History FurryConfusion / WesternAnimation

** In one episode, Clam attempts to insult the Squirrel Scouts by calling them "animals." This results in awkward silence, because after all, they ''are'' animals.

** Everyone freaks when Lazlo brings a bear into camp, despite the fact that one of the campers is a bear. This is never addressed. Granted, the wild bear had the size and look of an actual grizzly, and the camper looked more like a teddy bear, but still...

** The episode ''One Coarse Meal'' causes this. Pearl is an anthropomorphic whale and Plankton is an anthro, well, plankton. The episode revolves around Pearl ''eating'' plankton. We also witness realistic whales devouring anthro plankton in flashback, plus a projection of a pod of real whales at the end.

* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' takes this to extreme. The title characters are a brother and sister who have human parents and live as humans, but neither wear clothes and otherwise totally belong to their own species. In one episode they are visited by the ghosts of their Great-Grandparents who are [[spoiler: a normal human and a [[{{Squick}} non-anthropomorphic chicken]]]].
** In fact, the series pilot reveals at the end that their parents [[spoiler:are only the ''lower'' half of a human, and nothing from the waist up.]]
** In various episodes we see the rest of their family, which includes Boneless (a chicken), Sow (a pig), Black Sheep (a sheep). One of the weirder episodes revolves around their cousin Snail Boy, whose mother was human and father was a non-anthropomorphic snail.
** Hell, it's even in the opening song:
--->'''Chicken''': Momma had a chicken.
--->'''Cow''': Momma had a cow.
--->'''Both''': Dad was proud! [[MST3KMantra He didn't care how!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WonderPets'' avoided this up until the later episodes. In one, the three pets decided to take a vacation and get summer jobs at the circus. Now the Pets are regular animals that talk and wear little superhero suits when humans aren't around. Any other animals in the show are fairly normal aside from talking. However, at the circus, the ringmaster was a [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin]], the animals were riding a normal sized train in front of a school (like humans wouldn't [[WeirdnessCensor notice]] that). Even more confusing is that the audience members were all ''wild'' animals, but dressed in clothing. You may think that this indicates that all the "humans" in the show (who are never actually seen) are actually animals that treat smaller animals as [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman pets]] -- but it was explicitly said in early episodes that the humans ''were'' [[MindScrew humans]].

** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'':
*** In general, the Dream Valley ponies live far from humans, while Megan and her siblings live where everything is "normal". Megan's family even has a non-talking, miniature horse named TJ -- however, TJ ''can'' understand his friends' antics well enough to laugh at them. Oh, and he can laugh. In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE32TheMagicCoins2 The Magic Coins, Part 2]]", when the heroes reach Niblik's house, they find a human prince already there and trying to purchase passage... and the prince's steed, a regular-sized, regularly-proportioned horse with a unicorn horn and no evident ability to speak. Nobody comments on this.
*** The ''ComicBook/MyLittlePony'' comics and various books throughout G1 have the ponies living in stables and otherwise behaving like horses, while the cartoon has them behaving more anthropomorphic (outside of the first specials) and sleeping in beds.
*** Mr. Moochick has an anthropomorphic rabbit friend who can't talk, but he's fully sapient, a SilentSnarker BeleagueredAssistant. In the comics, many of the ponies have pets, but those pets are seemingly much more sapient than the real life versions; few are ever seen talking, but they're described in narration as interacting in ways that your pet at home would definitely not be able to.

** An episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' lampshaded this by having Daffy gain access to a GreenLanternRing. As he hovers in the air and proclaims his pride at being the first of his species gifted with flight, several ducks fly by behind him.

* The opening scene of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' involves a non-anthropomorphic seagull getting chased off by various bird-like people, including one who looks like a seagull.
-->'''The Nostalgia Critic''': They're all birds! How does this work? When is Pluto gonna walk Goofy?! It's never explained!!

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' goes all over the place with this trope, starring a [[TokenHuman human boy]] (who may or may not be the LastOfHisKind) and his adoptive brother, a [[TalkingAnimal talking dog]], in a world where everything from candy to mountains can be anthropomorphic, but sometimes isn't. (For example, [[VampireMonarch Marceline]] has a ''zombie'' dog who seems completely canine, while [[KidHero Finn]] had to ask if [[ValleyGirl Lumpy Space Princess]] was living with talking or non-talking [[RaisedByWolves wolves]].) {{Justified|Trope}} because the series is supposed to take place a millennium AfterTheEnd, when a combination of [[TheMagicComesBack magic]] and [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear radiation]] has completely transformed the rebuilt world.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', Circe is an anthro pig. She still has her standard BalefulPolymorph of turning people into non-anthro pigs, and this even happens to her at the end of the episode.

