What Could Have Been/Western Animation: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
* [[Mickey Mouse]] was originally going to be named Mortimer Mouse, after Disney's pet mouse. However, a number of people, including his wife, convinced him that children wouldn't want to watch a character named Mortimer. That was when Disney's wife suggested the name be changed to Mickey.
* ''[[
** The setting and plot of the series were originally supposed to be quite different from the finished result. The series was originally going to have a futuristic setting that was recreated into a pre-industrial society with heavy elements of [[Steampunk]]. The [https://web.archive.org/web/20151019185943/http://plus4chan.org/boards/a/res/58561.html#59033 original series summary] from the [[Universe Bible]] shows that the planned plot started out largely similar, but it deviated to a greater extent as time went on. Pretty much everything involving the Earth King and the invasion of the Fire Nation by the Earth Kingdom was the ''exact opposite'' of what was originally planned. The [[Grand Finale]] was also originally going to have a scene of {{spoiler|Zuko finding his mother}}, which was compressed into a [[Sequel Hook]].
** Many of the characters were modified from their original concepts, in both small and important matters. Zuko originally had a pet messenger hawk, as seen in the [[Pilot]], but the writers realized this would not work in the series and it never appeared. Zuko's and Mai's comic "Going Home Again" was also originally going to reveal that Zuko had always carried a rock of hardened lava shaped like a heart that Mai gave him when they were children. Katara's name in the pilot was Kya, {{spoiler|a name they used for her mother}}. More fundamentally, many female characters [[Affirmative Action Girl|were added to the cast]] as gender-swapped versions of male characters. Azula was originally supposed to be male, and the original plan for the second season shows no sign of any equivalents of Mai and Ty Lee. [[Cute Bruiser|Toph]] was originally supposed to be a big ''man'' and look like the Earthbender in the opening, whose model appears to have been reused as Roku's earthbending teacher. After that but before her final designed Toph was changed into a teenaged boy and a [https://web.archive.org/web/20151019185943/http://plus4chan.org/boards/a/res/58561.html#59100 love interest] of Katara... [[Les Yay|which would explain a lot]]. Toph's original design even got a reference in the already very meta 'The Ember Island Players'. However, one of the most drastic alterations was the nature of Uncle Iroh who was, originally, ''[[Evil Uncle|supposed to be evil!]]'' The plan was for Zuko to fight his uncle in season 3 and learn that Iroh had taught him incorrect firebending all along, under Ozai's orders.
** Behind the scenes, pacing issues necessitated changing the third season to twenty-one instead of twenty episodes, as Sozin's Comet was originally three episodes long instead of four. After realizing how rushed the finale would have been as a result, Mike and Bryan expanded it to four episodes.
** The [[Beach Episode]] was originally going to have A LOT more [[Fan Service]]. Considering how much it DID have, that really gets you thinking...
** Aang was originally going to be voiced by Mitchel Musso, yeah ''that'' [[Hannah Montana|Mitchel Musso]]
* ''[[Aeon Flux]]'': There was supposed to be a straight to dvd animated Aeon Flux feature that never materialized, Peter Chung and Japhet Asher colaborated on a script that would focus more on a visual storytelling than the hour hour episodes. For some reason at the last second the executives who green lit it decided to can it. The rumor mill says that Peter Chungs comments regarding the Aeon Flux movie and how bad it was, worked against him.
* ''[[Futurama]]'' was originally the story of a gruff deliveryman Fry, working for evil overlord Mom in a dystopian future and was originally named ''Aloha Mars!''
** [[Phil Hartman]] was originally cast as Zapp Brannigan. [[Billy West]] took over after Hartman's murder and Fry's first name (Phillip) was used as a memorial to Hartman.
* The ABC cartoon ''[[Sonic
** Before the series they had a series idea [http://info.sonicretro.org/Early_Sonic_the_Hedgehog_cartoon similar to it] which used very ''heavily'' edited versions of Sonic's animal friends.
** ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' was [http://ledastudios.rubberslug.com/gallery/master_query.asp?SeriesID=33783 supposed to be a prequel to the SatAM show], with a strong [[Stern Chase]] plot, Robotnik as a [[Knight of Cerebus]], and his Robomatic functioning more like the [[Unwilling Roboticisation|Roboticizer]] from SatAM. Everything else is still the off-the-wall wackiness that defines the actual show.
