I believe cartoons people love as kids can be the sources of their future television fandoms. Many adult TV viewers probably had a cartoon they loved and followed as a kid before growing up and diving into much denser shows with more intricate plot lines. A lingering love for those cartoons of the past may inspire some to create theories about what they used to watch. At least, I hope that's the justification for some of these messed up and uncomfortable cartoon conspiracy theories.
We all know there's some wild stuff on the internet, and fan theories about beloved children's cartoons are no exception. Here are some of the most twisted of the bunch, excluding entries that fall under the label of adult-animation because, frankly, some of it is tame in comparison to what you're about to read.
The World Of Spongebob Squarepants Is A Product Of Nuclear Testing
While never explicitly confirmed by the show or its creators, there is heavy speculation that the world of Spongebob Squarepants is a product of nuclear testing. The city of Bikini Bottom is believed to be beneath the island of Bikini Atoll where, in actual history, the U.S. detonated 23 different nuclear bombs during the Cold War. According to the theory, the extensive testing impacted the creatures surrounding the area, and thus Spongebob Squarepants and his friends were born.
Fans claim there's some evidence to support this theory such as the typical imagery of nuclear explosions showing up in the show a lot. Also, there's all the anthropomorphism, and the obvious connection between the names Bikini Bottom and Bikini Atoll. As mentioned, no one with Spongebob Squarepants has ever confirmed this theory to be true, though it certainly does seem plausible that the cartoon is connected to this event in some way.
All The Rugrats Babies Minus Baby Dil Are Dead
According to this extremely dark theory, all the main babies of Rugrats (minus Baby Dil) are dead and merely a figment of Angelica Pickles' imagination. Chucky died in childbirth with his mother, Tommy was a stillbirth, and Phil and Lil were actually one child of an unknown gender that was aborted by their parents. This presumably explains the personality traits of each parent in the show, and why none of them ever bother to keep an eye on their children.
The theory gets especially dark when Angelica supposedly hit Baby Dil, which caused his head deformity seen on Rugrats. It's certainly one of the most popular and twisted cartoon theories on the internet, albeit one that I believe falls apart pretty quickly. The theory hinges on the babies being a part of Angelica's imagination of what she thought the babies would be like, but Angelica doesn't appear in every episode. It's a solid conspiracy in terms of shock value, but I doubt we'll see this take shape in an upcoming Rugrats live-action movie.
Ash Ketchum Has Been In A Coma Through Most Of Pokemon
Pokemon has been on television for over two decades now, and Ash Ketchum is still 10 years old in the latest iteration of the series. Characters not aging is a common thing in most cartoons, but in the case of Pokemon where Ash has experienced several years of adventures and mentions those events, it's a little weird he hasn't aged a day. The reason behind this may be Ash slipping into a coma towards the start of the series.
In this theory Ash Ketchum fell comatose after his bike accident in Episode 1, and everything after that is a dream. The people he meets are a manifestation of his inner psyche, and the adventures are trials he must overcome to escape his own mind and return to the real world. I like this theory because it explains how Ash is constantly discovering new Pokemon that presumably would've been around since the start of his journey. Or maybe these kids should complete primary education before setting off in the world to battle Pokemon?
Scooby-Doo And Mystery Inc. Don't Age Because They're Ghosts
Speaking of cartoon characters who perpetually stay the same age, there's a particularly fun theory that Scooby-Doo and friends don't age because they themselves are ghosts. The teens continually appear throughout the decades largely unchanged because they're a group of wandering spirits who are traveling aimlessly from town to town and exposing fake ghosts and ghouls along the way. Isn't it weird they never have a location to go, and never accept payment?
I believe this theory is strengthened by the fact that the Scooby-Doo franchise has confirmed that actual ghosts and ghouls exist in its universe, which means Mystery Inc. could totally be ghosts as well. The fact they're frightened when actually encountering real spirits may be some existential crisis in which they're all unable to reconcile their own fates, which is why they're so hellbent on disproving the existence of the supernatural. The more I think about this theory the more I love it, and I'm going to choose to accept it regardless of any evidence to the contrary.
The Owl House Is Satanist Propaganda
Disney's The Owl House is by far the newest show on this list, but worth mentioning due to the headlines it has created. The series follows a teenage girl named Luz who falls into a portal and arrives in a world inhabited by demons and witches. The show is much lighter in tone than it may sound, which is exactly why some groups believe Disney is trying to corrupt young minds by normalizing Wicca practices and Satanism.
It's a theory that, for now, is impossible to prove. With that said, the series is created by Dana Terrace who also worked on another Disney Channel series with occult ties, Gravity Falls. That too received complaints from audiences who thought it was promoting satanism, so it's really up for the viewer to decide on this one. There will be those who think it's not big deal, those who think it's another sign of a declining civilization, and there's really little either side can do to convince each other otherwise.
Ed, Edd n Eddy Is Set In Purgatory
Ed, Edd n Eddy was a great show about the impossible world in which kids were going on adventures in their neighborhood and no adults were interjecting and telling them to knock it off. Seriously, there were no adults in this show, not even the Charlie Brown kind that sound like a trumpet. One theory suggests that is because the kids of the cul-de-sac are dead, and they're all trapped in purgatory.
Long story short, each child is from a different era of the cul-de-sac's history, and all befell some tragedy in some different way. Now they're all living together in purgatory, and going about their lives only to be occasionally bothered by the "demonic" Kanker Sisters every so often. It's another out-there theory that takes extensive liberties in adding fiction that was never a part of the show, but it does answer my question as a kid as to why no one's parents were ever around!
Heard any other crazy and uncomfortable cartoon conspiracy theories? List them in the comments and be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest major news in television and movies.
