Cartoons like Mickey's Gala Premier,Mickey's Polo Team, and the Donald Duck cartoon The Autograph Hound were full to the brim with famous celebrities of the time. Nowadays most people will probably only recognize a few of them.
The black and white Mickey cartoon The Klondike Kid is a mash-up of The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Gold Rush.
In the cartoon The Hockey Champ Donald is seen at the beginning parodying then-famous skater/actress Sonya Henie.
Several of the Disney shorts were spoofing then-popular genre fiction. Duck Pimples (1945) spoofs horror-themed and crime-themed radio shows of the era, as Donald's imagination runs wild. Frank Duck Brings 'Em Back Alive (1946), spoofs the autobiography of animal collector Frank Buck (1884-1950) and its series of fictionalized film adaptations. How to Be a Detective (1952) spoofs several tropes from Film Noir, and mocks their convoluted plots. Two-Gun Goofy (1952) spoofs television Westerns. Unclear how many modern viewers get the references.
Helen "boop-a-doop" Kane is now recalled as having been like Betty Boop — which she was before Betty Boop was created.
Betty's design was heavily inspired by Clara Bow, down to having red hair like her (as shown in her only colored short, Poor Cinderella). Clara is considered one of the first Hollywood superstars but has since faded into obscurity for various reasons.
The Modifyers is a rejected pilot that gained a lot of popularity when it was uploaded to the internet in 2010. In the years since, however, if someone stumbles upon a picture of the characters, they're far more likely to think of Zone's fan-made porn parody more than anything else.
The pilot episode of Futurama was a Whole-Plot Reference to the science fiction novel Immortality, Inc.; in particular, the scene where Fry accidentally gets in line for a suicide booth is taken directly from the classic sci-fi story. Very few people know this, or are even aware of Immortality, Inc. even existing due to its obscurity compared to Futurama.
The show's version of Dracula is drawn to look like an older version of Blacula (complete with early 70's sideburns and mustache) and acts like a dead-on impersonation of Fred Sanford from Sanford and Son, complete with a penchant for calling people "dummy". Both were decades old when the show was produced, and not something young viewers were likely to recognize.
Its parody of the H. P. Lovecraft mythos, "Prank Call of Cthulhu", must go over the heads of most young viewers as well.
The Cuddle Buddies from Kim Possible are on the surface send-ups of Beanie Babies. But if you dig further, you'll note their unmistakable resemblance to The Wuzzles, a slightly obscure 1980's kids' show also produced by Disney. The Wuzzles was also Merchandise-Driven, and when that show was airing, store shelves did have boxes with stuffed Wuzzles on/in them. If you're baffled as you why you've never heard of them, The Wuzzles only lasted 13 episodes and broadcast over a 3-months period in 1985, making it one of Disney's shortest-lived series.
Grandpa from Hey Arnold! has a photo stashed away of Hedy Lamarr. Naturally, kids had to go ask their parents.
The parents, in turn, might have only been familiar with the Blazing Saddles character...
The "Log" song from The Ren & Stimpy Show is a parody of classic Slinky commercials. There's also comedian Stinky Wizzleteats from "Stimpy's Invention," a spoof of actor/musician Burl Ives. Specifically the lines about "teaching your grandmother to suck eggs" and "I told you I'd shoot but you didn't believe me!" come from The Big Country. And, of course, Ren's voice and persona are largely based on characters played by Peter Lorre, with Ren's famous Catchphrase "You fat, bloated EEDIOT!" paraphrased from Joel Cairo's Villainous Breakdown near the end of The Maltese Falcon. See here.