* [[Woody Woodpecker]]'s debut short, ''Knock Knock'' almost didn't get released because Bernie Kreiser, then distributor of Universal Cartoons, thought Woody was the ugliest thing he had ever seen. "You're not paying for these pictures," [[Walter Lantz]] told him. "All you're doing is distributing them, so release him, because I'm taking a chance". And so he did. The cartoon was a smash with moviegoers, and Kreisler asked for a series of comebacks, pretending nothing ever happened.
* Several ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' characters' names were changed (implicitly changing the character they are supposed to be an alternate version of). Bumblebee was actually supposed to be named "[[Transformers Armada|Hot Shot]]" before it was changed due to the popularity of the movie version of Bumblebee, and Sentinel Prime was originally supposed to be "Rodimus Prime" but Hasbro didn't like the idea of the name being associated with the [[Jerkass]] the character was. Meanwhile, [[The Medic]] for the Autobots was originally supposed to be a ''female'' named Red Alert, but later became Ratchet, who in this continuity is an old guy. Blitzwing was originally conceived as a character that could change into anything and had an unstable personality. Since they couldn't make [[Merchandise
** The third season featured a team that has Red Alert and different characters named Rodimus Prime and Hot Shot (who are more like the characters they're named after).
** Some scenes also had to be cut for time or for other reasons, as revealed in [http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/marty-isenberg-talks-dinobots-and-other-animated-tidbits/13665/ this interview.] The most major one? {{spoiler|Megatron beating the tar out of the Dinobots.}}
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*** Speaking of G1 Screamer, his name was originally going to be either Ulchtar, Silver Snake or Pretty Poison.
** Slipstream was originally intended to appear in "Endgame, Part II", in which she would revive {{spoiler|Starscream}} after the Autobots left Earth, but the scene was cut for time.
** The second [[All There in the Manual|Allspark Almanac]] mentions several plots the writers might have used if the series had gotten a fourth season. These included the team traveling to a '[[Transformers: Shattered Glass|Shattered Glass]]' [[Mirror Universe]] and {{spoiler|a ghostly Prowl}} bodyhopping between various Transformers in an attempt to warn the Autobots of an oncoming threat.
*** They also apparently planned on Sentinel becoming a potential antagonist, [[Karma Houdini|with his status in the show]], this would have been awesome.
**** {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime as a villain? [[Transformers: Dark of the Moon|Hmmmmm...]]}}
*** Another plan was a Season 4 episode would introduce a new character, [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Primal_Major Primal Major], who would be a failed cloning experiment by Blackarachnia. The title of this episode? "'''''Trukk vs. Munky!'''''"
* ''[[
*** The [[Merchandise
*** The ''Transtech'' design sketches and toy prototypes eventually got used by [[Transformers:
* ''[[Transformers Prime]]'' originally had Ironhide as a member of the main [[Five
* [[Greg Weisman]] had ''so'' many scrapped ideas for ''[[
** None of these ideas quite match the original series proposal: a comical derivative of ''[[Gummi Bears]]'' with Xanatos as the bumbling descendant of a wizard.
*** This version also had Broadway as a female, but [[Executive Meddling]] [[Double Standard|didn't like the idea of an overweight female lead]]. The clan was also led by another female named Dakota, but she was deemed uninteresting, so they created Goliath and retooled her into [[Big Bad]] Demona.
** There was even originally going to be a brief revival of the show in 2002.
* The original concept for ''[[
** Steve Marmel, the once main writer for ''Danny Phantom'' has also stated his vision for Season Three would have been gravely different than what we have now. Don't know what they are, but what was most definitely confirmed was that the season would have been darker and [[Evil Counterpart|Dark Danny]] would have return. Too bad [[Executive Meddling]] got in the way.
* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'': Numbuh 3 was going to be [[The Unintelligible]] who only spoke Japanese, and Numbuh 5, instead of just being [[The Quiet One]] and [[Only Sane Man]], was going to be [[The Voiceless]] (which she got to fulfill in the dialogless episode "The Fly"). These plans were canceled because they (correctly) decided it would be unfair for neither of the girls to be allowed to speak.
** Also, one of the latter seasons' 11 minute episodes, SPANKENSTINE, was originally penned as a Thanksgiving 30 minute special. Numbuh 2's addiction to chocolate sauce? Actually was supposed to be ''cranberry'' sauce.
