Audience’s Rights Reform 8: No dropping important plot points
You might consider this a part of my previous argument (plotholes/inconsistencies), but I feel it merits its own section. Characters simply disappearing partway through and reappearing are all well and good. In most cases, temporary disappearances are entirely explainable. The problem is when a character’s fate is unknown or a secondary problem remains unresolved.
Example A: The Rescuers Down Under
This is the first example I became aware of. Cody escapes Percival McLeach’s lair with the help of several animals, most memorably Frank the lizard. However, the fates of said animals are never shown; they are neither rescued nor seen escaping. Ideally, a scene would be added to show the animals either escaping on their own or being freed. (True story: I watched this movie on VHS many times as a child, and only noticed the plothole years later.)
Example B: Pinocchio
Possibly the most blatant example in existence. Both the original novel and Disney adaptation feature the infamous Pleasure Island sequence, where boys are turned into donkeys and taken away. At no point is their fate resolved, and the implication is they remain enslaved or die. A simple addition would alleviate the bleakness, perhaps a line from the Blue Fairy that she’s working to help the other boys.
Example C: American Dad! S08E12 “Lost in Space”
Finally, I know one example that would be easy to salvage — ironically, because its missing resolution would be inappropriate to show onscreen. This episode shows Jeff and Sindbad escaping the alien king’s starship, but the other slaves’ fate is left ambiguous. It should be salvaged with some simple onscreen text at the end of the episode: “We can’t show it, but the other slaves got their genitals back and were set free too!” No other edits would be necessary.