12 Hilarious Rip-Offs of Popular Cartoon Characters

Thanks to their audience popularity, the production of animated films has become a multi-billion-dollar industry with a high level of competition. That’s why small companies, when they fail to come up with new ingenious ideas, often have to take desperate measures to make ends meet. You’ve probably heard about cartoon rip-offs — bad copies of original animations.

Today at Bright Side we prepared a list of blatant, funny, or ambiguous mockbusters. Check it out to see if they are even worth watching!

Adventure Time (2011-2018) vs The Legend of Lucky Pie (2015-)

The Legend of Lucky Pie is a cartoon series created by 2 Chinese artists, Yimumu and Tim Chan. The first episode aired in January 2015 and lasted for 12 minutes. Only 4 episodes have been released so far because the artists mainly work from home and don’t have the support of an animation studio. Although many viewers called The Legend of Lucky Pie a parody of Adventure Time, some fans are looking forward to the new episodes.

Madagascar (2005) vs Life’s a Jungle: Africa’s Most Wanted (2012)

The plot follows the story of a dog named Pip who got lost in the jungle during a safari and had to adapt to a new way of life in the wild. Sounds familiar, right? Life’s a Jungle is a blatant Madagascar rip-off with horrific animation, a predictable plot, and poor voice acting.

Brave (2012) vs Kiara the Brave (2011)

Kiara the Brave is an animated Indian film that was released in the United States in 2012. Although the plot had nothing to do with Pixar’s famous Brave, the distribution company was accused of plagiarism, as the cover art only showed the redheaded Kiara, and she is not even a main character.

Kung Fu Panda (2008) vs The Little Panda Fighter (2008)

The Brazilian animated film The Little Panda Fighter received extremely negative feedback from audiences. Like most cartoons of its kind, it is lacking in high-quality animation, character development, and decent soundtracks.

The Simpsons (1989-) vs The Samsonadzes (2009-)

The Samsonadzes is a Georgian animated series about a yellow-skinned cartoon family weirdly reminiscent of The Simpsons. Shalva Ramishvili, a production director of the cartoon, claims that his work is not a copy but a unique idea that reflects the Georgian mindset. Well, most critics take this statement with a pinch of salt and are pretty sure about the real inspiration behind this series.

Ratatouille (2007) vs Ratatoing (2007)

This Brazilian rip-off is considered to be the most horrific of all time. Thanks to the terrible script, dull story, and horrible animation, it’s close to impossible to sit through the whole thing (even though it’s only 44 minutes long!).

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970) vs Goober and the Ghost Chasers (1973-1975)

Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1973, Goober and the Ghost Chasers is definitely not the worst rip-off on our list. This animated series replicates the original Scooby-Doo almost exactly, with just slight changes to the plot. But still, the show received positive reviews from audiences with an IMDb rating of 7.1.

Up (2009) vs What’s Up (2009)

This cartoon was created by the same Brazilian production company that made Ratatoing and The Little Panda Fighter. Terrible voicework, poor animation quality, and stupid dialogue make it impossible to watch.

Bee Movie (2007) vs Plan Bee (2007)

Plan Bee is a mockbuster created by Sparkling Entertainment in 2007. The cartoon has been widely criticized for ambiguous dialogue, lazy below-average animation, and a lack of kid-friendly jokes.

The Princess and the Frog (2009) vs The Frog Prince (2009)

Created by Video Brinquedo Studio, also known as An Asylum of Animation, The Frog Prince is no different from any other cartoon produced by this Brazilian company. Annoying characters, blocky animation, and shallow writing make you appreciate the original even more.

Happy Feet (2006) vs Tappy Toes (2011)

Tappy Toes is quite an obvious rip-off of Happy Feet with the difference being that now the penguin is learning how to dance and has to fight against evil sea lions. Surprisingly, despite its poor visual quality, it received some positive reviews for its ability to give a good laugh and its funny and relatable characters.

A Bug’s Life (1998) vs Bug Bites: An Ant’s Life (1998)

Bug Bites suffers from the same problems most rip-offs do: a low budget, no decent plot, and hilarious animation. But this one has a huge advantage for sure: its running time is only 25 minutes, so it’s the shortest mockbuster of all time!

Bonus: Kimba the White Lion (1965-1967) vs The Lion King (1994)

There’s been a hot debate as to whether Disney’s masterpiece The Lion King is just a knockoff of the Japanese animated series Kimba the White Lion. Although Disney denied any connection between these cartoons, many viewers noticed plenty of similarities — mostly in animation and visuals. In one interview, animator Tom Sito said that he took no inspiration from Kimba, but some people working on this project may have seen the Japanese series as kids since it was quite popular in the ’60s. So this situation is just a coincidence, and no one took materials from Kimba deliberately.

But at the end of the day, both of these cartoons are real masterpieces with fans of all ages around the world.

Would you like to watch any of these cartoons? Share with us in the comments!