Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Animation Lead Time

 Animation Lead Time
type
FeatureClass
 Animation Lead Time
label
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time
page
AnimationLeadTime
 Animation Lead Time
comment
The production period necessary for any given work varies depending on the medium. Obviously live television is instantaneous, while even live-action scripted shows can be filmed and edited within days. This puts certain works like animation at a disadvantage, as animation takes time. Good animation takes a long time. Even the simplest animated TV shows can see a production period of a year for a single episode with multiple episodes in production at the same time.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })While the structure of an animation pipeline can actually a boon in some casesnote You don't need to film physical actors on location or a set, which adds far more flexibility in how much of a work can be produced without a large crew in the same location. The chaos of the COVID-19 Pandemic highlighted this, where animation was the one sector of the entertainment industry that had little issue continuing on as normal after a short adjustment period, since everyone could just work at home., there is one major creative sacrifice those in animation must always make: the ability to be topical. That isn't to say a piece of animation that spent five years in development can't give an accurate picture of the social or political climate it is eventually released in, but due to the long lead time, it's much harder to be certain that whatever you're commentating on will still be relevant over a year later. The more specific the subject you want to reference, the more likely you'll find your audience baffled about why you're still talking about it when everyone else has moved on months ago, assuming they even remember it.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Can result in Unintentional Period Piece if it ends up way behind on current events the time it is released. Compare The Shelf of Movie Languishment.
Examples:
 Animation Lead Time
fetched
2022-12-25T16:12:45Z
 Animation Lead Time
parsed
2022-12-25T16:12:45Z
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to BackstreetBoys: Not an Item - IGNORE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to ClusterFBomb: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to ExecutiveMeddling: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to FailedFutureForecast: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to Lampshaded: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to MerchandiseDriven: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to ShowWithinAShow: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to SuperMode: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to TaylorSwift: Not an Item - IGNORE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to TomAndJerry: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to ZigZaggedTrope: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingComment
Dropped link to runninggag: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Animation Lead Time
processingUnknown
Tom and Jerry
 Animation Lead Time
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Animation Lead Time / int_117430ad
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_117430ad
comment
The first episode of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper had a gag where Elvis' ghost goes to haunt Lisa Marie, presumably for marrying Michael Jackson. By the time it aired, Lisa Marie and Michael had been divorced for a month.
 Animation Lead Time / int_117430ad
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_117430ad
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_117430ad
 Animation Lead Time / int_1c1ceec7
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_1c1ceec7
comment
Monster Hunter: This is typically less of an issue between the console and handheld installments in the series, which are each handled by separate development teams, since there's a lot of communication and idea sharing between them; this allows a game to include monsters and hunting areas from another that was released a year or slightly less prior (for example, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate quickly adopted many monsters and features from Monster Hunter Portable 3rd which was released just one year prior and developed by the handheld team).note In fact, there was even a game, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, that included monsters and content from the Spin-Off Monster Hunter Frontier, which was handled by yet another development team and had only been released 8 months prior However, Monster Hunter: World (released in 2018) was very unlucky in this regard: Its development began in early 2014, but because of its secluded planning phase and the time required to incorporate the monsters' skeletons into the physics of the then-new graphical engine for the series, the game prescinded from all sorts of content featured in the fourth-generation and late third-generation games, with the exception of the Insect Glaive and Charge Blade weapon classes. For this reason, someone who hasn't played too many MH games would have thought at first that the game's predecessor was Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) (released in 2009) due to the presence of Barroth, Uragaan and Deviljho; rather than Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (released in 2017, only one year before World itself). The Iceborne expansion rectified this by adding newer veterans like Zinogre, Raging Brachydios and Glavenus.
 Animation Lead Time / int_1c1ceec7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_1c1ceec7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Monster Hunter (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_1c1ceec7
 Animation Lead Time / int_1d19e49f
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_1d19e49f
comment
Acknowledged in the Escape from Vault Disney! episode about Loki (2021), in which they discuss the third episode of the show shortly after the episode was released, yet the podcast would not release to the public until after the entire first season was out. This made all speculation instantly dated, and their success with their predictions was better than one would expect, but is still considerably off the mark from reality.
 Animation Lead Time / int_1d19e49f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_1d19e49f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Escape from Vault Disney! (Podcast)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_1d19e49f
 Animation Lead Time / int_1d1cc72d
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_1d1cc72d
comment
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon featured a spoof of HuGtto! Pretty Cure in one of their episodes. However, the next series was already on its seventh episode by the time the parody was broadcast. It also had the characters transforming by using food or drinks, which KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode, an incarnation that ended two years prior, used.
 Animation Lead Time / int_1d1cc72d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_1d1cc72d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_1d1cc72d
 Animation Lead Time / int_1e511d6f
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_1e511d6f
comment
One episode spoofed Bob Saget's hosting style on America's Funniest Home Videos. By the time it aired, he was replaced by John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes.
 Animation Lead Time / int_1e511d6f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_1e511d6f
featureConfidence
1.0
 America's Funniest Home Videos
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_1e511d6f
 Animation Lead Time / int_20e8e9bd
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_20e8e9bd
comment
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was locked into releasing in February of 1994 due to a McDonald's promotion, but as the game expanded in scope and its lead time increased, it became clear that it wasn't going to be complete by then. Rather than delaying the promotion, Sega instead split the game into two parts, releasing the first half in February as scheduled and the second half in October.
