5 Surprisingly Dark Scenes on Cartoons I Didn’t Notice as a Kid

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Cartoons are a part of childhood for most of us, right? Well, love it or hate it, there are a lot of dark, creepy, or outright disturbing scenes out there that we just laughed at as kids not knowing the hidden dark meaning. Well recently, I felt a bit old and watched a lot of my childhood cartoons to feel a bit younger, and I was shocked by how many dark scenes there are and was left feeling even older. Join me for a few minutes and find out what I mean! 

But first, a few things to set us up, I am going to tackle scenes that really went over my head as a kid so that means cartoons made in 2010 or older. 

And heavy trigger warning here! We’re dealing with a lot of dark and messed-up ideas on cartoons here. They might still be from cartoons but they can be upsetting to some readers. 

Kittens in Heaven – Tom and Jerry

For those who are too young or had a childhood away from TVs, Tom and Jerry is a whimsical slapstick comedy cartoon that follows Tom, a cat trying to catch a mouse named Jerry. Each episode brings a new situation where Tom tries to catch Jerry, often ending with a painful failure for Tom and a fun getaway from Jerry. 

In the 42nd episode of Tom and Jerry named Heavenly Puss, things seem to take way too seriously too quickly as in one of their chases, Tom got smushed by a piano and died, I mean it’s surprising to see since you’ll see Tom get into more damaging situations without dying. Going back, he then goes to heaven and encounters this scene:

The scene involves many cats entering heaven, and most of them died by accident. Then three little kittens hopped in while inside a bag with what sounds like sloshing water, this implies that they’re intentionally drowned. The concept of death, heaven, and hell being exposed in a Tom and Jerry episode can get dark in itself already, but the drowned kittens got a bit too much too fast in my opinion. 

SB-129 – SpongeBob SquarePants

Aside from being a treasure trove of memes, SpongeBob SquarePants is also filled with weird hidden meanings in a lot of episodes. But the arguably weirdest and even more disturbing episode is SB-129. I remembered watching it a bunch of times while I was a kid, but only then when I turned into an adult did I realize the hidden meaning in this episode.

The episode starts with Squidward trying to play his clarinet early in the morning only to be bombarded by SpongeBob’s alarm clock, things go real quick and Squidward ended up being bothered by SpongeBob and Patrick. Squidward went to hide in the Krusty Krab since no one is in it and he eventually got into the freezer and accidentally locked himself in for 2000 years. 

When he got out he quickly realized that he was in the future filled with multiple SpongeBobs and a two-headed Patrick, and everything was chrome which weirdly enough bothered me the most in this imagination of the future.

Anyway, Squidward discovered there’s a time machine and went back a bit too far in the past. There he discovers a pre-historic world with a considerably more annoying SpongeBob and Patrick. Again, he got annoyed pretty quickly and got in the time machine, but this time due to a bit of a panic, he broke the time machine and it brought him into nowhere. 

At first, he got what he wanted which is some alone time, but reality sank in pretty quickly that Squidward is really alone in a vast and empty space where time and space are really just abstract ideas. Squidward started panicking and running in nowhere and eventually broke back into the time machine where he chanted that he misses everything, even SpongeBob! A second later, he went back in front of SpongeBob.

Now there are a lot of scary philosophical ideas that this episode explores like existential nihilism, eternal recurrence, and in general the idea that life is kinda pointless. But while those are enough to give me nightmares back in my teen years, what’s even darker in my opinion is how Squidward reacted when he was in nowhere. 

Squidward shows in that episode that we need social interactions because we fear loneliness and vice versa. And what happens when we are truly lonely? What happens if we are in a place where there is no space or time where you, a conscious person can’t control anything or interact with anyone?

Those are the questions that can make people have an existential crisis and/or fear death, or even fear life. Squidward’s reaction and mental breakdown are what I thought was dark, it shows the scary side of being human, and it’s very lifelike, I mean if I imagine myself having a mental breakdown, I think it would look like that scene.  

There’s also the idea of eternity in the Alone scene where the frame zooms out until you can’t see Squidward anymore, it gives you a bit of a taste of trying to grasp or scale the idea of eternity which is a very complex and intimidating idea that can be a bit dark to grasp and handle.

There’s also this scene which you might well know and love as a meme, but it shows Squidward trying to take a grasp and accept the situation he’s in. It’s the same as pinching himself and I think the creators intended this to be funny by how weird it looks, and yes it is funny as a kid and not knowing the context behind it, but it’s also a teeny bit unsettling. 

Overall, episode SB-129 is the point I’m trying to present here, it’s a great episode that you’ll love as a kid and it’ll give you an eye-opener and probably nightmares as a teen or adult. It has a lot more to offer and talk about but for now, let’s move on to the next one!

