As someone who has been on this earth for twenty-four years, I’d say I’ve watched a lot of television. From some of the best fantasy shows to the best teen dramas, I’ve seen a lot. But, where do most people start their love for television? Cartoons.
I’ll be biased and say that I grew up with the best cartoons. There’s just something about the 2000s kids TV shows that make me so happy even now, and on days where I’m feeling down, I will often revisit them. Sometimes, though…they can get a bit dark.
While most kids TV shows offer plenty of fun for kids and parents, there are times that they tell dark jokes, touch on dark topics, or are just overall dark in tone. So today, I’m going to take a look back at some of my favorite cartoons as a kid, and some of the darkest scenes they had which still sit with me.
When Phineas And Ferb Were Brainwashed (Phineas And Ferb)
Granted, Phineas and Ferb started as I was beginning to enter my tween years (and did end eventually), but I still loved that show so much. This episode actually scared the crap out of me as a kid. In the Season 1 entry, “Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!,” the two stepbrothers are finally caught by their mother and are sent to a reform school in order to destroy their imagination.
The entire episode feels like a parody of A Clockwork Orange, but as a kid, watching Phineas and Ferb get brainwashed into forgetting their creativity until the world was literally grey was not only terrifying, but felt all too real. As if this was possible. Obviously they ended up getting creativity back at the end, but still. Creepy stuff.
When Courage’s Parents Are Taken Away From Him (Courage The Cowardly Dog)
Courage the Cowardly Dog is just nightmare fuel for kids, and ironically, I loved it – makes sense considering I grew up loving horror movies.
Either way, this episode, titled “Remembrance of Courage Past,” deals with Courage’s backstory, and how he did once have two loving parents before they were stolen away by a Cruel Veterinarian. While Courage was able to escape them, he couldn’t save his parents in time before they were shot into space with the vet and the rest of the dogs he stole.
It’s so freaking sad. I mean, just looking at Courage crying makes me want to cry, because what child wants to be without their parents? Thank God for Muriel.
When It Seemed Like Squidward Was Considering Suicide (Spongebob Squarepants)
Spongebob Squarepants has never strayed from adult jokes in its episodes, but this dark one went a little bit too far.
In the episode, “Are You Happy Now?,” Squidward is going through a depressive episode when he can’t remember his happiest memory. He tries to do many things in his home to make him happy, but nothing seems to work. At one point, he grabs a rope and throws it over something hanging on the ceiling – and the rope looks very similar to a noose.
However, it’s later revealed he was just trying to hang a cage up for a pet. But everyone knew exactly what that joke was referring to. It was a bit much, even for me.
When Kitty Revealed That Her Best Friend Was Being Abused (Courage The Cowardly Dog)
Another moment from Courage The Cowardly Dog that we need to talk about is in this episode, titled, “The Mask.” When a woman shows up at the farmhouse and hurts Courage, saying that all dogs are evil, Muriel tries to talk to her. It’s later revealed who exactly she is – a young woman named Kitty, who has lost her best friend, Bunny, due to her abusive boyfriend – who is a Dog.
This episode deals with several adult topics, such as domestic abuse and harassment, much more than my young brain could understand. As an adult, I’m starting to see why this show ended up getting cancelled – these topics can be seriously hard to handle and talk about with kids.
When Katara Learned To Bloodbend (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
I have always loved Avatar: The Last Airbender. I love the characters (especially Zuko), and all the powerful moments that these benders have, from Aang to Katara. But in the episode, “The Puppetmaster,” Katara has to do the unthinkable – learn bloodbending.
They meet a woman who is a waterbender and used bloodbending to escape the Fire Nation years ago, but when the woman captures Katara’s friends, she needs to push through her fear and bloodbend the woman to save her friend – essentially controlling the fluids in her limbs so she controls the woman. It’s an extremely twisted form of bending.
When Courage Dreams Of “You’re Not Perfect” (Courage The Cowardly Dog)
Last Courage The Cowardly Dog scene, I swear, but does anyone else remember that episode, “Perfect,” where Courage is basically beaten to perfection? Courage visualizes this terrifying teacher called The Perfectionist, whose job it is to make Courage perfect for his family, but every test he experiences, he fails.
His anxiety about wanting to be perfect even translates to his dreams in the form of this scary piece of CGI that you see above, which says “You’re not perfect,” floating in God knows what. Courage wakes up screaming – as have I, because that thing is terrifying.
When Dexter Sees All His Family’s Imperfections (Dexter’s Laboratory)
Dexter’s Laboratory was one of the first shows that I saw that romanticized being an absolute genius, but this episode was just a lot. In “Sore Eyes,” Dexter gives himself laser eye surgery to see perfectly. It turns out his surgery was so good, though, he sees everything in his family now – including their imperfections.
While the scene itself isn’t inherently dark – all that was creepy was how his family truly looked – the implications that followed really bothered me. That Dexter would literally rather be blind than have to see his family as they are. Like, how terrible did they really look to him besides what we saw? That’s what creeps me out.
When Bunny Exploded (The Powerpuff Girls)
Oh, Bunny. Before I was into the X-Men movies and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Powerpuff Girls were my superheroes, and in one episode, titled “Twisted Star,” the girls decide to create a fourth sister. The girl, being made by little girls, comes out deformed with a hunched back and a single tooth. But she tries her hardest to be a good superhero.
In the end, after several mishaps, Bunny redeems herself in front of her sisters by fighting real bad guys and saving the town, but because she’s unstable, she ends up literally exploding. All that’s left of her is the purple part of her outfit that falls in front of the girls.
Like...my God. This is a kid’s show and we just watched her blow up in the air. That’s terrifying.
Lastly – When Jenny’s Exo Skin Tries To Take Her Over (My Life As A Teenage Robot)
I feel like no one ever talks about My Life as a Teenage Robot because it only ran for three seasons and the last season is barely ever discussed, but this show was my favorite. We need to talk about the episode, “The Return of Raggedy Android.” Here, the exo-skin is used as a way to make Jenny feel like she fits in amongst the other teenage girls.
Unfortunately, it turns evil and aims to take over Jenny, literally possessing her body and trying to take over her mind so she is not the one in control, but the suit is.
That literally sounds like the plot of a horror movie. That could end up being a Blumhouse movie for all I know. It’s that creepy. And I loved it as a kid – however, as an adult, it’s pretty dark and really too much for most children.
My childhood was filled to the brim with these awesome shows, but sometimes, they could get a little dark. I’m sure there are plenty of shows now that give kids this experience. But I plan to stick to the ones I already know.