 Animation Lead Time / int_20e8e9bd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_20e8e9bd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_20e8e9bd
 Animation Lead Time / int_23945975
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_23945975
comment
Happens a lot in the Disney Animated Canon. Sometimes three to five years will pass between the initial announcement of a project and the theatrical release of the movie, thus occasionally having the final picture entering into a social or economic market for which it is ill prepared.
In the early 1990s it was not rare for Disney to include rough pencil tests and storyboards in the trailers for their movies, simply because there wasn't enough finished footage to make a complete trailer. This practice seems to have stopped, probably because it looks sloppy. The response has been to make initial teaser trailers merely describing the premise of the film using little to no footage from the actual movie; creating a custom short. Both Lilo & Stitch and The Princess and the Frog did this.
One of the reasons The Emperor's New Groove underwent a Retool was that it was locked into a 2000 release date thanks to a McDonald's tie-in, but by 1998 it was clear that the film in its then-current form wouldn't be ready by then.
 Animation Lead Time / int_23945975
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_23945975
featureConfidence
1.0
 Disney Animated Canon (Franchise)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_23945975
 Animation Lead Time / int_261c8d3f
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_261c8d3f
comment
The Simpsons plays with this. They often try to overdub relevant jokes after the finished animation is back from its overseas production.
They make it obvious on some occasions, such as the Super Bowl episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"; the names of the teams were only said once, with Homer's and Moe's mouths covered, and the overdub doesn't match the scene's audio. They also took some potshots at the then-current Lewinsky scandal, where the status of Bill Clinton's presidency was clearly overdubbed as well as the status of his marriage.
They try to overcome it with overdubs and lampshade hanging, but they still fall victim to this trope big time. Combined with the occasional tendency of episodes to air a season or more after they were completed — due to Fox's seasons and Simpsons production seasons not always lining up — this trope has (for instance) caused parody episodes to be released years after the works they were mocking. Case in point, "Simpson Tide", a parody of the 1995 film Crimson Tide, was first shown in 1998note The episode in question was actually produced as part of the 1995-96 season, but was held over for a very long time.
In one episode, several Itchy and Scratchy cartoons are shown in quick succession, all parodying films at least a year old. Krusty then hangs a huge lampshade on it, asking why they're parodying movies that old, and saying that the animation took too long to make to get it out sooner.
One area where the writers are able to be consistently topical is in what Bart writes on the chalkboard for the intro to each episode, which the writers use to occasionally address various mistakes or controversies in the episode that aired the week prior, or jokes that otherwise reference real-world events.
"Bart To The Future" features a bizarre example looping from a straight example into an aversion, with an infamous joke about a Donald Trump presidency in the distant future. At the time the episode was made, Trump was seeking the Reform Party's 2000 presidential nomination. But by its premiere in March 2000, Trump already suspended his campaign. It became an aversion after he was actually elected president in the 2016 election.
 Animation Lead Time / int_261c8d3f
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_261c8d3f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Simpsons
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_261c8d3f
 Animation Lead Time / int_2ec27115
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_2ec27115
comment
Teen Titans Go!:
The Running Gag in "BBBDay!" is that the Titans can’t sing Happy Birthday to You! because it's still under copyright. By the time it aired, a ruling invalidated the song's copyright, undermining the main joke of the entire episode. Later episodes have no problems singing the song.
"Hey You, Don't Forget About Me In Your Memory" was made with the intention of airing in February 2015 (the anniversary of the movie it spoofs). The episode aired in September of 2015.
"Teen Titans Roar" was a spoof of the ThunderCats Roar controversy that happened in 2018, but, like the show it was based off, aired in April 2020, although Teletoon in Canada aired it earlier.
Similar to "Hey You, Don't Forget About Me In Your Memory", "Toddler Titans...Yay!", which spoofs Dora the Explorer, was probably written with the release of Dora and the Lost City of Gold in mind. It wound up being released in November 2020, a year and three months after the movie and at a time when Nickelodeon had taken the show off their channel's schedules.
"Cy and Beasty" was likely produced with the release of Tom and Jerry in mind, but came out in August 2021, six months after its' theatrical release.
 Animation Lead Time / int_2ec27115
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_2ec27115
featureConfidence
1.0
 Teen Titans Go!
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_2ec27115
 Animation Lead Time / int_37ee9dd3
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_37ee9dd3
comment
Newspaper comics are often written a long time in advance — usually around eight weeks for dailies and 12 weeks for Sunday strips — which can cause problems for more topical comics like Doonesbury, as lampshaded here◊. Garry Trudeau works two weeks away from deadline, closer than any other syndicated cartoonist. He also has a hired inker, which cuts back on production time. Generally speaking, this keeps things relevant.
 Animation Lead Time / int_37ee9dd3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_37ee9dd3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Doonesbury (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_37ee9dd3
 Animation Lead Time / int_434363ba
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_434363ba
comment
"Hey You, Don't Forget About Me In Your Memory" was made with the intention of airing in February 2015 (the anniversary of the movie it spoofs). The episode aired in September of 2015.
