Creepy Stuff in Kids' Films/TV Shows

[Hexadecimal*]

Basically a thread for stuff that was a bit sketchy to throw into shows or movies either rated G or PG (Please keep in mind the PG-13 rating didn't exist until the 80s. Try to use good judgement as to whether an old PG would've fit under this category).

I've noticed nowadays there are companies like Pixar that will make more intelligent and mature movies aimed at kids, but I've never seen anything like what popped up in films and TV shows like when I was little.

Let's start with TV, shall we?



I'll start with the mildest on my list: Courage the Cowardly Dog. I really loved this show until the higher ups at Cartoon Network demanded that Courage talk less. Completely ruined it. I can't deny there were some things that were a tad... Unsettling, however. Most folks will have this episode stick out in there minds.



...Or this guy.



OK, I was a little too young to be watching it, but if it's on Nickelodian no adult at the time was going to think anything of a first grader watching it. I handled the episodes pretty well until this one. When I was little I had trouble with ear infections, so I needed tubes, which made it hurt like a bitch if water got in past my ear plugs. As a result, I only really got in the water when I bathed and sucked at swimming. This episode drew on my insecurity AND IT DOESN'T HELP THAT THEY KILL A KID.



THIS FUCKER IS HORRIFYING WHEN YOU'RE FOUR YEARS OLD.

Hexxus from Fern Gully. Everything is fine and dandy... Until he does stuff like this:







WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?!



Oh god... Get that spider off the screen! It's icky and too realistic.



NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. Extremely impressive for the time, but this scared the life out of me.

And this final one... This final one still makes me cringe as an adult:

[Psychospacecow]

I can still hear that Egyptian Curse guy.



Then there was this guy.


This is creepy for a different reason.

[Hexadecimal*]

^ Can't forget about this lady while we're at it:



But yeah, the whole "Finger Prince" thing was by far the worst gag that show ever got away with.

[gamemaster1991]

I'll start with the mildest on my list: Courage the Cowardly Dog. I really loved this show until the higher ups at Cartoon Network demanded that Courage talk less. Completely ruined it. I can't deny there were some things that were a tad... Unsettling, however. Most folks will have this episode stick out in there minds.

I'm sorry. Mild? You mean my nightmare fuel for most of my childhood?

As for my addition to the list, how about HIM from The Powerpuff Girls. Later seasons made HIM to be less devil like and more...... something else. However, I will never forget the episode, Speed Demon, which turned HIM into a monster, not to mention the whole town looks like it when though Hell.


I also remember the episode Abracadaver, which had an evil zombie magician and had some pretty creepy stuff in it.


Lastly, we have "Knock It Off," the only episode that I knew from a young age was trying to see how far they could push the PG rating. The episode where Professor Dick Hardly makes Knock off Powerpuff Girls and ends up make really disturbing products. This one is one that you have to see to understand the creepy factor. since I can't find any picture to prove it.

[gamemaster1991]

I just remembered a movie that I loved as a child and hated watching at the same time. This movie was Small Soldiers. I loved it because I loved action films as a child and this movie had loads of it and you really can't beat Tommy Lee Jones as your villain.

I hated it because it's toys coming to life and trying to kill people. If that's not a scary thought, than how about this:




Just as Toy Story made me want my toys to come a live, this movie made me glad that they won't.

[CosmykTheDolfyn]

The whole underwater pirate ship in James and the Giant Peach scared the bejeebies out of me as a kid.
And, can we also mention that Rocko was a phone sex operator in a freaking kid's cartoon?

[CLXcool]

Ah. Hidden context at its best. Although. Some of the time they are handled correctly to make sure the adults dont get bored while watching the program. Thats what I think whenever I saw the creepy parts of Don Bluth's Secret of Nimh and American Tale.

But getting back onto the subject. There are somethings that do surprise me on how they managed to get past the censorship. I'm literally surprised nobody on here has mentioned THIS guy.

[Psychospacecow]

^What is that?

[gamemaster1991]

^What is that?

the Brave Little Toaster's Nightmare if I'm not wrong.

[CLXcool]

^What is that?

the Brave Little Toaster's Nightmare if I'm not wrong.

That is correct.

[SERIOUSLY THOUGH*]

Surprised no-one has mentioned this terrifying video that was actually pulled for being to scary for the kids.

Bloody hell

[gamemaster1991]

Hex gave me an idea. I started watching old "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" episodes that I remember to be creepy and I was a little disappointed with a few of them.

I remember the Crimson Clown being the only one that I could not get though but besides the prop looking unsettling, most of the episode is not that scary (to me). There is no way I could not laugh when the life size clown comes on screen.




That being said, the second episode in the series is still pretty scary. Zeebo the clown from The Tale of Laughing Dark, in concept, should be the dumbest thing ever (a clown ghost haunting a kid), but with a really unnerving dummy and the split second scene of the real ghost makes it really creepy. Mixed with the fact that past the split second scene, you do not see the villain on the episode, makes it even more effective in scaring you.




Can anyone guess why I had Coulrophobia as a child?

[GameWizard001]

Ah. Hidden context at its best. Although. Some of the time they are handled correctly to make sure the adults dont get bored while watching the program. Thats what I think whenever I saw the creepy parts of Don Bluth's Secret of Nimh and American Tale.

But getting back onto the subject. There are somethings that do surprise me on how they managed to get past the censorship. I'm literally surprised nobody on here has mentioned THIS guy.

I just bought the Brave Little Toaster on DVD recently and I forgot all about that creepy bastard before watching it again. Hex told me that the Magnet at the end in the Junkyard was what freaked her out (and to be fair she is right that that character is scary) but when that creepy fireman clown thing got really close to Toaster and just whispered "Run." I was so freaked out and I'm a 25 year old man and it still creeped me right the F*** out.

---

.....also this:



I mean you don't think about it when you are a kid but essentially WB is promoting this french skunk to fuck a cat just because it might look like another skunk. So it is both rape and interspecies relationships that should just never be.

To make it truly creepy, try to picture what a cross hybrid skunk-cat or cat-skunk would look like?

[Hexadecimal*]

I honestly never had a problem with the Toaster's nightmare sequence in the original film.

I think the Air Conditioner freaking out,:



this scene which was basically "Hostel with Appliances",:



and Worthless with its suicide reference and sexual innuendo,:



were worse, but lots of folks bring up that darn clown.

[gamemaster1991]

my brother wanted to add his nightmare fuel. We were talking about things that gave us nightmares and he bought up Gooey Gus from Ghostwriter.



This thing gave both of us nightmares every time it came on. The thing about Ghostwriter episodes (for those too young or have never seen the show) is that every arc is 3-4 episodes long. The problem with this is that each episode came on once a day and if you missed an episode, you had to wait until the group of episodes came on again. We never saw the last episode until years later, which means that we had nightmares for years after that.

After rediscovering the monster, all I can think is that the Slime Monster looks really derpy and looks like a Power Rangers monster.

Speaking of Power Rangers, am I the only one who was scared of Serpentera as a kid? The thing was so cool and so menaching that I was scared and interested at the same time.