History AccidentalAesop / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Don't be a bully to your younger siblings. As an adult, a ''lot'' of Jinx's more unstable moments are motivated by the insecurities put into her head by the comments Mylo used to make about Powder as a child, showing that they deeply affected her. What's more, she fixates on him more than the rest of her family (besides Vi) and repeatedly hallucinates him criticising and insulting her, which tends to push her into doing some of her more dangerous and villainous behaviours. While [[spoiler:accidentally causing the death of her family when trying to help with saving Vander was evidently a big part in shattering her mental well-being, it's evident that Mylo's regular bullying of her caused a great deal of trauma on its own and left scars she's still not healed from]].
* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'':

** If you want people to take you seriously, have proof for your claims, don't act high and mighty, and don't neglect morality in pursuing your claims. Jacob could've easily proven the existence of demons had he not alienated Vee and Camilla by acting like a nut or planned to dissect a sentient creature.

*** Homer agrees to have cities pay him to bury their trash for them because he desperately wanted to avoid a garbage workers' strike, [[DidntThinkThisThrough and this]] ''[[DidntThinkThisThrough literally]]'' [[DidntThinkThisThrough blows up in everybody's faces]], [[spoiler:with Springfield getting so badly trashed that they relocate the entire town]]. So, this sends the message that strikes are a ''good'' thing because they force much-needed change. If Homer and Mayor Quimby had to deal with striking workers, they would've gotten to a solution that wouldn't have endangered Springfield.

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E1SimpsonsRoastingOnAnOpenFire Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire]]", ''the first episode'', has many animal advocacy groups praising it for bringing attention to the plight of abandoned racing dogs. The writers had no idea at the time that it was such a big issue but were glad to raise awareness of it.

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E22TrashOfTheTitans Trash of the Titans]]": WordOfGod says that the episode's GreenAesop, which arises after Homer, upon becoming Springfield's sanitation commissioner and messing up Springfield so badly [[spoiler:that the town is moved five miles away]], was entirely unintentional.

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E8HurricaneNeddy Hurricane Neddy]]": If you want to help someone, make sure you're actually up to the task, otherwise you'll be a liability. Springfield may have meant well trying to build Ned a new house, but they still did a crappy job due to not knowing anything about construction, [[RageBreakingPoint thus setting off decades of suppressed rage within Ned]]. They might have been better off if they pooled their resources and hired someone to do it themselves.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': "[[Recap/BobsBurgersS6E14TheHormoneIums The Hormone-iums]]" can be seen as a PG-rated way to criticize abstinence-based sex education. Mr. Frond tries to make a play to teach the kids to not kiss, or else they ''will'' get mononucleosis and ''will'' die, accidentally tanking Tina's chances to be invited to a spin the bottle party. Tina then changes the play during the presentation, showing information that mononucleosis isn't lethal in most cases, and that you can avoid mono by just kissing people without it.
-->'''Tina:''' We don't have to not kiss, we just have to smart kiss.

* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'':
** Ginger & Macie's relationship with Dodie shows you might be friends with someone just because you live nearby and/or it's convenient. Dodie routinely acts [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] and [[StrawHypocrite hypocritical]] and has no moral hang-ups about [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder stabbing Ginger and Macie in the back]] whenever it's convenient for her, spending an entire episode enabling her mother's horrible behaviour. And yet despite this, they are both still tight friends with her.
** In one episode, Macie's parents forget her birthday. Macie tries to communicate with them the only way they know how which is to schedule an appointment with them - which would take several months. Ginger hears this and busts into a private therapy session to call them out. This can easily be construed both as "Sometimes, you have to break the rules to do what's right", and also "Sometimes, people may need a little help to stand up for themselves".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'':
** Some episodes show that Penny is only friends with Dijonay and a frienemy with [=LaCineaga=] because of inertia (Dijonay was Penny's friend for years) and proximity (they both live near Penny). Zoey and Sticky are just about the only ones of Penny's friends who actually ''act'' like decent people, their only real crimes being that they followed Dijonay and [=LaCienaga=] when they were being a JerkAss.
** The fact that Oscar and Penny are the show's dedicated ButtMonkey and get punished for standing up for themselves taught a lot of people that [[HardTruthAesop standing up for yourself doesn't always work, nor does it even get appreciated]].
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': The first episode, "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E1To3SecretOrigins Secret Origins]]", likely did not have an intended message, but it demonstrates what many could interpret as a pro-nuclear stance, as a general inadvertently gives Batman the idea to fund the Justice League, pointing out that humanity needs powerful weapons and forces to protect themselves. This actually inspires the league to build their own weapon to stop an alien invasion.
* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': "[[Recap/WanderOverYonderS1E7TheLittleGuy The Little Guy]]" shows just how empty someone's life is when they buy into hateful propaganda, especially if they aren't a hateful person. Wesley is constantly abused by his fellow Watchdogs, for example by being the victim of physical assault, being forced into the back of an audience that he can't see over, and getting left behind by Lord Hater's ship when tracking Wander. After finding Wander, Wesley is so paranoid thanks to Hater's demonization of Wander that he ends up unable to appreciate their genuine kindness, nearly attacking Wander and Sylvia when they cook a meal to share and only taking a chance when he realizes just how hungry he's gotten. Only after spending some time learning that Wander and Sylvia aren't at all like Hater's propaganda made them out to be does Wesley find genuine happiness and something he can believe in, ultimately staging their capture and faking his own death to free them so he can go his own way and follow Wander's example in kindness.

** Ginger&Macie's relationship with Dodie shows you might be friends with someone just because you live nearby and/or it's convenient. Dodie routinely acts [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish] and [[StrawHypocrite hypocritical]], spending an entire episode enabling her mother's horrible behaviour. And yet despite this, Ginger and Macie are still tight friends with her.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' shows that you might be friends with someone just because you live nearby and/or it's convenient. Why ''else'' would Ginger ''or'' Macy be friends with [[BitchInSheepsClothing Dodie]]?%%ZCE
* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': Some episodes show that Penny is only friends with Dijonay and a frienemy with [=LaCineaga=] because of inertia (Dijonay was Penny's friend for years) and proximity (they both live near Penny). Zoey and Sticky are just about the only ones of Penny's friends who actually ''act'' like decent people, their only real crimes being that they followed Dijonay and [=LaCienaga=] when they were being a JerkAss.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': In "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E22TheLateMrKent The Late Mr. Kent]]", Superman, while working as Clark Kent, uncovers evidence that could exonerate a prisoner on death row, but, while driving, a car bomb goes off, and Superman has to think up a way to [[CoverBlowingSuperpower save the prisoner without giving away his secret identity]]. Although they don't delve into the death penalty's morality, the episode makes the point that it isn't an effective deterrent against crime because of how easily it can get imposed on innocent people.