** In a crazy case of this, the official website (no less) for the show has under Numbuh 5's entry: "Her big secret: She wears glasses." Which is the case in the pilot (and ''CARAMEL'', and her opposite-verse self in ''POOL''), but ''not'' the character as we know her.
** Originally, the kids of Sector V were side characters on the failed show ''Kenny and the Chimp''. They were five friends who lived next door to Kenny, had a different name for themselves every time they appeared, and were just out for trouble. Also, their tech was originally supposed to be traditional shiny stuff, but [[Cartoon Network]] [[Executive Meddling|asked this to be changed]] since [[
** And according to some rumours, ''OP ZERO'' the [[Big Damn Movie]], was originally going to be the series finale, but a few more seasons were announced.
* ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'': Long before ''[[Rugrats|All Grown Up]]'' was a twinkle in Klasky and Csupo's eyes, Craig Bartlett had announced his intention to make a flash-forward series after ''Hey Arnold'' ended centering around Helga Pataki named "The Patakis". The jury is still out on whether that would have been a good thing, but in the end, none of the nets he pitched it to wanted it, due to its premise being too similar to MTV's [[Daria]]. He'd also pitched two movies to Nick, one for TV and one for cinemas. Only the one for TV was made... and it went into cinemas. The troubles with the other movie are well-documented.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130620190040/http://heyarnold.wikia.com/wiki/The_Jungle_Movie Details of the movie can be found here.]
* ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'': An episode was written, storyboarded, and even had lines of dialog recorded that had the Angry Beavers coming to grips with their show being canceled and [[Lampshading]] the fact it would be stuck in reruns for eternity. This went against Nickelodeon's guidelines, stating no show should ever acknowledge its own ending - a measure put in place to ensure [[Viewers
** Mary Harrington, the producer of this and multiple other Nicktoons, says that she thought this episode was brilliant but didn't want kids to be sad that Dag and Norb were being "killed off" (the episode ended with the brothers [[Ascend to
* The ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episode "Rewriting History" was meant to have actually happened. But [[Executive Meddling|for some reason]], it turned out to be [[All Just a Dream|a dream]].
** ''[[Or Was It a Dream?]]''.
** Also, Season 1 villainess Adrena Lynn was conceived as Kim's [[Evil Counterpart]] and recurring nemesis. Then Dr. Drakken and Shego were introduced and the producers decided Shego made a much more interesting threat. Well, that and Adrena Lynn was [[The Scrappy|poorly received]] by the fanbase.
* Originally, ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' were going to be called "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpHk8BCg4JA the Whoopass Girls]", but this was objected to. It was also a "Can of Whoopass" and not "Chemical X" that gave them their powers. Not ''too'' different from the final product other than the naming [[Executive Meddling|being too "extreme"]]; but still.
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** The original premise for [[Big Damn Movie|The Powerpuff Girls Movie]] was to have all the regular villains battle over who should rule Townsville, but it left little screen time for the girls. So creator Craig McCracken pitched the idea to make it an origin story with the conflict of having Mojo Jojo trick the girls into helping start a rule of superapes which in turn would try to usurp Mojo.
** Season 5 was to have an episode, "Deja View," that had the girls being whisked to an alternate universe Townsville with their alternate counterparts, the "Powerpunk Girls," trading places with them. Deadline and budget issues (the alternate universe scenes were to be CGI) caused the episode to be scrapped but the storyline was retooled as issue #50 of the comic book.
* Season 7 of the second ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003
** Another thing that was ultimately scrapped was {{spoiler|an arc called "The Shredder Wars"}} in ''Back To The Sewers'', where we'd find out {{spoiler|exactly how the conflict in the first episode of the season started}}, but these plans were discarded, possibly in favor of ''[[Turtles Forever]]''.
* ''[[Freakazoid!]]'' was originally designed as a fairly straitforward superhero show with comedic overtones. By the time it aired it was pure comedy with little action. On the DVD, the show's creators commented that the [[DCAU]] version of the Creeper is pretty much how the original Freakazoid would have been.
** Don't even get started on [[One
* ''[[Code Lyoko]]'' was originally ''Garage Kids'', with a darker theme and lacking Aelita. The digital world was called "Xanadu" instead of "Lyoko". Also, Yumi could use telekinesis in the real world. It was later revamped, with a clearer boundary between the digital world and real world.