 Animation Lead Time / int_434363ba
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_434363ba
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Breakfast Club
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_434363ba
 Animation Lead Time / int_44e0b783
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_44e0b783
comment
Garfield is included in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, but because Nickelodeon had yet to announce details about his Nicktoon adaptation, his moveset mostly references the newspaper comic, previous video game appearances, and Garfield and Friends. His inclusion in the game wasn't necessarily about promoting an upcoming show anyway; rather, it was simply because the devs wanted to include him.
 Animation Lead Time / int_44e0b783
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_44e0b783
featureConfidence
1.0
 Garfield (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_44e0b783
 Animation Lead Time / int_452a8b71
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_452a8b71
comment
The special Arthur's First Day first aired in late 2021, and was the first Arthur media to air following the announcement over the summer that the series would be coming to an end in 2022. With how Arthur's First Day featured some notable changes to the status quo such as Arthur and D.W. actually advancing to the next school year, many assumed this was an intentional move to start to give fans closure about the end being in sight; however, social media posts by the cast members revealed that the Grand Finale had actually finished recording in 2019. The airing of Arthur's First Day shortly after the announcement was a complete coincidence as production on the show had already been done for three years.
 Animation Lead Time / int_452a8b71
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_452a8b71
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arthur's First Day
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_452a8b71
 Animation Lead Time / int_455e3038
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_455e3038
comment
King of the Hill episodes apparently took a while to make, considering that they were airing hand-drawn episodes until its eighth season in 2003, where they switched to digital ink and paint (for reference, most cartoons were digitally animated by 2000). Then there's the episode "Lost in MySpace" which dealt with the Strickland Propane crew discovering MySpace. This episode was written in 2004, but didn't air until the end of 2008, when MySpace was declining in popularity. Fortunately, this is Truth in Television, as small rural communities like Arlen are often behind the times and don't embrace modern trends until after they've been established as commonplace elsewhere.
 Animation Lead Time / int_455e3038
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_455e3038
featureConfidence
1.0
 King of the Hill
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_455e3038
 Animation Lead Time / int_49cb0175
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_49cb0175
comment
Ralph Breaks the Internet features a lengthy segment involving Baby Groot, who received a brief marketing frenzy after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; however, between the time this segment was written and the film was released, Disney largely moved on from the character and Avengers: Infinity War had featured him as an adolescent.
 Animation Lead Time / int_49cb0175
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_49cb0175
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ralph Breaks the Internet
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_49cb0175
 Animation Lead Time / int_53a73ca0
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_53a73ca0
comment
When it was announced in 2018 that Star Wars: The Clone Wars was being revived for a seventh season, accusations were lodged at Disney that the company was only bringing back the series to distract from the recent Broken Base receptions of The Last Jedi and Solo. However, when the Clone Wars announcement was made in the months following the latter release, the reveal trailer featured fully-animated footage from one of the episodes, indicating that the revival had been planned for some time and was already in development.
 Animation Lead Time / int_53a73ca0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_53a73ca0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Wars: The Clone Wars
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_53a73ca0
 Animation Lead Time / int_5ce0632d
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_5ce0632d
comment
Jetsons: The Movie infamously replaced Janet Waldo (the original voice of Judy Jetson) with '80s pop singer Tiffany as a bit of Stunt Casting intended to draw in a teenage audience. By the time the film actually opened, Tiffany has long since fallen out of style (Janet Waldo didn't take it well, as she had recorded all of her lines prior but wasn't told she was being replaced, though she eventually let it go). In fact, the film took so long to produce that two of its lead actors died a year before it was released: this was the final acting role for both Mel Blanc and George O'Hanlon, the latter of whom passed away in the recording studio.
 Animation Lead Time / int_5ce0632d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_5ce0632d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Jetsons: The Movie
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_5ce0632d
 Animation Lead Time / int_60e46d26
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_60e46d26
comment
In 2003, MAD released an issue that featured one comic that took potshots at the sitcom 8 Simple Rules. There is generally a few months for the magazine to go from concept to published issue. As a result, the issue in question ended up coming out a just few weeks after the sitcom's star, John Ritter, died suddenly due to an aortic dissection. It was awkward.
 Animation Lead Time / int_60e46d26
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_60e46d26
featureConfidence
1.0
 MAD (Magazine)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_60e46d26
 Animation Lead Time / int_60f02ddb
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_60f02ddb
comment
This was one of the big reasons why American Dad! underwent reverse Issue Drift and moved away from topical political satire and more towards over-the-top and relatively apolitical Farce. The showrunners stated that it could take upwards of two years from an episode being written to being broadcast, which forces episodes to be written in a more timeless manner. They cited a joke made early on in the show's run about White House counsel Harriet Miers that was so outdated by the time it actually aired that the showrunners themselves forgot who she was and had to look it up online.
 Animation Lead Time / int_60f02ddb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_60f02ddb
featureConfidence
1.0
 American Dad!
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_60f02ddb
 Animation Lead Time / int_63dc0a2
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_63dc0a2
comment
There was a rumor that Georges Danton's design in the 2011 Hungarian film The Tragedy of Man was based on their highly controversial populist prime minister Viktor Orbán, who had then recently seized power. While the film's director Marcell Jankovics was a supporter of Orbán, sharing similar extreme nationalist, conservative and illiberal views, and Orbán did admit he had wanted to use Jankovics's influence for political gain, the movie had been in production since the 80s and Danton's scene was animated in 1991. At that point, Orbán looked different, was far less famous and still promoted completely different politics.
