History OlderThanTheyThink / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' is one of those series associated heavily with the late 90s and early 2000s. The first book (''Arthur's Nose'') came out all the way in 1976. Several generations grew up with the characters before the cartoon came out.

* Although many people think the catcall "[[HelloNurse Hellooooo, nurse!]]" was originally from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', it originated several decades ago, in vaudeville.

* Creator/AdamWest as Catman is a parody of Series/{{Batman}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents''. However, there actually is a Catman which is a Batman villain created in the '60s.

* Now and then someone will accuse ''WesternAnimation/ThundarrTheBarbarian'' of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', despite the fact that ''Thundarr'' predates ''He-Man'' by several years.

* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' first appeared in a claymation short called "Arnold Escapes a Church", created by Craig Bartlett in 1987. He next appeared in 1991 in another claymation short called "Arnold Uses His Imagination" (also known as "Arnold Rides a Chair"), which was created for ''Series/SesameStreet'', of all things.

* You know that routine on ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' that Shaggy and Scooby-Doo had. Shaggy makes an IncrediblyLamePun. Scooby-Doo laughs, then says, "I don't get it." It comes from ''Hang in There, Scooby-Doo'' on ''The ScoobyDoo/Dynomutt Show''. The gang had found a cassette of rock music in the cavern.

** Judging from its sheer presence on the internet, it's a fair assumption that the ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' franchise never caught on with males until ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', but there were bronies (not that they ''called'' themselves that) back as far as Generation 1 - believe it or not, the G1 cartoon series usually dealt with boy-friendly epic fantasy adventures, not stereotypically girly fare. But since 4Chan wasn't around in TheEighties, the male fans of the show didn't make themselves known as a significant PeripheryDemographic until the latest series.

* The Chipettes from ''Franchise/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' first officially appeared in 1983 however they were first referenced a year earlier in the song "The One That I Want" from the CD ''The Chipmunks Go Hollywood''. In the song, Theodore mentions Charlene and states that she's from a group known as "The Chipettes". Charlene was eventually replaced with a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, Brittany.

* ''"The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"'' did NOT originate with ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', It even has its own lyrics that are different than the ones Daffy sing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOg2wL9W_Vs Here is a link to a youtube video with people singing the (slightly modified for gender) original lyrics]].

** ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' causes a honking crapload of these sorts of errors thanks to its ReferenceOverdosed nature. Any film or TV show clip later parodied on ''FG'' will have hundreds of comments on YouTube mistakenly asserting the video is a reference to ''Family Guy'', even if the age of the clip makes it obvious that it originated decades before Seth [=MacFarlane=] was even ''born''.

* WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker's first appearance was actually as the villain of a short of a now forgotten character called "WesternAnimation/AndyPanda". Oh, and his laugh (produced by Creator/MelBlanc) didnt start with him either. Blanc used it earlier in a few of his Warner Bros. shorts like ''WesternAnimation/PorkysHareHunt''.

* ''Ultimate Spiderman'' has been getting a lot of flack for being LighterAndSofter and having multiple improbable crossovers and where spidey faces foes not in his RoguesGallery. They probably never heard of [[http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/title/spiderman_super_stories-2.html Spidey]] [[http://notthebeastmaster.typepad.com/weblog/2004/03/hey_kids_death.html Super]] [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/06/14/i-lova-ya-but-youre-strange-2/ Stories]]

* ''Ultimate Spiderman'' has been getting a lot of flack from the FanDumb for being LighterAndSofter getting multiply improbable crossovers and where spidey faces foes not in his RoguesGallery where in any other story , he would get killed. They probably never heard of [[http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/title/spiderman_super_stories-2.html Spidey]] [[http://notthebeastmaster.typepad.com/weblog/2004/03/hey_kids_death.html Super]] [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/06/14/i-lova-ya-but-youre-strange-2/ Stories]]

* The voices in ''WesternAnimation/TheArchieShow'' were cast to emulate the voice from the 1940s ''Archie'' radio shows.

* A T.V. show about a team made up of four penguins who go on adventures with hijinks ensuing. No, no, not ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', it's actually ''[[WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins 3-2-1 Penguins!]]'', made by Big Idea, the same studio that produced ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales''.

* A T.V. show about a team made up of four penguins who go on adventures with hijinks ensuing. No, no, not ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', it's actually ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins'', made by Big Idea, the same studio that produced ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales''.

* On ''WesternAnimation/MarvelsSpiderMan'' , Gwen Stacy's debut may have people surprised at what a [[AcademicAlphaBitch stuck-up, less-than-kind attitude]] she has. However, this is actually Gwen's attitude when she originally debuted in the comics, and [[CharacterizationMarchesOn the characterization changed and was subsequently forgotten about over the years.]]

* WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker's first appearance was actually as the villain of a short of a now forgotten character called "WesternAnimation/AndyPanda". Oh, and his laugh (produced by Creator/MelBlanc) didnt start with him either. Blanc used it earlier in a few of his Warner Bros. shorts like ''Porky's Hare Hunt''.

