Establishing Character Moment / Animated Films

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• Aladdin:
  • Aladdin shows himself to not only be an affable thief, but a guy who's soft enough to give his stolen food away to a pair of homeless children without a second thought. The "One Jump Ahead" song tells you absolutely everything you need to know about the guy in a catchy two-minute package. The later reprise after giving away the bread also reveals his more vulnerable side and that being called a street rat really does bother him, and this insecurity eventually leads to further conflict in the movie.
  • After Aladdin rubs his lamp and frees him, the Genie enters in a fantastic shower of Magic, lets out a magnificent yell, and then has this to say: "OY!! TEN THOUSAND YEARS will give you such a crick in the neck!" Establishing him as something of a goofball Large Ham.
• The Wonderlanders in Alice in Wonderland each get a moment to show just how crazy they all are; the White Rabbit frets over how late he is, the Doorknob expresses irritation at Alice waking him up and goes on a tangent of making terrible door related puns, the Dodo sings about being a sailor and displays a method of drying off that makes no sense, the Caterpillar yells "Who are you?" at Alice, the Cheshire Cat trolls her, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse have an "unbirthday" party and the Queen of Hearts sentences her own guards to beheading for painting her roses red.
• In Batman vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, each of the turtles' personalities come out when dealing with the Penguin. Raph is the first to break their stealth when the Penguin mistakes him for Batman, Mikey jokes to his goons that they're aliens, Donny corrects him in the midst of the fight, and Leo tries to keep Donny focused on the fight at hand.
• Beauty and the Beast:
  • The first thing we see of Beast are his claws tearing a portrait of himself as a human, before showing him cringing and hiding his face behind his hands, although it is too dark to see him clearly. That shows he has a terrible temper, but is also consumed by self-hatred caused by the curse.
  • Belle is first shown strolling out of her home and into the village, smiling and with a dreamy look on her face, although she sings about how bored she is with the routine. When the baker compliments her and asks where she is going, she shows her the book she's returning to the bookshop, eager to discuss it with someone, just to be cut off by the busy baker. She puts her book back in her basket with a smile and rolls her eyes, showing that, despite her disappointment with the locals, she is affable and patient.
  • The first signal of Gaston's presence is when a beautiful formation of wild geese flies over the village, but one is shot out of the sky. The way Le Fou eagerly tries to pick up the dead goose with a sack and then starts flattering Gaston to disguise his failure suggests that Gaston is abusive of his best friend. Also, he is first seen smirking in the dark as Le Fou runs towards him, before stepping to the light and accepting the latter's compliments with a casual "I know". When Le Fou comments that Gaston catches girls as easily as beasts, Gaston grabs him and shows Belle, as "the lucky girl he is going to marry", in spite of Le Fou's objections. It is pretty clear now that Gaston is conceited, narcissistic, stubborn, cruel to animals and doesn't listen to anyone opposed to him. Le Fou is the sycophant and a Butt-Monkey who, in spite of being rather abused, insists on living under Gaston's shadow to get some attention of his idol.
  • Maurice first shows up stuck inside a barrel; when he tries to get rid from it,he takes his pants, showing he's rather distracted and clumsy.
  • Cogsworth and Lumiere are established as complete opposites at their first appearance. Cogsworth insists for them to be quiet, expecting that Maurice will go away (and won't be caught by Beast). Lumiere, on his turn, pities the soaked old man and insists into helping him, ignored his companion's warnings. It is also clear that they are Vitriolic Best Buds.
• Big Hero 6:
  • We first see Hiro when he competes in a battle bots arena, where after he drops his noob façade, he is shown to be very cocky and confident when in combat. There's also the fact that he had the guts to hustle in an illegal bot fight, showcasing both his Anti-Hero tendencies and his recklessness.
    Hiro: Hey, I'm as surprised as you are. Beginner's luck.