The classic schtick of two characters trying to out-polite each other "After you. No I insist after you." has been done innumerable times in Goofy Gophers and Heckle and Jeckle cartoons. Both of these are parodies of a much older comic strip routine involving two guys named Alphonse and Gaston. The only way a non-historian would have heard those names would be at a baseball game. (An "Alphonse and Gaston" is when two guys chase a fly ball and simultaneously pull up so it drops between them.) And then you need an announcer who loves the classics. - Though the original Alphonse and Gaston comic strip was actually fairly long-running (1901-1937), and had received adaptations in stage plays and films. It was one of the most famous creations of comic strip artist Frederick Burr Opper (1857–1937), one of the pioneers of the comic strip genre. Opper's best remembered character is Happy Hooligan (1900-1932), the "well-meaning hobo who encountered a lot of misfortune and bad luck" due to unjust treatment. He was the character which Charlie Chaplin was imitating in his "Little Tramp" persona.
On "It's That Man Again", a wartime BBC radio show, it was "After you Claude." "After YOU, Cecil."
It's just easier to say that Robot Chicken is another Parody Displacement machine a la Alice in Wonderland, particularly when it comes to '80s cartoons and toys:
"Oh my god! Somebody remembered this movie and made a comedy sketch about it!"
Most younger fans may not be aware that the chickens bawking in the end is "The Gonk" from Dawn of the Dead (1978) and instead refer to it as the Theme Tune.
Composite Santa Claus is probably more well-known than the villain he's a parody of. Composite Superman hasn't been seen since before Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the few people who remember him probably wish they didn't.
Ironically, Composite Superman wound up appearing in Robot Chicken DC Comics Special III: Magical Friendship, with a major role, no less!
One sketch had Lewis and Clark, portrayed by Lois Lane and Clark Kent, specifically acting out their unique character traits from Lois & Clark. Clark addresses the audience that unless they saw the show they would probably not get the joke.
Most American Dad! viewers don't seem to be aware that Roger's distinctive voice and mannerisms (done by MacFarlane) are intended to parody Paul Lynde.
Lynde is a frequent victim of this trope, as his voice is imitated quite often in cartoons. The result is that some animation fans think of his voice as a stock cartoon voice used for Ambiguously Gay or just plain Camp Gay male characters and aren't aware that all those voices stem from one man. He did some voice work himself, such as the Hanna-Barbera 'toons The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Charlotte's Web. HB were so well known for using celebrity imitators in their cartoons, that even people who have heard of Mr. Lynde probably assumed it was an imitation. On the other hand, since Lynde was so commonly imitated, people will often assume that any cartoon from the 1970s or earlier that includes a Lynde-like voice has him doing that voice - but sometimes it isn't. (Alan Sues is frequently mistaken for Lynde, for example.)
What they really aren't aware of is that Lynde admitted he borrowed his manner of speaking and mannerisms from Alice Ghostley, a popular Broadway star of the '50s who later became a Hollywood character actress.
Interestingly, both Lynde and Ghostley each had a recurring role on the TV series Bewitched.
For that matter, Seth MacFarlane's penchant for referencing 1980s TV and movies, along with 1950s lounge music, has made his shows into a Parody Displacement machine for people too young to remember those decades (AKA the vast majority of his audience). Family Guy is a much bigger offender than American Dad, though.
The opening titles of Family Guy are a parody of the opening titles of All in the Family, something that is completely lost on younger viewers.
Ask anyone about the song "Surfin' Bird" and they'll most likely attribute it to Family Guy instead of the Trashmen, whose version of the song was featured in the show.
Family Guy's penchant for obscurity runs the gamut — especially when it comes to parodies. For example, a number of people might recognize a song they play straight — such as "Shipoopi" from The Music Man — but how many people actually know that "The FCC Song" from the episode "PTV" is sung to the tune of "Volunteer Firemen's Picnic" from the obscure Broadway musical Take Me Along?
Seth MacFarlane's love of old movies, demonstrated in the score reference to The Sea Hawk during a car chase seen that turns in to a parody of age of sail ship to ship battles.
Go to YouTube and search for any scene or clip from a pop culture phenomenon that Family Guy has parodied or mentioned. Unless it's Star Wars or something with that level of fame, most of the comments will consist of, "I thought Family Guy created this!"
