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8* When Disney was promoting DVD releases of [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon their previous animated classics]] on television in the 2000s, they apparently added [[ToiletHumor farting]] or belching noises (which are not present in the actual films) in some of these commercials (e.g. Sebastian burping in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'': Platinum Edition ads, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIN1i5PsbJg Captain the horse farting]] in the ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': Platinum Edition ads).
9* Early press material for ''WesternAnimation/{{The Adventures of Tintin|2011}}'' made it sound like Thomson and Thompson were the ''villains''. In reality, they are two bumbling cops who serve as comic relief.
10* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLIqErnQCuw The original trailer]] of ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' implored moviegoers to, "...share with Alice the wonderful things she sees, the wonderful friends she meets." Actually, Alice doesn't make a lot of friends in Wonderland, if any at all. Most of the denizens annoy and/or try to kill her. Indeed, the very clip that this narration accompanies shows Alice running for her life from the Queen of Hearts.
11* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUvk7NNmB64 The trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' makes it look like a happy, sappy movie about a dog taking care of an orphan. The actual film is more of a TearJerker/Drama.
12* Pretty much ''every'' trailer for ''WesternAnimation/AlphaAndOmega'' lied about something.
13** The bear fight scene wasn't really a fight. Humphrey just tries to calm them down by telling jokes. It doesn't work.
14** It appeared as though there would be ToiletHumor via fart jokes in the film. [[BringMyBrownPants Except for Humphrey peeing in fear]] (which was only heard, not shown), there isn't any.
15** The BringMyBrownPants mentioned above was supposed to happen when they ran into the bears. It actually happened several minutes beforehand.
16** The moose AssShove [[SubvertedTrope scene]]. Oddly, one of the DirectToDVD sequels, ''Family Vacation'', used ''this'' version of the scene for a flashback, rather than the scene that ''actually happened in the final film.''
17* There's [[WesternAnimation/AnimalFarm1954 the 1954 animated movie version]] of Orwell's ''Literature/AnimalFarm'' which faithfully follows the novel, and [[Film/AnimalFarm1999 the 1999 version]] that, more or less, still faithfully follows it. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGCo5Tva39s One trailer]] makes it look much like ''Babe'', whereas another gets the drama tone down right.
18** [[https://dygtyjqp7pi0m.cloudfront.net/i/51576/42844357_1m.jpg?v=8D980668E2A6B40 One poster]] of the film makes Napoleon look like the main character, featuring him posing beneath the headline "He's got the world in an uproar!"
19* Parodied in the trailer for ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForceColonMovieFilmForTheaters'', which gives a long list of things that '''do not''' appear in the movie. Except the flaming chicken.
20* Similarly, an early trailer for ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'' gave a long list of actors and political figures... followed by the note that "They're all going to hate this movie" (since it's a send-up of UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror and directly makes fun of many of them, including having all of the actors be villains).
21* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLvX-erABqY The original trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' consists entirely of scenes from Bambi's adulthood, which doesn't begin until halfway into the movie, and claims romance and action were the dominant elements. [[LighterAndSofter And now they advertise it entirely with scenes from when he's a fawn]], causing some people to think [[ViewerGenderConfusion he's a female]].
22* The trailers for the AllCGICartoon movie ''WesternAnimation/BattleForTerra'' show things from the humans' side and barely shows the alien characters, which misleads the public about the fact that [[spoiler:the humans are the invaders]].
23* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6abltUcric The trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham'' made it looks like the ComicBook/SuicideSquad was being sent into Arkham to deal with the Joker getting his hands on a dirty bomb. While it does form the climax and Batman is indeed on that case, the reason given to the team is that the Riddler had gotten his hands on information relating to the Squad. [[spoiler:The ''real'' reason is for most of the Squad to stir up a mess while Frost tries to kill the Riddler, as he knows how to defuse the bombs in the Squad's necks.]]
24* The trailers for ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' show Milo presenting his proposal, making it look like he's really doing the presentation for the Smithsonian board, whereas in the film, he's only rehearsing it and finds out afterwards that they ''deliberately'' rescheduled the presentation to a time he'd missed, thereby giving them an excuse to preemptively turn him down.
25* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nOEH1Fy5vI A TV spot]] for ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' (which can also be seen on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases) focused on the action scenes and the slapstick battle between the Enchanted Objects and the mob as opposed to the love story that dominates the film. The slapstick, in particular, was emphasized to ride the coattails of the previous year's hit ''Film/HomeAlone1''. Shockingly (and rather not surprisingly), the same commercial portrays the independent, headstrong Belle as the DamselInDistress that needs to be saved by Beast and the Enchanted Objects. The aforementioned comic battle in the film itself is the Enchanted Objects protecting the Beast and themselves – Belle has nothing to do with it. By contrast, the theatrical trailer is an accurate rundown of the story.
26* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRnVQ4NBXko#t=1m27s This trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica'' had Butt-Head asking, "Did we miss ''Series/{{Baywatch}}''?" followed by Muddy shooting the TV and responding, "No." In the movie, Butt-head's line is a mere throwaway, and Muddy shooting the TV actually makes sense -- he does it to ensure that Beavis and Butt-Head can't watch TV before going on their mission.
27* ''WesternAnimation/{{BIONICLE}}'' DirectToVideo films:
28** The teaser for ''Legends of Metru Nui'' showed Kopaka Nuva standing in Metru Nui's great temple, despite that Kopaka had nothing to do with the film and he only became a Nuva 1,000 years after the movie's story. As the teaser was made before any animation work was done, they just used random concept art that happened to feature Kopaka as a generic stand-in for the not-yet-finished new characters.
29** Similarly, the teaser for the ''Web of Shadows'' featured a somewhat eerie closeup of Nuju in his Toa Metru form (from the previous movie), leading many fans to suspect that he was to be the big traitor in the movie. Actually, he has a very minor supporting role, and later trailers full-on revealed that Vakama was the real traitor.
30** ''Web of Shadows'' tried to tackle many subjects like betrayal, hatefulness, [[BeingTheHeroSucks disillusioned heroes]], the difference between leaders and tyrants, and the moral obligation of overcoming personal grudges to do one's duty. There's also a side-quest about finding a super powerful [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious cryptid]] to undo the heroes' mutations and violently kill one of the bad guys. The main trailer simplified all of this to "ThePowerOfFriendship". Granted, this did make the movie easier to market. Vakama's "Follow me!" line is also used in the trailer as an example of inspiring heroism, while in the movie he moronically leads his team into a trap as he says this.
31** The ''Web of Shadows'' trailer narration has further oddities, like claiming the Toa have saved their city in the previous film, when it has been wrecked and the Toa's mission had been to evacuate and abandon it. The ruined city is said to be ruled over by a queen, but Roodaka explicitly says she's not a queen and the true ruler is the ''king'' Sidorak. Sidorak wanting her to be his queen (which never happens) is the main point of their villain plot.
32* ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'':
33** In the trailer, Maria sees a snake coming near her and Manolo, shouts his name, he gets bitten and dies. In the movie, [[spoiler:Maria sees the snake, shouts Manolo's name, protects him by going in front of the snake which bites her once, and she dies. Subverted later, as Manolo then got voluntarily bitten twice by the snake while Maria just needed a kiss to come back to life, because she was only bitten once]].
34** In general, the advertising for the film focused heavily on the Land of the Remembered and made it seem as though the film was largely about Manolo's journey through the afterlife. Most of the movie actually takes place in the Land of the Living, and the story doesn't move into the afterlife until about halfway through.
35* The trailers for ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' make it out to be an action flick about a female action hero. The movie itself has very little action, and instead it's about [[spoiler:a girl who doesn't want to do what her mother wants her to do, so she accepts a curse from a witch that turns her mom into a bear, but soon regrets it and must find a way to undo the curse.]] While this allowed them to avoid giving away the central twist of the movie, it also made sure that a lot of people would go who wouldn't have gone otherwise. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CKcqIahedc One of the trailers]] also edits several lines from one of the clan leaders ("Where's the queen? This means war!") to suggest that [[spoiler:what Merida does to her mother will threaten to start even bigger problems]]. While fights between the clans do break out, they're generally PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler:The transformation of Elinor]] only really affects the king, and the clan leaders are spoiling for fights in any case.
36** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_8cLhckSAAw&pp=ygUWQnJhdmUgamFwYW5lc2UgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D This Japanese trailer]] almost makes it seem as if they're doing a DubInducedPlotlineChange, with constant talk of "the laws of the forest" and how those laws being broken led to a curse.
37* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TujkyDm4Oz8 The trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'' describes the movie as cheerful and "sure to warm your spirits". It is, at times, but it's largely also something of a drama. Not to mention the several deaths and at least one suicide in the movie.
38* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'':
39** A minor example. Some commercials for the movie have Music/FallOutBoy's "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'Em Up)" playing in the background. Fall Out Boy does provide the main theme song for the movie (known as "Immortals"), but not that song. However, it does provide {{Foreshadowing}} when [[spoiler:Hiro nearly kills Yokai]].
40** Another minor example: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-dBI1R0AjU one Japanese trailer for the movie]], the scene where [[spoiler:Hiro reaches out to Baymax in the portal]] is shown against a clear blue sky instead of the [[spoiler:swirling violet landscape of the portal]], possibly to avoid this very spoiler.
41* ''WesternAnimation/CaptureTheFlag'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67YfSzkmDgw The trailer]] for some reason makes BigBad Richard Carson into a SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer, with no mention of his plans to go to the moon to [[MoonLandingHoax "prove" the moon landing was fake]] and claim the moon for himself, even though this is what [[VillainsActHeroesReact kicks off the entire plot of the movie]]. Instead, the trailer focuses entirely on protagonist Mike Goldwing and his attempt to stow away on the next rocket bound for the moon. The trailer also tries to make us believe that Mike and his girlfriend Amy accidentally launch the rocket ahead of schedule with only them and Mike's grandfather on board, while in reality this is done by one of Carson's mooks in an attempt to prevent NASA from getting to the moon earlier than him.
42* ''WesternAnimation/CharlottesWeb'': The original theatrical trailer calls the film "the happiest movie of the year", ignoring the fact that [[spoiler: it has a BittersweetEnding in which Charlotte dies]]. Some of the trailer's main clips of Charlotte singing are actually from [[spoiler: her death scene: attentive viewers will notice her half-closed eyes and weak voice.]] On a more minor note, it calls Jeffrey a "duckling" when actually he's a gosling.
43* ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'':
44** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3DsUbFmky8 The trailer that showed the titular character dancing]] got "Dragostea Din Tei" from O-Zone ([[MemeticMutation the "Numa Numa" song]]) instead of "He's The Greatest Dancer", of Sister Sledge, so it was disappointing to discover at the final credits that the marketing guys made believe this (then) popular Romanian tune would be part of the soundtrack. It's not.
45** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W97RmQCnwa4 This exaggerated trailer]] makes the film look like a humorous parody of the disaster movie genre, with the titular character and a group of goofy friends tasked with battling a thrilling and chaotic alien invasion. While the movie itself has an alien invasion plot, it's nowhere near as epic-looking at this trailer makes it to be.
46** Other trailers spoofed ''Film/BruceAlmighty'' and ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'', but only in the trailers.
47* The trailers for ''{{WesternAnimation/A Christmas Carol|2009}}'' made it look like a goofy, kiddy version of the story, not aided by the fact that it stars Creator/JimCarrey. The actual movie, however, is faithful and keeps most of the original's story characteristics intact, including the horror.
48* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'':
49** In the 1987 re-release TV spots, the original voices of the mice were not only rerecorded by different actors but, they left them un-pitched.
50** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_htEPBX-v4 The original trailer]] and synopsis for ''WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIDreamsComeTrue'' tries to make the movie seem like a full-length feature, rather than a CompilationMovie. Later promos and covers make less of an effort to hide this fact, with one case even reading "Three Magical Tales" on the front.
51** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W5aha8RM4A The original trailer]] of ''WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIIATwistInTime'' includes a scene of clips from the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'''s "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" and ball sequences playing backwards while Lady Tremaine recites a time-travel incantation. In the actual movie, she only goes to a point in between the ball and the fitting of the glass slipper, far back enough to make the slipper fit one of Cinderella's stepsisters.[[note]]The narrator asks, "What if the slipper didn't fit?" in one part of the trailer.[[/note]]
52** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkDceYZ5Oj4 The trailer]] for the ''Cinderella II and III'' 2-Movie Collection shows so many clips from ''A Twist in Time'' that people who never saw either movie before might mistake some of those clips as scenes from ''Dreams Come True''. It doesn't help that part of this ad actually dubs audio from ''Dreams Come True'' over ''Twist in Time'' footage. Plus, like the original ''Dreams Come True'' trailer, it never draws attention to that movie's lack of a central plot.
53* A lot of people didn't want to see ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', even ranting about how it wasn't as scary as the book, after seeing the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9bOpeuvNwY theatrical trailer]], which made it seem more kid-friendly. This resulted in several people missing out on a film that they would have enjoyed, and [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids many parents escorting terrified and crying children out of the theaters]]. Coincidentally, Creator/NeilGaiman cited the happy, childish trailer as his favourite. The theatrical trailer for Coraline is honestly pretty terrifying and accurate to the actual movie but the TV spots make it seem like lighthearted children's fare.
54* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'':
55** The early trailers showed only the escalating, cartoony conflict between the VillainProtagonist and the, er, Villain-y-er Antagonist, making the movie look like a ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy-style supervillainy-fest. Only the later trailers revealed the movie's true nature as a ChildrenRaiseYou story which happens to feature a supervillain as its main character.
