History ExecutiveMeddling / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'': All three of the main characters' voices were changed for Season 7 [[https://twitter.com/jhaletweets/status/1699909569915588883 due to the higher-ups not wanting to pay union rates]].

* The ''Total Drama'' franchise wasn't Creator/FreshTV's only work to suffer from Creator/CartoonNetwork's meddling. ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'' was originally pitched to Fresh TV as a full half-hour program with a one-minute ExpositoryThemeTune, and while Canadian broadcaster and commissioner Creator/{{Teletoon}} was pretty happy to fund production as it was, American broadcaster Cartoon Network demanded the show be changed to the TwoShorts format so that it would better fit in with their style of programming (with each short being shown as a QuarterHourShort to match this) and had Fresh TV shorten the intro to a mere 20 seconds to make more room for commercial airtime. And even though CN got to air the show's first 13 episodes before Teletoon did, ''Grojband'' was still royally ScrewedByTheNetwork and cancelled after a single season.

** It's worth noting that there's a common misconception that Spider-Man wasn't allowed to punch anyone, as it would make the show too violent. This is very much not the case, as the showrunner, John Semper Jr., often reiterates online; the lack of punching was a deliberate creative decision to make the fights more creative, and visually interesting.

** ComicBook/ThePunisher had to undergo some censorship (though whether it was mandated by executives or decided on in advance by the showrunner is unknown). He isn't shown using lethal force, but it is implied that he's done so in the past. The telling of his origin (the shooting murder of his wife and young children, which obviously couldn't be shown) was also incredibly effective in spite of the censorship. The only visual is a kite flying in the sky that falls to the ground at the sound of gunshots, landing in a puddle and forming the classic skull as it became soaked in water.

* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' The first season of Wander Over Yonder was supposed to be serialized but the Disney executives high up preferred an 11-minute episodic show, angering series creator Craig McCracken. He eventually got the second season of Wander to be mostly serialized but once he wanted a final 3rd season Disney higher-ups didn't allow it not because of low ratings, but because higher-ups weakly decided that around 40 half-hours is enough for "an episodic, comedy series" even though Wander was more serialized as seen in Lord Dominator's arc.

** In the episode "Timmy TV", Timmy finds out his life is a popular reality show in Fairy World. The fairy executives use this opportunity to convince Timmy to make a few changes in order to increase the show's ratings, such as changing Timmy's hat purple, replacing Timmy's mom with [[Series/TheBradyBunch Florence Henderson]], and replacing Chester and AJ with monkeys. Timmy, however, draws the line at getting rid of Cosmo and Wanda.

* Several aspects of the DarkerAndEdgier second season of ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' have the fingerprints of meddling. Superman X's existence seems to have come out of a pressing need to have a Superman with a warrior complex and more superpowers:

--->'''Stan Berkowitz:''' ... the network focus-grouped ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' (and ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'') and found out that what our very young male audience wanted was more fights, jokes and costumes and fewer female characters. No surprises there... [[http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/tnba/backstage/interviews/berkowitz.php]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' episode "Girl PoweR", when Pepper Ann's sister Moose sees her favorite comic-turned-TV show, Tundra Woman is at first turned into TheDitz. When Moose rallies people to make feminist complaints about this, the executives go ''way'' too far in the other direction and turn Tundra Woman into an Amazon, which draws further complaints due to her losing all character in favor of being an overly-violent Neanderthal. In the end, it was cancelled and replaced with a space cartoon.

** Book 3 avoided any problems with executives but Book 4 suddenly got hit hard again. The budget was slashed viciously meaning the season didn't have nearly as many episodes as the writers wanted/needed. They were bullied into having a pointless ClipShow episode; Nick actually threatened to fire some of the studio staff if one wasn't made. And just to top it off, Book 4, which resolved the show's MythArc, [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised was yanked off television]]. Instead Nick relegated it to their online programming. This actually turned out for the best, as the writers were now free of FCC regulations. Books 3 and 4 would feature a graphic on-screen death, family-unfriendly topics such as mass violence and political repression, capped off by an onscreen ''same-sex couple''.