* Now and then someone will accuse ''ThundarrTheBarbarian'' of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', despite the fact that ''Thundarr'' predates ''He-Man'' by several years.

* WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker's first appearance was actually as the villain of a short of a now forgotten character called "WesternAnimation/AndyPanda". Oh, and his laugh (produced by MelBlanc) didnt start with him either. Blanc used it earlier in a few of his Warner Bros. shorts like ''Porky's Hare Hunt''.

* Regardless of what the show's fans would like to believe, the Misfits were [[NamesTheSame originally]] a horror-themed punk band from New Jersey formed in 1977, NOT an original creation as a fictonal band in ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}''. The band was obscure at the time and had split up 2 years prior to the cartoon's creation so it was unlikely anyone involved knew of them at the time, but when the band themselves tried to prevent Hasbro from using the name, Hasbro chose to go ahead regardless due to "legal loopholes" involving trademarks. Then former frontman Glenn Danzig gave his approval when he learned of it, no doubt due to his anger with the rest of the band at the time. While the band themselves have not taken any legal action to this day, Jerry Only and the rest of the band refuse to publicly acknowledge the cartoon even exists and will not answer questions concerning their thoughts on it (perhaps to avoid giving the series any attention at all). ''Jem'' fans likewise tend to get angry when it's mentioned, believing the band has no right to complain(and yes, we shall point out the irony in anger over copied names, what with Jem having been the name of a character in Harper Lee's ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' some 20 years prior).

* Most Disney fans assume that WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse is Walt Disney's first cartoon character, and Peg-Leg Pete was created to be his primary enemy. Actually, Pete was the ''very first recurring Disney character'', created in 1925 (before even ''WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit'') for one of Disney's AliceComedies, a series of shorts which mixed live action and animation. Pete was always a villain, but the fact is that he was imported into the earliest Mickey cartoons to [[RoguesGalleryTransplant give Mickey an established character to fight]], not the other way around.
** For that matter, most people don't know that Mickey was an {{Expy}} of Oswald...but even fewer know that Oswald himself was an Expy of Julius the Cat from the Disney's ''AliceComedies'', who was himself a CaptainErsatz of WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat.

* Here's one: ThePollyanna type in a place that is quite clearly {{Hell}}, run by a creature that is quite clearly {{Satan}}, who acts as a CorruptCorporateExecutive. No, not ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', but an earlier show called ''TheBaskervilles''.

** For that matter, most people don't know that Mickey was an {{Expy}} of Oswald...but even fewer know that Oswald himself was an Expy of Julius the Cat from the Disney's AliceComedies, who was himself a CaptainErsatz of WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat.

* The voices in ''WesternAnimation/TheArchieShow'' were cast to emulate the voice from the 1940s radio shows.

** Speaking of Creator/CartoonNetwork, it has recently become common to blame network CEO Christina Miller for the poor performance of its more "serious" action-based cartoons, with many viewers even accusing her of subscribing to the AnimationAgeGhetto. But this problem actually dates back several years earlier, with ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', and ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' all being cancelled in a short period of time before Miller arrived.

* Regardless of what the show's fans would like to believe, the Misfits were originally a horror-themed punk band from New Jersey formed in 1977, NOT an original creation as a fictonal band in ''Jem''. The band was obscure at the time and had split up 2 years prior to the cartoon's creation so it was unlikely anyone involved knew of them at the time, but when the band themselves tried to prevent Hasbro from using the name, Hasbro chose to go ahead regardless due to "legal loopholes" involving trademarks. Then former frontman Glenn Danzig gave his approval when he learned of it, no doubt due to his anger with the rest of the band at the time. While the band themselves have not taken any legal action to this day, Jerry Only and the rest of the band refuse to publicly acknowledge the cartoon even exists and will not answer questions concerning their thoughts on it(perhaps to avoid giving the series any attention at all). ''Jem'' fans likewise tend to get angry when it's mentioned, believing the band has no right to complain(and yes, I shall point out the irony in anger over copied names, what with Jem having been the name of a character in Harper Lee's ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' some 20 years prior).

* The triangular CoolShades worn by Soundwave and Prowl of ''TransformersAnimated'' are often mistaken to be a ShoutOut to the [[MemeticMutation famous]] ones worn by Kamina of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', but [[WordOfGod Derrick J. Wyatt]] said they were actually a reference to the much older ''ComicBook/ABCWarriors'' of ''2000 AD'' fame. They were also worn by several other characters before Kamina, including [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes Calvin]] (in one strip) and Ash's [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Squirtle]]. Many also thought the ''Lagann'' had some influence on the Headmaster design (both are robots that could become the head of another mecha to boost its power). However, besides the idea of a robot becoming a Transformer's head dating back to [[TransformersGenerationOne G1]], Wyatt stated that he'd never seen ''Gurren Lagann'' until after the first season was already done with production (though he stated that if he ''had'' seen it before, the design would probably have stubby legs and let Masterson poke his head out the top).