Mood Whiplash/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'' has a couple of episodes of this. The sixth episode, "Max Out", is very serious, with the kids discovering that the DNAliens are actually [[The Virus|people infected by an alien xenocite]] and ends with {{spoiler|Grandpa Max [[Heroic Sacrifice|blowing up himself and the Highbreed Overlord]]}}. The seventh, "Pier Pressure", is very upbeat - it's about Ben's date with Julie, and is only minorly inconvenienced by the alien Ship's antics; there's no real villain. The eighth episode, "What Are Little Girls Made Of", is fairly serious, and gives a nod to the ending of episode six with Gwen moping a bit at the beginning. The sad thing is, by production numbers, "Pier Pressure" should have been aired ''sixth'', and then "Max Out" seventh; as it is, Gwen spends an entire episode happily encouraging her cousin to ask his crush out, and then bantering with Kevin on why he's slow to ask ''her'' out, before suddenly snapping back into grief.

* ''[[Garfield His 9 Lives]]'' goes from standard [[Garfield (Comic Strip)|Garfield]] humour, to a surreal take on the Garden of Eden story, to a [[Tear Jerker|sad story]] about a pianist's first cat, to a [[Nightmare Fuel|nightmare inducing scenario]] involving a lab cat, to a tribute to [[Krazy Kat]]. And at the end Garfield meets God. If you think that's bad, try to find the graphic novel it was based on. Most of the stories made it into the animated special, but not the one that ends with Garfield, drawn as a realistic orange tabby that's [[Mind Screw|either driven crazy by time travel or possessed by evil spirits,]] leaping with fangs bared and claws outstretched right into the face of his owner, an elderly woman. (Who's not even looking at him, and saying "come play with maw maw" right as he's pouncing.)

* Speaking of Transformers and mood whiplash between sequels, ''[[Beast Wars]]'', despite deep and emotional episodes such as "Code of Hero" and "Transmutate", was generally thought of as light-hearted and humorous. Its sequel series however, ''[[Beast Machines]]'', was much darker with an entirely different tone, look, and feel. Even Simon Furmon commented on how dark it was. This led in part to fan backlash.

** Speaking of "Code of Hero", we have Dinobot's last conversation where the Maximals are solemnly discussing Dinobot's sacrifice and Rattrap speaks up in a [[Call Back]] to a previous conversation they had that episode about where Dinobot stands. Still in pain, he says "upwind of you for preference", putting a smile on Rattrap's face, knowing his best friend won't let his imminent death stop their verbal sparring matches.

** Or the episode where Fry is weeping at the revelation of {{spoiler|how much his brother loved and missed him}}... while in the background Bender collects enough skeletons for a Mousketeers reunion.

* ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' does this on occasion

** And it's followed almost immediately with the scene of Mordred, a shriveled old man, being taken care of by his mother. In contrast to how he was in the entire episode as a kid, it's kind of a shock.

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' does this from time to time. Robin's constant puns and one-liners can be a bit distracting in serious fights or chases. It also may have been intentionally invoked with Baby Doll and her rapid switching back and forth between her real voice and her [[Tastes Like Diabetes|disgustingly cute]] persona.