** The episode "Visit Qyah" had a cameo of [[Webcomic/MobPsycho100 Arataka Reigen]] called "Clark Newman." When the internet found out about it, the higher-ups at Creator/{{PBS}} caught wind of it and [[http://web.archive.org/web/20220813075531/https://twitter.com/zelarkian/status/1558361330582663169 were not happy]]. The animator who snuck Reigen in either quit the show or was fired, and since then, oblique anime references in the series were prohibited. It is rumored on a certain imageboard that [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Koichi]] also made a cameo, but he hasn't been found yet.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', the Black Smurfs from [[ComicBook/TheSmurfs the original comic book story]] were changed to purple in the AnimatedAdaptation to avoid UnfortunateImplications. The same change would later appear with the Papercutz English translation of the comic book story itself.

** The consultants wanted established roles for the four main characters. Egon was "The Brain", Ray was "The Hands", Peter was "The Mouth" and Winston was "The Driver". JMS and the writing team rightly called them out for the [[UnfortunateImplications racist implications]] of reducing the black team member to a glorified means of transportation, as well as the sexism of making Janine a bland, "nurturing" character.

* On the Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} side of things, ComicBook/HumanTorch was '''[[CommonKnowledge not]]''' left out of ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1978'' because network execs feared children would set themselves on fire to imitate him. Rather, it was because Universal had the rights to the character for an (eventually unmade) project. The Torch explains in the FF comic book that he was out of the country when the contracts for the cartoon were being signed.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'':
** Adult Swim shot down the idea of the series being a [[MimeAndMusicOnlyCartoon silent cartoon]] and insisted that Christy Karacas and Stephen Warbrick give the characters dialogue and voices. The executives did concede to letting Jacknife remain as TheUnintelligible.
** Karacas voicing Alice is also due to an executive's suggestion that the original actress be let go.
** One episode idea from season 1 was rejected by Adult Swim, because it only involved Jacknife and Jailbot and took place in the outside world instead of the jail: Jacknife would have evaded capture and built a robotic suit to fight Jailbot in, while the citizens of the real world would think Jailbot was an alien and think of Jacknife as a hero. Ironically, an episode involving the two characters stuck outside of the jail wound being aired as the Season 2 premiere, under the name "Best Friends Forever", and was considered one of the better episodes of that run!
** The opening to "Special Needs" had to be altered slightly, as the Standards and Practices department objected to the visual of Jesus (in actuality a disguised Jailbot) leaping down from his crucifix to beat up Jacknife. The shot of him leaping was replaced with a reaction shot of the congregation.
** Season 3 had some scenes that were censored by the network for being "too disturbing", although the crew had noted that other disturbing shots had slipped by without notice. The censored shots included a visual metaphor of Alice's groin being a jackhammer, a drug-crazed inmate snorting cocaine, and a shot where dogs tear apart and eat an inmate. These shots were meant to be uncensored in the DVD release, but the censored versions of the episodes were used instead.
** All of the DVD releases have been advertised as "uncensored", but something happened in production to prevent the season 1 and season 3 sets from actually having the original unbleeped/uncensored episodes, leading to fans becoming angry at the false advertising and the creators having no idea themselves at what exactly occurred. To this date, the season 2 DVD release is the only one that has actually used the uncensored copies of episodes.
** Mistress Kilda's death scene in "Lord Stingray Crash Party" was ordered to be toned down considerably, although Karacas can't remember all the details of what they had to change. The one noticeable detail that the crew does recall is that they had to color her innards a pale yellow.
** Chris [=McCulloch=] originally voiced Lord Stingray, but was let go after an executive thought he was parodying the Monarch and told the crew to go with a different voice actor. It worked out for the better in the end though, as the crew and executives were more pleased with Eric Bauza's portrayal. The lines [=McCulloch=] voiced were dubbed over in post-production, although an early animation test has his take on the character.
** "Hot Chick" had some content edits made to it during production:
*** Hunter was to originally not be defeated by the Twins, but would wind up shapeshifting back to goo when the inmates were trying to sexually assault her. The entire climax was changed as a result of having to tone down the disturbing implication. Her nudity also originally had detail, but Williams Street S&P forbid the depiction of nipples and pubic hair, leading to her BarbieDollAnatomy.
*** One Twin originally wore a Nazi armband as part of his inmate gang disguise. After S&P told the crew that they couldn't show the swastika, the armband was edited to be a solid red in most shots, while another depicted it with a "Nazi smiley face" instead (with SS bolt eyes). As the network allowed the actual inmates to sport swastikas, it might have been that the Twin's disguise went a little ''too'' far (as he wore a fake Hitler mustache and had his scalp shaved).
** "The Budding of the Warbuxx" originally had the titular Warbuxx with an umbilical cord, which was later removed in the final animation to tone down on the implications that [[OffingTheOffspring the Twins had killed and eaten something that was likely their offspring]]. The birth of the Warbuxx was also altered to have it bud off of them (and outright shown), rather than the implication that it had come out of the Twin's butt.
** In general since the hiatus between seasons 1 and 2, and the switch in animation studios, the censorship rules at Williams Street have changed a bit and anything to do with dead children or cannibalism winds up vetoed by the executives. This left the crew to have to slip in things implying it or find a way to write around the edits.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is practically immune to meddling in real-life. Producer Creator/JamesLBrooks has the clout to make it a rule that the network can't give notes. Little things have been tinkered with (largely relating to legal/censorship issues), but the series has been spared the problems others have faced. That doesn't mean the series doesn't parody this trope, though:
** Executive Meddling is parodied when too much meddling causes Krusty to retire for the umpteenth time.
-->'''[[HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight Krusty]]:''' Folks, I've been in showbiz for sixty-one years, but now these jerks have sucked all the fun out of it. I don't need twelve suits tellin' me which way to pee!\\