56** There was also the teaser which consisted entirely of the opening scene followed by the titles. The scene in question involves a misbehaving kid unintentionally exposing the Great Pyramid of Giza to have been replaced by an inflatable copy, followed by a news report commenting on these events. Based on this alone, the film appears to be some kind of comedy-mystery about a mysterious villain planning to steal various monuments, and the plot seems to be about trying to find out who is responsible. In actuality the Pyramid theft is pretty minor (although it does become the subject for some humor when it is shown [[spoiler:to have been stolen by the antagonist and hidden in his base, and [[PaperThinDisguise it is painted blue so that it blends in with the sky]]]]. Of course, this incident does inspire Gru's plan to steal the Moon, which does help to drive the story, but the primary focus is still on his relationship with the kids.
57* The trailers for ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe3'' show Gru exclaiming "We're going back to villainy" to the minions and gives the impression that he and his twin brother will be forming a supervillain team together. However, the quote is taken out of context, and what Gru actually says is "This DOESN'T mean we're going back to villainy" after losing his job as a secret agent. He does team up with his brother for a heist, but only to steal a valuable gem back from a rival supervillain, and only in order to get his job at the agency back.
58* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheMagicRoundabout2005 Doogal]]'':
59** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQnMcqiuTJU One trailer]] portrays the film as being a comedy, specifically a parody of the adventure genre, i.e. ''Lord of the Rings''. The film ended up being filled with more sugary sweetness and life lessons than a ''Care Bears'' movie.
60** The trailer for the movie also makes it seem as though ''The Fairly Odd Parents'' creator Butch Hartman is responsible for the movie's conception, even though ''Doogal'' is merely the US edition of the movie adaptation of the UK television series ''The Magic Roundabout'' (the trailer makes no reference to this, either).
61** The voice actor for Doogal in the trailer is actually Dylan's voice actor in the film.
62* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68hEgCZQ7wc The trailer]] for ''Dino Time'' makes it look like the dinosaur voiced by Rob Schneider is a TalkingAnimal and the kids can understand him, but in the film [[AnimalTalk he only talks]] [[TranslationConvention to other dinosaurs]]. The trailer also doesn't show any other dinosaurs talking.
63* ''Anime/DragonQuestYourStory'' ended up misleading everyone in Japan. The trailers seemed like a straight adaptation of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'', and the movie did very well in its first weekend. [[spoiler: However, it turns out that the subtitle for the movie, Your Story, is quite literal, in that the movie's plot ends up being nearly identical to the infamous plot twist of ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' -- the movie is actually about a kid from the real world entering the video game world of Dragon Quest V. Not only was this not implied in any of the marketing for the movie but it ruined the reputation for the movie as a whole, and with V being seen as one of the most iconic entries in the series next to III, fans were '''not''' happy, to say the least.]] The movie itself would go on to tank in box office sales in the following weekend onwards. It didn't help that movie's director said this was put in because of the increasing popularity of {{Isekai}} stories in Japan and abroad, hoping it would give the movie more of a global appeal.
64* Early trailers for ''WesternAnimation/EarlyMan'' made it seem like a typical comedic look at the stone age, a la ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheCroods''. Later trailers would introduce the rivalry between the Stone Age tribe and the Bronze Age villains, with a soccer game between the two getting a short scene at the end. Turns out that soccer game is the [[{{SportsStories}} entire crux of the plot]]; the title isn't just a reference to the time period, but also to its setting of prehistoric ''Manchester, England''.
65* ''WesternAnimation/Elemental2023'':
66** The teaser trailer shows Ember having a MeetCute with Wade by bumping into him on the train, with a shared look implying LoveAtFirstSight. In the actual movie, she never even leaves Firetown before meeting Wade, they meet by accident when he gets sucked into her father's shop's pipes, and she does ''not'' have a good first impression of him since he threatens to shut down the shop. The actual later trailers did show this scene to make their actual meeting clear, however.
67** Most trailers suggested that the movie was going to be a look at racism through a fantastic lens a la ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', with trailers playing several lines out of context to suggest that the elements live in isolation from each other and one trailer featuring Ember's mother loudly enforcing that "ELEMENTS CANNOT MIX!". The final movie plays these themes more subtly and the element people in the present day are shown to be generally accepting of each other outside of occasional squabbles, though flashbacks show they were less tolerant in the past, leading to the grudge Ember's father has toward other elements, especially water, in the present day. Ember's mother is shown to be relatively more tolerant of the other element people than her husband, never once saying that elements cannot mix and [[spoiler:immediately accepting that Ember is in love with Wade, a water person, once she has all the proof she needs that they are in love with each other]]. The movie is overall more about Ember venturing out into the big city for the first time after living in her immigrant community all of her life to save her father's shop and the culture shock that ensues, [[JourneyToFindOneself finding herself]] and falling in love in the process.
68* The trailer for ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' gives the impression that it's a fantasy adventure, like ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' or ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', when it's more of a drama involving a family that happens to have magical powers. In particular, the trailer is capped off with a montage that draws heavily from [[ImagineSpot the non-diegetic visuals]] of a single music number.
69* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'':
70** The teaser trailer didn't even show anything about the story or even our two female leads of Anna and Elsa. Instead, it was a quick one-to-two-minute gag involving Olaf (the snowman Elsa creates that she unknowingly brings to life) sneezing his carrot nose off and trying to keep Kristoff's reindeer Sven from getting it. Later trailers continued to overplay how much of a part Olaf had in the movie, often focusing on his jokes and slapstick over anything resembling the Anna+Elsa plot. The actual film turned out to be about a lot more than just Olaf's wacky antics. The excessive focus on Olaf is parodied by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkixuYFQWaU this fake trailer]] (made by WebVideo/{{Seinfeldspitstain}} of ''WebAnimation/JimmyNeutronHappyFamilyHappyHour'' fame) that consists only of an ever-increasing number of [[StylisticSuck poorly-made 3D-Olafs]] repeating "See the Frozen Snowman Comedy in theaters", and adds the subtitle "Snowman Comedy" to the movie.
71** Even ''Frozen'''s more serious trailers tell a few fibs of their own, some of them a consequence of rewrites going on in the script.
72*** One trailer featured a shot of Elsa apparently deliberately casting some powerful ice magic, then switching to a shot of Arendelle freezing over, suggesting she deliberately cast a curse of eternal winter on Arendelle. [[spoiler:The two shots are unrelated, and Elsa has no idea she cursed Arendelle -- it's just really bad PowerIncontinence due to her inability to control her powers.]]
73*** The same trailers also made Elsa to be much more antagonistic, or possibly an outright villain, than she is, since all of her shots showed her using her powers aggressively with an outright look of rage on her face. In the actual film, said shots are Elsa defending herself against the Duke of Weselton's two unnamed bodyguards sent to shoot her.
74*** It also indicated that Anna's relationship with Elsa would be a bombshell she drops on her companions midway through the story.