 Animation Lead Time / int_63dc0a2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_63dc0a2
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Tragedy of Man (Animation)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_63dc0a2
 Animation Lead Time / int_6825287d
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_6825287d
comment
The Very Special Episode made in reaction to the 2012 Hurricane Sandy disaster, "Shelter From The Storm", featured a hurricane called Hurricane Sadie and came out in 2015, which was 3 years later. In comparison, "April 9th" only came out a year after 9/11.
 Animation Lead Time / int_6825287d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_6825287d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Very Special Episode
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_6825287d
 Animation Lead Time / int_691352d1
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_691352d1
comment
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, based on the show of the same name, was released around the show's third season, but it only covers the first two seasons. As a result, a few details are missing, the most notable being that Darth Maul is labeled as a "Classic" character and uses his design from The Phantom Menace, despite Maul making a surprise return in Season 3, becoming a major villain for the rest of the series.
 Animation Lead Time / int_691352d1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_691352d1
featureConfidence
1.0
 LEGO Star Wars (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_691352d1
 Animation Lead Time / int_6ff8b00a
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_6ff8b00a
comment
Similar to "Hey You, Don't Forget About Me In Your Memory", "Toddler Titans...Yay!", which spoofs Dora the Explorer, was probably written with the release of Dora and the Lost City of Gold in mind. It wound up being released in November 2020, a year and three months after the movie and at a time when Nickelodeon had taken the show off their channel's schedules.
 Animation Lead Time / int_6ff8b00a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_6ff8b00a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dora the Explorer
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_6ff8b00a
 Animation Lead Time / int_746814ae
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_746814ae
comment
Arthur:
The special "It's Only Rock 'n Roll", guest starring the Backstreet Boys, has a 2002 copyright date, but was presumably produced sometime prior to then given that the Backstreet Boys are shown in their white outfits from the cover of their Millennium album, which was already close to four years old by then. Plus, the Boys were on hiatus at the time the episode was broadcast.
The Very Special Episode made in reaction to the 2012 Hurricane Sandy disaster, "Shelter From The Storm", featured a hurricane called Hurricane Sadie and came out in 2015, which was 3 years later. In comparison, "April 9th" only came out a year after 9/11.
The special Arthur's First Day first aired in late 2021, and was the first Arthur media to air following the announcement over the summer that the series would be coming to an end in 2022. With how Arthur's First Day featured some notable changes to the status quo such as Arthur and D.W. actually advancing to the next school year, many assumed this was an intentional move to start to give fans closure about the end being in sight; however, social media posts by the cast members revealed that the Grand Finale had actually finished recording in 2019. The airing of Arthur's First Day shortly after the announcement was a complete coincidence as production on the show had already been done for three years.
 Animation Lead Time / int_746814ae
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_746814ae
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arthur
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_746814ae
 Animation Lead Time / int_7a5d818d
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_7a5d818d
comment
High Score was a shortlived animated series from Matt Wilson, originally competing with Homestar Runner. The characters were later redesigned for Bonus Stage, which used a simpler style in order to allow a faster release cycle, necessary for Matt to keep pace as the show's creator, writer, animator, voice actor (of every character barring a few exceptions toward the end of the show's run), sound designer...
 Animation Lead Time / int_7a5d818d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_7a5d818d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bonus Stage (Web Animation)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_7a5d818d
 Animation Lead Time / int_7a8e5c7e
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_7a8e5c7e
comment
In the original The Transformers: The Movie, released in 1986, Devastator, formed from a combination of the six Constructicons, was featured as the most powerful of the Decepticons. This was because when production began on the movie, there were no other combiners, but by the time the movie came out, others had already been introduced in the toyline and even featured on The Transformers TV show (which led to Devastator undergoing a severe case of Villain Decay). This is also the reason why the film doesn't really feature any of the characters who had become important in the second season (the sole exceptions were Perceptor and the Coneheads)note IDW's Comic Book adaptation would later explain that the Special Teams and Omega Supreme were fighting at the Ark at the time.
 Animation Lead Time / int_7a8e5c7e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_7a8e5c7e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Transformers: The Movie
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_7a8e5c7e
 Animation Lead Time / int_7bff7264
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_7bff7264
comment
When Halo: Combat Evolved released on November 15th, 2001, many interpreted the game's plot, with United States themed soldiers fighting back Scary Dogmatic Aliens who had recently attacked one of humanity's major colonies, as commentary on The War on Terror. Bungie shot down these assumptions by noting that the overwhelming majority of the game's development occurred before 9/11 (it had been in development since 1997).
 Animation Lead Time / int_7bff7264
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_7bff7264
featureConfidence
1.0
 Halo: Combat Evolved (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_7bff7264
 Animation Lead Time / int_7fcce5c3
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_7fcce5c3
comment
"Teen Titans Roar" was a spoof of the ThunderCats Roar controversy that happened in 2018, but, like the show it was based off, aired in April 2020, although Teletoon in Canada aired it earlier.
 Animation Lead Time / int_7fcce5c3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_7fcce5c3
featureConfidence
1.0
 ThunderCats Roar
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_7fcce5c3
 Animation Lead Time / int_85a9b36f
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_85a9b36f
comment
The Emoji Movie was hit hard by this trope, with all the apps and slang featured in the film being already outdated again when the movie finally came out, despite it having a ridiculously short production time for a major studio animated film (from concept to final product in a mere two years). This was lampshaded in the Honest Trailer of the film.
