History FreezeFrameBonus / WesternAnimation

* Franchise/{{DCAU}}:

** In ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob'', at the bottom of Rand's enemy list it says "People who freeze-frame cartoons."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' manages to tell ''a whole tertiary story'' entirely through freeze frame bonuses in the episode [[Recap/TheOwlHouseS2E16HollowMind "Hollow Mind"]]. Through paintings in the background of Belos's mind, we learn that [[spoiler:Belos/Philip grew up in a town that regularly held witch hunts, alongside his older brother, who was later revealed to be named Caleb. Caleb went missing when he was lured into the Boiling Isles by a witch, leading Philip to spend years figuring out a way to travel through the isles, then more years actually looking for his brother. However, when Philip ''did'' end up finding Caleb, he learned that Caleb had fallen in love with a witch (implied to be one of the ancestors of the Clawthorne family), who was now pregnant with his child. Philip became so enraged at this perceived betrayal that he tried to murder the couple with a knife, and while Caleb's partner survived, Caleb himself did not. Philip then continued his transformation into Belos, consuming more Palismen and [[EarAche cutting off chunks of his ears]] to shape them into points, and eventually started making Grimwalkers using parts of Caleb's corpse in order to [[ReplacementGoldfish make a better version of his brother]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' manages to tell ''a whole tertiary story'' entirely through freeze frame bonuses in the episode "Hollow Mind". Through paintings in the background of Belos's mind, we learn that [[spoiler:Belos/Philip grew up in a town that regularly held witch hunts, alongside his older brother, who was later revealed to be named Caleb. Caleb went missing when he was lured into the Boiling Isles by a witch, leading Philip to spend years figuring out a way to travel through the isles, then more years actually looking for his brother. However, when Philip ''did'' end up finding Caleb, he learned that Caleb had fallen in love with a witch (implied to be one of the ancestors of the Clawthorne family), who was now pregnant with his child. Philip became so enraged at this perceived betrayal that he tried to murder the couple with a knife, and while Caleb's partner survived, Caleb himself did not. Philip then continued his transformation into Belos, consuming more Palismen and [[EarAche cutting off chunks of his ears]] to shape them into points, and eventually started making Grimwalkers using parts of Caleb's corpse in order to [[ReplacementGoldfish make a better version of his brother]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon first episode]], when Twilight is talking about Nightmare Moon and the Hourglass passes over the unicorn head statue in the background (around 4:50 into the episode), it changes to look like Nightmare Moon, going back when it is no longer behind the Hourglass.
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E5GriffonTheBrushOff "Griffon the Brush Off"]], when Rainbow Dash and Gilda race to a cloud, each claims to have been first, but Pinkie Pie claims Rainbow Dash won by just a little bit. To the naked eye it looks like a draw, with both arriving in a flash at the same time, but freezing the image at the right time shows Pinkie is right.
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom "Sonic Rainboom"]], when Twilight Sparkle casts the wing-making spell, an outline of Rarity with her butterfly wings appears for a couple of frames in the explosion of light, several minutes before we get to see the results of the spell properly.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E17StareMaster Stare Master]]":
*** When her friends dismiss the broken table as who wants a hammer for a cutie mark, Apple Bloom looks dreadfully upset.
*** Just before Sweetie Belle starts singing, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom cover their ears.
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E23TheCutieMarkChronicles "The Cutie Mark Chronicles"]], during Fluttershy's flashback, at the end of her song, if you watch the upper-left corner of the screen carefully, you can see Rainbow Dash just as she hits her first Sonic Rainboom. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dashfreezeframe_916.png See here.]]
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E25PartyOfOne "Party of One"]], during Pinkie Pie's SanitySlippage, her normal GenkiGirl look appears in place of her morose form in single frames.
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E5SisterhoovesSocial "Sisterhooves Social"]], Sweetie Belle runs a race with Applejack. At the very beginning [=AppleJack=] gets completely covered in mud and they run the race together, it's only until the end it's revealed that [[spoiler:Rarity]] was really the one who ran the race. If you look back at "Applejack's" eyes you'll see that they're blue just like [[spoiler:Rarity's]], Applejack's eyes are green.
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E9SweetAndElite "Sweet And Elite"]], during Rarity's "Becoming Popular" song, close examination of the "talking portraits" scene reveals cameos from Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores, Photo Finish... [[http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n197/TheNovak/BecomingPopularFreezeFrameBonusHighlighted.png and Derpy with a paper bag on her head]].