75*** The "That's no blizzard -- that's my sister" line, followed by a shot of Elsa on the top of a mountain casting her magic at Anna and Kristoff? That wasn't from the movie -- it was from an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM9palXgpC4 earlier animation test]]. At that point in production, several things were different (if you look at the whole scene, Marshmallow has tree-trunk arms instead of the ice he has in the actual film, Anna has no white streak in her hair and, is also terrified and less willing to jump than in the finished film) and the characterization wasn't quite finalized. As a result, the characters in the test animation and some of the unused footage that made it into the trailers show them acting more like they did in earlier drafts, such as Anna being less brave and Elsa being the villain that she was for much of the production. In the final cut, Elsa's role was changed after the staff rewrote her as an AntiVillain who just doesn't have much control over her powers and suffers from anxiety.
76*** Many trailers made Hans out to be a supporting character of the movie by having him pictured along with Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff. This may have helped to hide the plot twist that [[spoiler:Hans is in fact a villain]].
77* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcOp0VOAd4M This]] TV spot for ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'' says Max is the most popular kid in school, when he is established to be trying to climb up from the bottom of the social ladder. It implies Roxanne is his girlfriend before the events of the movie, when a major subplot involves him trying to get together with her in the first place. It says Max's best friend is cool, showing Bobby, when Max's best friend isn't Bobby (it's always been PJ, and Bobby is portrayed as a FairWeatherFriend or ally in this movie), Bobby is not explicitly shown to be cool, and Max's best friend is even less cool than Max, being a [[FatBestFriend fat]] ShrinkingViolet NervousWreck. [[SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer Neither of the most important supporting characters, Pete and PJ, appear at all in the trailer]], and the trailer makes Goofy and Max's conflict seem more one-sided than it really is (i.e. it makes Goofy out to be the only problem, and Max not at fault at all), and doesn't show much about its RoadTripPlot or it being a musical.
78* On the original VHS releases of the ''Creator/HannaBarbera Superstars 10'' movies, the trailers for ''Rockin' With Judy Jetson'' and ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheReluctantWerewolf'' did not use clips from the actual movies in question. Instead, the ''Rockin' with Judy Jetson'' trailer used clips from the original ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Jetsons]]'' episode "A Date with Jet Screamer", while the ''Reluctant Werewolf'' trailer used clips from the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo and Scrappy-Doo'' episode "Moonlight Madness". Also, the trailer for ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose'' mistakenly identifies antagonists Dread Baron and Mumbly as [[WesternAnimation/WackyRaces Dastardly and Muttley]].
79** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkmG_101APg This trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheGhoulSchool'' from 2002 shows very little footage from the actual TV movie, instead throwing in clips from the first three direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies by Warner Bros. Animation (such as ''Zombie Island'' and ''Witch's Ghost''), to make it look like the whole gang goes to Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girl Ghouls, instead of just Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy-Doo (and the trailer only contains one very brief shot of Scrappy, very small).
80* Most of the trailers for ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' take certain lines out of context and dub them over completely different scenes.
81** The end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpM_J-oR_2g the original teaser trailer]] makes it look like Meg sings "Yes indeed!" at the end of "Zero to Hero", when actually it's one of the Muses. The same trailer also shows Phil saying "Don't let your guard down because of a pair of big blue eyes!" – the line was changed to "...big goo-goo eyes!" in the finished film after the animators changed Meg's eyes to purple.
82** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YrMa0Ab0WE A later theatrical trailer]] shows the adult Hercules seemingly praying to the statue of Zeus and asking how to become a true hero, when actually that prayer and question are uttered by Young Hercules the first time he visits the temple and the clips of his older self talking to the statue are from a much later scene, and makes it look like Hades calls Hercules "[[MaliciousMisnaming Jerkules]]", when it's another person whose voice is used.
83* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', that is another case to talk about. The story is supposed to be Literature/LittleRedRidingHood with a twist. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGV-cTSr6zg The trailers]] are formatted in such a way that they portray the Wolf as a moronic, incompetent villain, when in the movie he is an intelligent investigative journalist whose only antagonism is MistakenIdentity on Red Puckett's behalf.
84* ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania3SummerVacation'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku52zNnft8k The trailer]] makes it seem that cruise ship captain Ericka Van Helsing is the BigBad out to finish what her long-dead great-grandfather Abraham started. In the actual film, Abraham is still alive as a cyborg and the real BigBad, and Ericka is the [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter conflicted love interest]].
85* Most commercials for ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' make the film, which is generally regarded as one of the darkest animated films, look like a comedy.
86* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge1'': Early trailers, commercials, and ads for the first film depict Scrat as a member of the RagtagBunchOfMisfits, when in reality Scrat doesn't actually travel or interact with the group, save for one brief moment in the middle of the film when they ask him for directions. The trailers also omit the villains and some of the heavier elements.
87* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown'', several trailers fail to mention or acknowledge [[KidAppealCharacter Crash and Eddie]], as well as Ellie's role or purpose in the film. However, [[TrailerJokeDecay one frequently-aired commercial did show the "I believe I can fly!" scene]] (a scene which involves Crash and Eddie).
88* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1''
89** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UaGUdNJdRQ The teaser trailer]] is not only a sketch that doesn't appear in the film, but also deliberately misleading in that it changes all the memorabilia in Bob's office to indicate that he has always worn the red Mr. Incredible suit, as opposed to the blue one. Even worse: the sketch depicts him answering a hotline phone in his office with a voice on the other end saying, "Mr. Incredible, we need your help." In the movie's main timeline, superheroes are outlawed and Bob is underground.
90** The theatrical trailer shows the superheroes from E's "no capes!" montage... but cuts away right before they all die, giving the impression that these characters are important or plot-relevant, when they actually only appear in this montage.
91** Jack-Jack was featured prominently in promotional material in his supersuit even though he does not go on any adventures. In fact, he only wears the suit in the very last shot of the film, for perhaps five seconds.
92* ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2''
93** The trailer shows the scene of Bob discovering Jack-Jack's powers taking place in their house. But in the movie, the scene takes place in the backyard. Additionally, Jack-Jack doesn't singe Bob's hair in the actual movie.
94** The trailer implies that "the elephant in the room" is Helen's new job. The scene shown, in fact, occurs well before the job offer. It's actually the fact that the attempt to stop the Underminer at the beginning went horribly wrong.
95** The trailer and some television spots for the movie made it seem like the main focus will be on Bob learning to adjust to being a HouseHusband. It's actually the ''B-Plot'' of the movie, with the main story actually being Helen's search to take down Screenslaver.
96* ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'':
97** The "dinner argument" trailer prominently features the mother and father's emotions, but it doesn't show Joy and Sadness inside Riley's mind at all (since the scene takes place when they're both stranded in the long-term memory hallways). In the actual movie, the mother and father's emotions ''only'' appear in that scene, apart from one minor gag at the end of the movie; conversely, Joy and Sadness are the two most prominent emotions by a pretty wide margin, and most of the movie deals with [[TeethClenchedTeamwork their efforts to get along with each other]].
