Confessing Fears

[Flaky Pudding]

This experience didn't scare me per say but as silly as it may sound, it definitely bothered me very much:

When I was but a little boy, I was playing around in Mom's garden one day when a little slug slithered up to me. For no reason whatsoever, I squished the slug violently and killed it. After I realized what I'd done, I felt like a complete monster.

I know it was just a slug but the idea that I took the life of an innocent living creature was enough to make me depressed. I cried about that incident for hours (keep in mind that I was only 5-years-old then), it didn't matter how many times my parents tried to calm me down by telling me that it was just a slug, my own hands killed an innocent creature. That thought alone was enough to make me feel utterly ashamed of myself.

A couple days later, I saw two other slugs in our yard and I basically treated them like pets as a way to get over the trauma of what had previously happened. Taking care of a couple of slugs definitely made me feel better.

But despite that, the slug killing thing still bothered me for YEARS to come. I hated that one 90s kid's book about a kid making slug sundaes or something with a passion because it triggered negative flashbacks every time.

To this day, thinking about that experience still kind of makes me tear up. Not because I'm still upset about squishing the slug, that doesn't bother me anymore. But you know how they say that childhood trauma sometimes continues into adulthood. Whenever I remember that slug incident, it brings back bad memories of all the tears I shed and shame I felt after it happened.

 

[Flaky Pudding]

My parents love the movie Beast Master but personally I can't watch it because of one particular scene that doesn't exactly scare me per say but it definitely grosses me out to no end.

I mean come on now, it's an unborn baby being magically transported from his mother's womb into the stomach of A COW!!!!! Do I even need to elaborate any further as to why that totally disgusts me?

Don't get me wrong, I'm about as far from squeamish as it comes. Intentionally gross things like Happy Tree Friends, Johnny Knoxville and the other Donkey Guys (I can't say Jack*** for censorship reasons), Garbage Pail Kids, and Wonder Showzen are some of the funniest things to me. But I can never even think about this scene without almost throwing up.

No seriously, the first time I ever saw it I ran to the bathroom and vomited almost directly after being exposed to that twisted scene. Do you blame me? It's downright sickening and way overly graphic for a freaking PG movie of all things.

 

[Flaky Pudding]

This is apparently such a popular topic for 90s and 2000s kids that someone went as far as to this video:

Listen, as a Christian myself I'm glad to see YouTube channel promote the word of God but at the same time I feel like they sometimes have a tendency to overthink things especially in regards to popular culture.

A lot of those YouTubers tend to think that just because something is edgy it's automatically the Devil's work which to me personally, makes little to no sense at all.

Do I believe that we 90s and 2000s kids were subject to trauma based mind control through the cartoons, commercials, and live action shows we watched growing up? No! Of course not. Seriously though, I felt kind of silly even typing such a question out.

I think the reason why 90s and 2000s cartoons were edgier than the ones of previous generations is because the animation medium had just gotten over the extremely clean decade of cartoons that was the 80s and needed a little change of pace.

80s cartoons were very family friendly compared to the ones found in any previous or upcoming decades (so far at least). Stuff like He-Man, G.I. Joe, Transformers, TMNT, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Rainbow Brite, ThunderCats, Bravestarr, the list goes on and on and on really only existed to sell merchandise. Listen, I'm not trying to offend anyone who still likes those cartoons. But let's be honest here. You are kidding yourself if you think that the main motivation behind cartoon creators in the 80s wasn't to sell a crap ton of merchandise.

Now granted there were a couple of exceptions here and there like Danger Mouse for example that captured that comedic, slapstick driven tone animation had in previous decades but those shows weren't near as successful as the others. In fact, a lot of children reportedly hated Danger Mouse because it was too different from He-Man and all the other stuff that was popular back then.

80s cartoons were WAY too clean and targeted mainly towards kids and kids alone. There were little to no parental bonus or getting crap past the radar moments in those shows. What makes animation so great is because a lot of cartoons like to throw in those clever little bits of adult humor for the bored stay at home parents who are constantly watching kiddie cartoons with their children all day long. Edgy adult jokes and kid's cartoons once went together like peanut butter and jelly but at that point such content was virtually nonexistent. A lot of comedians and animators even blame the likes of He-Man for giving us that whole "cartoons are for kids and your a big baby if you watch them as an adult" misconception that is still somewhat popular even to this day. Cartoons were no longer those hilarious shorts that adult viewers enjoyed before feature presentations loaded with slapstick and witty comments on the era's pop culture and politics. They were now merely children's entertainment motivating mainly by the purpose of seeing who can sell the most toys, cereal, comic books, lunchboxes, clothing, and everything else under the sun.