'''Male Executive:''' Uh, for "pee," could you substitute "whiz"?\\
'''Lindsey Naegle:''' I don't know, that could upset the Cheez Whiz people.\\
'''Male Executive:''' I was just thinking that.\\
'''Krusty:''' I can't take it anymore!
** It was also parodied when executives came up with [[ShooOutTheNewGuy Poochie]].
--->'''Meyers:''' No, no, no! He was supposed to have attitude.\\
'''Silverman:''' Um... wh-what do you mean, exactly?\\
'''Myers:''' Oh, you know, attitude, attitude! Uh... sunglasses!\\
'''Lady:''' Could we put him in more of a "hip-hop" context?\\
'''Krusty:''' Forget context, he's gotta be a surfer. Give me a nice shmear of surfer.\\
'''Lady:''' I feel we should Rasta-fy him by... 10 percent or so.
** Also a major factor of the plot in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E1BeyondBlunderdome Beyond Blunderdome]]". In the episode, Creator/MelGibson intended to star in a potential remake of ''Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington''. Homer disliked it, and the fact that he was the only person to actually honestly voice this opinion was the reason why he hired Homer to help him with it in the first place. Homer then came up with some ideas, such as speeding up the film, replacing the main villain with a dog with shifty eyes, and finally rewriting the entire filibuster speech to have Mel Gibson go to his usual roles of a mindless killing machine. Ultimately the last one was chosen. Several executives were appalled by the change after a test screening, and decided to burn it. Eventually after a literal chase throughout Hollywood, they relented, and the Executives who were against the new version turned out to be quite right in their judgment about how horrible the change was, as the audience was disgusted and mortified by the final version, with one audience member, Creator/JimmyStewart's granddaughter, threatening to sue Homer Simpson and Mel Gibson for tarnishing her grandpa's masterpiece.
** Parodied in the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E13HomerToTheMax Homer to the Max]]":
--->'''Homer:''' Oh, I can't wait. Look, Marge, I got a scorecard printed up at that all-night scorecard place.
--->'''Lisa:''' Isn't mid-season just a dumping ground for second-rate shows that weren't good enough for the fall schedule?
--->'''Homer:''' You're thinking of all the other years. This year's shows are classic. There's "The Laughter Family" -- that's animated. Networks like animation 'cause they don't have to pay the actors squat!
--->'''Ned Flanders:''' [voice slightly off] Plus, they can replace them, and no one can tell the diddley-ifference!
*** This conversation also acted as both an inside joke and a TakeThat to the FOX executives, since they often don't pay the Voice Actors enough money, with several of them threatening to quit because of the low pay, and some actually managed to succeed temporarily. To sell the joke even more, [[TheOtherDarrin Ned Flanders was voiced by Karl Wiedergott in this scene instead of his usual voice actor, Harry Shearer]].
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E25NaturalBornKissers Natural Born Kissers]]," treasure-hunting Bart and Lisa dig up an alternate (and implausibly happy) ending for ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. The Old Jewish Man reveals he was one of the executives who insisted the happy ending be filmed, but he buried it after watching it. He also apparently insisted on a "killing spree" ending to ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''.
** One of the few times Creator/MattGroening exercised his executive meddling privileges was during the production of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E5HomerVsDignity Homer vs. Dignity]]", aka the Panda Rape Episode. The original ending had Homer, dressed as Santa Claus, on the Christmas parade float, throwing ''pig blood'' on the audience while sobbing uncontrollably. Groening insisted on a rewrite, and the blood was changed to fish entrails--which Mr. Burns throws instead of Homer, as he finally grows a set and refuses to do it. (This also allowed for a hilariously bad pun, "Merry Fish-mas to all!")
** The now-abandoned premise of having a character "warn" the audience about the scariness of the WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror episodes was a clear reference to network squeamishness. The final warning, in fact, in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E4TreehouseOfHorrorVIII Treehouse of Horror VIII]]", was delivered by a FOX censor himself, who described his role as "protecting you from reality" (before being brutally murdered on-screen ''by the TV rating graphic'').
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS21E10OnceUponATimeInSpringfield Once Upon a Time in Springfield]]", Krusty is approached by two unnamed network executives who forced him to add a female character named Princess Penelope to his show to increase the ratings and attract more female viewers. Krusty refuses, but they are ready to make a reality show to find his replacement. Desperate to stay in this sweet gig, Krusty grovels and agrees, while the network executives congratulate themselves on a job well done by giving each other a high five. As the ratings improve and Penelope immediately overshadows Krusty as the star of the show, Bart and Milhouse (who are loyal fans) try to get the show back to the way it was. However, the situation gets more complicated when Penelope reveals to Krusty that she's his biggest fan and joined the show mainly because of him, leading to the two falling in love and nearly getting married.
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E15HomersPhobia Homer's Phobia]]" came very close to being killed by the network before it aired. After viewing a cut of the episode, the censors came back with pages of notes and edits that would have been impossible to make by the deadline. There was a shake up at FOX, though, which included replacing the censor. When they showed them the cut, a new note came back that only said, "Acceptable for broadcast." As Creator/JohnWaters (who guess starred as John in the episode) noted in the DVD commentary, "It's all politics." In the end, only two things were changed: use of the word "fag" as the word that straight people use to make fun of gays (it was changed to "queer"), and John's line about how Homer reminds him of his father was changed to Homer reminding John of his landlord (though this was done because John didn't want people to think his father was intolerant of his sexuality).
** Originally in the "Time and Punishment" segment of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E6TreehouseOfHorrorV Treehouse of Horror V]]", while tumbling through time Homer was going to declare that he was "the first non-fictional person to travel through time!". For unknown reasons, the executives requested that the line be changed to Homer saying that he is "[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext the first non-Brazilian person to travel through time]]" instead. Nobody (not even Matt Groening himself by his own admission) has any idea what the new line was supposed to mean or reference, nor why the executives requested that the line be changed to that in the first place.

* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' was the near-constant target of ExecutiveMeddling from Creator/{{ABC}}. It got so bad that in one episode the network demanded that a shot of Dot [[NoHuggingNoKissing kissing her younger brother on the cheek]] and saying she loved him be cut out for broadcast because it "promoted [[BrotherSisterIncest incest]]." One side-effect of this was the inclusion of numerous jabs at the [[MediaWatchdog Broadcasting Standards and Practices office]] at ABC in the show.
** In Argentina, {{Media Watchdog}}s tried to ban the show, showing the "''Evil Dead''" episode as evidence that it was not suitable for children. Thankfully, they never succeeded.
** The game portion of the first episode aired on Cartoon Network rather than ABC is more or less a non-stop series of "look what we can do ''now''" moments.
*** In the episode where Enzo loses in a ''Franchise/MortalKombat''-style fighting game, the demon played by the user is clearly announced as Satan. His fatality is one-handedly grabbing his opponent's heads and crushing them -- although the actual crushing part only happens offscreen, you still see him grab their heads and still hear it quite clearly. This is also the episode where [[EyeScream Enzo's eye is slashed out]] onscreen. "Look what we can do ''now''" indeed.
** The line: "It's the [=ABCs=], they've turned on us! Traitorous Dogs!" the [=ABCs=] ('''A'''rmored '''B'''inome '''C'''arrier) being Megabyte's fleet.
** At one point Enzo aims a ridiculously large bazooka at Megabyte's troops, only to discover, to his disgust, that it fired a life raft labeled "[=BS=] Approved."
** And for much of the episode about Enzo's birthday, an uptight female binome rejected most of the acts Dot was planning for the party. This is a confirmed TakeThat[[note]]On the DVD commentary they admit that binome, named Emma See, was based directly on a BS&P official named 'Mary' who was "not happy about it"[[/note]] and the same episode then features Dot singing in a revealing red dress, with Enzo staring at her in what is, hopefully, surprise.
** Dot's chest, or as the animation studio called it on their own blog, Dot's "Mono-breast." ABC would not allow Dot to show any cleavage, even when she wore costumes where it would be anatomically impossible not to show it. When ABC dropped ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', the studio celebrated by stuffing Dot into an Elvira costume, and dedicating an episode to her new breasts ''(oh, and Evil Dead and horror movies in general also got a couple of nods)''.
** On the flip-side, the show did actually gain one huge benefit from ExecutiveMeddling: Enzo. They were asked (read: ''told'') to put a little kid character in to boost sales in the U.S. Even the crew of the show has admitted that they ended up grateful that they were forced to include him.
** On the topic of ''Reboot'', its, *ahem*, reboot, ''Series/ReBootTheGuardianCode'', suffered from a major case of meddling on its own. According to a poster on 4Chan who claimed to have worked on the show, the CEO essentially took full control of the production away from the crew working on it. Additionally, some really bad decisions were made, including falsely advertising the show as being the first to be done in the VideoGame/{{Unreal}} engine (it wasn't), poor hiring choices where programmers and artists were concerned, not familiarizing himself with the source material, and as an ultimatum, not listening to the fans and then lashing out at the viewers when it became clear that the show's first season did poorly.

