History ShooOutTheClowns / AnimatedFilms

** The [[GentleGiant abominable snowman]] (who dislikes being called that), leaves the room in which Sulley and Mike are in, with the excuse of going to get more snow cones, but it feels a little too convenient, seeing as they [[HeelRealization discuss Sulley's]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone reasons]] for wanting to go back to the factory to save Boo following [[KicktheMoralityPet him accidentally scaring her,]] {{foreshadowing}} their PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure. Also comes back as a {{brick joke}} later when Sulley is sliding down the mountain and he bumps into the yeti carrying the snow cones.

** Just before the climax, Rasputin's MoralityPet Bartok opts out, telling him, "You're on your own, sir! This can only end in tears!" He doesn't appear again until the happy ending. And due to good SexualKarma, [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick this gets him laid]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MonsterHouse'' both plays this trope straight and downplays it. The movie takes on a darker, serious tone when [[ThoseTwoGuys Officers Landers and Lister]] are eaten by the house. But Chowder, the comic relief of the main trio is present throughout the sequence where they explore the house and in the climax. Despite this, he's in no mood for jokes.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepantsOutOfWater'': Roughly midway through the film before the next escalation, Captain Burgerbeard shoos away [[GreekChorus the seagulls that have been commentating on the story]] by supposedly showing that their friend Kyle has been turned into hot wings. Then Kyle himself gets out of a port-a-potty, and Burgerbeard scares his feathers off with a megaphone, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere making the latter call a cab and drive off]]. The seagulls only show up again at the end of the film.

[[/folder]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie'', [[Creator/TomKenny The Narrator]] performs the usual opening and closing, but is otherwise completely absent from the film which is DarkerAndEdgier than [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls the regular show.]]

* ShooOutTheClown/DisneyAnimatedCanon

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Disney Animated Canon]]
The Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon uses this trope so much that it deserves its own folder:

