Cartoons warn us all to never try what we're about to see at home all the time.
- Starting in Season 2, Beavis and Butt-Head was prefaced with a voiceover pointing out that real-life human beings aren't likely to survive some of the imbecilic stunts that the cartoon characters pull off (one case of which is pictured in the trope's main page). "Some of the things they do could cause a person to get hurt, expelled, arrested — possibly deported." Season 1 also had a disclaimer, but it was more a case of, "We didn't come up with them, but they're Actually Pretty Funny."If you're not a cartoon character, swallowing a rubber full of drugs will probably kill you.
- On an episode of Drawn Together, Captain Hero says "No one ever dies, watch!" before cutting his head off with a sword, and walking back onscreen. He then states "Now you try!"
- Futurama:
- Parodied in the episode where Bender becomes famous, then infamous, for children imitating his televised behavior. According to the DVD commentary, the network forced them to include the disclaimer, no matter how obvious the joke seemed. But since it fits into the in-verse television screen, it still works.Bender: Try this, kids at home! [lights self on fire]
Disclaimer: Don't try this, kids at home. - Parodied again, in the same episode. The kids decide to mimic Bender's actions and find that drinking and smoking only makes them puke. So they decide to steal instead. One of the kids mentions TV gave them the idea; cue the following disclaimer:Bender: You're watching Futurama, the show that does not advocate the cool crime of robbery.
- And yet again in the same episode: Farnsworth, leading an anti-Bender mob, after failing to get the Execu-bots to listen to him, pulls out a gun because it's something Bender did on TV.
- Parodied in the episode where Bender becomes famous, then infamous, for children imitating his televised behavior. According to the DVD commentary, the network forced them to include the disclaimer, no matter how obvious the joke seemed. But since it fits into the in-verse television screen, it still works.
- FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman: In Season 5 Episode 3, Marco and Shreya go to Disney's Animal Kingdom and, as part of their challenge, need to match animal droppings with the animals that left them. The samples they had were coated in a clear shellac so they could be handled safely, and Ruff had this to say (with large animated "Warning - Don't Try This At Home" signs in the background):
- Ruff: Uh, viewers at home, please do not try to play the home version of Match the Feces with the Species. Yeah, the poop the Fetchers are using has a clear protective coating, and these are trained professionals.
- In the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Wild", the Joker escapes from Arkham with a rather dangerous-looking stunt: tying a rope made from bedsheets around a rock, using it as a grapple to snag a passing truck, and letting it pull him over the asylum fence. He laughs "Don't try this at home, kiddies!" before he pulls it off.
- Parodied in Ed, Edd n Eddy in the episode "See No Ed." where Kevin is performing dangerous skateboarding stunts.Kevin: Don't try this at home, kids.
Rolf: This would be impossible, as Rolf would hit the ceiling. - Every episode of Total Drama begins with Chris informing us that "This episode of TDI contains scenes of extreme stunts performed by animated teens. Do not try any of what you see here at home. Seriously, you could get really messed up." The latest version has him going out of his way to stress the part about "Animated Teens"; as he says the words 'animated teens' very slowly, the letters A-N-I-M-A-T-E-D T-E-E-N-S are themselves animated to emphasize how stupid it would be to do what he forces his victims to do. This is true for the original, but not in the American version. Considering the cut broadcast in America is frequently bowdlerised, that's rather surprising.
- Sometimes in Animaniacs before they were about to viciously attack an enemy or do a dangerous stunt, Yakko would tell the audience, "Kids, don't try this at home."
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
- Sometimes before they were about to do something dangerous in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, Raphael would say, "Kids, don't try this at home." Even Rocksteady said this deliberately to the audience after he and Bebop jumped off the back of a moving subway train.
- Played as a joke in Donatello's opening narration in one episode of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon: "Warning: the stunt you are about to witness is performed by professional maniacs..."
- Garfield and Friends
- In the episode "School Daze", Garfield is surprised by Nermal, a grey tomcat. He finds himself on the ceiling thanks to his claw and climbs down. On the way, he informs the viewers that it takes sharp claws and he's a pro... so don't try it.
- An episode entitled "Lemon Aid" had this. Long story short, Jon, Garfield, and Odie were in Jon's car, chasing another out-of-control car down a pier. Garfield leans out the window holding a harness attached to a rope, as he is about to save the man in the other car, and says to the camera, "Kids, don't try this at home. We're professionals, and also we're cartoon characters." It was a really long pier.