98** The trailers make the mother and father look quite a bit more ignorant and adversarial ([[RuleOfFunny probably for humor's sake]]) than they are in the actual film: the father appears to be an easily distracted jerk with a temper problem, while the mother seems to be a cocky shrew who secretly regrets marrying her husband. In truth, they're both loving parents with a successful marriage, the "Brazilian Helicopter Pilot" joke is a one-off gag, and Riley's father actually has a tender talk with her after the dinner argument scene.
99* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'':
100** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gAqaXHVVeY One of the TV spots]] gave the concept that Jimmy has always wanted to impress Cindy, implying that he likes her. Other than the fact that the two of them have always been rivals [[note]]at least until the series developed their love/hate relationship.[[/note]] Jimmy's only motivation for Cindy is to prove he has the superior intelligence. In fact, the only scenes where they show any affection to each other is where they accidentally gaze at each other when looking at stars, and [[spoiler:when Cindy motivates Jimmy into helping the kids escape the Yolkian prison, but even she takes it back afterward]].
101** How the Yolkians hatch the idea for abducting the adults is different from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njf8U5SnM4w the trailer]]. It's from spying on Hugh and Judy rather than Jimmy's message, and a Yolkian that's not King Goobot says "The search is over!"
102* All of the trailers for ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'' made it out to be a slapstick, comedic parody in the same vein as most of [=DreamWorks'=] animated features. Granted, this could be excused by the fact that the title character is voiced by Jack Black, considering his usual style of acting and choice of film roles. Most fans of Jack Black's usual work would not go to see him in an animated feature, and most parents would not want their kids to see an animated feature which starred Jack Black. In any case, the movie instead turned out to be a pretty serious, epic action film with almost mythic proportions at times. The comedy was all still there, but spaced out and used as comic relief to lighten the tension. Which means people coming to the film solely for Jack Black comedy were probably disappointed, and those who might have enjoyed the action never got a chance to see it because they were driven away by the trailers.
103* The trailers for ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' gave it the same treatment, as the trailers were high on zaniness, fat jokes, and anachronistic music, but somewhat lacking in genocide, stabbings, and mental trauma. The trailer for the DVD release was deceptive in an entirely different way. While it has a surprisingly serious and dramatic tone, it tells a story that is ''completely different'' from the film's actual plot. This includes a line where Po declares "I'm ''not'' the last panda!" while showing a clip of [[spoiler:[[TrailersAlwaysSpoil the lost panda village seen at the very end of the film]]]], implying that this is far more relevant to the plot than it actually is (i.e. not at all, it appears only as a SequelHook).
104* Some of the theatrical trailers from ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' show a couple of clips from the deleted footage (which fans are still to this day desperately wanting to see).
105** The trailer for the VHS compilation The Land Before Time: More Sing Along Songs promises "songs from An American Tail 1 and 2". However, the songs on the video are only from the third and fourth American Tail movies. This one is especially egregious because it shows a clip of one of the songs FROM the third movie.
106* This is one of many reasons why some people detest the Creator/RalphBakshi adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'': Granted, you might think it's a decent adaptation of the story on its own merits, even though it neglects ''Return of the King'' and only adapts the first book and half of the second book. However, the preview material never revealed this, so those in the audience who were expecting any kind of closure to the story after sitting on their asses for two hours had to leave the theaters with an aching pair of blue balls. This was due to ExecutiveMeddling; the original title was supposed to be ''The Lord of the Rings Part I''.
107* One of the ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' trailers (also available on the DVD), shows a clip of the scene where Lilo uses Stitch's claw to play an Elvis record. In the trailer, the song is "Hound Dog" but in the actual movie it was "Suspicious Minds."
108* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'':
109** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zr6R02dx-0 Most of the commercials]] make it look like a comedy instead of an epic drama. While the film does have comedic elements, "wacky, silly comedy" is definitely not the most fitting descriptor for it.
110** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bgK-rahRI0 The theatrical trailer]], while more accurate to the tone of the film, arguably makes it look like Nala is a villain, by showing the scene where she fights Simba without realizing it's him, but not the resolution of that scene. However, she is also shown happily exclaiming "You're the king!" earlier in the trailer.
111* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkCaoca_BOY This commercial]] for ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' advertises the film as basically "Triton vs. Ursula", portrays Ariel as just a DamselInDistress who needs her father to rescue her, and takes moments from arguably the scariest scene in the film, when Triton destroys Ariel's collection of human treasures, and puts them in a heroic context, making it look like he's firing his trident at Ursula instead.
112* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwxQmQhEX3k This trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'' makes it seem like it's about two intelligent inventors trying to create the greatest invention ever, but it's actually a movie about an intelligent orphan named Lewis who wants to be with his mother again, but ends up getting sidetracked by a boy from the future named Wilbur [[spoiler:(who happens to be Lewis's son)]], who is preventing the Bowler Hat Guy [[spoiler:(who is Lewis's roommate Goob all grown up)]] from ruining Lewis's life.
113* Early trailers for ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' do this as well, obscuring the fact that Megamind defeats Metro Man in the first act, with the rest of the movie pretty much having him ask "AndThenWhat" All of them make out the most part of the movie as being about Megamind vs. Metro Man, but it's more a romantic action-comedy with Megamind vs. himself and Titan. It also kind of makes Metro Man look like a bit of a glory-hound jerk; in the finished product, he's a genuinely goodnatured guy who ultimately leaves the hero business behind entirely, and whose primary character flaw is his ennui.
114* ''WesternAnimation/{{Migration}}'':
115** The trailer focuses on the Mallards' negative traits for comedy, but in the movie itself, while the Mallards get on each other's nerves, they have more positive qualities than are displayed in the trailer: Mack [[spoiler:eventually overcomes his overprotectiveness]], Pam loves her husband very much even if she's sometimes exasperated by him, Dax is a NiceGuy who insists on helping others even at risk to himself, and Gwen insists on inviting Uncle Dan to come along on the trip [[spoiler:and is willing to give her big brother Dax a comforting hug during the Mallards' DarkestHour]].
116** In the trailer, after Chump takes offense at Mack calling her by her name, Pam smacks Mack on the head, so it looks like she smacks him for offending Chump. In the movie, the smack happens earlier than that, when Uncle Dan apparently gets lost, and Mack suggests leaving him behind. [[spoiler:And Pam actually comes to her husband's defense and bails him out during the scene with Chump, as Pam reassures Chump that Mack meant no offense and just says stupid things sometimes, offering a deal to split the sandwich with Chump.]]