  • Tadashi demonstrates his Big Brother Instinct when he jumps in to rescue Hiro from angry bot fighters and later encourages Hiro to do something productive with his intelligence.
  • Baymax's first inflation in the film — from stepping out of his charging case, walking very slowly across the room, very gently moving a stool out of his path and matter-of-factly scanning Hiro and administering bacitracin-based antiseptic. Not only does it cement him as a slow and careful caregiver, but a completely literal-minded machine.
    Baymax: "I cannot be sick. I am a robot.
  • Hiro is admiring the zero resistance technology used on GoGo's bike, when she says...
    GoGo: Zero resistance. Faster bike. But not fast enough... [flips wheel into recycling bin full of its kind] ...yet.
  • Wasabi's perfectly clean and ultra-organized table of tools. He even has a coffee mug that measures portions!
  • Honey Lemon kisses Hiro on the cheeks before demonstrating chemical-metal embrittlement to him.
  • Fred casually introduces himself while in a fish monster costume, and also reveals that he's asked his friends to use their scientific knowledge to give him superpowers (namely, to turn into a monster) and an invisible sandwich.
• BIONICLE The Legend Reborn: Following a dramatic narration of how he was betrayed and cast out of his body, Mata Nui is introduced making a new body for himself in a golden burst of light...and then apologizing to and befriending a beetle he almost stepped on, perfectly encapsulating his power, humility, and benevolence.
• Coco: The first time we see Miguel, he goes out into the plaza listening to music and shoeshining a mariachi guitarist's shoes.
• Coraline: When she goes shopping with her mother, she asks for a pair of colorful gloves because "no one else will have these". This establishes her as an independent soul who forges her own path, in contrast to most kids her age who want most of all to fit in, especially if they're the new kid at school.
• Despicable Me:
  • Gru is shown to be Affably Evil as he makes a balloon for a crying boy only to pop it. And when he goes into a coffee shop, he freezes everyone around him so he could be first in line but tips the cashier before he leaves (though he doesn't actually pay for the coffee or muffin).
  • Miss Hattie firmly establishes herself as a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing when she cheerily greets the girls. But as soon as Agnes ask if anyone has come to adopt them, she brutally tells them "Hmm, let me think... NO!"
• The Emperor's New Groove:
  • After a How We Got Here moment showing that it won't last — begins with Emperor Kuzco dancing through his castle in a huge musical number about how great he is, which is only briefly interrupted by having an old man thrown out a window for bumping into him and throwing off his "groove".
  • Having established that guy as our protagonist, his advisor, Yzma, is quickly established as being even worse as she sits on his throne, tuning out a pitiful little peasant whose voice bears more than a passing resemblance to Piglet:
    Yzma: It is no concern of mine whether or not your family has... what was it, again?
    Peasant: Um... food...
    Yzma: Ha! You should've thought of that before you became peasants!
• Frozen (2013):
  • The first time we see the sisters as children, it shows them playing together using Elsa's ice powers, demonstrating just how close they used to be before the accident.
  • "For the First Time in Forever" depicts this for the grown-up sisters after their forced thirteen year separation. For Anna, it shows her optimistic attitude in just how excited she is for her sister's coronation at the chance of being able to find true love while for Elsa it depicts her as being fearful of having her powers exposed in front of the world while at the same time, telling herself to "conceal, don't feel", as she tries to repress her own emotions to prevent her own powers from leaking out.
  • The Duke of Weselton's first appearance shows him speaking to himself to find a way of exploiting Arendelle's wealth, clearly demonstrating his greedy and selfish attitude.
  • Although Kristoff made two brief appearances beforehand, his first proper appearance as well as his first meeting with Anna has him trying but failing at bargaining at Oaken's shop and then a few moments later, he sang "Reindeers Are Better Than People" demonstrating his initial gruff antisocial attitude.
• In The Fox and the Hound, when Copper is introduced, Chief is shown to not take a shine to him, at least not at first. This establishes his Jerk with a Heart of Gold status. It's reaffirmed later after Copper outshines him in hunting.