- In another episode, Garfield leads a pursuing dog into a box for sawing someone in half. Shortly after he starts sawing the box, he pauses to tell viewers, "Don't try this at home."
- This is literally the last verse of a song in the U.S. Acres cartoon "Secrets of the Animated Cartoon".
- Inverted and played with in an episode of Gumby called "Lawn Party", when he and Pokey were watching animated people. When Gumby imitates the lawn mowing sequence himself, he wrecks the yard and a portion of the house!Pokey: We've been FRAMED! Never trust animated people!
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police:
- In one episode, Sam says, "Remember, kids, we're professional cartoon characters. Don't try this at home!" and proceeds to use Max as a projectile battering ram
(just after the 4:00 mark). - And in another short, after in an attempt to show how useful a vice is for randomly crushing things, Max detonates a sea mine. In fact, he crushes a sea mine specifically labelled "Do not crush in Dad's vice".Max: On second thoughts, don't try this at home. Leave it to the professional boneheads.
- It should be noted that this is a deviation from the comics, which often would cheerfully encourage readers to do dangerous or wreckless acts, albeit jokingly. Somewhat tellingly, the cartoon's adaptation of the Bad Day on the Moon issue (the show's only adaptation of a full comic, as opposed to just using the occasional gag or scene) changes the way the DeSoto gets to the moon: In the comic, they stuff the DeSoto's muffler full of thousands of match heads and ignited them to provide enough thrust to escape earth's pull (complete with a warning saying not to do it "unless you really want to") while in the show, Max merely pushes a Big Red Button.
- In one episode, Sam says, "Remember, kids, we're professional cartoon characters. Don't try this at home!" and proceeds to use Max as a projectile battering ram
- The Simpsons:
- In "The Great Wife Hope", Homer lectures Bart after taking him to see a UFC Expy, telling him "Don't try this at home. Try it at school, somewhere where we can sue if you get hurt — and not just the school, but the county, the state, and that jackass Joe Biden!"
- In "Jaws Wired Shut", hen Bart asks if he's ready to imitate a Jackass stunt, Milhouse notes all those disclaimers made him want to do it more.
- Parodied in "Kamp Krustier" when Bart is trying to fake PTSD and uses a marker to draw on bloodshot eyes. He then decides it's too much and undoes it with white-out, while a disclaimer pops up reading "Kids, try this at home!"
- KaBlam!: "Remember motorheads, don't try this at home. June is a professional comic book character."
- In the Space Goofs Christmas Episode, the aliens are trying to drive away Santa Claus by lighting explosives under the chimney:Etno: Don't try this at home, kids.
Candy: Yes, you could hurt yourself...
Bud & Gorgeous: ...or someone you love.
Stereo: (Head 2:) So remember, (Head 1:) girls and boys...
Santa Claus: ...have a safe, and happy holiday!- After this attempt...
Bradley the Elf: You see, kids? Don't do this at home! - In the first episode of Johnny Test, Johnny tries to fly using cardboard wings from atop a ladder. Dukey addresses the camera:Dukey: Kids, don't try this at home.
- An episode of I Am Weasel featured the creation of onion rings by putting onion rings all over someone's face and then sticking said face in a vat of boiling oil. The creator acknowledges that the man about to undergo this is "a professional boiling-oil stuntman" and adds that you really, really don't want to try doing this at home.
- In an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures, Jackie and Jade swap bodies, allowing Jade to finally do all the things she's been warned never to do every episode beforehand. Jackie as Jade, then dropkicks some Shadowkhan, runs up a wall to knock out another two, and immediately warns Jade never 'to try that at home'.
- Spoken several times in Tom & Jerry Kids, usually by a human character, just before Tom was about to do something dangerous. One of them involved him splitting in two, and going around a tree from both sides.
- Bonkers says as much during the introduction.
- Even the animated series Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! would have the cast members saying this from time to time. Igor Smith is seen hitchhiking in the episode "The Phantomato of the Opera". An 18-wheeler passes him by, kicking up a big cloud of dust and truck exhaust in its wake.Igor: Kids, do NOT try this at home!!!