* In the 2003 ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'' continuity Strawberry's cat, Custard, is able to talk, but her dog, Pupcake, can not.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': A human diner patron is seen receiving his steak order...from a cow waitress, who stares daggers at him.
** A later episode explains how this works, featuring a chicken farm run by a family of FunnyAnimal chickens, with the livestock acting like normal chickens but still looking anthropomorphic (and apparently enjoying things like movies and Foozball). The difference between 'friend' animals and 'food' animals is that the food animals are injected with hormones that inhibit their mental development, so that '[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial there is absolutely no moral grey area]]'.
** Aside from the genetically modified "meat", this is actually averted completely - in the world of [=BoJack=] Horseman, ''everything'' that could be considered an animal is anthropomorphic to the same level, mammals, birds, fish, insects, reptiles, invertebrates, etc... all of which is [[{{MST3k Mantra}} never explained or drawn attention to in any way]].

* On ''Buzz Bumble'', Joe is a fly and being ThePigPen he often has much smaller flies buzzing around him.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
** All the characters are anthropomorphic animals, but there are several ordinary sheep who also live in [[CrapsaccharineWorld Smileyland]] with them. In Episode 132, Mr. Cat even lampshades this and says that letting the sheep hang out with the characters would be like [[{{Squick}} having Snow White marry the seven dwarves]].
** Mr. Cat's dreams for his future involve himself, a FunnyAnimal cat, marrying Kaeloo, a FunnyAnimal frog, and the two of them adopting a regular dog as a pet.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOddballCouple'': The conflict of the segment "Alli Cat": Spiffy, an anthropomorphic cat, won't allow Fleabag to keep a regular, non-anthropomorphic cat in their house, the reason being that Spiffy is '''allergic to cats'''.

* To its credit, ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' usually ''tries'' to avert this. If the series needs a non-anthropomorphic animal, the usual choice is to use [[FantasticFaunaCounterpart jellyfish as insects, and there's never been an anthropomorphic jellyfish. Equally consistently, scallops take the place of birds, snails like Gary behave like cats, and deep-sea worms act like dogs]].
** There may also be elements of CarnivoreConfusion as to what the "Krabby Patties" are made of. Crab seems unlikely, as the restaurant is owned by a talking crab. A (supposedly) false recipe once claimed it was plankton -- which many sea creatures actually eat-- as an orchestrated scare for the villainous Plankton.
*** It is implied in one episode that the patties ''are'' in fact made of crab. Mr. Krabs takes a bite of one and says, "So that's what I taste like." Krabs, however, was comparing himself to the patty, with an extra reference to it as old and wrinkly, "like that man over there." Still, it's a strange comment.
*** There's also the fact that the Krusty Krab building seems to be based on real-life wooden crab traps.
*** It's eventually revealed to be completely averted, with Krabby Patties said to be entirely plant-based, [[https://www.cinemablend.com/television/1684060/whats-in-a-krabby-patty-heres-what-the-spongebob-producer-knows according to producer, Vincent Waller]].
*** Needless to say, however, ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' did their version on what the secret ingredient is and parodied it a-la ''Film/SoylentGreen''.

** In "The Fry Cook Games", a bunch of fish are covered in boiling oil turning into live-action fish sticks, causing a fish vendor to announce that he's selling fish sticks.

** Apple pie is eaten in "Madame Blueberry."

** The silly song "Pizza Angel" from the "Minnesota Cuke" video includes a reference to how much Larry the Cucumber [[LetsMeetTheMeat likes tomato sauce]] -- while ignoring the fact that ''his best friend is a tomato''. One wonders if Mr. Lunt likes ''pickle'' on "His Cheeseburger". (And then one wonders where the crust came from. There's probably flour in it. Flour comes from wheat. Wheat is a grain. Grains are seeds. Seeds are embryonic plants. So the pizza is cheese on top of the mashed innards of Bob's uncle, on top of hundreds of abortions.)
** There are animals in the ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' world as well.
** ''Larry Boy and the Rumor Weed'' has Mr. Nezzer grilling what is clearly a steak.
** ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' likes to play with this all the same. Peas refer to being smashed into soup, but a non-anthro pumpkin is acceptable for pounding into slurry. In a book adapting the Egyptian plagues, grape juice is substituted for blood in the Nile. And the Pharaoh laughs and sips it from a glass.

** There are now WesternAnimation/VeggieTales branded tomato, cucumber, and so on seeds.

** In "The Asparagus of La Mancha", Don, played by Archibald, gets nightmares from eating salsa, which is made from tomatoes.

** In the parade episode, the announcer (a water buffalo) comments on Miss Prickly Pine's beautiful [[{{Squick}} yak skin dress, made from real yak skin]].

* If you don't mind us extending this to robots, in ''Franchise/{{Transformers}},'' the living vehicle-robots and real vehicles sometimes fall into this trope. Side Burn's [[PerverseSexualLust love]] for little red (''non-living'') sports cars is best not thought about too long or too hard.

** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' has ponies living the most humanlike lives ever. They're ordinary schoolgirls who live in a world just like ours (well, it was TheNineties, so just like ours except more phones have cords) and would change ''very'' little if they didn't happen to be pony-shaped, even spending a lot of time on their hind legs. In one episode, we see a horse-drawn carriage, drawn by horses that looked less cartoonish, are much larger than the ponies, and don't show any sign of sapience (then again, the scene is brief). Nothing about the scene appears to be played for humor. In ''[=FiM=]'', that'd just mean your taxi driver was the strong silent type, but in this series of pony-shaped humans with no trace of the {{Furry Reminder}}s of past or future series, who knows about the status of the slightly more realistically-drawn horses who are the only ones ever shown doing anything remotely... horsey.

*** As a standard rule, practically every animal appears to be sentient and sapient, although only a subset is shown to be capable of speech (mostly equines, bovines, ovines and magical creatures); other animals, including other ungulates, are consistently depicted as regular if clever animals. Angel Bunny is intelligent, bad-mannered and capable of bossing around Fluttershy (admittedly not a difficult feat), Owloysious is a capable assistant librarian, and the animals in "May the Best Pet Win" are sufficiently self-aware to ignore their natural behaviors and try for the pet job.
*** When Pinkie describes the horrors of the Everfree Forest, she lists off such horrible things as the weather changing on its own, animals taking care of themselves and so on. The creators are painfully aware of the implications, and takes every chance at lampshading the hell out of it.

* ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'':
** One episode has Sticks getting a pet robot dog. Sonic calls her out on animal cruelty earlier in the episode, which makes you curious if the characters consider themselves animals as well. There are non-anthropomorphic cats and octopi in the series.
** FunnyAnimal biology is referenced to, such as when Sticks offends a walrus by telling her she has enough blubber for the winter.
** In the episode "Muckfoot", Tails suspects the titular creature may be "the missing link between animal and ''anthropomorphic animal''."

** The Queen and Santa Claus are both depicted as humans rather than being animals like the other characters.

** There may also be elements of CarnivoreConfusion as to what the "krabby patties" are made of. Crab seems unlikely, as the restaurant is owned by a talking crab. A (supposedly) false recipe once claimed it was plankton -- which many sea creatures actually eat-- as an orchestrated scare for the villainous Plankton.

* ''WesternAnimation/LetsGoLuna'': Although Carmen and her mother Maria are anthro butterflies, regular butterflies are seen in a few episodes, like "Melvini Madness".

** In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', Babs Bunny was magically turned into a non-anthropomorphic rabbit by a witch who wanted to eat her. In the episode "Thirteensomething", she quits ''Tiny Toons'' and Buster winds up interviewing a mundane rabbit as a potential new co-host. In yet another episode of this series, Plucky wants to fly south for the winter with a flock of non-anthropomorphic ducks.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': Played for drama in "[[Recap/CentaurworldS1E3TheKey The Key]]". The centaurs are extremely distressed at learning that glue is made chiefly from boiled hooves. Horse is a lot more sanguine about it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'', the depiction of any rolling stock or non-rail vehicles will vary widely. Some of them are sentient, while others are not.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Green Eggs and Ham|2019}}'': The fox, mouse and goat are fully sapient beings, with the former two wearing clothes. But the mouse, however, can only be heard talking by the viewer, but not the other characters. Meanwhile, the various MixAndMatchCritters are {{Nearly Normal Animal}}s who are kept in zoos and cannot talk, although at least Chickeraffes and Giroosters [[AmplifiedAnimalAptitude understand speech]]. Furthermore, the green eggs laid by fully sapient chickens are popular food, and the green ham also has to come from somewhere.

* This runs rampant in ''WesternAnimation/TucaAndBertie'': Tuca and her aunt Tallulah are both toucans, but the latter has pet birds. Tallulah's butler is a DogFace who has pet dogs. Draca is a PlantPerson who has pet turtles.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/HelpImAFish''. The only fish that have anthropomorphic traits are either fish that have been exposed to the "Anti-Fish" potion, or humans who have been exposed to the "Fish" potion. Of course, there are only three humans that are exposed to the "Fish" potion -- and it seems that [[CarnivoreConfusion the "sentient" fish have no problem with enslaving their own kind, and in the case of]] [[SpeciesSurname Shark]], [[CarnivoreConfusion eating any fish, "anthropomorphized" or not]].

* In the somewhat obscure French cartoon ''Les Minijusticiers'' (known in the United States as "The [=MiniMighty=] Kids"), based on the comic of the same name, all the characters are anthropomorphic animals that speak, yet they coexist with non-sentient, normal animals, and can also keep them as pets and in zoos, which makes for some good FridgeHorror material.
* The main cast of ''WesternAnimation/{{Maisy}}'' is a mouse, a chicken, an alligator, an elephant and a squirrel. But there's also an installment where Maisy visits a farm with animals, including chickens, another where a rabbit follows her home into her house and plenty of birds flitting about in the sky. It seems it's not unusual for random non-sentient animals to follow Maisy into her home, as there's another episode with a ginger cat that does so.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RosieAndRuffInPuppydogTales'' episode "Take Care of Pets", Rosie (who happens to be an anthropomorphic dog) adopts a non-anthropomorphic stray.