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', the Genie and Iago zigzag with this: they are pretty much kept to the side as Jafar and Aladdin have their final battle occasionally coming to the spotlight to provide some comedically relieving cheerleading, and Abu and Carpet and taken out of the action by Jafar's magic as well. The Genie is eventually brought into the conflict when Aladdin points out that Jafar is not as powerful as him.
** ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' is a little better in its treatment of the clowns -- in the final confrontation, Abu and the Genie are thrown into peril along with the other heroes, and Iago manages to pull off a BigDamnHeroes. Jafar still manages to take out the Carpet again, though.
** Genie, Iago and Abu once more are absent in the climax of ''WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves'' which has Aladdin and Cassim confronting Sa'Luk.
* ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' has Alice lost in Tulgey Wood, leading to the saddest scene in the movie. As a result, The White Rabbit, The Mad Hatter, The March Hare and the Cheshire Cat are absent. After Alice finishes singing "Very Good Advice" and begins sobbing, the Cheshire Cat slowly emerges on top of a tree. Meanwhile, The White Rabbit, alongside The Mad Hatter and The March Hare don't show up until Alice arrives at The Queen Of Heart's castle.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', Mole, Vinny, Dr. Sweet, Audrey, Cookie, and Mrs. Packard all provided humorous moments beforehand. None of them are present during Milo's fight with Rourke.
* During the scene in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'', when the eponymous character's mother dies, both Thumper the rabbit and Flower the skunk are not present. Minutes before that scene, Thumper is last seen telling Bambi that he should go home now in a very nervous tone while Flower is hibernating. These characters are also absent during Bambi's respective fights with Ronno, the hunter dogs and the climactic forest fire at the end.
* At the climax of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' the Beast and Gaston have their fight alone. Lefou is last seen fleeing the castle in defeat; Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip and the [[AllAnimalsAreDogs footstool]] only reappear after [[DisneyVillainDeath Gaston falls to his death off the ledge of the castle]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'': During the scene where Hiro and Baymax rescue Abigail, Fred is absent.
* The floating bubble from ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' vanishes during the scene where the Horned King unleashes the dark powers of the Cauldron, and does not return until the three witches use their magic to take back said Cauldron and bring Gurgi back to life. This is also true with Hen-Wen the pig; the film starts to get darker after she runs away from the Horned King's castle.
* The two moose, Rut and Tuke, are completely absent during the last part of ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'', where Kenai's vengeful brother Denahi has him cornered due to him seeing Kenai as the bear that killed their oldest brother, Sitka. However, the moose start to reappear again when Sitka's ghost comes back to save Kenai by turning him back into a human so that both his brothers can accept their guilt, but do not do anything at all until Kenai decides to remain a bear for the rest of his life.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': The mice tend to be absent in most every scene involving [[BigBad Lady Tremaine]], and near the end Jaq and Gus get trapped by Lucifer the cat as they attempt to free Cinderella, prompting her to request help from the birds [[SummonBiggerFish to summon Bruno the dog]] on him. Gus does fall into Lady Tremaine’s dress pocket however.
* Near the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'', Eema, Baylene, Url, Plio, Suri, Yar, and Zini are all forced to stay behind in the Nesting Grounds (which they all entered via a secret passageway they accidentally discovered while they were still trapped in the cave) while Aladar immediately runs back outside to warn the rest of the Herd about Kron's idea for them to scale the ravine, and shortly afterward, the final confrontation with the Carnotaurus.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'': When Dumbo accidentally causes the Pyramid of Pachyderms to collapse, Timothy Mouse [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere escapes with the crowd and the Ringmaster]] as the [[DisasterDominoes collapse worsens]] to the tent falling to the ground; later Timothy just remains silent and only drops a SingleTear during the TearJerker song "Baby Mine".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' first plays this straight when Narrator Kuzco actually stops narrating the film once we see Llama Kuzco stranded in the middle of the South American jungle (the film's opening shot) once more, but inverts this during the climax.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'', Dinky and Boomer migrate to the south at the last quarter of the movie when things are becoming more dramatic and don't appear at the dramatic BearsAreBadNews climax.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'':
** During the climactic blizzard where [[spoiler: Anna rushes to Kristoff, and Hans runs to find and execute Elsa, Olaf is quickly blown away by the storm and Sven ends up stuck on broken ice]]. On a similar note, the fact that the trolls seem to avert this trope by having a comedic song about love when [[spoiler:Kristoff comes to them to seek their help in saving Anna from freezing to death]] is part of the reason why [[TheScrappy some people dislike them]].
** Olaf himself is actually a bit of an inversion. In the first half, Anna and Kristoff were the primary sources of comedy, but as the FirstLawOfTragicomedies sets in and the characters start to become more serious, Olaf is brought in to keep some lighthearted comedy, due to Olaf not being quite as invested in the drama as they are. (Then again, Olaf's SillySong winds up being BlackComedy at its finest, further highlighting the darker tonal shift). Olaf does however start taking matters more seriously himself once [[spoiler: he finds Anna freezing to death, and stops joking altogether when he helps her escape to find Kristoff.]]
* Played straighter in ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', where Olaf [[spoiler:has a DisneyDeath as a result of [[NoOntologicalInertia Elsa also having one]], right before the film's climax]].
** An intentional, in-universe example also happens earlier in the film, when [[spoiler:Elsa decides the rest of the journey is too dangerous for Anna and Olaf and creates an ice canoe to send them away against their will.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', none of the comedic characters partake in the dramatic ([[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence and brutal]]) fight between Basil and Ratigan, as Fidget was literally ThrownFromTheZeppelin before by the latter, and Dawson remained in the pursuing zeppelin just as Ratigan's crashed into the Big Ben with Basin on board.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', Phil and Pegasus are absent while Pain and Panic remain quiet and sulking behind Hades when Hercules goes to the Underworld to save Meg's soul from Hades.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', Clopin and the rest of the Gypsies excluding Esmeralda disappear without any explanation whatsoever when Quasimodo is tied to a torture wheel and [[ProducePelting splattered with fruit]], and the gargoyles Victor, Hugo and Laverne are only seen again when Quasimodo retreats to the cathedral. Later, after participating in a comedic battle against Frollo's soldiers, the gargoyles exit Quasimodo's room when he is mourning [[DisneyDeath the apparent death]] of Esmeralda and are not seen again until after the more dramatic final battle with Frollo. Djali the goat (Esmerelda's animal companion and sidekick) is also absent midway through the film and doesn't return until after Frollo's death and Notre Dame's fires are extinguished.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' zigzags this, Baloo is knocked unconscious by Shere Khan. The vultures bug Shere Khan which buys Mowgli time to tie the burning branch to his tail.
* In ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'' both Si and Am and Jock and Trusty are absent from the rat's arrival in the baby's room and the subsequent fight Tramp has in defending the baby from the rat.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'':
** In the stampede where Mufasa is killed, Zazu is knocked out by Scar before he can fly off to get help. Timon and Pumbaa are around while Simba and Nala rekindle their love, but they are absent when the two are arguing. This is done loosely in the climax; after a scene in the cave of Pride Rock where Pumbaa saves Timon and Zazu from the hyenas, the three disappear until Scar is dead and Simba is king again. [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf The midquel]] at least explains what they were doing, however. Also, when Scar lets the hyenas into the pride lands, the three who usually provide comic relief are nowhere to be seen.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' was established as DarkerAndEdgier than the first movie as well as most Disney direct to video sequels. In the movie, it gets darker as Nuka is killed in the ambush, which causes Zira to go completely over the edge, physically harm Kovu and set forth with her plans to take over the Pridelands.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'': During the dramatic sea storm where Prince Eric's ship sinks, Sebastian and Flounder are last seen dragged beneath the waves and Scuttle the seagull is blown away by the wind, and near the end of the film the first two aforementioned characters are seen cowering in fear at the bottom of the ocean upon watching Ursula's OneWingedAngel transformation, and they are not seen again until the final scene.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'', Piglet and Tigger are absent from Pooh's Heffalumps and Woozles nightmare. They also are absent during the scene in which Rabbit gets lost in the woods.
** ''WesternAnimation/PoohsGrandAdventure'' has Kanga and Roo completely absent from the [[DarkerAndEdgier darker Winnie the Pooh adventure]].
* ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'': At the end of the movie just before the final battle between the ants and the grasshoppers, Molt (Hopper's cowardly second-in-command and younger brother) actually tears off his exoskeleton and runs off like a coward as the opposing insects begin to fight each other. He doesn't come back until after Hopper is killed by the birds.
** When Hopper captures Flik, planning to kill him for inspiring the ants to revolt, the circus bugs (more or less ''actual'' clowns) give chase to rescue him. Hopper manages to lose them (and an antenna), but Atta comes to Flik's rescue instead. This leaves only the three of them when Flik sets up a trap to spell Hopper's own demise via bird family
* In ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'', as Carl is bringing Wilbur and Lewis back with the mind-reading machine, Doris [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice stab him through the back with her claw]], killing him. Then the timeline has been changed and [[RetGone Wilbur is erased]]. From that point until Lewis fixes the timeline, the movie takes a very dark turn with his entire family [[ReforgedIntoAMinion being controlled by Doris’ clones]] and the visuals being mainly red, black, and green. Even [[YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulness Goob is killed offscreen]] in the past, just to drive home the point.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'', whenever Heihei the chicken gets shoved in the cargo hold, you know things are about to get serious.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', Mushu and Cri-Kee just remain silent during the "torched village" scene, and again when Mulan is outed as a woman and is facing execution. This is downplayed in the climax, where they help Mulan deliver the final blow to Shan-Yu, also before the showdown Ling, Yao, and Chien Po are instructed to take the Emperor to safety.
* In ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'' during the climax, Mr. Smee is seen escaping into a life boat while Peter and Captain Hook have their duel. He is seen later with the rest of Hook's crew on the life boat while the crocodile is chasing Hook into the distance.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', Jiminy Cricket, along with Figaro and Cleo all but vanish in the movie's climax with Monstro the whale, only to wash up safely on the shore next to Geppetto once it's over. [[FridgeLogic How Cleo managed to stay in her fishbowl the whole time is anybody's guess.]] Also, Jiminy is absent in the scene where Lampwick turns into a donkey.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', Grandmother Willow [[LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone separates]] Flit, Meeko and Percy from John Smith and Pocahontas as they share their FirstKiss, just before they are attacked by a jealous Kocoum. Later, said characters stay with Grandmother Willow when Pocahontas makes up her mind and goes to confront her father and the settlers. Similarly, Wiggins is seen dressing Ratcliffe disappears for most of the last twenty minutes of the movie.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' had a disturbing variation of this: Toward the end of the film, [[spoiler: Ray the firefly is crushed to death by Dr. Facilier while trying to smash his talisman in order to turn both Tiana and Naveen back into humans, Louis the alligator stays behind to tend to the dying Ray]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/RayaAndTheLastDragon'', [[TheDitz Sisu]] is apparently slain [[spoiler:by an arrow shot by Namaari]] which causes the Druun to overwhelm Fang's defenses, in the chaos the rest of the comic relief characters, Boun, Little Noi and Tong, [[spoiler:alongside Raya]] are all [[TakenForGranite turned into stone]]. So it's up to [[AntiVillain Namaari]] to save the day.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'' has Orville absent from when Bernard, Bianca, Evinrude and the swamp critters save Penny from Madame Medusa.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' has Wilbur staying at Marahute's nest to incubate the eggs while Bernard and Bianca rescue Cody and Marahute from Percival [=McLeach=].
* In ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'', Little John, the Sheriff, and the villagers do play a part in the jail escape, but they are nowhere to be seen when Robin Hood escapes from Prince John's castle as it burns.
* ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' downplays this trope. In the third act, the dwarfs learn from the animals that Snow White is in danger. Quickly, their comical personalities are dropped in order to pursue the Queen. After the queen is defeated, the trope then gets zigzagged as the dwarfs are mourning Snow White. The comical Dopey's face is obscured in the scene as he instead is sobbing quietly on Doc's shoulder. Even poor Grumpy drops his comical curmudgeon act and appears to be in tears over Snow White's supposed death. They return to their comical personalities when the prince kisses Snow White, effectively proving to be the antidote to the Queen's curse.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'', Merlin literally blows himself to Bermuda in a fit of pique before the jousting tournament. (What makes this work even better is that his pet owl Archimedes, who stays behind with Arthur, stops being funny for once and acts almost as somber as Arthur does.) He does come back when Arthur is crowned king, complaining about the modern years.
* During the climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', Pascal the chameleon runs away and hides when Rapunzel starts to have a conflict with Gothel, and [[spoiler:Gothel's murder of Flynn shortly afterward]]. He eventually comes back to kick Gothel out of the tower just right when Flynn [[spoiler:sacrifices himself by cutting off Rapunzel's hair]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', the [[GentleGiant abominable snowman]] (who dislikes being called that), leaves the room in which Sulley and Mike are in, with the excuse of going to get more snow cones, but it feels a little too convenient, seeing as they [[HeelRealization discuss Sulley's]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone reasons]] for wanting to go back to the factory to save Boo following [[KicktheMoralityPet him accidentally scaring her,]] {{foreshadowing}} their PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure. Also comes back as a {{brick joke}} later when Sulley is sliding down the mountain and he bumps into the yeti carrying the snow cones.
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': Around the third act, [[spoiler: after the revelation of Sully cheating and Mike's ensuing breakdown and venture into the human world, Oozma Kappa help Sully into the human world and it is then Sully and Mike share a introspective moment alone in the human world while their Oozma Kappa brothers await in the monster world]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', both Terk and Tantor are completely absent when Tarzan fights Clayton, and Tantor's also absent during Kerchak's death (Terk is briefly shown mourning with the other gorillas). No explanation is given.
* ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'': Every time the movie takes a dramatic or serious turn, Morph disappears. This doesn't apply to B.E.N. though, but that's because he's plot important. Most noticeable when Morph is sucked away in a pipe while Jim takes out the Big Bad.
* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': Fix-It Felix and Sargent Calhoun (not exactly the clownish type) disappear from the climax as Ralph fights Turbo/King Candy.
** In ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'', the viral advertisers are absent in the scene in which the virus creates bastardized clones of Ralph, which combine into a giant.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', Clawhauser is [[ReassignedToAntarctica reassigned to a basement job]] early on during the film's final act, right as it takes its darkest turn. He isn't seen again until the very end.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'':
** Zero is largely absent from the climax in which Jack saves Sally and Santa from Oogie Boogie. Zero does show up when Oogie Boogie is nearly killed.
** This also applies to Lock, Shock and Barrel who are also absent during Jack's confrontation with Oogie Boogie. They show up after Oogie Boogie is defeated.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other examples]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', Clopin and the rest of the Gypsies excluding Esmeralda disappear without any explanation whatsoever when Quasimodo is tied to a torture wheel and [[ProducePelting splattered with fruit]], and the gargoyles Victor, Hugo and Laverne are only seen again when Quasimodo retreats to the cathedral. Later, after participating in a comedic battle against Frollo's soldiers, the gargoyles exit Quasimodo's room when he is mourning [[DisneyDeath the apparent death]] of Esmeralda and are not seen again until after the more dramatic final battle with Frollo. Djali the goat is also absent midway through the film and doesn't return until after Frollo's death and Notre Dame's fires are extinguished.