In countries where Kool-Aid isn't sold, the Kool-Aid Man is often considered an original Family Guy character.
The "Don't you believe it!" line in a couple of Tom and Jerry cartoons is clearly a reference to one of the openings to the NBC Radio show "The Passing Parade". 'Don't you believe it!' was a radio program back in the mid to late forties. This program was run by Toby Reed. In the beginning of the show they listed off a number of trivia type things, "and say if you believe so and so ... Don't you believe it!" then it went on to explain what really happened in a kind of documentary style. Today this joke has gotten so obscure that hardly anyone remembers it.
Another episode had a small robotic mouse walking back and forth repeating "Come out and see me some time". This was a reference to Mae West's once-notorious line: "Come up and see me sometime".
Double example: the theme from Recess was a parody of the theme from Hogan's Heroes, which in turn was a parody of the march from The Great Escape.
Similarly, Fillmore! is ''Shaft... In School! (with a heavy helping of 1970's cop movies and TV shows thrown in). Although the show was loved by many fans, supposedly part of the reason is was cancelled is that the suits felt the kiddie target demographic didn't get all the 1970's references (and believed that it mattered whether the kids got all the references or not).
Snagglepuss is, so far, an aversion. While his voice is based on Bert Lahr's cowardly lion, the original is still well enough known as to avoid Parody Displacement.
Yet Snagglepus himself is sometimes confused with The Pink Panther in countries where that character is more familiar.
Megas XLR exists almost entirely on this trope. Giant robot anime, movies, cartoons, tv shows, literature, pop culture, obscure throw-away characters from other series, actors, conspiracy theories, theoretical physics, urban legends, real life... Everything is a source for what is likely the most awesome cartoon ever made.
When they're parodying a certain musician, South Park will sometimes use a modified version of their existing material, resulting in a lot of viewers giving them full credit for it.
If you're a South Park viewer who doesn't listen to popular music, you might not know that the song at the end of "Fishsticks" is a parody of the Kanye West song "Heartless". Given enough time, even those who do probably won't recognize it, leaving poor Kanye's musical career eclipsed by a song about gay fish.
More people are familiar with the episode "Trapped in the Closet" than the actual R. Kelly album it parodies (which was generally regarded as a low ebb in his career).
The two episodes featuring Michael Jackson—-"Meet the Jeffersons" and "Dead Celebrities"—-used three songs as the basis for his musical bits: "Heal the World" from Dangerous and "Childhood" and "You Are Not Alone" from HIStory: Past, Present, and Future -- Book I. Seeing as all three were lesser known relative to his other hits, it can be easy to miss them.
The Disney villain Phantom Blot is a parody of a character in many film serials, the main villain whose face is hidden in a cloak until the final episode reveals him to be a character already familiar to the audience. This was a recognizable stock character when the Blot was introduced in 1939. Now the serials are forgotten, but the character lives on.
The Flintstones used quite a few "special guest voices" of celebrities of the era given Punny Names, such as "Ann-Margrock" for actress Ann-Margaret and "Jimmy Darrock" for Jimmy Darren. Kids who grew up watching the reruns would have had no clue who these people were.
Rarity's song "Art of the Dress" from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is done In the Style of the song "Putting It Together" by Barbra Streisand. The former is much more popular and many people only know of "Putting It Together" from "Art Of The Dress".
Moral Orel is a parody of the stop-motion Christian cartoon Davey and Goliath. Not many people realize it due to the latter being a niche work from the 60s.
The theme song is sung to the tune of the sea shanty "Blow The Man Down", and has become more popular than the original song.
Barnacle Boy is likely a lot more well-known at this point than Aqualad, the character he is pretty clearly a parody of. Aqualad himself has been Out of Focus for decades in comic continuity, largely due to the issues DC's long had with making Aquaman on his own work. He's gained some recognition in the years since the show's debut due to his appearances in Teen Titans (2003) and Young Justice (2010), but those incarnations of the character are so far removed from the classic version that Barnacle Boy is based off of that the connection is likely still lost among viewers.