* ExecutiveMeddling/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. According to WordOfGod, executives have been mostly hands-off for the show, and the writers have been allowed a lot more freedom than expected, with some exceptions. The length of this section is due to how open the people who work on the show have been about talking about it, rather than an unusually high amount of interference.
** Season One had that [[EdutainmentShow E/I label]] on the upper-left corner of the screen on TV, in compliance with a broadcast television standard (cable is exempt). In Season Two, ''it's mysteriously removed.'' It's not clear why this is, but bronies sure are satisfied that the show appears to be hindered by the standards much less now, though it still maintains the preschool show rating of TV-Y. On the flip side tho, the move angered a number of SliceOfLife fans who were drawn to the show as they feared that the removal of the logo meant that the show would focus less on slide of life issues and more on adventure, as well as introduce scarier villains (they were not wrong), and resulted in these fans denouncing the franchise.
** Princess Celestia was originally to be a queen, but was made a princess because apparently, Creator/{{Disney}} has supposedly made it so that little girls affiliate queens with evil and princesses with good. After all, this was several years before [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Queen Elsa]] became Disney's pop-culture icon.
*** Executives forced all of Princess Celestia's toys released for the first couple of years of the show's run to be pink, even though she has a white coat in the series. Even after her body color was corrected to white, she often still had hints of pink included somewhere in her toy designs, such as on the tips of her wings.
** Prince Blueblood was supposed to be a duke, but again, kids can't grasp the subtleties of royal hierarchy.
** Apple Bloom was originally to find her cutie mark on her own without any help. Lauren Faust was asked to add Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to be her friends, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were born. Oddly enough, Faust always thought they should have their own [[SpinoffBabies spin-off show]], but Hasbro suggested that the Crusaders should be used in the main series first.
** One of the most common forms of executive meddling was the demand for specific, popular characters from previous gens to appear in the show in a prominent enough fashion to sell the toy version of them. Thankfully, no specifics about ''how'' those characters would have to appear, so the writers could deal with this fairly easily (for instance, Cheerilee becoming the teacher of Ponyville).
** The episode "Suited For Success" can be viewed as a {{satire}} of executive meddling, as Rarity's artistic vision of {{Pimped Out Dress}}es for all her friends is compromised by their [[ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor nitpicking]], despite the fact that [[ChekhovsSkill most of them]] don't have any clue what they're talking about, and with Rainbow Dash offering absolutely no advice other than "[[MemeticMutation Make it 20% cooler]]." The [[DarkReprise second take]] on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSbXGsysAAk&feature=related the song in the episode]] (to begin with based on another song about executive meddling) even contains lines that make some sense in the context of the story but really work in such a satire: "Make sure that it stays within our budget." is an example of one of those lines. It makes sense in the story, because the ponies naturally don't have unlimited money to spend on the dress, and even more ironic, as they impose many lavish changes to their respective dresses, but still demand that "even if [Rarity] simply has to fudge it, make sure it stays within [the ponies'] budget". It also works in respect to the satire as well.\\
\\
Executives were mostly hands-off for the show, but one thing [[http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/24/my-little-non-homophobic-non-racist-non-smart-shaming-pony-a-rebuttal/ mentioned]] by Creator/LaurenFaust as a "requirement" was "to incorporate fashion play," which was handled by making it a matter of Rarity being an artist. The episode [[Analysis/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E14SuitedForSuccess can be seen as incredibly meta]] if you think about it like this. Ironically the episode itself fell slightly to a bit of Executive Meddling, the episode title was originally to be "Dress For Failure" but was altered because it was considered too downbeat.