117* ''WesternAnimation/TheMitchellsVsTheMachines'' ads tended to go in the direction of NewTechnologyIsEvil, strongly implying that dependency on cell phones and communication devices is a bad thing, as typified by PhoneaholicTeenager Katie Mitchell and her conflict with her father Rick. The actual film defies these messages outright, and much of it is dedicated to the good things that technology gives people (such as greater interconnectedness and the ability to find one's own community), with the above views being credited to Rick's status as a [[TechnologicallyBlindElders Technologically Blind Elder]] who has trouble connecting to Katie, and something he grows past. It does take a dismal view on tech ''companies'', but it's more in the "they abuse their power if unregulated and have the potential to create destruction" vein than "they create those damn smartphones that my kids are on all the time".
118* Every single trailer and piece of merchandise for ''{{WesternAnimation/Moana}}'' made it look like Pua the pig would be the titular character's sidekick for most of the movie. In truth, he's barely in the film, only appearing at the start and end, and the rooster Heihei fills that role. Furthermore, while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6PbWhWGUrY the first trailer]] for ''{{WesternAnimation/Moana}}'' gets the ''idea'' of the movie across well, most of it is either misleading or completely absent from the movie. The trailer opens with Maui explaining who he is and his various accomplishments to Moana and Pua. In the movie, the scene is replaced with the song ''You're Welcome'', which Pua isn't even present for. It then cuts to various clips from the movie played over ''We Know the Way'', including Moana's village/tribe out sailing on a catamaran. While this clip ''does'' appear in the movie, with the accompanying song, it's presented as a EurekaMoment for Moana, who realizes that her ancestors, many generations ago, were oceanfarers.
119* Creator/DreamWorksAnimation's ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' made it out to be far zanier than it really was, and obscured Susan's status as the main character and instead played her condition for far more humor than in the movie itself.
120* This seems standard for [=DreamWorks=] now, as the early trailers and promotion for ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2010'' also tried (not very successfully, considering the box office opening) to make it out to be a zany [=DreamWorks=] comedy, when it is actually a fantasy adventure story; its humor is incidental to the plot. It wasn't until the final trailer that the promotion became more honest about the film's dramatic elements.
121* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eVHXa93ceg The teaser trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' makes the film seem slightly more dramatic and action-packed than it really is. Not that it ''isn't'' dramatic or action-packed, but it's also a Disney animated musical with the requisite comedy, heartwarming, and family-friendly charm. The teaser trailer only highlights the war drama.
122* The ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' teaser features Mike and Sully stuck in the wrong kid's room. Mike's job in the movie doesn't have him enter the room, he just collects and records the scream energy Sully generates. Also at one point in the teaser, Mike picks up the kid's hula-hoop and pretends to be a planet. In the finished movie, children and anything they touch are thought to be toxic to monsters, and Mike is terrified just as much as anyone else when Boo first emerges.
123* The main ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' trailers show Mike getting his key and being told that his roommate is a scaring major too, which is then followed by the scene where Mike meets Sulley in his dorm for the first time. In the film, Mike's first roommate is actually Randall, and his first meeting with Sulley is a whole day after this when Sulley mistakes Mike's dorm for his own.
124* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnFTl4MzCXY Red Band trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsScorpionsRevenge'' ends with a shot of Goro pulling on Liu Kang's limbs followed by an X-Ray image of limbs being pulled off. In the movie proper, [[spoiler: Jax is actually the one who gets his arms pulled off by Goro and Liu Kang is spared the same fate by Scorpion's intervention]].
125* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEiJecKrFBw One trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster'' shows Macaulay Culkin's character receiving a sword that floated down from the library ceiling. It's really cool looking, but isn't in the film '''at all'''. This caused the Latin American title to become... "El Espadachín Valiente" (The Brave Swordsboy).
126* The trailers for ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' make [[TheHeavy Tempest Shadow]] out to be the BigBad, and the Storm King to be a comedic minor villain. In fact, the Storm King is the true villain, and Tempest is simply TheDragon. Also, while the Storm King does have some [[LaughablyEvil comedic moments]], he's a lot more threatening than any of the trailers let on.
127* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRV6tMR-SSs One of the trailers]] for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' is misleading. It implies a dramatic secret will be revealed (which never happens), and that an empire will rise, seemingly under the control of Mr Burns (also never happens). It also shows Reverend Lovejoy presumably showing Marge footage of Grandpa's incident at the church, which in the film is actually shown to her by Comic Book Guy on his phone. It paints the movie as quite dramatic, even implying that [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the world is at risk of ending]]. Perhaps the reason the trailer is so misleading is that the makers of the film were keen to give away as little plot points as possible in the trailers.
128* ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'':
129** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64lqQKG6KAA The original theatrical trailer]] describes Sykes as "the vicious villain determined to destroy Oliver". While he does [[spoiler:cause Oliver's DisneyDeath just before his own very real ([[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath and very brutal]]) death]], that's pretty much the extent of their direct interactions throughout the entire movie. In the actual movie, he's a LoanShark who spends much of the movie terrorizing Fagin [[spoiler:before moving on to Jenny]].
130** Similarly, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhqZi3HLnJU the trailer for the 1996 re-release]] cuts various scenes together to make the viewers think Sykes kidnaps Oliver from Jenny to hold him for ransom and that the climax revolves around Fagin, Jenny and the dogs rescuing him. Actually, the dogs are the ones who "kidnap" Oliver (thinking they're rescuing him, not realizing he's happy with Jenny), Fagin is the one who holds him for ransom (to pay his debt to Sykes), [[spoiler:Jenny]] is the character whom Sykes kidnaps, and the climax revolves around [[spoiler:Oliver, Fagin, and the dogs rescuing ''her'']]. This trailer also implies that Huey Lewis voices Oliver, which would have been serious VocalDissonance if it were true. Lewis performs the opening song "Once Upon a Time in New York City", but does not voice any character in the film.
131** Similarly to above, in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZa8YXKUMrA a promo for the 1996 VHS release]], an image of a random dog from the scene of "Perfect Isn't Easy" is billed as being voiced by Huey Lewis.
132* The emoji gag from ''WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie'' trailer made many fans uneasy, fearing the movie would be packed with jokes about pop culture and social media that would date it in an instant. Much to their relief, the actual film preserves the Peanuts' timeless feel and makes no attempt to awkwardly shoehorn in references to contemporary culture.
133* The trailer for ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin'' shows Marina exclaiming "I love it!" over Hubie's engagement pebble at the beginning, implying that he proposes to her before Drake's attempt to get rid of him, when he actually doesn't give her the pebble or propose until the very end of the film. Later, when describing Hubie and Rocko's budding friendship, the trailer makes it look like Hubie says "I think you're fabulous!" to Rocko, when actually he says it while fantasizing about introducing himself to Marina, long before he even meets Rocko.
134* ''WesternAnimation/{{Planes}}'': Trailers suggested a plane dropping outhouses made a commentator describe it as disgusting. [[spoiler:The commentator was describing a previous scene where a plane spits on the floor]].