 Animation Lead Time / int_85a9b36f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_85a9b36f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Emoji Movie
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_85a9b36f
 Animation Lead Time / int_935a39be
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_935a39be
comment
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, released in 2008:
Zelda still has her alter ego Sheik as an alternate form despite no game other than 1998's Ocarina of Time at that point having her take on that appearance. However, Sheik returned because when Brawl entered development, 2006's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was still in early production and that team planned to have the character reappear.
The game features basically no content from Super Mario Galaxy, which was released in November 2007, due to the two games having mostly-concurrent development cycles. It's only briefly mentioned in the game's Chronicle, and the game instead treats Super Mario Sunshine as the latest mainline Mario game. For the same reason, content on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is nonexistent (only having a mention in the Chronicle), so the newest Metroid content in the game is as of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (console, 2004) and Metroid Prime: Hunters (handheld and overall, 2006).
 Animation Lead Time / int_935a39be
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_935a39be
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_935a39be
 Animation Lead Time / int_93ef7a8c
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_93ef7a8c
comment
At the beginning of developing a Super Smash Bros. game, the team naturally decides on a project plan for the general concept of the game, which includes modes, changes to the battle system, and characters. The typical development cycle is a little above 2 years for each game, so the final product tends to feature characters or references that have become less relevant once the game is released (or completely lack ones that fans would expect). They do attempt to avert this by asking other Nintendo development teams about what they're working on, but since those projects are also in the midst of development, that can cause some issues in and of itself. Notably, this is the reason why Super Smash Bros. Melee only has a trophy referencing Luigi's Mansion, another referencing Pikmin (2001), and a character whose game wasn't even out yet back then (Roy, being a Moveset Clone of Marth and thus having very little in common to his actual portrayal from his own game).
 Animation Lead Time / int_93ef7a8c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_93ef7a8c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Smash Bros. Melee (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_93ef7a8c
 Animation Lead Time / int_9517cce6
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_9517cce6
comment
The British series 2DTV was an animated satire on the week's events, which obviously needed to be animated as quickly and cheaply as possible — and it showed. The basic idea was originally done with puppets as Spitting Image.
 Animation Lead Time / int_9517cce6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_9517cce6
featureConfidence
1.0
 2DTV
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_9517cce6
 Animation Lead Time / int_97abe183
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_97abe183
comment
Subverted with The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: Each episode was completed in 2-3 weeks, resulting in the series being finished at the end of 2003, but it could take years for an episode to finally air. It's not too bad, but Season 3 occasionally featured a song similar to "Hey Ya!" in montage scenes, and the episode "Lights! Camera! Danger!" doesn't reference any movie newer than Finding Nemo and has a Shout-Out to The Matrix after The Matrix Revolutions killed its popularity.
 Animation Lead Time / int_97abe183
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Animation Lead Time / int_97abe183
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_97abe183
 Animation Lead Time / int_a183d57f
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_a183d57f
comment
Futurama:
Admitted on the commentary track for episode "300 Big Boys", which was about a big tax refund that, when it happened, was quite a big deal... but then came September 11th. By the time the episode aired in June 2003, viewers either didn't get or didn't care about the reference.
On the commentary for "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" the writers also admit that the joke they wrote in early 2001 about Florida being known for recounts was no longer as relevant by the time the episode aired in March 2003.
 Animation Lead Time / int_a183d57f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_a183d57f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Futurama
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_a183d57f
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2482670
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2482670
comment
A video game based on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was released for the DS and Wii on October 5, 2010. It used the clock-based format introduced in 2008... and retired three weeks before the game came out, in favor of one where the categories and money amounts were randomly shuffled.
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2482670
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2482670
featureConfidence
1.0
 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_a2482670
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2569abc
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2569abc
comment
The October 2018 game Nickelodeon Kart Racers uses the old 2012 designs for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, not their Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which premiered in September 2018) designs. Oddly, the sequel still uses the 2012 designs, while 2021's Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, 2022's Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis and 2022's Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway use the 1987 designs, with 2019's Super Brawl Universe being the only game to use the Rise designs.
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2569abc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2569abc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nickelodeon Kart Racers (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_a2569abc
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2add1d3
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2add1d3
comment
Despite Splatoon 2 coming out a year and a half before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon content is almost entirely based on the first game, with 2's inclusion being limited to a pair of Mii costumes and content taken directly from the original game (such as music and spirits). Notably, the Inkling character itself has zero reference to the second game, with their Final Smash being a move that was cut altogether from the sequels.
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2add1d3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_a2add1d3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Splatoon 2 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_a2add1d3
 Animation Lead Time / int_a535581a
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_a535581a
comment
One of the reasons The Emperor's New Groove underwent a Retool was that it was locked into a 2000 release date thanks to a McDonald's tie-in, but by 1998 it was clear that the film in its then-current form wouldn't be ready by then.
 Animation Lead Time / int_a535581a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_a535581a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Emperor's New Groove
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_a535581a
 Animation Lead Time / int_a7b231a4
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_a7b231a4
comment
Fans of the bygone comic strip The Boondocks may regret that the TV series couldn't joke about current events nearly so much.