* ''[[The Secret Saturdays]]'' was originally pitched as the adventures of three animal heroes (all of them previously thought to be mythical in [[Real Life]], like the okapi) as they prevented an evil dodo bird from exposing the existence of other cryptids. Nobody wanted the show like that, so it was reworked heavily into what we know today.
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** Originally, Gromit was planned to talk. Then they filmed a scene in ''A Grand Day Out'' in which Wallace uses Gromit as a saw horse and Gromit looks disgusted and rolls his eyes. This cemented his position as the silent, suffering, [[Straight Man]].
* Ever since the ''[[Constant Payne]]'' pilot was leaked, many people have been sighing at [[What Could Have Been]] a pretty good (or at least cool-looking) series.
* ''[[The Fairly
** Also, the original script for Wishology Part III was very different from what was finally shown; In the final scenes, there was no [[Reset Button]] and Timmy in fact used his [[It Makes Sense in Context|Turbo Pits]] to create a type of light show for the party celebrating the victory. It was also stated in the script that the Darkness' Eliminators were created from the weapons that Turbo Thunder's people fired into it.
** And in the original script, Wanda's name was Venus. Why it was changed, we don't know...
*** [[Just for Pun]]!
* The [[DC Animated Universe]] had quite a few things like this, given its long length and famous run-ins with characters being [[Exiled From Continuity]] and [[Executive Meddling]]:
** There were talks of [[Neil Gaiman]]'s [[The Sandman|Sandman]] appearing in a special [[Batman:
** [[Black Canary]] was originally going to be in a BTAS episode (a team-up with Catwoman that saw the usual Batfamily appear only near the end), but at the time [[Executive Meddling]] dictated that Robin had to be prominent in every episode, so the episode was scrapped.
** Originally the "[[Captain Ersatz|Justice Guild of America]]" from ''[[Justice League]]'' was going to be the actual [[Justice Society of America]], but [[Executive Meddling|pressure from DC]] necessitated the change to not-quite-exact copies.
** Plans were made for the ''[[Birds of Prey]]'' to guest star in an episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' with a [[Broad Strokes]] retelling of their origin. Barbara Gordon, as [[Batgirl]], would be hospitalized while on a mission and be forbidden by Batman from pursuing the matter further. Unwilling to let the mater go, she would recruit [[Black Canary]] and the Huntress and use them to finish the mission while monitoring them over the radio. Unfortunately, the 'Bat-Embargo,' a moratorium on using Batman related characters due to conflicts with ''[[
** Tim Curry auditioned for the role of The Joker, but his preformance was deemed "too creey". Too creepy for the Joker. Think about that.
** Nocurna was meant to be in an episode of BTAS as a vampire. The episode was axed because the Fox censors didn't approve of the story, which involved Batman being turned into a vampire and craving human blood.
** Captain Marvel was originally going to appear in [[Superman:
*** Speaking of ''Superman: The Animated Series'', [[Clancy Brown]], who voiced Lex Luthor, originally auditioned for the role of Superman.
** There was a planned DTV movie called ''Justice League: Worlds Collide'' that would have involved the Justice League facing the [[Evil Counterpart|Crime Syndicate]] and would have served as a bridge between ''Starcrossed'' and [[Justice League Unlimited]]. The movie would have explained the formation of [[Heroes Unlimited|the expanded League]] and the newly built, much larger Watchtower. The movie never materialized and, after JLU was cancelled, the script was re-written to fit into the DC Original Animated Movies line and was published as ''Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.'' The story remains nearly identical and addresses the same plot points, with only alterations in animation, cast and minor history references serving to distinguish it from he DCAU.
*** In an interview before the movie came out, Bruce Timm said that Vanessa Marshall, WW's voice in the movie, was also in the running for WW's voice during ''[[Justice League]]'' before they settled on Susan Eisenberg.
**** Likewise, on the commentary track for ''[[Superman: Doomsday]]'', Bruce Timm said [[James Marsters]] was almost [[Green Arrow]] on ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', but had to bow out at the last second.
***** Actor Sherman Howard had played Luthor in The Adventures of Superboy and apparently gave a great audition when the DCAU team was looking for their Lex. They were very interested in offering him the role until they heard Clancy Brown. Howard was subsequently cast as The Preserver in two episodes of Superman, and later Derek Powers on ''[[Batman Beyond]]''.