- In one Super Friends episode, the heroes host a charity golf event. Before Batman and Robin show off a stunt (involving Robin making a drive while somersaulting off of Batman's shoulders) the announcer advises the viewers not to try this yourself without certified training in acrobatics.
- Episode 4 of Ultimate Spider-Man begins with Spidey riding the Spider-Cycle in a subway tunnel. He looks at the audience, in the way he often does on the show, and says, "No, I'm not allowed to do this. And neither are you."
- In Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, Elmyra sneaks out of her parents' car as they're driving through a safari to get herself a kitty ("Or, to be more precise, a cheetah!") just as a voice blares from the bullhorn outside, "And may I repeat so that Warner Bros. won't get sued if anyone really does this: DO NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR!"
- After watching Jackass on Family Guy:Peter: Hey. You know what. We should try some of that stuff. Here, at home.
Cleveland: I don't know, Peter. That skull and crossbones warning before the show is pretty clear about not doing that.
Peter: Cleveland, shut up. I saw something on TV that I want to imitate.- This is pointing out that some people are stupid enough to try it at home even if there is a warning.
- During the end credits for the short cartoon Feast (which involves a small dog with a big appetite for "people food"), one credit advises viewers to "Pick up a new friend at your local animal shelter (but feed them responsibly)!"
- Looney Tunes: In the Daffy Duck short "Night of the Living Duck", a Leatherface look-alike uses his chainsaw to cut his steak, which is accompanied by a "Don't try this at home!" caption.
- Off the Air uses this in the episode "Food" when someone blows up bananas attached to their face. The preceding clip is filled with Public Secret Messages reading "DON'T TRY" and "DON'T DIE", along with the more visible message of "DO NOT try anything you see on this show, EVER."
- In one episode of Beetlejuice, BJ does a swan dive off a diving board which is several thousand feet high, into a glass of water on the ground. But before he does, he makes sure to warn the kids watching at home not to imitate him.BJ: Remember, folks, don't try this at home, because I Have No Idea What I'm Doing!
- Quick Draw McGraw, in his El Kabong alter ego, says this in an episode of Yogi's Treasure Hunt after he's brought in on trial for assault with his guitar. "We're only trying to make you laugh," he tells us.
- Parodied in The Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Safety", as part of one of the show's No Fourth Wall moments. The family is attempting to enter City Hall to stop Darwin. They attempt the old "zip-lining through power line" stunt, causing them to crash into one of these warnings.note
- A variant in the Wander over Yonder episode "The New Toy", where the commercial for the H.A.T.E.R.V. toy has an Unreadable Disclaimer saying that it's too dangerous to sell as an actual toy and that you shouldn't try to make one yourself.
- Bump in the Night:
- In the episode "Party Poopers", Mr. Bumpy and Molly Coddle at one point try to get away from the Cute Dolls by hiding in a toaster. Before jumping in, Molly says to the audience, "Kids, don't try this at home."
- One of the Karaoke Cafe songs is dedicated to this.Mr. Bumpy: I'm not built the same as you/So whatever else you do/Don't try this at home!
- Inverted in the Karaoke Cafe song "Making Music is Fun", where a throwaway line has Bumpy say, "Kids, I want you to try this at home."
- Parodied in Steven Universe with Sunstone. Since she's meant to be a parody of '90s attitude mascots that just ooze Totally Radical, she wouldn't be complete without a fourth-wall-breaking aside to warn the kids at home not to try climbing giant robots.
- One episode of Phineas and Ferb shows an informational video on the Drusselsteinian "Humiliating Dance of Contrition," one of the necessary moves of which is to "split an atom in a breakfast nook." The video helpfully warns not to attempt this.
- In the Ready Jet Go! episode “Our Sun is a Star!", when Dr. Rafferty conducts her experiment with the campfire and poker, she warns the kids to not try the experiment at home.
- In The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil episode "The Bad Guy Flu", Dishonest John says, "Don't try this at home, kids" when he deflates his raft to project himself onto Captain Huffenpuff's boat, the Leakin' Lena.
- In one episode of PAW Patrol, Marshall says this after rolling down a hill in a snowball and crashing into a pole.
- In one Mickey Mouse Works "Von Drake's House of Genius" short, Ludwig Von Drake attempts to demonstrate how his Time Machine works by first smashing his mother's priceless heirloom china, but tells the kids at home not to try it as "your mother's gonna flip her wig!".