The lead-time in the comics was lampshaded shortly before the 2000 Presidential Election, where Huey laments that the candidate he was rooting for doesn't stand a chance. Aaron McGruder, meanwhile, keeps leaving comments at the bottom of the panels apologizing because he has to draw out the strips a couple of months in advance, so the polls may have changed in that time. Then at the end, it's revealed that the candidate Huey was rooting for was Ralph Nader, causing Aaron McGruder to admit that the polls for him probably didn't change after all.
 Animation Lead Time / int_a7b231a4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_a7b231a4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Boondocks (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_a7b231a4
 Animation Lead Time / int_a8729c90
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_a8729c90
comment
The Fairly OddParents! episode "Certified Super Sitter" has Timmy's parents making a reference to the Vine app, a short-form video hosting service. The reference is embarrassingly instantly dated, as the service was discontinued the day before the episode's original broadcast.
 Animation Lead Time / int_a8729c90
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_a8729c90
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Fairly OddParents!
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_a8729c90
 Animation Lead Time / int_aca7b22d
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_aca7b22d
comment
The Amazing World of Gumball gave an in-universe example in the Christmas episode "The Lie". With Elmore suffering from post-Christmas blues, Gumball makes up another holiday on the spot which is Christmas in all but name and the rest of the town goes along with it. That same night, his family settles down to watch the "Sluzzle Tag" special, a hastily cobbled-together few seconds of two CG-animated skeletons which abruptly cut off mid-sentence.
 Animation Lead Time / int_aca7b22d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_aca7b22d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Amazing World of Gumball
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_aca7b22d
 Animation Lead Time / int_ae050a9f
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_ae050a9f
comment
Zelda still has her alter ego Sheik as an alternate form despite no game other than 1998's Ocarina of Time at that point having her take on that appearance. However, Sheik returned because when Brawl entered development, 2006's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was still in early production and that team planned to have the character reappear.
 Animation Lead Time / int_ae050a9f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_ae050a9f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time / Videogame
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_ae050a9f
 Animation Lead Time / int_b2a5352b
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_b2a5352b
comment
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) features characters from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, when the show in question ended three years before the film's release and when a new generation of the franchise had just begun.
 Animation Lead Time / int_b2a5352b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_b2a5352b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_b2a5352b
 Animation Lead Time / int_b2ac2311
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_b2ac2311
comment
The day after the final Peanuts strip ran in papers, For Better or for Worse ran a strip wishing Charles Schulz a happy retirement. The problem was Schulz died the day before his final strip ran, so he never got to see it.
 Animation Lead Time / int_b2ac2311
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_b2ac2311
featureConfidence
1.0
 Peanuts (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_b2ac2311
 Animation Lead Time / int_b31b332f
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_b31b332f
comment
The Transformers Film Series had a different production timeline to the toys, which resulted in a number of discrepancies between the toys and how they were represented in the films. This was different from the norm, as the TV shows were typically developed in response to the toyline or more in conjunction. Optimus Prime got a major redesign about a year before the first movie came out and his major toy was notably different (mostly in the transformation scheme, but was close enough to be a decent figure for the character) while the original Megatron head design was redesigned after fan outcry four months before the movie and toys were set to release, but was a simple enough retool to get things in line by then. Later toylines like the Transformers Studio Series were able to boast about being more representative of the on-screen designs.
 Animation Lead Time / int_b31b332f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_b31b332f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Transformers Film Series
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_b31b332f
 Animation Lead Time / int_b5a087d7
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_b5a087d7
comment
One episode of Robot Chicken did a Lampshade Hanging on this. During a spoof of the film Into the Blue - which consisted entirely of the characters making general statements about themselves (e.g. "I'm in a bikini!" "I do lots of situps.") and awkwardly-forced title drops - Seth Green (in stop-motion animated form) interrupted the skit to briefly explain how animation takes time and therefore some skits may be irrelevant, since they would have had next to nothing to go on regarding the film when they were actually writing it several months beforehand. He then went on to state (with obvious irony) that he was confident that by now, Into the Blue had become a box office hit and won several Academy Awards, then closed by apologizing for any inconvenience.
 Animation Lead Time / int_b5a087d7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_b5a087d7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Robot Chicken
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_b5a087d7
 Animation Lead Time / int_bc42183b
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_bc42183b
comment
The Proud Family had an episode against music piracy, with the website at the center of it being heavily based on peer-to-peer file sharing site Napster (and The Matrix). By the time the episode came out, Napster (well, the original brand) was forcibly shut down just months prior.
 Animation Lead Time / int_bc42183b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_bc42183b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Proud Family
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_bc42183b
 Animation Lead Time / int_be68ee29
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_be68ee29
comment
During development of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Sakurai decided against making Takamaru playable due to Western unfamiliarity. The game was being developed when Nintendo was making this less of an issue, as The Mysterious Murasame Castle was the subject of a Nintendo Land minigame and got an international release on the 3DS Virtual Console.
 Animation Lead Time / int_be68ee29
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_be68ee29
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_be68ee29
 Animation Lead Time / int_c4282b71
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_c4282b71
comment
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
The second season finale cashed in on the 2011 Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, by having its own wedding in-universe. Except the first season hadn't even aired its finale at the time. The two-part episode "A Canterlot Wedding" aired a full year later.