Indeed, the original Mermaid Man & Barnacle BoyShow Within a Show is clearly based on the 1960s Aquaman series produced by Filmation. Though when SpongeBob premiered in 1999 the shorts had been rerun over on the Cartoon Network, nowadays you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone aware of the Filmation Aquaman (other than comic-book geeks and die-hard animation fans).
"Sweet Victory" has been so ingrained into the show (to the point of where the Super Bowl LIII received backlash for not playing it during their halftime show) that most people don't realize that the song was actually recorded by David Glen Eisley for a stock music library. It was almost unheard of prior to the airing of "Band Geeks".
The NFL Films song "The Lineman" is probably better known as the theme of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy than its original use.
How many viewers of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop realised it was a pastiche of 1910s film serials like The Perils of Pauline (1914)? Okay, now how many realised the Hooded Claw is specifically based on the villain from the follow-up to Pauline, The Exploits Of Elaine (1914), who was known as the Clutching Hand? Note that the Clutching Hand was "the first mystery villain to appear in a film serial", and became the template for every mystery villain in the genre.
Many people may also believe that The Perils of Pauline and The Exploits of Elaine were invented by Scott Westerfield for the Leviathan books.
Most of Clone High's characters are obvious clones of historical figures - Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Joan of Arc, and so on. Even minor characters are based on historical figures (with the exception of Principal Scudworth). There are, however, some that may have slipped past viewers:
Mr. Butlertron is a parody of the titular character of Mr. Belvedere, down to calling everyone Wesley. The creators even wanted to name him "Mr. Belvetron", but they couldn't get the rights. This parody would go right over the heads of anyone who watched the series today, or even during the original run if they were on the younger side.
It is easy to miss that the "guest star" Ponce is based on a real historical figure, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon. His full name is only used once, on the end title card memorializing his death, and given the intro's blatant emphasis that he is the clone who will die tonight, it is pretty easy to assume that they just made up the character to make it his Remember the New Guy? status even funnier, as a normal person in a school of clones.
The series's concept as a parody of the Very Special Episode in every episode can be lost on viewers, as the overtness of such episodes has been downplayed in modern sitcoms (if it shows up at all - series typically avoid dropping such Anvilicious messages, and if they are going to include drug/alcohol use, death, or sex, they will do it from the start).
Link's now-memetic "Well, EX-CUUUUSE ME, princess!" from the old The Legend of Zelda animated series is fondly remembered by those who grew up with the show, and is usually understood on the Internet to exclusively be a reference to the cartoon. More than a few of these fans may not recognize that the recurring line is a direct Shout-Out to one of Steve Martin's famous bits from his stand-up comedy days. Same delivery and everything.
A lot of the parodies and jokes in The Boondocks that are based on pop culture go over people's heads. For example, Tom's song "Let It Burn" is an actual Usher song. Other episodes are based on real life events or real people (often times word-for-word), including the teacher who says the "n" word at Riley and the gay prisoner with the beanie.
Similar to the "Sweet Victory" example, the stock music track "The Night Begins To Shine" by BER is better known as Cyborg's favorite song in Teen Titans Go!. It doesn't help matters that they devoted several episodes to said song.
Say "omelette du fromage" and people will probably think you're referencing an episode of Dexter's Laboratory; it has its roots in a classic Steve Martin comedy routine from his "Wild and Crazy Guy" era wherein he describes visiting Paris.
The Powerpuff Girls main villain Mojo Jojo has a very distinctive speech pattern where he repeatedly explains the meanings of the words he's using: for instance, when he says he will conquer the world, he'll go on to say that he will take it over through military force. According to Craig McCracken, this was based on The Super Dictionary, which uses the exact same cadence as Mojo Jojo's dialogue, and is mostly only known to people through the "40 Cakes" meme.
note . Or that their Rescue Rangers incarnations are meant to invoke Indiana Jones and Magnum, P.I., respectively.