** According to [[http://comments.deviantart.com/4/1603670/2371989638 this]], Big Macintosh was planned to get his own episode, but it was rejected. This later came to fruition in Season 5, where he's given an episode that mainly focuses on him.
** In season 1, he could only be called Big Macintosh in-show instead of [[InSeriesNickname Big Mac]], due to the latter being an obvious usage of a trademark from another large company. This seems to no longer be in effect, however, as he has been called "Big Mac" several times in season 2 and a couple times in online printables.
** The character [[EnsembleDarkhorse Derpy Hooves]], a MemeticBystander grey cross-eyed pegasus who's largely looked at as the [[PeripheryDemographic bronies' avatar]] was subjected to meddling. When she was first given a slightly larger role in the show, MoralGuardians complained that the character portrayal resembled an offensive caricature of a mentally challenged person [[note]]due to her confusion, clumsiness, FishEyes, unusual voice, and name - they had interpreted the name "Derpy" as a slur against neurodivergent folks, rather than its more common use as a net-speak term meaning "wacky"[[/note]], something completely inappropriate to include on a children's television show--and they complained to Hasbro to fix it. Apple removed the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E14TheLastRoundup episode of her appearance]] from iTunes, only for it to come back with a completely edited version of the infamous scene, which wound up replacing the original version of the episode nearly everywhere (apart from the early DVD "The Friendship Express"). Derpy has a more normal voice (since Tabitha St. Germain got the gender mixed up at first), her eyes are less crossed, and Rainbow Dash doesn't call her by name. Needless to say, [[BerserkButton bronies were not happy about the edit.]] Derpy then went on to have very few appearances, causing fans to be worried she was being phased out, up until she returned properly in the season 4 episode "Rainbow Falls". Later word confirmed the character "wasn't going anywhere", and that the "cameo drought" during previous episodes was intentional, to build up her return.
*** Hasbro [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NXGaStFehEE/VXyErX6i88I/AAAAAAACSQA/1nE58947aqI/s1600/Capture.JPG crediting]] Derpy as "Muffins" in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E9SliceOfLife "Slice of Life"]] was confirmed to be due to "legal reasons", and '''not''' executive meddling, by director Jim Miller.
** Lauren Faust originally intended for Princess Cadance to be a unicorn and was surprised to see her changed into an alicorn. However, this allowed Hasbro to continue selling a pink alicorn toy while allowing them to produce show-accurate WHITE Princess Celestia toys, because [=ToysRUs=] thinks PinkMeansFeminine (and apparently, only pink).
** Twilight becoming an alicorn has been speculated to be the result of executive meddling, considering that a very large number of Princess Twilight Sparkle toys were launched with the episode.
*** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E12BabyCakes "Baby Cakes"]] likely exists because Hasbro demanded there be baby ponies at some point in Season 2. The show's crew weren't specified ''how'' to use them, though.
*** Same could be said for a lot of other MerchandiseDriven stories like "A Canterlot Wedding" or "The Crystal Empire", each with more or less of a confirmation.
** For the finale of season 4, "Twilight's Kingdom", they did get one note that they couldn't do in that episode: [[spoiler:show Twilight punching Tirek in the face]]. A bit weird when one considers that the second episode of the series was allowed to show Rarity kicking a manticore in the face on-screen and later in season 5 where Rainbow Dash is shown hitting several Changelings in the face in a dream.
** Before season 4 aired, Meghan [=McCarthy=] promised that Flash Sentry wouldn't be a character on it. Despite this promise, he appeared '''twice''' and after the backlash following the second time, Big Jim (Series' co-director) confirmed that Flash was added "by request" ''and'' admitted the fans shouldn't trust any staff's promises anymore. '''Ouch.'''
** [[https://youtu.be/Kfm0089to2A?t=1h29m28s According to M. A. Larson]] Hasbro was the one behind the idea of having the 100th episode be a LowerDeckEpisode that focused on background characters and included many [[AscendedMeme fandom in-jokes]].
** The suits at Hasbro were the ones who came up with [[TakeThatAudience the premise]] of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E14FameAndMisfortune Fame And Misfortune]]", and handed it to M.A. Larson. [[https://www.equestriadaily.com/2017/10/ma-larson-explains-fame-and-misfortune.html?m=1 He immediately didn't like the idea]] of [[EnsembleDarkhorse the fan's favorite background ponies]] grabbing the JerkassBall and showing the less savory sides of the Brony fandom, because he knew that the episode was going to feel like it was attacking them. However, Larson was forced to go through with the episode, and [[CreatorBacklash he later admitted that he hated it because it was very needlessly mean-spirited for an otherwise light-hearted show]].
** [[https://derpibooru.org/1689958 According to Jim Miller]] the higher-ups mandated that they did the School of Friendship which the writers "tried to make fit as organically as possible".
** [[https://derpibooru.org/2168594 Jim Miller]] also said Hasbro didn't feel comfortable with the brief ShipTease Big Macintosh had with Marble Pie in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E21Hearthbreakers Hearthbreakers]]" due to the vague implication that [[KissingCousins they may or may not be distant cousins]].