• In Frozen II, "Some Things Never Change" serves as this for the three main human characters:
  • Anna is an optimistic, nurturing person who likes to take care of others, and can cope with almost any change as long as she has her family and loved ones. The song starts with her comforting Olaf that lots of things may change, but it's okay because they have each other. She later learns to cope with losing everything, including her home and her whole family, and to find her own leadership skills before taking on the role of queen in her own right, rather than seeing herself primarily as her sister's support.
  • Kristoff wants to propose to Anna, but is awkward and not good with communicating with people the way he does with his reindeer.
  • Elsa is happy where she is, but is feeling restless, not sure whether or not she wants things to change. She soon afterward chooses to follow a voice in hopes of finding a different destiny and more about her magic.
• The Great Mouse Detective introduces Professor Ratigan by having he and his henchmen sing an over-the-top Villain Song praising Ratigan for how great and evil he is, has him feed a drunken henchman to his pet cat Felicia for calling him a "rat", and then demand the rest of his henchmen continue singing said song about how evil and great he is, perfectly setting his intelligence, his brutality, and his Berserk Button in one very catchy song.
• Several in The Hunchback of Notre Dame:
  • Frollo's moment comes after he's chased down the Gypsy Woman, and in the struggle to relieve her of her "stolen goods", caused her death. Now he realizes that the bundle in her arms was actually an infant, and a deformed one at that. So what's the right thing to do? Why, drop the kid in the nearest well and justify everything! Only the threat of eternal damnation can shake him.
  • Quasimodo, despite his hunchback, squashed nose, and bent eye, is established as a kind and gentle spirit as he encourages a baby bird to fly.
  • Phoebus is established as a snarky smartass with a good heart who doesn't hesitate to do the right thing when he witnesses Esmeralda being unfairly persecuted by Frollo's men and helps her get away. Even before he sees Esmeralda for the first time, he puts coins in the Gypsies' hat, even though Gypsies have been established as social outcasts, showcasing that Phoebus is charitable to the less fortunate, pretty girl or not.
  • Obviously Esmeralda's biggest moment in the film is her rescue of Quasi from the crowd, then straight up defiance of Frollo when he tries to forbid her from doing so, giving him a world class "The Reason You Suck" Speech while she's at it. But before all of that, she has a minor moment when Quasimodo crashes into her tent while she's dressing. She could've screamed, yelled at him for being clumsy, gotten angry. But what does she say? "Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?"
• The Incredibles:
  • Dash using his speed to pull pranks on his teachers (and his little Oh, Crap! when he realizes in the office that he was caught by a hidden camera) shows that he's mischievous, a bit rebellious, immature and reckless, and that he takes pride in having powers like his father does.
  • Violet turning invisible and shyly looking at her crush as he walks by. This establishes that she has more of a desire for normality and is less confident in herself and using her powers than the rest of her family.
  • The first minute or so of the movie also sets up a nice Subversion for Bob, Helen, and Lucius. Bob expresses a desire to settle down and Helen says she can't get enough of the superhero gig, viewpoints that both do a complete 180 on once the main story has actually started. Lucius is portrayed at first to be a womanizer who doesn't like to get intimate, but is shown to have a wife later on in the movie. Bob and Helen's are justified almost entirely by their decommissioning; Helen prefers to focus on the present and the future, which at this point is dedicated to taking care of her family; Bob, easily distracted Chronic Hero Syndrome sufferer that he is, feels unappreciated and useless when he's not performing heroics. His non-superpowered attempts to be helpful are unappreciated and resented by others, usually due to technicalities.
  • Gilbert Huph's first five seconds on-screen involve him brushing a weeping old lady out of his way, so he can confront Bob in an outdoor voice.
• Ice Age: Manny establishes himself by saving Sid from the Rhinos despite being rough and cynical.