** Although debatable whether he counts, during the stampede where Mufasa is killed, Zazu is knocked out by Scar before he can fly off to get help. Timon and Pumbaa are around while Simba and Nala rekindle their love, but they are absent when the two are arguing. This is done loosely in the climax; after a scene in the cave of Pride Rock where Pumbaa saves Timon and Zazu from the hyenas, the three disappear until Scar is dead and Simba is king again. [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf The midquel]] at least explains what they were doing, however. Also, when Scar lets the hyenas into the pride lands, the three who usually provide comic relief are nowhere to be seen.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Clopin and the rest of the Gypsies excluding Esmeralda disappear without any explanation whatsoever when Quasimodo is tied to a torture wheel and [[ProducePelting splattered with fruit]], and the gargoyles Victor, Hugo and Laverne are only seen again when Quasimodo retreats to the cathedral. Later, after participating in a comedic battle against Frollo's soldiers, the gargoyles exit Quasimodo's room when he is mourning [[DisneyDeath the apparent death]] of Esmeralda and are not seen again until after the more dramatic final battle with Frollo. Djali the goat is also absent midway through the film and doesn't return until after Frollo's death and Notre Dame's fires are extinguished.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', the Genie and Iago are pretty much kept to the side as Jafar and Aladdin have their final battle, and Abu and Carpet and taken out of the action by Jafar's magic as well. The Genie is eventually brought into the conflict when Aladdin points out that Jafar is not as powerful as him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', Pain, Panic, Phil and Pegasus are all absent when Hercules goes to the Underworld to save Meg's soul from Hades.

* ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'':
** At the end of the movie just before the final battle between the ants and the grasshoppers, Molt (Hopper's cowardly second-in-command and younger brother) actually tears off his exoskeleton and runs off like a coward as the opposing insects begin to fight each other. He doesn't come back until after Hopper is killed by the birds.
** When Hopper captures Flik, planning to kill him for inspiring the ants to revolt, the circus bugs (more or less ''actual'' clowns) give chase to rescue him. Hopper manages to lose them (and an antenna), but Atta comes to Flik's rescue instead. This leaves only the three of them when Flik sets up a trap to spell Hopper's own demise via bird family.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', the [[GentleGiant abominable snowman]] (who dislikes being called that), leaves the room in which Sulley and Mike are in, with the excuse of going to get more snow cones, but it feels a little too convenient, seeing as they [[HeelRealization discuss Sulley's]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone reasons]] for wanting to go back to the factory to save Boo following [[KicktheMoralityPet him accidentally scaring her,]] {{foreshadowing}} their PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure. Also comes back as a {{brick joke}} later when Sulley is sliding down the mountain and he bumps into the yeti carrying the snow cones.
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': Around the third act, [[spoiler: after the revelation of Sully cheating and Mike's ensuing breakdown and venture into the human world, Oozma Kappa help Sully into the human world and it is then Sully and Mike share a introspective moment alone in the human world while their Oozma Kappa brothers await in the monster world]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'':
** Zero is largely absent from the climax in which Jack saves Sally and Santa from Oogie Boogie. Zero does show up when Oogie Boogie is nearly killed.
** This also applies to Lock, Shock and Barrel who are also absent during Jack's confrontation with Oogie Boogie. They show up after Oogie Boogie is defeated.