** While it probably would not have been integrated into the DCAU, [http://www.slashfilm.com/gotham-high-animated-teen-batman-show/ Gotham High] probably deserves a mention here. The premise was basically "What if all the Batman characters were in high school together"?
* ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' originally was going to have Jimmy dying in the first episode and ending up in Miseryville thanks to [[Celestial Bureaucracy|an administrative error]]. The fact that Jimmy was [[Dead to Begin With]] would allow him to do some pretty crazy things, like unscrew the top of his head and pull bones out of his body. Also, Heloise was originally going to be a [[Serial Killer]] arranged by Lucius to make Jimmy miserable, but she ended up falling in love with him instead.
* Originally, the titular hero of [[
* The writers for ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' had some [https://web.archive.org/web/20160404092712/http://www.joeheadquarters.com/interviews_dixon.shtml intriguing plans] that never materialized, mostly due to [[Executive Meddling]]
** Specifically, "The Most Dangerous Man in the World" would have started with Cobra suspending all other schemes for a worldwide manhunt for a single man, and the Joes investigating the reason for this abrupt shift. The Joes would eventually find the subject, who would be revealed as a ''political science professor'' who invented the socio-political system that Cobra was based on. The professor was planning to publish a paper documenting a newly-discovered fatal flaw with the system; Cobra wanted to eliminate him to keep the weakness hidden. The entire storyline was scrapped when Hasbro [[Executive Meddling|insisted on including Serpentor in the movie and cartoon.]]
* [[Static Shock|Static]] was supposed to join the [[Teen Titans (
* The "Kamp Krusty" episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' was originally conceived as the first ''Simpsons'' full-length film. They eventually scaled back their vision, and a ''Simpsons'' film would not be made until more than a decade had gone by.
** The episode "Cape Feare" (in which Sideshow Bob tries to kill Bart and the family goes into hiding) was also considered for the film, but it was already too short to really be used. They had to use the [[Overly Long Gag]] of Bob stepping on rakes to pad out the episode.
** Some of the DVD creator commentary mentions plotlines or episodes that never got off the ground. For example, the B-story of "New Kid on the Block" was originally going to involve Homer and Marge going to see Don Rickles, and a brawl breaking out between Rickles and Homer after Homer became the target of Rickles' insults. This never manifested because Rickles refused to lend his voice or image to the show (which might explain the gag in "Viva Ned Flanders" where Rickles is blown up and run over...)
** ''[[The Simpsons]]'' has a lot of [[What Could Have Been]] moments, if you ever listen to the DVD commentaries.
*** The "Robot Richard Simmons" joke on the episode where Bart gets adopted by Mr. Burns got cut because test audiences didn't think it was funny (it didn't stop the writers from putting it on that clip show episode where Troy McClure narrates The Simpsons' history and behind-the-scenes moments).
*** The season 10 episode where Bart kills a mother bird and has to care for the eggs was originally a B-story that didn't have a place in any episode. The original B-story involved Homer saving a nest of eggs from being orphaned in the winter.
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*** "Stark Raving Dad" (the season three episode where Homer meets a big, bald mental patient who thinks he's [[Michael Jackson]]) was originally supposed to have a sequel where that big, bald mental patient returns and now thinks he's [[Prince]] and encourages everyone in town to be free and open with their sexual lives. While the premise of Springfield being free and open with their lives (with disastrous results) would be visited on the season five episode "Bart's Inner Child" (only it would be changed to everyone acting like Bart, from skateboarding to making wisecracks in class), the original episode was written, but never made, due to Prince refusing to do voicework.
**** There's another "what could have been" to that story...Prince decided he didn't like the episode's script and demanded they produce a script he gave them (which he may or may not have written himself.) Reportedly, the script was not up to the show's standards (and was also completely insane.) When the producers refused to use it, Prince backed out.
* [[Mega Man (
** Early drafts of the series also suggest that, originally, the characters would have their child-like looks from the games. The whole "teenagery muscled"-look was used since, according to the higher ups, boys would never identify with a hero who looked like a little kid. Or something.
* Hello? ''[[
** Also, Skooge (the Irken [[Butt Monkey]] from Hobo-13) would have gone on to be a regular character and a pseudo-sidekick of Zim's alongside Gir and Mini-Moose as well as a finale that involved Dib taking on the Irken Empire.