• Kung Fu Panda:
  • Po's first scene is in the dream sequence which begins the film. He is imagining himself as a respected warrior, establishing his admiration for kung fu. Later after he wakes up, another establishing character moment he has showcases his awkwardness when his kung fu moves attract the attention of a pig villager.
  • Master Oogway's wisdom, kindness, and tranquility (but all with a healthy sense of humor) are clearly defined in his very first scene, when Shifu finds him meditating in some kind of advanced yoga pose while balanced atop his cane. After exchanging some brief words with Shifu, he then goes to blow out the hundreds of candles lighting the room — one at a time, even looking Shifu right in the eyes as he does so — until a mortified Shifu snuffs them all out at once with a flare of wind. It's a great gag, but also genuinely informative about the differences in the two masters' worldviews — Shifu is brilliant and experienced, but also suffers from very worldly restlessness, while Oogway has the patience of a saint and is willing to devote his individual attention to every single candle, no matter how long it takes. Oogway's first lines are very telling:
    Shifu: Master Oogway. You summoned me. Is something wrong?
    Oogway: [getting down from his perch] Why must something be wrong, for me to want to see my old friend?
    Shifu: So... nothing's wrong?
    Oogway: Well... I didn't say that...
  • Immediately before this scene, Shifu first appears playing the flute in the Jade Palace gardens while sitting in the Lotus position... before fighting off all the Furious Five at once when they try to ambush him and dismissing them with a harsh comment. When summoned to Oogway's chambers (as Oogway points out, above), his response shows that Shifu always assumes the worst from unexpected developments, and is usually right... but not always.
    Shifu: [to the Five after they ambush him] Well done, my students...if you were trying to disappoint me!
  • Tai Lung is clearly established as both ingenious and terrifyingly badass with when he breaks out of Chorh-Ghom Prison with the use of a single goose feather.
• The Land Before Time: Ducky's personality for being curious bordering on getting in danger is established the moment she hatches out of her egg. She tries to crawl into the mouth of a giant turtle, only to be saved at the last minute by her mother. Cera has one too when she hatches out of her egg, showcasing her fearless but brash attitude. Petrie has one when Littlefoot is finding something to eat, and when the young Apatosaurus pulls down a branch, Petrie falls off the branch screaming, showcasing his Lovable Coward personality. Lastly, Spike has one as soon as he hatches from his egg and Ducky finds him. Spike immmediately eats the grass that surrounded the egg he hatched from.
• The LEGO Movie:
  • Emmet's life is so empty and meaningless that "family and friends" are a plant and a broom. It would be heartbreaking if it weren't so hilariously pathetic. Following that, his obsession with fitting in by "following the instructions" is made clear when he studiously observes every page in the instruction manual, showing that he can't even remember how to do things like shower and put on pants before going out in public without the instructions telling him to do so. Despite his seemingly pathetic, rule-driven existence, he appears completely happy with who he is.
  • Wyldstyle rescues Emmet from his execution and then builds a motorcycle out of spare parts in an alleyway, which is also our first introduction to the Master Builders' abilities.
  • Unikitty's first appearance sees her jump out from behind some scenery and gladly introduce the party to her home, while also giving a Nightmare Face hinting at her serious anger issues.
• The Lion King (1994):
  • Scar is introduced "playing" with a helpless mouse he is about to devour while skipping out on his nephew's birth ceremony. When Zazu reprimands Scar (causing him to lose the mouse) he immediately tries to eat Zazu. Already, we know that this guy is Bad News.
  • Simba has two. The first one is when he's a cub and his love for adventure, impatience and admiration for his father Mufasa are showcased with him being the first one awake on Pride Rock and attempting to wake the older lion up. The second one comes in as an adult when he's happily stargazing with Timon and Pumbaa, only to sadly wander away when they laugh at the idea of "the great kings of the past" looking down from the stars. This personality as an adult shows that while he's found comfort with a new father figure and uncle figure in Timon and Pumbaa, he's still secretly traumatized from having seen Mufasa die and been blamed for the crime by the real culprit, Scar.