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess "Secret of My Excess"]]:
*** The dog anatomy pictures in the Vet's room all have the outline of Winona, Applejack's dog.
*** When Spike recovers his normal size and Rarity says "YOU were the rampaging dragon?" Spike grins and strikes a "let me explain" pose for half a second before plummeting to the ground.
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E12BabyCakes "Baby Cakes"]], if you look closely during the opening, the babies in the nursery have the same or similar color schemes as other ponies, though most of them match more than one other pony (two that can be pinned down are the ones matching [[AllThereInTheScript Rainbowshine]] and [[FanNickname Medley]]).
** And in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E23PonyvilleConfidential "Ponyville Confidential"]], when Diamond Tiara shoves Dinky Hooves (Derpy's daughter in fanon) aside, Dinky gets [[FishEyes Derpy's eyes]] for a moment.
** In the episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E9PinkieApplePie "Pinkie Apple Pie"]], if you look closely at the right side of the screen at about the 17 minute mark, you will see a [[Franchise/TheSlendermanMythos faceless, white pony]] [[http://derpicdn.net/img/2014/1/12/522525/large.png wearing a suit.]]
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E18MaudPie "Maud Pie"]], when Maud saves Pinkie Pie, we finally get to see Maud's cutie mark for a split-second. [[spoiler:Not surprisingly, it's a rock.]]
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E24EquestriaGames "Equestria Games"]]:
*** In the background crowd scenes, many [[TheCameo past characters from the show]] can be vaguely seen, including [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E5GriffonTheBrushOff Gilda]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E19ADogAndPonyShow Sapphire]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E20ForWhomTheSweetieBelleToils Shores]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E23TheCutieMarkChronicles Aunt and]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E9AppleFamilyReunion Uncle Orange]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E24MysteryOnTheFriendshipExpress Gustave le Grand]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagics3E12GamesPoniesPlay Ms. Peachbottom]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E8RarityTakesManehattan Coco Pommel]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E12PinkiePride Cheese Sandwich]], Octavia, the ''Series/MadMen'' ponies, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E21LeapOfFaith Silver Shill]], and many many others.
*** In the stands near the royalty box is a pegasus mare with Bulk Biceps' body shape and the atypical beehive hairdo, butterfly glasses, and a string of pearls necklace. She has been dubbed "Mama Biceps".
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 "Twilight's Kingdom Part 1"]]:
*** The necklace Tirek wears in the present is the same one Scorpan is shown wearing during their backstory.
*** Discord-as-a-pony's cutie mark resembles a cyclone or tornado. Appropriate for the spirit of chaos.
** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 "Twilight's Kingdom Part 2"]], the cucumber sandwiches Discord offers Fluttershy are cut into the shape of butterflies, or ''Fluttershy's cutie mark,'' which makes it even more insulting when he drops them on the ground in front of her.
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E9SliceOfLife "Slice of Life"]]: Believe it or not, [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/e/e1/Crew_members_in_horse_masks_hidden_frame_S5E9.png/revision/latest?cb=20150615114842 this]] appears for a split-second. Seems like the creators were having a bit of fun.
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E12MarksForEffort "Marks for Effort"]]: When Cozy is about to reveal to the Cutie Mark Crusaders she failed, she very briefly displays a smirk when she turns her head.
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E26SchoolRazePart2 "School Raze - Part 2"]]: When the magic is being restored to Equestria, during the scene where Twilight and Rarity are getting their magic back, one ball of magic somehow absorbs into Pinkie.
** [[EnsembleDarkhorse Derpy ]][[MemeticBystander Hooves']] [[TheCameo cameos]] are sometimes this, like in "May the Best Pet Win", where she peeks out of Fluttershy's chicken coop near the end of the "Finding a Pet" song.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p50-oWY1pFE This promo]] from the Hub riffs on the "There's an App for That" adds from Apple. Every pony app shown has an appropriately punny name and a matching icon (e.g. Wikiponia, Hooftube, etc.), proper use of pony terminology for various app functions, and even the "PNN" news article with tiny text which flashes by at the end is fully coherent and readable. Someone at Creator/TheHub obviously knew that that the PeripheryDemographic would examine every frame for details like that, going so far as to give a ShoutOut to popular Pony Blog Blog/EquestriaDaily.