** And given that Clark's evidence is destroyed in the blast, the importance of backing up one's data is directly addressed.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' had an InUniverse example when the kids’ parents [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Principal Brown]] pretend to be criminals holding the bus hostage as part of an idiotic plan to teach the kids not to play hooky. This plan goes majorly OffTheRails, leading to them being given a million dollars by the police who have mistaken it for a real hostage situation.
--> '''[[OnlySaneMan Gumball]]:''' Congratulations, gentlemen, you've taught us that crime ''does'' pay. [[DeadpanSnarker Good job.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Don't be a bully to your younger siblings. As an adult, a ''lot'' of Jinx's more unstable moments are motivated by the insecurities put into her head by the comments Mylo used to make about Powder as a child, showing that they deeply affected her. What's more, she fixates on him more than the rest of her family (besides Vi) and repeatedly hallucinates him criticising and insulting her, which tends to push her into doing some of her more dangerous and villainous behaviours. While [[spoiler:accidentally causing the death of her family when trying to help with saving Vander was evidently a big part in shattering her mental well-being, it's evident that Mylo's regular bullying of her caused a great deal of trauma on its own and left scars she's still not healed from.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'': The moral intended in "The Two Musketeers" was "Don't judge a book by its cover", since the two Musketeers don't believe that the third is worthy just by looking at her. However, it's often interpreted as "Don't hate people for petty reasons", since the Musketeers dislikes Empress Tasha just because she has a hot-air balloon and they don't, but they end up becoming good friends with her once they actually get to know her. Then again, aesops were never their strongest point...
* The ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' episode "[[Recap/BobsBurgersS6E14TheHormoneIums The Hormone-iums]]" can be seen as a PG-rated way to criticize abstinence-based sex education. Mr. Frond tries to make a play to teach the kids to not kiss, or else they ''will'' get mononucleosis and ''will'' die, accidentally tanking Tina's chances to be invited to a spin the bottle party. Tina then changes the play during the presentation, showing information that mononucleosis isn't lethal in most cases, and that you can avoid mono by just kissing people without it.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': In the episode "Ride the Whaletaur Shaman!", the main moral seems to be that it's okay to feel sad, but you can find hope in the people that love and support you. However, the events argubly only occurred because Horse's friends ''didn't'' do that. Horse only got to the point of being DrivenToSuicide because while the Centaurs treated her [[spoiler:becoming [[ForcedTransformation forcefully transformed ]] as a good thing, Horse herself is horrified once the ToonTransformation is complete, which combined with her existing stress and grief over being unable to return home, beginning to forget what Rider even looks like, and wondering if either of them will recognize the other if she does manage to return home]], leading to her jumping off a cliff and willingly being eaten. As such, it's hard not to think the other takeaway from the episode should be that, if a friend is distressed about the changes in their life, don't downplay or dismiss their pain, even if you personally think the changes are good ones.
* {{Zigzagg|ingTrope}}ed in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Godfellas". The episode did indeed touch a little on the ideas of predestination, prayer, and the nature of salvation, and "God's" quote at the end "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all" did have some deep meaning to it (as in, people tend to remember the bad things people do more than the good things), but fans tended to look into the episode a little ''too'' deeply. So much so that writer Mark Pinsky remarked that the episode might cause the viewer to need "to be reminded that this is a cartoon and not a divinity school class."
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': "Full Moon", despite its intended aesop of [[HonorBeforeReason sticking to your personal morals will sometimes make things harder]] mistakenly tells kids "Snitches get Stitches".
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': "Propane Boom" inadvertently makes some points about how American businesses are run that have dire consequences, even beyond monopolies ruining lives. Hank losing his job inadvertently put him in the explosion, and [[TooDumbToLive Buckley lost his life because he wasn't fired for doing something extremely dangerous (or at least because he wasn't trained properly)]]. Hank, Luanne, and Chuck Mangione almost lose their lives and grapple with PTSD in the following episode, "Death Of A Propane Salesman", as a result.

