The ending of The Mousetrap is one of these. At least, if you ask anyone with a sense of honor, damnit.
In the live-stage version of Disney's Mulan Mushu has been demoted from his pedestal because of an incident involving "Confucius, a silk worm, and the near downfall of a dynasty!"
The movie has a bit of a Noodles Incident for that as well, with them alluding to the last ancestor Mushu assisted and then showing a spirit with a decapitated head. "Yeah, thanks".
In the Tony-nominated play Next Fall, a main character's mother is talking about his childhood, when she suddenly interrupts with the following lines: "Then I went to jail for six months...for selling pot... [sees incredulous look on listener's face]...it's a long story involving my ex-best friend. A one-armed hairdresser from Scarsdale, I kid you not."
In Into the Woods, the Baker's parents supposedly died in "a baking accident."