** "F.U.N.": When the Krusty Krab goes into lockdown during Plankton's infiltration, the pot that SpongeBob is cooking with has a little metal door close over it.

** "Help Wanted": When Squidward convinces Mr. Krabs to secretly send SpongeBob on a Snipe Hunt, SpongeBob can be seen looking completely bewildered as if he heard what they were doing and knows what he's going to face.

** When the six-graders amass at the "Return of the fellowship of the two towers", Scott Tenorman can be seen; even though last season he was practically mentally destroyed in "Scott Tenorman Must Die" ([[spoiler:And even created a Ginger-underground gang as a Vendetta against Cartman in a future episode, after going to treatment]]), but he now has the luxury of acting like a regular boy douche.

** In "The Passion of the Jew" right before Kyle wakes up from his nightmare, a photograph of Creator/AlanAlda is briefly shown.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''

* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Damien", when Damien makes things fly in the cafeteria, you can see Mr. Hankey flying across the screen.

** When the six-graders amass at the ''Return of the fellowship of the two towers'', Scott Tenorman can be seen; even though last season he was practically mentally destroyed in ''Scott Tenorman Must Die''([[spoiler:And even created a Ginger-underground gang as a Vendetta against Cartman in a future episode, after going to treatment]]), but he now has the luxury of acting like a regular boy douche.

** In the episode "Choosy Wives Choose Smith" if you pause when Simon the cat gets hit by the car you can see that the passenger is Gwen Ling Francine's foster sister who is getting a cigarette lit in her mouth by the driver, Gwen wouldn't be properly introduced in the show until the season 10 episode "Now and Gwen" six seasons later.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': In "[[Recap/CentaurworldS1E10TheRiftPart2 The Rift, Part 2]]", during "Nothing Good Is Meant to Stay", the woman pulls Glendale close for a line before tossing her away -- which is when [[spoiler:Glendale split second reaches in for the key she's later revealed to have stolen]].

** In the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon first episode]], when Twilight is talking about Nightmare Moon and the Hourglass passes over the unicorn head statue in the background, it changes to look like Nightmare Moon, going back when it is no longer behind the Hourglass.

* In the final episode of ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'', we get the briefest glimpse (as in, only a few frames at the max) of [[https://imgur.com/X1CIq9k the Beast's true form]], and let's just say [[NightmareFace it's not pretty.

*** At the end of "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE18BewareTheGrayGhost Beware the Gray Ghost]]", look at the top of the blown up People magazine cover when they pan up to show it clearly, and you'll see "Matt Hagen: Man of a Thousand Faces" across the top above the People logo.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'' episode "Hooked on Phobics", Ickis is humiliated in front of the class after getting injured on a scare assignment. He packs a suitcase full of comics and prepares to run away. If you watch closely you'll set that in addition to the comics he grabs, Ickis also packs "Shnookie", a sponge he used as a security blanket in "It's Only a Movie".

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "The Real You", Finn puts on mind-enhancing magical glasses, and an AstronomicZoom happens to establish his sudden understanding of the universe. When it zooms in on the planet, you may not think that there's anything odd about it. But if you pause just as it flashes by, you can see that [[spoiler:the planet has an enormous crater in it. Like, a moon-sized crater]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CatDog''

** "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E3AHeadInThePolls A Head in the Polls]]": Bender has a nightmare where he sees "[[OnesAndZeroes 1s and 0s everywhere!]] And I think I just saw a 2!" If you pay attention, you can actually see said "2" during the aforementioned DreamSequence.