Are You Happy Now? – SpongeBob Squarepants

Hey! Are you surprised that the next one is another SpongeBob episode? Well, don’t be, because while this list is already filled with two SpongeBob entries, there are literally hundreds of episodes that have all these dark ideas hidden within them. 

But for now, this is surprisingly dark scene is pretty quick and simple. 

In season 8 there’s this episode called Are You Happy Now? This episode starts with SpongeBob laughing and enjoying a book titled “The Krusty Krab Work Schedule,” as some of you might be asking, Squidward also asked, “what’s so great about this?” And we’ll get back to that shortly. 

Shortly after that, SpongeBob and Squidward discovered the fact that Squidward doesn’t have a happiest memory, also implying he doesn’t have a happy memory at all. SpongeBob takes him to appreciate music and art which are Squidward’s favorite things only to have the plan backfire leading Squidward depressed for weeks thinking he would never have a happy memory. 

The episode ends with Squidward getting a happy memory while destroying paper mache replicas of SpongeBob. The episode has but a simple lesson; happiness comes from within and forcing it out might backfire on you, but it also teaches us to be grateful and appreciate what we have!

Yes, the whole episode might seem bleak and sad at first but it is a lighthearted episode and does end without bad feelings. And hey, they treated depression in this episode very well, none of the characters made a joke about it, and SpongeBob genuinely did his best to cheer our octopus up! (Yes, he’s an octopus, not a squid!)

But what’s so surprisingly dark about it? Well, this scene:

While Squidward is in a depressive state while also locking himself in his house, he says the darkest words you’ll hear from a depressed person “I can’t seem to get happy” while standing up on a stool and holding a rope that he then tossed up and around possibly a beam. 

I mean, yes he’s just hanging his new pet scallop which he thinks will give him a bit of happiness, but it seems to me like he’s trying to hang himself for a quick second there! I nearly fell out of my chair when I first saw this!

It’s probably something my childhood brain didn’t even notice back when I first watched this. Definitely remembered seeing him destroy SpongeBob’s paper mache statues, but not this!

Phineas and Ferb Get Busted! – Phineas and Ferb

Phineas and Ferb were one of my favorite cartoons to watch as a child, it made me develop my love for engineering. There were very few dark scenes in this cartoon but one thing that stands out for me when I rewatched the show a year ago was the episode Phineas and Ferb Get Busted! from Season 1. 

The episodes start with Candace finally busting Phineas and Ferb building a “flying car of the future, today” (did the whole name for the meme) and a giant tower which then fell and destroyed half of their house.

Their parents sent Phineas and Ferb to a military boarding school where they were brainwashed to become basically brain-dead compliant kids. The teacher or whatever he is even said this:

“Our goal at this school is to crush the dangerous elements inside you and replace them with structure, order, discipline, and conformity.”

I mean, it’s already bad that it’s expected for them to get shouted at, but it’s even worse than prison; they have solitary confinement, probably forced labor, and Phineas and Ferb even got blasted by water to force them into conformity. Am I crazy or does that look like torture?

Who does that to a child? I mean, I’m sure no one does that in real life, it’s a freaking cartoon, I know! That’s pretty much the main reason why this is a really dark scene for me, I’m just thankful that it’s too ridiculous that children wouldn’t get brainwashed as well.

It’s a Wishful Life – The Fairly OddParents

The Fairly OddParents was a pretty cool show, it’s nice having to think about having every dream and wish you have been granted on a daily basis, it’s a power like no other, and it’s even better than the idea of having three wishes from a genie! But as usual, with great power comes great responsibility, and that might come into play later on.

The episode starts with Timmy doing good stuff; he painted a whole backdrop for a stage play, gifted a pretty nice computer to his friend, and even did some lawn work for his parents, all of this went unappreciated and the characters even gave a sad or angry response to Timmy’s deeds. 

With Timmy feeling unwanted, he wished that he wasn’t born thinking that everyone would have a hard time without him. The wish was granted and Timmy was immediately brought into a world where he didn’t exist, to his surprise, everyone is doing better without him, some of them even excelling on stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with Timmy. 

The episode went on and even ended with a positive message with Jorgen saying:

“Don’t do nice things to get appreciated. You should do them because they’re the right thing to do.”

I mean, it’s certainly a great message, but for kids old enough to think about their existence, the thought that everybody does better without them can certainly live in their thoughts and probably even get into an existential crisis or a depression. 

I didn’t pay much attention to this episode as a child but rewatching it now certainly hits differently. It probably even hurts adults more than kids, but the creators apparently apologized for this episode and some TV networks stopped showing it, but still, I’m sure this episode did some damage for a handful of people.

Conclusion

Hey! Thank you for reading! I know I’m just barely breaking ground here and I’m sure there are a lot more out there, so let me know if you know other examples of surprisingly dark scenes in kid’s cartoons in the comments below! And don’t include Courage the Cowardly Dog! Nobody’s surprised if that cartoon has dark scenes, the whole show’s basically nightmare juice.