** The meddling even resulted in the cancellation of the show as Olan admitted that the show went through two mergers with the latter one between WB and Discovery, which was spearheaded by Discivery CEO David Zaslav, being the one that screwed the show over. The reason for the cancellation was elaborated upon later where it was revealed that the executive decided to write off the show for taxes despite its cult following. This resulted in a final Space ending abruptly in Season 3 on a bleak cliffhanger and without the ending that Olan had planned for the show. As a result, Olan decided to find a way to provide and ending for the show, resulting in the Godspeed project on Kickstarter.

** That isn't the only time the executives' stance against killing has caused trouble for the show. The whole point of Avatar Kyoshi's backstory is that she chose to ShootTheDog and kill Chin the Conqueror, but the higher-ups wouldn't accept her killing him outright, so this was changed to her using bending to split the continent and Chin falling to his death after stubbornly refusing to get out of the way (Kyoshi herself insists this distinction is irrelevant and considers herself Chin's killer). Similarly, Avatar Roku's death at the "hands" of [[spoiler: Firelord Sozin]] -Executives refused to let [[spoiler: the Firelord]] kill Roku, so instead he just shows up Roku is dealing with a volcano, offers to help, and then [[MurderByInaction leaves Roku to his death]] after he takes a blast of noxious gas from a sulfur vent. Like Kyoshi though, [[spoiler: Sozin]] still considered it murdering his friend, and spends his elderly years up to his death just as miserable and guilty as if he'd killed him with his own hands.

** That isn't the only time the executives' stance against killing has caused trouble for the show. The whole point of Avatar Kyoshi's backstory is that she chose to ShootTheDog and kill Chin the Conqueror, but the higher-ups wouldn't accept her killing him outright, so this was changed to her using bending to split the continent and Chin falling to his death after stubbornly refusing to get out of the way (Kyoshi herself insists this distinction is irrelevant and considers herself Chin's killer). Similarly, Avatar Roku's death at the "hands" of [[spoiler: Firelord Sozin]] -Executives refused to let [[spoiler: the Firelord]] kill Roku, so instead he just shows up out of nowhere while Roku is dealing with a volcano, offers to help, and then leaves just as randomly without affecting anything at all.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' suffered from meddling during its final season, The Goliath Chronicles. Executives wanted more lessons crammed in, resulting in AnAesop at the end of every episode. Fans didn't like the new direction, and neither did creator Creator/GregWeisman, with many refusing to accept much of the third season canon.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' suffered from meddling during its final season, The Goliath Chronicles. Executives wanted more lessons crammed in, resulting in AnAesop at the end of every episode. Fans didn't like the new direction, and so did creator Creator/GregWeisman, with many refusing to accept much of the third season canon.