** Also, [[Jhonen Vasquez]]'s original idea would have been about Zim flying around space rather than being stationed on Earth.
** The hour long final episode would have ended with Zim finally taking over Earth, with Dib stranded on a moon/planet.
* The original premise for ''[[
** If Sierra wasn't made, It would have been very likely for Beth to take her role as Cody's [[Stalker
** According to the Fresh blog, one of the locations they decided not to do for ''World Tour'' was [[
* [[The Pilot]] of ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' shows a few original ideas that were scrapped: Phineas was more sarcastic ([[Word of God]] says they wanted him to act like an annoying little brother), Doofenshmirtz's name was "Meddleshmirtz," and the boys were going to be canonically nine instead of [[Vague Age|canonically indeterminate]]. Also, Ferb never spoke, implying he might have been planned to be [[The Voiceless]] instead of just [[The Quiet One]].
** The theme song was originally meant to be sung Barbershop Quartet style. Disney decided kids wouldn't identify with a musical genre that stopped being popular a hundred years ago, so they had a rock band record it. Interestingly, the lyrics and melody were barely changed.
* The ''[[
** The earliest concept for the show didn't feature the Warners at all. Instead, it centered around three duck brothers: Smakky, Yakky, and Wakky. The latter two were pretty close to the personalities of Yakko and Wakko, but Smakky was completely different: he was a sourpuss with a short temper, and also the trio's leader. The original idea was that Smakky would be the lead character, having to put up with his two insane brothers. A few scripts later it became clear that this dynamic wasn't working, as it was very difficult to sympathize with the humorless Smakky, while the other two seemed more funny without him. So Smakky was replaced with a sister, the three were renamed, and it was eventually decided that they shouldn't be ducks, because Disney already had two duck shows on the air at the time.
* ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' is a show that's pretty hard to view outside the context of its positively epic and vindictive degree of [[Executive Meddling]]. After it finally got cancelled, much of the key staff stayed together afterward. Once out from under Disney's abusive shadow, their very next project was...''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Now imagine what the former show might have been without Disney being idiots.
** A few specifics: the Huntsclan's plot with the Aztec skulls was originally going to last the entire second season, with the third season dedicated to Chang resurrecting the Dark Dragon. "Homecoming" would have been a two-parter involving Sun Kim being [[Killed Off for Real]] and a revelation that Chang was [[I Am Your Father|Jake's grandmother]]. However, when it became clear the series would not be renewed, the two seasons were crammed together, and Disney vetoed the above ideas, declaring it too dark (and resulting in [[Writers Cannot Do Math]], since they couldn't say Jake's mother was born out of wedlock). Also, Rose was supposed to stay in New York after losing her memories, with Jake attempting to rebuild their relationship, but Disney decided this was "[[Viewers
* ''[[
* ''[[WITCH (
** Pieces of the original pilot animation can be found around [[YouTube]] and the US opening, but the original idea would have put the girls (minus Will ''again'') at full power in civilian form. As well, Irma's Guardian form color scheme was reversed in the pilot, but set back to normal when the series started.
* ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
* Many people would like to see the third, fourth, maybe further, seasons of ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' produced and envisioned by Spumco, considering that towards the end of the second season, they were getting incredibly good at what they were doing, with episodes like "Son of Stimpy" and "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen". The later episodes, made by Games Animation, aren't even comparable to any of the earlier seasons' cartoons. If only John K weren't busy being fired...
* ... and now, we can definitely add [[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]. It was planned for a five-season run (ending with Peter's graduation from High School) - the timing of the Disney/Marvel buyout would have limited it to only three seasons, but because the show also switched networks, it only got two. And because of ''that,'' we wind up ending with the revelation that all of Peter's friends save Mary Jane are alienated from him, Harry hates Spider-Man, Gwen remains his girfriend after some emotional blackmail from Harry, and Peter didn't even stop the bad guy. One assumes later seasons (even just one more given a few episodes' warning it was about to end) would have chosen a more upbeat coda. Some fans have even went as far as to pretend the non-canon Spidey/Gargoyles radio play produced months later is a more upbeat and hopeful conclusion to the series.