Rainbow Power ponies began appearing in the show's toyline a full year before the show itself would debut them in the Season 4 finale.
 Animation Lead Time / int_c4282b71
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_c4282b71
featureConfidence
1.0
 MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_c4282b71
 Animation Lead Time / int_c42e88f5
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_c42e88f5
comment
As Marvel vs. Capcom 3 had its roster decided on before Super Street Fighter IV came out, its Street Fighter IV representative was C. Viper, being the closest of IV's newcomers to an Ensemble Dark Horse. After Super released, however, Juri overtook her, leading to C. Viper's inclusion feeling awkward by the time the game came out, and even more so after its Ultimate Updated Re-release.
 Animation Lead Time / int_c42e88f5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_c42e88f5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_c42e88f5
 Animation Lead Time / int_c6e9c6cc
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_c6e9c6cc
comment
The game features basically no content from Super Mario Galaxy, which was released in November 2007, due to the two games having mostly-concurrent development cycles. It's only briefly mentioned in the game's Chronicle, and the game instead treats Super Mario Sunshine as the latest mainline Mario game. For the same reason, content on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is nonexistent (only having a mention in the Chronicle), so the newest Metroid content in the game is as of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (console, 2004) and Metroid Prime: Hunters (handheld and overall, 2006).
 Animation Lead Time / int_c6e9c6cc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_c6e9c6cc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_c6e9c6cc
 Animation Lead Time / int_c75bc208
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_c75bc208
comment
While they'd been notorious for their string of loose copycat productions of Pixar films, only once was DreamWorks Animation able to use this trope to beat another film to the punch: The Wild, an obscure co-production between Disney and an independent Canadian company, had been in the works for six years before DreamWorks made its pre-emptive strike with the suspiciously similar (and more heavily stylized) Madagascar. Like The Thief and the Cobbler example above, the end result was the movie in production first released after the film that borrowed its concept became hugely successful, resulting in the original being accused of being a ripoff.
 Animation Lead Time / int_c75bc208
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_c75bc208
featureConfidence
1.0
 DuelingMovies
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_c75bc208
 Animation Lead Time / int_d202ce96
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_d202ce96
comment
Teasers for The Pagemaster were in theaters four years before the movie came out. This is because the film took three years to create. Shame that it ultimately wound up being a bomb financially, critically and among audiences.
 Animation Lead Time / int_d202ce96
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_d202ce96
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Pagemaster
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_d202ce96
 Animation Lead Time / int_d9c602eb
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_d9c602eb
comment
South Park is a rare aversion. The Stylistic Suck design is so comically simple to animate with industry standard software that, once the show switched over to such programs rather than animating construction paper cutouts by hand, the production time for episodes slowly became shorter and shorter until the creators found that they were now putting together entire episodes from concept to final delivery in a mere six days.
The ultimate example of this is the episode "Christmas in Canada", which included references to (and images of) Saddam Hussein's capture three days after it happened.
South Park broke its own record with "About Last Night...", spoofing the results of the 2008 election and the ensuing aftermath that had happened the previous night. Of course they wrote it assuming Obama's poll lead would translate into victory in the election (which it did) and an easily reworkable plot in case he didn't (and banked on the assumption that if Obama didn't win, an episode of South Park would go ignored in the ensuing frenzy).
Similarly, the episode "Obama Wins!" aired the day after Obama's reelection, but the plot of the episode also dealt with The Walt Disney Company purchasing Lucasfilm, which had happened a week prior.
Likewise, the seventh episode of Season 20 was originally written under the assumption that Hilary Clinton would win in 2016. When Trump won instead, Matt and Trey had to completely rewrite (and presumably, reanimate) the whole episode in less than a day, as well as change the title— originally "The Very First Gentleman", it is now known as "Oh, Jeez".
The Quintuplets episode was rewritten after commercials aired to be about the Elián Gonzales situation.
When Pope Francis was named Time magazine's Person of the Year, the episode "The Hobbit", which had him accepting the award, aired the very same day of the announcement.
One episode spoofed Bob Saget's hosting style on America's Funniest Home Videos. By the time it aired, he was replaced by John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes.
After doing a two-parter episode ridiculing Family Guy, the creators were asked if they were prepared for a battle of wits between the two shows. They responded if the FG team did anything in response they would just let it slide, mostly because their production schedule is so much faster they would have too much of an advantage.
 Animation Lead Time / int_d9c602eb
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_d9c602eb
featureConfidence
1.0
 South Park
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_d9c602eb
 Animation Lead Time / int_e5d4040a
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_e5d4040a
comment
The base roster and first set of DLC in Ultimate were locked in before the release dates of ARMS and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so they had to compromise by representing them with Mii costumes, spirits, and music. Characters and extra content overall from both games were eventually included in the second set of DLC.
 Animation Lead Time / int_e5d4040a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_e5d4040a
featureConfidence
1.0
 ARMS (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_e5d4040a
 Animation Lead Time / int_ea4f62db
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_ea4f62db
comment
After doing a two-parter episode ridiculing Family Guy, the creators were asked if they were prepared for a battle of wits between the two shows. They responded if the FG team did anything in response they would just let it slide, mostly because their production schedule is so much faster they would have too much of an advantage.