  • Timon and Pumbaa have one showcasing their fun-loving comic relief personalities as they laugh about chasing vultures away from the unconscious Simba. Pumbaa's straightforward kind heart is shown when he immediately wants to take Simba home with them, while Timon is established as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold when he wants to leave the half-dead cub behind out of fear, only changes his mind when Pumbaa points out that having a lion to protect them would be useful, and takes the credit for that realization.
• Little Witch Academia (2013):
  • Akko is sleeping in class, indicating she's a Book Dumb Inept Mage.
  • Sucy pranks Akko with a potion to establish her The Prankster.
  • Lotte nervously looks on concerned to establish her as a Shrinking Violet.
  • Diana flawlessly answers a question to establish her as The Ace. Her first extended interaction in the first film with Akko is her dissing Akko's childish view on magic to establish her as an Academic Alpha Bitch.
• Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade introduces Green Team's personalities by showing what they got in trouble for. Jasminka wouldn't stop eating to establish her as a laidback Big Eater, Constanze gets in trouble for trying to use Magitek, and Amanda got in trouble for trying to steal an artifact which almost worked thanks to her great skills on a broom.
• When asked what makes an effective roar in Monsters University, Mike rattles off the five-point strategy. Sulley just roars.
• Mulan:
  • Mulan shows off her cleverness and resourcefulness to the viewers when she fashions a means of getting her dog to feed the chickens so she still has time to change her clothes. Soon afterward, she reveals a lack of grace during a meeting with the matchmaker, suggesting that life as a trophy wife will not properly fulfill her destiny.
  • The Emperor, when told his army will set up defenses around his palace to protect him from the invading Huns, immediately declared that the troops should go out and protect his people instead. He then orders his General to gather as many army soldier reserves and new recruits as possible, because he knew how dangerous the Huns were and didn't want to take any chances with them. All of this shows that the Emperor is a wise and benevolent ruler.
  • Mushu's first words upon awakening are "IIIIII LIIIIIIIIVE!"
• My Little Pony: Equestria Girls:
  • My Little Pony: Equestria Girls redoes many of the establishing moments from the show with some variations as Twilight Sparkle meets the human versions of her pony friends. The villain Sunset Shimmer gets her establishing character moment in the human world by picking on human Fluttershy.
  • My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks quickly establishes Sunset Shimmer's post Heel–Face Turn personality by having her shunned by the Crusaders in spite of her attempts to be nice and helpful, showing both how much she has changed and how hated she still is by the school.
  • My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games starts with Sunset Shimmer rushing to help with an emergency, then making her frustration clear when the emergency isn't actually as serious as all that. She's still a good person, but (or "and") now she has her old confidence back.
• My Little Pony: A New Generation: The opening has Sunny, Hitch, and Sprout as foals playing with figurines of the main characters of Friendship is Magic. Sunny wants to portray them accurately as friends, showing her ardent belief in unity. Sprout wants to portray the unicorns and pegasi as villains, showing that he embraces the xenophobia of the new pony societies. Hitch tries to make peace without taking a side, showing that his main interest is simply in preventing unrest.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas does this for each of the main characters.
  • Jack gets a dramatic entrance during the Halloween celebration, and the song spends a good minute or so hyping him up as the ruler of Halloween Town, but it's during his song a few minutes later that his real character is shown.
  • Sally's is more subtle. In her first few seconds onscreen she is shown doing what she will spend the rest of the movie doing: gazing lovingly at Jack and rebelling against her mad scientist creator/father figure.
  • The Mayor gets an ECM as well, albeit a little ways into the story, when he goes to Jack's house for advice and panics when he finds Jack has disappeared. This is the first time we see him wear his second face.