** Greg Weisman has stated that the third season was to include Hobgoblin and Scorpion. Norman Osborne was not to return until at least Season 4. Carnage and Hydro-Man had both appeared in non-powered form during Season 2. Dr. Miles Warren might have finally gotten to upgrade himself and become a proper supervillain. And some statements made online indicated that Molten Man was being groomed to join the fight alongside Spider-Man.
** Apparently Weisman had more backstory for the nature of Flash and Peter's rivlary planned out and how they stopped being friends. Also although the rights were tied up, Weismen said he would have liked to have been able to have had a Spidey/Human Torch crossover. The Big Man/Tombstone was going to be Wilson Fisk, but his rights were tied strictly to Daredevil adapations and thus couldn't be used. He apparently approached Marvel about continuing the series in comic form, but they never got back to him (Disney/Marvel and Sony's iffy-ness about the rights probably played a factor).
* ''[[
** The oddest of the bunch for the heroes of that storyline was the Lizard. That was because originally, it was supposed to have been the Hulk. However, he had his own cartoon at the time and was replaced with She-Hulk. However, she ended up joining the Hulk in his series so the green-skinned character was replaced ''again'' with the Lizard.
* Had the series continued, Peter and Madame Web would have found the real Mary Jane in an alternate Earth version of Victorian London around the time of Jack The Ripper, with the ripper turning out to be Carnage.
* The ''[[South Park]]'' episode "The Coon" was intended to be more of a parody of ''[[Watchmen (
** In "Wacky Molestation Adventure", Cartman was originally going to block out the sun. However, after learning that [[
** "A Million Little Fibers" was originally going to be about Towlie on ''Intervention''. However, they couldn't fit it in right, so they ended up revamping it. The original idea was later used in "Cripple Summer".
** "Pinewood Derby" was going to be an hour long special where Randy finds out that dinosaurs had killed themselves off after inventing guns, and convinces everyone to do away with them. After this, an alien would have arrived and [[Take Over the World|taken over the world]] with a handgun, with no one able to stop him. The entire plot was torpedoed by, once again, ''[[The Simpsons]]'' [[The Simpsons Did It|have done it earlier]].
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** [[Nancy Cartwright]] was the original choice for the female characters on the show, she dropped out because of the vulgarity.
** Same thing with Barry White, who was supposed to be the original voice of Chef, but declined because the show went against his Christian values.
* ''[[Storm Hawks]]'': In the original concepts for this show, the Storm Hawks are a bunch of prison kids who escape into the Wastelands, where they meet Oriole(Piper). In addition to the war against Cyclonia, the plot involves their quest for the Helix, an artifact holding the world together. The Helix is broken up into numerous crystal fragments around the world and [[Gotta Catch Em All|it's the Storm Hawks' job to find them]] with help from the Guardian of the Helix, the White Hawk. (Who, incidentally, is the one who leads <s> Piper</s> Oriole to the others in the first place.) Instead of Master Cyclonis, we have Master Anarchis ([[Epileptic Trees|Cyclonis's mother?]]), a fashionista who was formerly exiled to the Terra of Thorns by her brother, Heron, the rightful king of Cyclonia. Piper is a well-traveled, crossbow-wielding adventurer. Finn is younger and smaller ([[Small Girl, Big Gun|but still the main turrets guy]]), has a knack for telling [[Con Man|tall tales]], and fights with energy blades in hand-to-hand combat. Junko has a temper, although he tries to control it. Stork is an expert metal-smith and a loyal friend who is largely confined to the Condor due to a leg injury. Also, there are living storms that have their own names and personalities. Some of this can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20110825104218/http://disneyxd.disney.in/shows/storm_hawks/index.html here], although other things like the Helix plot are no longer up.
* Season 4 of ''[[
* A scraggly young man once walked into the [[John Kricfalusi|Spumco]] offices stating his intention to write a song for ''[[Ren and Stimpy]]''; that song was then promptly tossed in the trash. That young man was [[Kurt Cobain]].
* In 2006, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn74McRwEg0 a pilot of a new interpretation] of [[Plastic Man]] was offered to [[Cartoon Network]]. Sadly, it was never picked up, despite being impressively well animated, containing a lot of both visual and verbal fun and managing to gain quite the fandom (that still hopes to "pull an [[
** It pulled an ''[[
* After the animated special [[Peanuts|Snoopy's Reunion]] was aired, Charles Schulz thought of working on a miniseries about each of Snoopy's siblings, but the network declined.