So once the 90s came along, I think cartoon creators wanted to take animation back to what it used to be:A funny, boundary pushing form of art that doesn't try too hard to be overly family friendly.

That is how a lot of the "edgy", "creepy", and "weird" shows come along. Not because they wanted to "traumatize their child audience" but rather to make up for nearly a whole decade worth of cartoons that did little but motivate kids to annoy their parents into a buying a ridiculous amount of merch.

That era of animation was a very experimental and creative time which led to some things here and there that ended up coming across as nightmare fuel to certain people. I think the writers, animators, and everyone else involved in those projects were just having fun and taking the animation format to it's fullest potential and didn't realize that the stuff they were making was going to scare unsuspecting viewers.

 

[LittleJerry92]

I remember as a kid there was a lot with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves that creeped me out.... the queen turning into an old witch, Snow White’s vision of scary animals and monsters in the woods, those bald eagles..... but the mirror on the wall did it the most for me.

 

[BlakeConor14]

When I was younger I had a deathly fears that was of really stupid now I think about it

The first was of a purple mole puppet called PJ Mole who used to present the bedtime slot on Playhouse Disney and I used to get nightmares about him including one that happened when I was 6 where he blew up my entire school with the school and my parents inside except me of course that terrified me. they lasted years until i was about 10/11 the final battle where he fell off a cliff and large rocks crushed his corspe. Since then the puppet has not appeared in my dreams. But I still think the puppet is rather odd looking

 

[Flaky Pudding]

Is anyone here familiar with the legendary cryptid Dogman? It's one of the creepiest things to me right now.

 

[Cookie3001]

There is one animated segment from the Nickelodeon show Pinwheel that was lost for years and was uncovered recently that I find very creepy

 

[Flaky Pudding]

I have an awful one to admit:I once saw an image of the Hindu god Ganesha on someone's bumper sticker and it scared me. Being raised in a town where religious diversity is basically limited to other sects of Christianity, I had no idea what that thing was. Now I honestly kind of feel bad for that one. While I don't believe in him myself, I do realize that Ganesha is very important to many people in the same way that Jesus is important to me and I respect the people who believe otherwise. The fact that I was afraid of that just makes me feel a little disrespectful towards other cultures looking back on it.

 

[fuzzygobo]

This is apparently such a popular topic for 90s and 2000s kids that someone went as far as to this video:

Listen, as a Christian myself I'm glad to see YouTube channel promote the word of God but at the same time I feel like they sometimes have a tendency to overthink things especially in regards to popular culture.

A lot of those YouTubers tend to think that just because something is edgy it's automatically the Devil's work which to me personally, makes little to no sense at all.

Do I believe that we 90s and 2000s kids were subject to trauma based mind control through the cartoons, commercials, and live action shows we watched growing up? No! Of course not. Seriously though, I felt kind of silly even typing such a question out.

I think the reason why 90s and 2000s cartoons were edgier than the ones of previous generations is because the animation medium had just gotten over the extremely clean decade of cartoons that was the 80s and needed a little change of pace.

80s cartoons were very family friendly compared to the ones found in any previous or upcoming decades (so far at least). Stuff like He-Man, G.I. Joe, Transformers, TMNT, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Rainbow Brite, ThunderCats, Bravestarr, the list goes on and on and on really only existed to sell merchandise. Listen, I'm not trying to offend anyone who still likes those cartoons. But let's be honest here. You are kidding yourself if you think that the main motivation behind cartoon creators in the 80s wasn't to sell a crap ton of merchandise.

Now granted there were a couple of exceptions here and there like Danger Mouse for example that captured that comedic, slapstick driven tone animation had in previous decades but those shows weren't near as successful as the others. In fact, a lot of children reportedly hated Danger Mouse because it was too different from He-Man and all the other stuff that was popular back then.

80s cartoons were WAY too clean and targeted mainly towards kids and kids alone. There were little to no parental bonus or getting crap past the radar moments in those shows. What makes animation so great is because a lot of cartoons like to throw in those clever little bits of adult humor for the bored stay at home parents who are constantly watching kiddie cartoons with their children all day long. Edgy adult jokes and kid's cartoons once went together like peanut butter and jelly but at that point such content was virtually nonexistent. A lot of comedians and animators even blame the likes of He-Man for giving us that whole "cartoons are for kids and your a big baby if you watch them as an adult" misconception that is still somewhat popular even to this day. Cartoons were no longer those hilarious shorts that adult viewers enjoyed before feature presentations loaded with slapstick and witty comments on the era's pop culture and politics. They were now merely children's entertainment motivating mainly by the purpose of seeing who can sell the most toys, cereal, comic books, lunchboxes, clothing, and everything else under the sun.