 Animation Lead Time / int_ea4f62db
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_ea4f62db
featureConfidence
1.0
 Family Guy
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_ea4f62db
 Animation Lead Time / int_ec2531c4
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_ec2531c4
comment
This ended up working in favor of Pixar's Coco, which featured a plot where a beloved celebrity (albeit a fictional one) is exposed for a terrible action...right as the #MeToo movement exposed famous actors, performers, and other celebrities for sexual misconduct.
 Animation Lead Time / int_ec2531c4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_ec2531c4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Coco
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_ec2531c4
 Animation Lead Time / int_ec80dae4
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_ec80dae4
comment
Zero Punctuation dealt with this when Yahtzee made his "Top 5 Games of 2015" which also had a category for the five blandest games, which was similar to the "Mediocre Awards"Jimquisition had done around the same time.
 Animation Lead Time / int_ec80dae4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_ec80dae4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Zero Punctuation (Web Animation)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_ec80dae4
 Animation Lead Time / int_f6a54e75
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_f6a54e75
comment
In many cases, the DLC characters take years of negotiating to include, and as a result the included characters don't always correspond to current developments. For instance, Sora, who was released in 2021 but in negotiations since the Smash Ballot in 2015, only minimally references Kingdom Hearts III, which was released in 2019.
 Animation Lead Time / int_f6a54e75
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_f6a54e75
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kingdom Hearts (Franchise)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_f6a54e75
 Animation Lead Time / int_fb1f271c
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_fb1f271c
comment
In the early 1990s it was not rare for Disney to include rough pencil tests and storyboards in the trailers for their movies, simply because there wasn't enough finished footage to make a complete trailer. This practice seems to have stopped, probably because it looks sloppy. The response has been to make initial teaser trailers merely describing the premise of the film using little to no footage from the actual movie; creating a custom short. Both Lilo & Stitch and The Princess and the Frog did this.
 Animation Lead Time / int_fb1f271c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_fb1f271c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Lilo & Stitch
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_fb1f271c
 Animation Lead Time / int_fdbace96
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_fdbace96
comment
Subverted with the Gravity Falls episode "Soos and the Real Girl", which has a climax involving a bunch of robots at a Chuck E Cheese-esque restaurant being possessed and attacking the heroes. Many fans understandably took as a Shout-Out to Five Nights at Freddy's, a horror game series that had just sprung up in popularity at the time. It was a pure coincidence.
 Animation Lead Time / int_fdbace96
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Animation Lead Time / int_fdbace96
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gravity Falls
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_fdbace96
 Animation Lead Time / int_fe85bfc8
type
Animation Lead Time
 Animation Lead Time / int_fe85bfc8
comment
Super Smash Bros.:
At the beginning of developing a Super Smash Bros. game, the team naturally decides on a project plan for the general concept of the game, which includes modes, changes to the battle system, and characters. The typical development cycle is a little above 2 years for each game, so the final product tends to feature characters or references that have become less relevant once the game is released (or completely lack ones that fans would expect). They do attempt to avert this by asking other Nintendo development teams about what they're working on, but since those projects are also in the midst of development, that can cause some issues in and of itself. Notably, this is the reason why Super Smash Bros. Melee only has a trophy referencing Luigi's Mansion, another referencing Pikmin (2001), and a character whose game wasn't even out yet back then (Roy, being a Moveset Clone of Marth and thus having very little in common to his actual portrayal from his own game).
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, released in 2008:
Zelda still has her alter ego Sheik as an alternate form despite no game other than 1998's Ocarina of Time at that point having her take on that appearance. However, Sheik returned because when Brawl entered development, 2006's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was still in early production and that team planned to have the character reappear.
The game features basically no content from Super Mario Galaxy, which was released in November 2007, due to the two games having mostly-concurrent development cycles. It's only briefly mentioned in the game's Chronicle, and the game instead treats Super Mario Sunshine as the latest mainline Mario game. For the same reason, content on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is nonexistent (only having a mention in the Chronicle), so the newest Metroid content in the game is as of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (console, 2004) and Metroid Prime: Hunters (handheld and overall, 2006).
During development of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Sakurai decided against making Takamaru playable due to Western unfamiliarity. The game was being developed when Nintendo was making this less of an issue, as The Mysterious Murasame Castle was the subject of a Nintendo Land minigame and got an international release on the 3DS Virtual Console.
Despite Splatoon 2 coming out a year and a half before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon content is almost entirely based on the first game, with 2's inclusion being limited to a pair of Mii costumes and content taken directly from the original game (such as music and spirits). Notably, the Inkling character itself has zero reference to the second game, with their Final Smash being a move that was cut altogether from the sequels.
The base roster and first set of DLC in Ultimate were locked in before the release dates of ARMS and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so they had to compromise by representing them with Mii costumes, spirits, and music. Characters and extra content overall from both games were eventually included in the second set of DLC.
In many cases, the DLC characters take years of negotiating to include, and as a result the included characters don't always correspond to current developments. For instance, Sora, who was released in 2021 but in negotiations since the Smash Ballot in 2015, only minimally references Kingdom Hearts III, which was released in 2019.
 Animation Lead Time / int_fe85bfc8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Animation Lead Time / int_fe85bfc8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Smash Bros. (Video Game)
hasFeature
Animation Lead Time / int_fe85bfc8

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

(none found)