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E13SaddlesoreGalactica Saddlesore Galactica]]" had Lisa taking part in a competition wherein the other team cheated (by using glow sticks, expressly against the rules) and won. She spends the rest of the episode appealing to progressively higher authorities until finally then-President UsefulNotes/BillClinton himself overturns the results. The aesop in this case is pretty explicitly spelled out: if things don't go your way, you can always whine to someone until they do. Thing is, it was clearly meant to be a SpoofAesop; Marge points out that a pretty lousy moral to take away from this, and Clinton simply replies that he's a pretty lousy president. Be that as it may, "Calmly and logically appeal to authority figures when faced with an injustice, and escalate to higher authority if you need to" [[StrawmanHasAPoint isn't really that bad a moral]].
** WordOfGod says the GreenAesop of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E22TrashOfTheTitans Trash of the Titans]]", which arises after Homer, upon becoming Springfield's sanitation commissioner and messing up Springfield so badly [[spoiler:that the town is moved 5 miles away]], was entirely unintentional.
** "The Cartridge Family", in which Homer buys a gun and joins the NRA, satirized American gun culture, but WordOfGod was surprised that viewers saw a strong aesop about the importance of gun safety ([[BothSidesHaveAPoint they did try to give both sides reasonable arguments]]), saying that the only message they intended was that irresponsible idiots like Homer should be forbidden from owning guns.
** ''The first episode'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E1SimpsonsRoastingOnAnOpenFire Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire]]" had many animal advocacy groups praising it for bringing attention to the plight of abandoned racing dogs. The writers had no idea at the time that it was such a big issue but were glad to raise awareness of it.
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E4BartTheMurderer Bart the Murderer]]", in which Bart is framed for murdering Principal Skinner and only exonerated when Skinner enters the courtroom alive and explains he was trapped in his basement when a stack of newspapers fell on him, has Skinner state "Let this be a lesson to recycle", intended as a SpoofAesop. With greater awareness of hoarding, this isn't a bad message.
* Parodied in-story in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "The Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]," the kids decide to write the most offensive book ever written, which to their surprise becomes [[SpringtimeForHitler an instant bestseller,]] even though people [[VomitIndiscretionShot can't stop throwing up when they read it.]] Almost immediately, people start reading numerous and drastically conflicting political messages in the story. The kids, who only wanted to be offensive, find this all very annoying.
* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' shows that you might be friends with someone just because you live nearby and/or it's convenient. Why ''else'' would Ginger ''or'' Macy be friends with [[BitchInSheepsClothing Dodie]]?
* Much like above, some episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'' show that Penny is only friends with Dijonay and a frienemy with [=LaCineaga=] because of inertia (Dijonay was Penny's friend for years) and proximity (They both live nearby Penny). Zoey and Sticky are just about the only one of Penny's friends who actually ''act'' like decent people, their only real crimes being that they followed Dijonay and [=LaCienaga=] when they were being a JerkAss.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': The first episode, "Secret Origins part 1" likely did not have an intended message, but it demonstrates what many could interpret as a pro nuclear stance, as a general inadvertently gives Batman the idea to fund the Justice League, pointing out that humanity needs powerful weapons and forces to protect themselves. This actually inspires the league to build their own weapon to stop an alien invasion.
* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': "The Little Guy" shows just how empty someone's life is when they buy into hateful propaganda, especially if they aren't a hateful person. Wesley is constantly abused by his fellow Watchdogs, for example by being the victim of physical assault, being forced into the back of an audience he can't see over, and getting left behind by Lord Hater's ship when tracking Wander. After finding Wander, Wesley is so paranoid thanks to Hater's demonization of Wander that he ends up unable to appreciate their genuine kindness, nearly attacking Wander and Sylvia when they cook a meal to share and only taking a chance when he realizes just how hungry he's gotten. Only after spending some time learning that Wander and Sylvia aren't at all like Hater's propaganda made them out to be does Wesley find genuine happiness and something he can believe in, ultimately staging their capture and faking his own death to free them so he can go his own way and follow Wander's example in kindness.