** Although debatable whether he counts, during the stampede where Mufasa is killed, Zaz u is knoZazu out by Scar before he can fly off to get help. Timon and Pumbaa are around while Simba and Nala rekindle their love, but they are absent when the two are arguing. This is done loosely in the climax; after a scene in the cave of Pride Rock where Pumbaa saves Timon and Zazu from the hyenas, the three disappear until Scar is dead and Simba is king again. [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf The midquel]] at least explains what they were doing, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', during the stampede where Mufasa is killed, early on Zazu gets taken out of commission by Scar. Timon and Pumbaa are around while Simba and Nala rekindle their love, but they are absent when the two are arguing. This is done loosely in the climax; after a scene in the cave of Pride Rock where Pumbaa saves Timon and Zazu from the hyenas, the three disappear until Scar is dead and Simba is king again. [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf The midquel]] at least explains what they were doing, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', Timon and Pumbaa are absent during the scene where Simba and Nala are arguing, because Simba hasn't yet overcome the memories of Mufasa's death and feels responsible for it (even though it was Scar who killed Mufasa). This is done loosely in the climax; during the scene in the cave of Pride Rock during the final battle where Pumbaa saves Timon and Zazu from the hyenas, Pumbaa and Timon disappear until Scar is eaten by the hyenas. [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf The midquel]] at least explains what they were doing, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', during the stampede where Mufasa is killed, early on Zazu gets taken out of commission by Scar. In another scene, Timon and Pumbaa are absent during the scene where Simba and Nala are arguing, because Simba hasn't yet overcome the memories of Mufasa's death and feels responsible for it (even though it was Scar who killed Mufasa). This is done loosely in the climax; during the scene in the cave of Pride Rock during the final battle where Pumbaa saves Timon and Zazu from the hyenas, Pumbaa and Timon disappear until Scar is eaten by the hyenas. [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf The midquel]] at least explains what they were doing, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' has Alice lost in Tulgey Wood, leading to the saddest scene in the movie. As a result, The White Rabbit, The Mad Hatter, The March Hare and the Cheshire Cat aren't absent. After Alice finishes singing "Very Good Advice" and begins sobbing, the Cheshire Cat slowly emerges on top of a tree. Meanwhile, The White Rabbit, alongside The Mad Hatter and The March Hare don't show up until Alice arrives at The Queen Of Heart's castle.