135* Television ads for {{Creator/Disney}}'s dub of ''Anime/{{Ponyo|On The Cliff By The Sea}}'' play up most of the comedy bits and even use the last few seconds of the film out of context. Also, the commercials use bits of dialogue both out of context and played over completely different scenes than they are in the actual film. No, fish!Ponyo does not say "I will be a human too!" while still in the bucket. There's a part where Ponyo's mother calls "Good luck Ponyo!" while in the movie she actually says "Good luck ''Lisa''", to Satsuke's mother. And [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsR3KVgBzSM the teaser trailer]] makes it seem as if Ponyo's father tells her that she is the only one who can save the world, and then releases her, and her wave running somehow is related to said world-saving. In the movie, the lines her father says are actually directed to Satsuke (who can save the world only by accepting Ponyo) and the wave running has nothing to do with Ponyo saving the world.
136* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWs81poMgiM The trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' implies it to be a very action-oriented animated movie. It isn't of course - it's a religious story about everything from the birth of [[Literature/TheBible Moses]] to parting the Red Sea. But then, if someone made it all the way from the first press releases to opening day without ever deducing that it was a film about the story of Moses, frankly, they deserved to be let down.
137* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'':
138** Tiana not actually being a princess is a major part of the plot. On the other hand, she becomes one, and Charlotte is theoretically a princess.
139** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3uBoaHShX4 the third trailer]], a line was added in with Mama Odie telling Tiana that "all that matters is what's under the skin". Not only does this line never appear in the movie, but it is in no way related to the moral that either Tiana learns or that Mama Odie is attempting to teach. They also take the "Don't matter what you look like" lyric of her song out of context. The same trailer emphasizes that it's "the kind of magic that can only happen when you wish upon a star". "Wishing upon a star" is 100% ''contradictory'' to the moral of the story, which is that while wishing (determination) takes you part of the way, you still have to work for what you want.
140** Overall, Disney did an excellent job making this movie look like something it ''isn't'' in the [=TV=] spots, putting emphasis on butt jokes, fart jokes, and Louis and Ray at their goofiest.
141* ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'': {{Subverted}}. The scene where Ralph is feeding pancakes to the bunny isn't in the movie proper, but it does appear as TheStinger, with the characters LeaningOnTheFourthWall to {{Lampshade}} it before the scene:
142--> '''Mo's Mom:''' Hey, Mo, did you like the movie, sweetie?
143--> '''Mo:''' Well, there was a scene in the trailer that wasn't in the movie and that makes me sad.
144--> '''Mo's Mom:''' Aw, that's too bad. Maybe playing your game will cheer you up.
145--> '''Mo:''' Okay.
146* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgsQ8mVkN8w a teaser trailer]] that makes the film look like more a traditional cartoon story, with Remy stealing cheese from the dining area of Gusteau's. It gives the impression that the viewer is in for some Tom-and-Jerry antics, instead of a story of a rat who wants to ''make'' food, not steal it.
147* ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'':
148** ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}'': The trailers made it look like the "Happily Ever After Potion" was entirely PlayedForLaughs. While the part with Donkey turning into a stallion (which was the only part shown in the trailer) certainly is, that's only half of it: its effects on [[spoiler:Shrek and Fiona]] are very much PlayedForDrama. Not to mention Donkey's "Gimme that bottle!" line was taken ''way'' out of context. In addition, the trailer [[spoiler:(via some spliced footage and audio) showed Shrek in ogre form when discovering that Donkey transformed into a stallion. In the actual film, they transform at the same time.]]
149** From watching the trailers or paying attention to any of the marketing for ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', one would think that the movie was about Shrek and Fiona having a ton of babies and Shrek having to learn to be a father. You couldn't be more wrong. The movie is ''actually'' about Shrek trying to find the only remaining heir to Fiona's parents' kingdom, and the baby thing is a minor reason behind it. All in all, about a minute and a half of the movie involves ogre babies--one NightmareSequence about halfway through (which shows dozens of babies, which is what most of the marketing drew its material from) and a short sequence at the very end of the movie where Shrek and Fiona have three children. That's all. But when you look at all of the promo merchandise, from fast-food toys to collectible glasses with pictures of ogre babies pasted all over them, that'd be a bit hard to deduce. In the UK, the trailers, standees and the ''title'' all implied the movie would be about Shrek being king. Shrek is king for a few short visual gags at the beginning before he sets out on his quest to find the true heir.
150* The ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' Platinum Edition DVD has 8.5% wider picture compared to the Special Edition DVD from five years earlier. Some promos exaggerated the difference by putting a clip or still from the Platinum Edition up against a picture trimmed even more heavily than on the Special Edition DVD.
151* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aav9EyVjtWc The trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' features a completely different version of the scene where [[DramaticUnmask Kenny removes his hood]] than in the actual film. Ike is present in the clip but not in the actual scene, and the boys look either horrified or surprised when they see Kenny's face, but they never have these reactions in the film. Trailers also downplayed the fact the film is a musical.
152** According to Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone's commentary on the film, the trailer the studio originally put together for the film was incredibly misleading, depicting the film as more of an Creator/AdamSandler-style comedy with funny sound effects edited in. They hated this trailer so much (Trey said it was "everything that ''South Park'' was against") that Matt Stone ''stole the trailer footage,'' getting them in trouble with the studio. They cut their own trailer that made the film look very melodramatic, an obvious joke in itself given the [[VulgarHumor genre of the show and the movie]], which was closer to the style of the final trailer.
153* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'':
154** All of the ads and the boxart play up the CGI scenes, which doesn't happen until the last half hour of the movie, and most of the film is in its traditional 2D hand-drawn animation, with plenty of {{Art Shift}}s.
155** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9awLSibQ80 This trailer]] promises a cameo by Slash as a street musician, which ended up [[DeletedRole being cut from the film.]] It also makes it look as if Burger Beard is the one who attacks the Krusty Krab. In the actual film, it's Plankton.
156* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QChRW52UwvI The teaser trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/{{Storks}}'' shows the stork delivery company still producing babies when in the film they stopped years ago.
157* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'':
158** In the first trailer, Mario says "Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!" as he and Toad make their way over the mushrooms to Peach's castle. In the movie, he never says this line.
159** A clip from the same trailer shows a Cheep-Cheep sucking on Mario's face and Peach and Toad pulling it off. In the full movie, only the first half occurs.
160* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' had an interesting marketing campaign:
161** Trailers and commercials included [[MissingTrailerScene jokes and scenes not seen in the movie]]. Some added completely new voiceovers that made it seem as if the plot of the film was that Rapunzel had escaped, and guards were attempting to put her back in the tower.
162** Ads and trailers made no indication to the film being a {{musical}}.
163** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f516ZLyC6U One trailer]] shows Rapunzel with PrehensileHair that can grab and attack Flynn on its own. Other trailers showed her using the hair to close doors and windows. In the film, the hair has none of these properties, and actually has to be carried by characters throughout, as it is liable to getting caught on objects as it drags across the ground.