  • Oogie Boogie's reputation precedes him as the most malevolent resident of Halloween Town, but his first few seconds on screen (even though only his shadow is shown) make his creepiness, evil intentions, and love of gambling very clear.
• The Princess and the Frog has several:
  • Prince Naveen gets a wordless one: his very first scene has him ripping off his royal decor, grabbing a ukelele, and disregarding his manservant and any royal pomp as he joins a street band, complete with immediate posse of fawning ladies. It easily establishes him as an impulsive ladies' man completely dedicated to enjoying himself.
  • The film's Big Bad Dr. Falicier gets one too; He's a street corner fortune teller who gives a spell to restore a bald man's hair — which soon covers the rest of his body. This establishes the doctor as a man out to use other people's needs to profit and screw them over. And that Living Shadow shows he's NOT just a Snake Oil Salesman...
  • Spoiled rich girl Charlotte gets a delayed one. When Charlotte finds Tiana sitting amid the ruins of the beignets with which Charlotte had hoped to seduce the Prince, she might have bawled Tiana out and demanded the beignets be replaced. Instead, she abandons the Prince and takes Tiana upstairs to get her cleaned up and into a fresh costume.
  • Her father gets one during the opening scene as well; he buys a newspaper off of a little boy, and pays him with what is probably the biggest wad of cash in Disney history.
• Ratatouille:
  • Émile's introductory scene shows him bursting out of a slice of cake he and Rémy are eating and reacting with unbridled enthusiasm to Rémy's highly developed senses of taste and smell, effectively setting him up as a friendly, if slightly dim, Big Eater.
  • In the teaser trailer, Émile is seen nonchalantly snacking on a piece of trash he found and telling Rémy he should rethink his life and start acting more like a regular rat, much to Django's approval
• Robots: Phineas T. Ratchet is introduced praising Bigweld's generosity, only to then immediately switch gears, dismissing him as a relic, dropping an underling down a trapdoor for suggesting Bigweld might return at the Bigweld Ball, and unveiling his upgrade-centric, insecurity-exploiting plan for "sucking every loose penny out of Mr. and Mrs. Average Knucklehead".
  Ratchet: Upgrades, people, upgrades.
• In the Netflix film Secret Magic Control Agency, Hansel of Hansel and Gretel fame is introduced scamming a bunch of wealthy people into buying "magical" amulets to protect them against curses, but when a woman comes up to him asking for one to heal her sick little sister, he refuses and gives her some money to pay for a proper doctor. He's a Con Artist, but one with standards.
• Shrek:
  • Shrek introduces himself by narrating a fairy tale about a princess locked away in a tower...but when he gets to the part about her being rescued by Prince Charming, he casually tears out a page of the book and uses it for toilet paper, demonstrating his cynicism and worldly personality, followed by a montage of his morning routine that shows off his intentionally disgusting personal hygiene. Later on, when he's threatened by a mob with Torches and Pitchforks, he casually extinguishes their leader's torch with his bare hand, showing us that he's not only a funny gross ogre but also a legitimate badass who's afraid of nothing (physically harmful) the world can throw at him.
    Shrek: [whispering] This is the part where you run away.
  • Lord Farquaad's first scene shows us an imposing and serious-looking medieval noble entering his private dungeon, before we see his true height, followed shortly after by him torturing a prisoner for information (it's the Gingerbread Man, but still) and blaming him (and by extension, all fairytale creatures) for "ruining my perfect world."
• Sing establishes several of the main characters, introducing their situations before the plot starts.
  • Buster is someone who deeply loves theater and remains optimistic despite the sorry state his theater has become.
  • Rosita is a stay-home mom who enjoys singing but her husband and children are either too young or busy to appreciate it.
  • Mike is a street musician who has a short temper and bullies a passing monkey to giving him more money.
  • Ash is a talented singer who is constantly put down by her pushy boyfriend.
  • Meena has a lovely singing voice but is terribly shy and passive.