** Olaf himself is actually a bit of an inversion. In the first half, Anna and Kristoff were the primary sources of comedy, but as the FirstLawOfTragicomedies sets in and the characters start to become more serious, Olaf is brought in to keep some lighthearted comedy, due to Olaf not being quite as invested in the drama as they are. (Then again, Olaf's SillySong winds up being BlackComedy at its finest, further highlighting the darker tonal shift).
* Played straighter in ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', where Olaf [[spoiler:has a DisneyDeath as a result of [[NoOntologicalInertia Elsa also having one]], right before the film's climax]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'''s 2015 movie, ''WesternAnimation/SodorsLegendOfTheLostTreasure'' has James, Percy, Toby, Emily, Gordon, Edward and Henry staying at Tidmouth Sheds as Thomas and [[Creator/EddieRedmayne Ryan]] pursue the escaping [[KnightOfCerebus Sailor John]] as he makes off with the treasure.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', where Donkey doesn't fellow Shrek into the wedding church in the climax, but he does appear [[spoiler:on Dragon moments later when she smashes through the window and eats Lord Farquaad whole]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'': Pedro, Nico and Rafael, along several hundred birds escape from the plane before Blu saves Jewel from Nigel. The aforementioned Pedro, Nico and Rafael are seen in the movie's DancePartyEnding, starting the end credits.
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' where Donkey doesn't fellow Shrek into the wedding church in the climax, but he does appear [[spoiler:on the Dragon moments latter when she smash's through the window and eats Lord Farquaad whole]].

The Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon uses this trope so much it deserves its own folder:

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'', Boris, Muk, Luk and Jenna return to Nome after she's injured saving Balto from the grizzly bear, leaving Balto on his own to help the sled team and recover the medicine for the final third of the film. (Muk and Luk being comic relief characters).

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'': The last time we see the Egyptian priests [[BumblingHenchmenDuo Hotep and Huy]], who are noticeably more "cartoony" than the rest of the cast, Ramses orders them to get out of the palace during the rather intense "Plagues" song.
* Just before the climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'', Rasputin's MoralityPet Bartok opts out, telling him, "You're on your own, sir! This can only end in tears!" He doesn't appear again until the happy ending. And due to good SexualKarma, [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick this gets him laid]].

