http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeletedScene

This entry is trivia, which is cool and all, but not a trope. On a work, it goes on the Trivia tab.

Daffy Duck (in the Deleted Scenes featurette on the (in the Deleted Scenes featurette on the Looney Tunes: Back in Action DVD) "One of my favorite parts of a DVD is the part where you get to see all the best scenes in the movie that weren't in the movie."

How Did We Miss This One? Don't worry, it'll be included as an extra on the TV Tropes DVD.

A scene made for a work (in part or completed), but not included in the final release. These are often put back in special editions or included on the DVD release. They are also sometimes included in heavily-cut broadcast TV versions of films to stretch them back to a reasonable length. A Novelization often includes scenes that end up cut from the final film, as adaptations are often based on shooting scripts to ensure that the novel will be ready for release in conjunction with the film. Due to the nature of animated works, any extra scenes in these productions are usually removed during the storyboard or animatic phase, though rough animation hitting the cutting room floor is common. A scene with completed animation being cut is almost unheard of, but can still occur depending on why the scene was cut.

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Scenes can be cut for a number of different reasons. Often the scenes are of much lower quality, so they were deleted for good reason. Yet some may contain details that appeal to audiences. Among the reasons include:

Reducing the overall running time, especially for theaters where a lower running time means an increased number of showings.

Improving the pacing and story by cutting out the excess fat.

Getting rid of what turned out to be a bad scene or a poorly executed sequence.

A change in the productions aim to ensure a different rating. Quite often it is because of the desire to include the PG-13 crowd from an R rating. More rarely it is an angle to make it Darker and Edgier and appeal to the R crowd. More generally, scenes may be removed to change the tone of the movie, regardless of the desired rating.

Advertisement: A change to make the work more popular with test audiences, either the inclusion of a scene to clarify an obscure scene.

A massive change to the ending.

More cynically, some works might be suspected of having "Deleted Scenes" just so they can be included in the Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition or adding extra sex and violence for an Unrated Edition.

If the scenes are included into the flow of the work, then its a recut and usually marketed as a "Directors Cut" or "Extended Edition". More commonly the scenes are included in the Special Features section of a DVD release as a bonus feature.

In terms of 'cutting out excess fat', many directors will point out, via DVD commentary, that a particular scene worked just fine as it was filmed, but when viewed in the context of the film overall, the scene in question simply dragged on too long or ruined the desired emotion of a moment, and was thus cut to keep the energy of a particular sequence up.

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This isn't limited to films though. All works, be they television shows, comic books, or even pieces of literature are subject to this trope thanks to the very fact they all usually go through an editing process that have the creators re-evaluate how they're telling the story. The general public is just more likely to hear of examples in films due to the expectations that come with a DVD/Blu-Ray of those products, while similar releases for other works usually scrape by with their bonus features being more general ideas and vague descriptions of What Could Have Been. The slower production cycle of a film also lends itself better to having more "substantial" deleted content to throw onto the disc, as opposed to the faster schedules of television.

The canonicity of a deleted scene will vary from case to case. Especially for material that was simply cut due to time constraints, the story elements at play in those scenes may still be part of the overall storyline. This is where an apparent Plot Hole can occur, because the deleted scene may have held necessary information for a sub-plot or even the main story. Although the reverse can also be true, with the scene being deleted because it created a plot hole. In such a case, and in others where a story's feel is changed by the removal of a scene, the removed content has probably been decanonized.

A Super-Trope to Too Hot for TV, DVD Bonus Content, Unrated Edition, Edited for Syndication.

Compare Cut Song, All There in the Manual, Missing Trailer Scene, Dummied Out (for video games).

Not to be confused with Cutscene, which is a non-interactive sequence in a video game (i.e., a scene that "cuts" away from the action of the game).

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Plot Hole Fixing Deleted Scenes

TV Screening Additions

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