* Apparently, there were originally plans to make another Batman TV Show... [[High School AU|Centered on Bruce Wayne's High School years]]. [http://jeffandceleste.blogspot.com/2011/01/gotham-high.html Yes, this existed.]
** Technically, all that was required was "Batman in High School." And [[Loophole Abuse|technically]], [[Batman Beyond|it actually got off the ground]].
*** But not turning the Batman [[Rogues Gallery]] into High School stereotypes...
* The original pitch for ''[[Darkwing Duck (
** The Ducktales episode "The Masked Mallard" inspired the writers to think up some more episodes featuring Scrooge's heroic alter-ego. Eventually, they came up with so many episodes, they decided to create a new show starring a different character.
*** The writers came up with the idea of a spin-off set Twenty Minutes into the Future, featuring Gosalyn as either a teenager or young adult, and featuring her own superhero alter-ego, Quiverwing Quack (who had previously appeared on Darkwing, and was a Green Arrow parody, right down to the trick arrows). It never got past the planning stages.
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*** There were plans for an episode where DW and Evil Twin Negaduck had to team up to defeat a somehow revived Manifest Dark Side Negaduck.
* ''[[Heavy Gear]]'' deserves a mention. The original plotline for the show was much closer to the Tabletop Game it was based on, with the Heavy Gear Tournament only taking up the first arc of its run. The story after that involved renewed conflict between the North and South, and then with both factions having to team up to fight off an Invasion from Earth. This storyline was however scrapped because the executives thought the plotline would be too hard for Children to follow (despite the fact that the Tabletop Game was originally NOT marketed at that demographic). As a result, the Tournament Arc was kept, but the episodes after that became mostly Exhibition Matches and a pair of Clip Shows.
* The main six kids in ''[[
* ''[[
** There's [
** ''[[My Little Pony:
** Storyboard sketches show that originally [[My Little Pony G 3
** ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
*** The whole show got started because [[Lauren Faust]] was pitching to Hasbro a cartoon based on her independent doll-line ''[[Milky Way and The Galaxy Girls]]''. Hasbro liked her designs and concepts and thought she'd be great for a ''[[
*** Ever notice why a lot of the gang don't act like, and/or resemble, their previous incarnations? That's because several of them weren't meant to be those horses. Due to legal issues, [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101225153735/mlp/images/c/c2/History-concept.jpg a few of them]{{Dead link}} had to have their designs and names changed. For example, Pinkie was originally supposed to be a [http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2011/04/conceptpinkie.jpg Pegasus] and Fluttershy an [http://fyre-flye.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d48bj3v Earth Pony].
*** One of the background characters (Mr. Greenhooves, an old stallion) was originally meant to have a corncob pipe to smoke real tobacco. The corncob pipe was part of a gag, as his pipe would overheat and randomly shoot popcorn while he minded his own business, but of course, the idea wasn't approved and the pipe was replaced with a hay straw.
*** Lauren Faust revealed a synopsis for [http://comments.deviantart.com/4/1603670/2371989638 an episode] [[Executive Meddling|that was turned down]], which would have centered around [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Big Macintosh]], taking on a [[Silent Snarker]] role. The concept generated an overwhelingly positive response from [[Fandom Nickname|bronies]], wishing the episode had been made.
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** New tugboat characters in central roles - though he revealed this would've been curbed somewhat so the original Star Tugs and Z-Stacks wouldn't be neglected.
** More stories would've taken place "Up River," in part because they found filming in the Bigg City Harbour set very complicated.
* ''[[The Fonz and
* ''[[
* Attentive viewers of ''[[
* Speaking of ''[[
** As well, Captain America was supposed to fight the Nazis during World War II instead of HYDRA. However, the censors told Marvel that they could either use real ammo for fight scenes, or they could have their Nazis. They went with the real ammo.
* At the time of Marvel's near-bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, they were planning solo shows based on two of their heroes: [[Daredevil]] and [[Captain America (comics)]].
* [[Dastardly and Muttley
* Originally, [[Scooby
* Haim Saban was once in talks with Gene Simmons for a [[Kiss]] cartoon in the 90s. Then Saban made the big mistake in insulting Gene in Hebrew... and Gene replied back in the same tongue.
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