  • Johnny quietly sings to himself while waiting awkwardly for his dad and his gang to return from their latest heist.
• Storks:
  • Junior is introduced as the widely popular Ace who masks his disappointment with quick talk and strained casualness.
  • Tulip is first seen as she prepares to help herself and her flightless bird friends achieve their dreams of flying with untested jet-packs, neatly summing up her reckless and altruistic personality.
• Strange Magic: You know exactly the type of guy Roland is when the first song ends with him cheating on Marianne right before their wedding.
• Gothel from Tangled is shown discovering a magical flower that could heal people from any disease, including aging. Instead of sharing it, she hoards this flower for hundreds of years, using it for her selfish gain of remaining young. She gets another one, showcasing her skill at subtle emotional abuse in one of her earliest lines:
  Gothel: Rapunzel, look in this mirror. You know what I see? A vibrant, confident, beautiful young lady. Oh look! You're here too! Ahahahahah! Oh darling- I'm just teasing!
• The Thief and the Cobbler:
  • The thief is first seen trying to steal various things out of a bazaar, then attempting to rob an old woman, who promptly beats him up and shakes all of his loot out of his baggy clothes. This establishes both the Thief as a kleptomaniac comic relief, and the old woman (who later appears as Princess Yum Yum's nursemaid) as a formidable figure in her own right.
  • Tack the Cobbler is shown absent-mindedly partaking in his trade of making things while in the process of waking up, establishing him as a shy, quiet hero with a big heart.
  • Big Bad Wannabe Zigzag's Big Entrance is (in the original and Recobbled Cuts, at least) a masterpiece of Show, Don't Tell: even before you see him, you learn from the parade announcing him that he's a high-ranking, powerful, narcissistic and draconic man.
  • The real Big Bad, Mighty One-Eye, is first shown Atop a Mountain of Corpses, boasting how he was going to destroy the golden city while a single rider from the slaughtered army rushes back to said city to warn the King of One-Eye's attack. This shows One-Eye's arrogance, bloodthirstiness, and status as The Dreaded.
• Turning Red:
  • The scene of Mei assembling her three gal pals has Miriam at her locker chewing an orange before being the first to greet her, Priya reading a vampire novel before greeting her stoically, and Abby bombastically kicking and shouting at a piece of trash.
  • Mei's aunties' very first scene is of them busting open the double doors to the temple while shrouded in a flash of light, then sashaying their way in and striking a group pose worthy of the Kardashians. Only to then start cooing all over Mei while making comments about her appearance.
• WALL•E: When EVE first arrives on Earth, she's all business, scanning the environment for plant life as she was programmed to do. But once the ship that dropped her off leaves, she takes a break to soar through the air, very clearly relishing the ability to fly freely for once...and then she blasts the rock WALL-E is hiding behind into dust after hearing a smaller rock hit the ground. In one fell swoop, EVE is demonstrated to be serious and a little trigger happy, but not fully subservient to her programming.
• Ralph in Wreck-It Ralph declares he doesn't want to be a Bad Guy anymore to his fellow video game villains, but then he proves to the audience that he's not a bad guy... by giving his Pac-Man fruit to some recently unplugged characters.
• Zootopia:
  • As as a child, we see Judy being passionate about being a cop and standing up to a bully despite the risk to her safety. Despite losing the fight and getting beaten up badly, she manages to steal back the stolen tickets, showing she is capable of thinking quick on her feet.
  • Nick Wilde is introduced abusing Judy's trust by pretending to be a father and then being a successful conman/businessman, cleverly making profits wheeling and dealing across the city while staying within the law so that Judy can't arrest him. He then shows his cynicism by viciously deconstructing her "small town girl in the big city" backstory, her aspirations to be a cop (including the startlingly accurate prediction that she'll fail, resign, and return home to farm carrots), and the idea that Zootopia is an egalitarian paradise for all animals.

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