So once the 90s came along, I think cartoon creators wanted to take animation back to what it used to be:A funny, boundary pushing form of art that doesn't try too hard to be overly family friendly.

That is how a lot of the "edgy", "creepy", and "weird" shows come along. Not because they wanted to "traumatize their child audience" but rather to make up for nearly a whole decade worth of cartoons that did little but motivate kids to annoy their parents into a buying a ridiculous amount of merch.

That era of animation was a very experimental and creative time which led to some things here and there that ended up coming across as nightmare fuel to certain people. I think the writers, animators, and everyone else involved in those projects were just having fun and taking the animation format to it's fullest potential and didn't realize that the stuff they were making was going to scare unsuspecting viewers.

The 80s trend of making cartoons as toy commercials stemmed from the overwhelming popularity of the Smurfs. Apart from Bugs Bunny and the Pink Panther in the 70s, there was never a 90 minute cartoon show on Saturday morning. The Smurfs' ratings were off the charts. It started a merchandising blitz, and everything followed. The Care Bears were originally just characters on greeting cards, but once they were parlayed into a series, and then plush toys and all the rest, the floodgates were opened.
The 90s started off promising enough with Tiny Toons and Anaimaniacs, Ren and Stimpy, and the very short lived United States of Hysteria. But I thought Beavis and Butthead was beyond stupid.
The Disney Afternoon was great, giving showcases to classic characters like Scrooge, Goofy, and Baloo (DuckTales, Goof Troop,, Tale Spin) while introducing new characters like Marsupalami. Raw Toonage tried to be edgy, but fell a little flat. At least we got Bonkers out of the deal.
The last entry in the Disney Afternoon was Gargoyles, which had a darker side to it, but was quite good.
Capitol Critters was great too, starring Neil Patrick Harris as Max. It had a lot of promise being shown in prime time, and making a few digs at the first Bush administration, but tanked after six episodes. Pity. But it did open the door for Futurama and Family Guy, showing there can be a home for cartoons in prime time.

Then came South Park. I remember there were front page headlines screaming hysteria. Run for the hills. Hide your children. This shocking thing is invading our screens! Only trouble was, not every cable system carried Comedy Central, so only a small fraction of the country got to see it.
I lived in New Jersey, my future wife lived in Pennsylvania, so to see South Park I had to drive to another state!
So it took a couple of years before South Park reached the masses. The demand for Comedy Central drove cable subscriptions through the roof. So the 80s cartoons sold toys, South Park sold cable. Brilliant marketing ploy.

 

[Flaky Pudding]

The 80s trend of making cartoons as toy commercials stemmed from the overwhelming popularity of the Smurfs. Apart from Bugs Bunny and the Pink Panther in the 70s, there was never a 90 minute cartoon show on Saturday morning. The Smurfs' ratings were off the charts. It started a merchandising blitz, and everything followed. The Care Bears were originally just characters on greeting cards, but once they were parlayed into a series, and then plush toys and all the rest, the floodgates were opened.
The 90s started off promising enough with Tiny Toons and Anaimaniacs, Ren and Stimpy, and the very short lived United States of Hysteria. But I thought Beavis and Butthead was beyond stupid.
The Disney Afternoon was great, giving showcases to classic characters like Scrooge, Goofy, and Baloo (DuckTales, Goof Troop,, Tale Spin) while introducing new characters like Marsupalami. Raw Toonage tried to be edgy, but fell a little flat. At least we got Bonkers out of the deal.
The last entry in the Disney Afternoon was Gargoyles, which had a darker side to it, but was quite good.
Capitol Critters was great too, starring Neil Patrick Harris as Max. It had a lot of promise being shown in prime time, and making a few digs at the first Bush administration, but tanked after six episodes. Pity. But it did open the door for Futurama and Family Guy, showing there can be a home for cartoons in prime time.

Then came South Park. I remember there were front page headlines screaming hysteria. Run for the hills. Hide your children. This shocking thing is invading our screens! Only trouble was, not every cable system carried Comedy Central, so only a small fraction of the country got to see it.
I lived in New Jersey, my future wife lived in Pennsylvania, so to see South Park I had to drive to another state!
So it took a couple of years before South Park reached the masses. The demand for Comedy Central drove cable subscriptions through the roof. So the 80s cartoons sold toys, South Park sold cable. Brilliant marketing ploy.

South Park also started the trend of awful shock based cartoons like Mr. Pickles, Allen Gregory, Ren and Stimpy:Adult Party Cartoon, Golan the Insatiable, and Brickleberry.