164** By playing up some {{Subverted Trope}}s and the one scene in the film where Rapunzel overpowers the main male character, while using a punk-pop song by singer Music/{{Pink}}, the trailers led some to believe it was a Creator/DreamWorksAnimation-style parody of traditional fairy tales, rather than a fairly straightforward version of the story that updates Rapunzel to an ActionGirl.
165* ''WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}}'': The trailers, marketing, and [[LyingCreator even]] [[Creator/PatrickStewart his own voice actor]] stated that Max Winters was the main villain, and from the looks of things he was trying to unleash a bunch of horrific monsters on the world. [[spoiler:Winters is really TheAtoner who already unleashed the monsters centuries ago and is now trying to stop them, something that's made clear as early as the first five minutes.]] Additionally, the materials made it look like it would focus on all four turtles equally, but in the actual film, [[SpotlightStealingSquad Leonardo and Raphael]] are the only two with any real relevance to the story: Michelangelo and Donatello both have about 20 minutes of screentime each at most.
166* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57fb5gtVWE trailers and TV Spots]]:
167** In the trailer, there is a clip where Buzz Lightyear says, "You're mocking me, aren't you?" and pushes a tool box off a shelf and onto Woody. Given the context of the prior scenes shown, it seems as though Buzz is getting revenge. In the actual context of the scene, Buzz is really trying to help Woody escape (he continues to push the tool box without knowing that Woody managed to get himself out with ease), and the real line he says is "Almost... there..." The line as said in the trailer is actually used MUCH earlier in the film, around the point where Sid is introduced.
168** A TV spot has Buzz saying "I've set my laser from stun to kill" and Woody replying "Oh great, we can blink 'em to death" edited into the scene where they are riding on RC and being chased by Sid's dog.
169** When another TV spot shows the part where Little Bo Peep flirts with Woody, they added in a clip of Buzz getting up and saying "Don't even think about it, cowboy!". In reality, this is before Buzz is introduced.
170** One TV spot for a TV broadcast of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' has a character roll call, and the character, Hamm is credited as "Pig E. Bank".
171** Since the original theatrical run was during the holiday season, one TV spot consisted largely of footage from the Christmas epilogue, making the movie look like a Christmas story when most of it actually takes place in the summer. Likewise, since the original VHS release was on October 29, one of the TV spots for it consisted only of the movie's creepiest moments, making it look like a scary movie for Halloween.
172* The trailer for ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' hid the darker elements of the plot and made it look like the film was going to have the happy tone of the last two films, [[spoiler: [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil but in the later trailers it almost revealed that the real plot]] was an [[MoodWhiplash emotional rollercoaster.]]]]
173** The initial trailer for ''Toy Story 3'' was edited to make it appear that Buzz had been damaged when he attempted to leave the daycare, which is why the other toys had to reset him and accidentally made him speak Spanish. In the actual film, Buzz merely escaped the Caterpillar Room and was reset by Lotso and his gang to turn against the other toys.
174* The focus on Forky in the ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'' trailers had audiences anticipating a more existential look at exactly what makes a toy a toy. However, Forky's identity crisis is resolved early in the movie, his ability to be animate [[TheUnreveal not able to be explained,]] and the movie's themes are more about the ''purpose'' of a toy, regardless of origins.
175*** In most of the promotional material, Ducky and Bunny are separated from each other, but they are stitched together for the entire movie.
176* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'':
177** In the trailers, Ming is present when her daughter Mei is about to throw a dodgeball at Tyler, and Ming cries out, "Mei-Mei, stop!" In the movie proper, the "Mei-Mei, stop!" line is from earlier in the movie, and in the dodgeball scene, while her mother was spying on her daughter from her car, she'd already driven away by the time Mei throws the dodgeball at Tyler.
178** Mei's line "But maybe I like this new me" from the trailer isn't in the movie proper at all.
179** Ming's line "This little quirk runs in our family" isn't either.
180* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': As is tradition for Pixar's films, the initial teaser trailers contained original material created solely for the trailers that were never intended to appear in the film. Still, the jovial Carl in the earliest trailer contrasts quite sharply with the GrumpyOldMan of the film.
181* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ1CATNbXg0 The trailer]] for the Pixar movie ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' makes the movie look like an action adventure movie in which the last robot on Earth must save the planet. It's actually mostly a love story about two robots who find love, while also saving the planet along the way. Also, the trailer advertises Captain [=McCrea=] as a villain, as a made-for-trailer quote in his voice says, "Arrest that robot!" In the film, [=McCrea=]'s just a supporting protagonist. In addition, in the movie, the clip that plays in the trailer actually has him saying "Mutiny!!!" to Auto after the latter [[spoiler:betrays him by badly damaging Wall-E, throwing him in the garbage chute along with EVE, and leaving in in his room, just to follow his A113 order to not return to Earth]].
182* Ads for ''WesternAnimation/WonderPark'' focused on the colorful, upbeat theme park scenes while obscuring the darker scenes revolving around grief. Many were surprised to learn the protagonist's depression comes as a result of the mother being ''deathly ill''.
183* The trailers for ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph,'' and many of its advertisements, really puts emphasis on all those easily recognized villains at the Bad-Anon meeting, suggesting they will be reforming or rebelling against... being bad, and maybe even that the characters we think of as heroes are secretly jerks. But they're basically cameos, and the story is actually about Ralph accepting himself, and his [[LikeBrotherAndSister big-brother relationship]] with Vanellope -- who is barely shown in trailers, despite being the co-star.
184* One TV commercial for ''WesternAnimation/TheYearWithoutASantaClaus'' addresses Snow Miser as "Cold Miser".
185* Many people were surprised that ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' dealt with themes like racial profiling, the danger of negative stereotypes, political corruption, and more, because the ads made it look like a cutesy flick about funny talking animals.
186* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqkgkNYRvpc The trailer]] for the low budget animated movie ''Zoo Wars'' shows a scene where a moose says, "Your reign of evil is over, Boo Boo Squeal!", while in the movie it's actually a squirrel named Squezzy Whistle who says it during the climax. What's more, the moose shown actually works for Boo Boo to hunt down the heroes.
187* ''Anime/WeatheringWithYou'':
188** The Japanese trailers made things appear as if Hodaka and Hina would fall afoul of criminals taking an interest in their venture. "It's time to grow up, young man" is juxtaposed with the firing of a gun, making it seem as if a criminal is threatening Hodaka. [[spoiler:Ultimately, while criminals do make some appearances, they don't end up being the central antagonist, and the line in question appears in quite a different context.]]
189** One of the trailers played "Grand Escape" over the weather clearing montage, whereas in the film proper it plays when [[spoiler:Hodaka is taking Hina back to the human world.]]
190** Hina is briefly shown pushing a trolley near the Tokyo Teleport Station. This is a MissingTrailerScene; what actually happens there is different.
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