carrot nose off and trying to keep Kristoff's reindeer Sven from getting it. Later trailers continued to overplay how much of a part Olaf had in the movie, often focusing on his jokes and slapstick over anything resembling the Anna+Elsa plot. The actual film turned out to be about a lot more than just Olaf's wacky antics. The excessive focus on Olaf is parodied by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkixuYFQWaU this fake trailer]] (made by seinfeldspitstain of ''WebAnimation/JimmyNeutronHappyFamilyHappyHour'' fame) that consists only of an ever-increasing number of [[StylisticSuck poorly-made 3D-Olafs]] repeating "See the Frozen Snowman Comedy in theaters", and adds the subtitle "Snowman Comedy" to the movie.

* Early trailers for ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' do this as well, obscuring the fact that Megamind defeats Metro Man in the first act, with the rest of the movie pretty much having him ask "AndThenWhat" All of them make out the most part of the movie as being about Megamind vs. Metro Man, but it's more a romantic action-comedy with Megamind vs. himself and Titan. It also kind of makes Metro Man look like a bit of a glory-hound jerk.

** In the trailer, there is a clip where Buzz Lightyear says, "You're mocking me, aren't you?" and pushes a tool box off a shelf and onto Woody. Given the context of the prior scenes shown, it seems as though Buzz is getting revenge. In the actual context of the scene, Buzz is really trying to help Woody escape (he continues to push the tool box without knowing that Woody managed to get out), and the real line he says is "Almost... there..." The line as said in the trailer is actually used earlier on in the film, around the point where Sid is introduced.
** A TV spot has Buzz saying "I changed my laser from stun to kill" and Woody replying "Oh great, now we can blink them to death" edited into the scene where they are riding on RC and being chased by Sid's dog.
** When another TV spot shows the part where Little Bo Peep flirts with Woody, they added in a soundbite of Buzz saying "Don't even think about it, cowboy!". In reality, this is before Buzz is introduced.

* An early teaser for the ''WesternAnimation/{{BIONICLE}}'' DirectToVideo film ''Web of Shadows'' featured a somewhat eerie closeup shot of Nuju in his Toa Metru form (from the previous movie, ''Legends of Metru Nui''), leading many fans to suspect that he was to be the big traitor in the movie. Actually, he has a very minor supporting role, and later trailers full-on revealed that Vakama was the real traitor. Nuju was probably just a random stand-in for the Toa in general for the teaser, the same way the teaser for ''Legends of Metru Nui'' showed a still of Kopaka Nuva standing in Metru Nui's great temple, which would have been impossible, as Kopaka Nuva only came into existence a 1000 years after that movie's story.

** The trailer implies that "The elephant in the room" is Helen's new job. The scene shown, in fact, occurs well before the job offer. It's actually the fact that the attempt to stop the Underminer at the beginning went horribly wrong.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkmG_101APg This trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheGhoulSchool'' from 2002 shows very little footage from the actual TV movie, instead throwing in clips from the first three direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies by Warner Bros. Animation (such as ''Zombie Island'' and ''Witch's Ghost''), to make it look like the whole gang goes to Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girl Ghouls, instead of just Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy-Doo (and the trailer only contains one very brief shot of Scrappy, very small.)

** The theatrical trailer shows the superheroes from E's "no capes!" montage... but cuts away right before they all die--giving the impression that these characters are important or plot-relevant, when they actually only appear

* Early trailers for ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' do this as well, obscuring the fact that Megamind defeats Metro Man in the first act, with the rest of the movie pretty much having him ask "AndThenWhat" All of them make out the most part of the movie as being about Megamind vs. Metro Man, but it's more a romantic action-comedy with Megamind vs. himself and Titan. It also kind of makes Metro Man look a bit of a glory-hound jerk.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' teaser features Mike and Sully stuck in the wrong kids' room. Mike's job in the movie doesn't have him enter the room, he just collects and records the scream energy Sully generates. Also at one point in the teaser, Mike picks up the kid's hula-hoop and pretends to be a planet. In the finished movie, children and anything they touch is thought to be toxic to monsters, and Mike is terrified just as much as anyone else when Boo first emerges.

** The theatrical trailer shows the superheroes from E's "no capes!" montage... but cuts away right before they all die.
** Jack-Jack was featured prominently in promotional material in his supersuit even though he does not go on any adventures.

* Early press material for ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'' made it sound like Thomson and Thompson were the ''villains''. In reality, they are two bumbling cops who serve as comic relief.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania3SummerVacation''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku52zNnft8k The trailer]] reveals early on that cruise captain Ericka is a Van Helsing. It implies that she's the main villain continuing the work of her long-dead great-grandfather Abraham, as she talks to his painting. But in the movie, the scene continues; the camera pans left and it turns out she's talking ''directly'' to Abraham, who's still alive as some kind of steampunk cyborg and is the movie's true BigBad, while Ericka is the [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter conflicted love interest]].

* Most commercials for ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' make the film, which is generally regarded as one of the darkest animated films, look like a comedy.

* The trailer for WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}} gives the impression that it's a fantasy adventure, like WesternAnimation/{{Moana}} or WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}, when it's more of a drama involving a family that happens to have magical powers. In particular, the trailer is capped off with a montage that draws heavily from [[ImagineSpot the non-diegetic visuals]] of a single music number.