An excellent example of the latter would be the animated TV-series that was based on the Aurora World toy property, YooHoo & Friends - those plush animals with big glittery eyes that inspired a host of imitators (such as Ty's Beanie Boos). Where the original Korean version was a cute show with a bit of an educational angle, those localising it seemingly decided that it needed to be aimed at a different demographic and include higher stakes and more "action", so, instead of it being about a group of cutesy animals, the entire plot was changed to claim that the animals were a group of ugly, environment-killing corporate executives who had been transformed as punishment and had to save the world in that state, with the one doling out the punishment being Father Time (pressured by his wife, Mother Nature), who was voiced by American rapper Flavor Flav (who also narrates the show).
The above also involved new characters and interstitial animation being created by David Feiss, the creator of Cow & Chicken - those with an interest in animation will know that this signature style is not at all suited to the looks of a cute-driven Eastern property.
There's a bit more on this
here.
Be very careful what you wish for, guys - nobody wants to see a Tamagotchi anime adaptation about ugly humans who were magically transformed, because things aren't allowed to be cute on their own merits, narrated by Flavor Flav.