** "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS12E3TheKrustySlammerPineappleRV The Krusty Slammer]]": Prison rehab is a much better way of reforming prisoners than corporal punishment. The prisoners only seemed to have a change of heart once [=SpongeBob=] provided them luxury and compassion, whereas when Mr. Krabs was attempting to keep them miserable per the orders of the warden hiring him to keep them locked up, they were just as bitter and resentful as they were during their days of crime.
* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': In "The Late Mr. Kent", Superman, while working as Clark Kent, uncovers evidence that could exonerate a prisoner on death row, but while driving, a car bomb goes off, and Superman has to think up a way to [[CoverBlowingSuperpower save the prisoner without giving away his secret identity]]. Although they don't delve into the death penalty's morality, the episode makes the point that it isn't an effective deterrent against crime because of how easily it can get imposed on innocent people.

** In the "Treehouse Of Horror VII" segment "Citizen Kang", Kang and Kodos are revealed to be aliens impersonating UsefulNotes/BillClinton and Bob Dole, [[TooDumbToLive but people vote for them anyway and Kang wins against human third-party candidates]]. This makes a good case against blindly voting for a party, no matter how bad the candidate.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': In the episode "Ride the Whaletaur Shaman!", the main moral seems to be that it's okay to feel sad, but you can find hope in the people that love and support you. However, the events argubly only occurred because Horse's friends ''didn't'' do that. Horse only got to the point of being DrivenToSuicide because while the Centaurs treated her [[spoiler:becoming [[ForcedTransformation forcefully transformed ]] as a good thing, Horse herself is horrified once [[spoiler:the ToonTransformation is complete, which combined with her existing stress and grief over being unable to return home, beginning to forget what Rider even looks like, and wondering if either of them will recognize the other if she does manage to return home]], leading to her jumping off a cliff and willingly being eaten. As such, it's hard not to think the other takeaway from the episode should be that, if a friend is distressed about the changes in their life, don't downplay or dismiss their pain, even if you personally think the changes are good ones.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': In the episode "Ride the Whaletaur Shaman!", the main moral seems to be that it's okay to feel sad, but you can find hope in the people that love and support you. However, the events argubly only occurred because Horse's friends ''didn't'' do that. Horse only got to the point of being DrivenToSuicide because while the Centaurs treated her [[spoiler:becoming a ForcefulTransformation]] as a good thing, Horse herself is horrified once [[spoiler:the ToonTransformation is complete, which combined with her existing stress and grief over being unable to return home, beginning to forget what Rider even looks like, and wondering if either of them will recognize the other if she does manage to return home]], leading to her jumping off a cliff and willingly being eaten. As such, it's hard not to think the other takeaway from the episode should be that, if a friend is distressed about the changes in their life, don't downplay or dismiss their pain, even if you personally think the changes are good ones.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': In the episode "Ride the Whaletaur Shaman!", the main moral seems to be that it's okay to feel sad, but you can find hope in the people that love and support you. However, the events argubly only occurred because Horse's friends ''didn't'' do that. Horse only got to the point of being DrivenToSuicide because while the Centaurs treated her [[spoiler:becoming a BalefulPolymorph]] as a good thing, Horse herself is horrified once [[spoiler:the ToonTransformation is complete, which combined with her existing stress and grief over being unable to return home, beginning to forget what Rider even looks like, and wondering if either of them will recognize the other if she does manage to return home]], leading to her jumping off a cliff and willingly being eaten. As such, it's hard not to think the other takeaway from the episode should be that, if a friend is distressed about the changes in their life, don't downplay or dismiss their pain, even if you personally think the changes are good ones.

** "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS12E3TheKrustySlammerPineappleRV The Krusty Slammer]]": Prison rehab is a much better way of reforming prisoners than corporal punishment. The prisoners only seemed to have a change of heart once SpongeBob provided them luxury and compassion, whereas when Mr. Krabs was attempting to keep them miserable per the orders of the warden hiring him to keep them locked up, they were just as bitter and resentful as they were during their days of crime.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Focus on what you're good at- Don't squander your talents trying to be something you're just not cut out for. Also, learn to let go of old grudges. The series BigBad Plankton aims to run a successful restaurant and drive Mr. Krabs out of business because of an old falling-out and subsequent rivalry since they were children. But the Chum Bucket [[LethalEatery serves terrible food]] and is chronically devoid of customers, so Plankton constantly schemes to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, and does so by inventing many, many hi-tech gadgets to help in his schemes. But as one episode shows, [[CutLexLuthorACheck he could easily make a living by simply getting into the electronics business and selling his inventions]], meaning that Plankton is stuck in his position because he refuses to move on from his past and play to his strengths instead.

* ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'' has [[MemeticMutation a memetic one]]: "deviation from the norm will be punished unless it is exploitable". [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer Rudolph is a pariah for his shiny red nose and treated like a freak]], but the people who mistreated him change their tune as soon as they realize his red nose can save the day; though this arguably applies more to the original song than the special, with the latter having them start to change their tune even before the realization that his shiny nose is actually pretty helpful, and the questionable lesson [[AscendedMeme made its way]] into [[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeerAndTheIslandOfMisfitToys the 1998 sequel]], where Rudolph himself is [[DeconstructedTrope beginning to feel he's just being used instead of accepted]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'' has [[MemeticMutation a memetic one]]: "deviation from the norm will be punished unless it is exploitable". [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer Rudolph is a pariah for his shiny red nose and treated like a freak]], but the people who mistreated him change their tune as soon as they realize his red nose can save the day; though this arguably applies more to the original song than the special, with the latter having them start to change their tune even before the realization that his shiny nose is actually pretty helpful.