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' inverts this for its FinalBattle. What looks like the movie's climactic battle, a dark and dangerous duel in the rain that ends with a major TearJerker as Tai Lung crosses the MoralEventHorizon... is suddenly interrupted by Po, who appears at the top of the temple steps, doubled over and gasping for air. [[CueTheSun The sun is shining behind him]], signifying that the darkness has passed and now it's time for the ''real'' final battle to begin. What follows is one of the greatest examples of how a story's climax can be both hilarious and awesome at the same time.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'', Batty gets knocked out by a falling headlamp during the climax, leaving Zak to stop Hexxus alone without the aid of a PluckyComicRelief.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'': When they arrive at the landfill, the LittleGreenMen are apparently killed off by a compactor truck, [[spoiler:though they are revealed to be alive and even save the others from certain, fiery death]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'', during Manny, Sid and Diego's confrontation against Soto, Scrat is absent. Scrat is not part of their story, so it's pretty much expected. Earlier, right before the {{art shift}} flashback about what really happened to Manny's family, Diego tells Sid to "Shut up" and he stays quiet for the rest of the scene.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', the [[GentleGiant abominable snowman]] (who dislikes being called that), leaves the room in which Sulley and Mike are in, with the excuse of going to get more snow cones, but it feels a little too convenient, seeing as they [[HeelRealization discuss Sulley's]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone reasons]] for wanting to go back to the factory to save Boo following [[KicktheMoralityPet him accidentally scaring her,]] {{foreshadowing}} their PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure. Also comes back as a {{brick joke}} later when Sulley is sliding down the mountain and he bumps into the yeti carrying the snow cones.
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': Around the third act, [[spoiler: after the revelation of Sully cheating and Mike's ensuing breakdown and venture into the human world, Oozma Kappa help Sully into the human world and it is then Sully and Mike share a introspective moment alone in the human world while their Oozma Kappa brothers await in the monster world]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', neither the penguins nor the lemurs are present during Marty's confrontation with Alex, who's been [[HorrorHunger driven mad by hunger]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie'', [[Creator/TomKenny The Narrator]] performs the usual opening and closing, but is otherwise completely absent from the film which is DarkerAndEdgier than [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls the regular show.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'', Boris, Muk, Luk and Jenna return to Nome after she's injured saving Balto from the grizzly bear, leaving Balto on his own to help the sled team and recover the medicine for the final third of the film. (Muk and Luk being comic relief characters)

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'''s 2015 movie, ''WesternAnimation/SodorsLegendOfTheLostTreasure'' has James, Percy, Toby, Emily, Gordon, Edward and Henry staying at Tidmouth Sheds as Thomas and [[Creator/EddieRedmayne Ryan]] pursue the escaping [[KnightOfCerebus Sailor John]] as he makes off with the treasure.
* ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'' has several examples. The first of which has Bobby and Cal disappearing after the introduction of the new-gens. Only Cal has a brief appearance afterward. The second is Mack disappearing from the movie before the Florida race that Lightning [=McQueen=] competes in. The third example is when Rusty and Dusty are not seen for the rest of the movie after selling Rust-Eze to Sterling, save for a brief appearance in the end credits in which they are seen on vacation.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'': Merida's three comical brothers stay out of the rescue mission she embarks on to save her mother from King Fergus, and the fight against Mordu immediately after.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'': Pedro, Nico and Rafael, along several hundred birds escape from the plane before Blu saves Jewel from Nigel. The aforementioned Pedro, Nico and Rafael are seen in the movie's DancePartyEnding, starting the end credits.
* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'': Gobber, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout are notably absent from the scene where Stoick disowns Hiccup, as well as the scene where Hiccup finds that he lost his leg in the battle against the Red Death.
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' where Donkey doesn't fellow Shrek into the wedding church in the climax, but he does appear [[spoiler:on the Dragon moments latter when she smash's through the window and eats Lord Farquaad whole]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SmurfsTheLostVillage'' uses this trope similar to ''Snow White''. In the third act, Gargamel finds the Smurfs. Quickly, their comical personalities are dropped when they're all frozen with Freezeballs. As Smurfblossom's being taken away, she ceases to be a GenkiGirl and asks Smurfette, "How could you do this to us?". When Smurfette is turned back into a lump of clay, the trope gets zigzagged as the Smurfs are mourning her. Even Grouchy drops his usual grouchy self and appears to be in tears over Smurfette's supposed death. They return to their comical personalities when she comes back to life.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie'', Arnold's classmates are left behind in the enemy camp, while Arnold, Gerald and Helga confront La Sombra in the climax.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', Mater disappears after Lightning's second night in Radiator Springs. He doesn't return until summoning a stampede of Tractor cows that happens just after the dramatic song "Our Town" that showed the {{Dark and Troubled Past}} of Radiator Springs (Expect for a brief moment in the background).