Many cartoons, while they are visually stimulating for children, are not meant for them to watch and should require viewer discretion.
I remember watching The Simpsons as a kid and I howled over the antics of Homer and Bart Simpson, and Itchy & Scratchy.
But watching the show as an adult, I realized some moments from the popular cartoon can be even more hysterical, but potentially inappropriate for immature audiences.
Wondering about some shocking moments seen on TV, Redditor pswii360i asked:
"What's your 'I can't believe they got away with this in a kid show' moment?"
Fairly Oddparents
"I remember that Fairly Oddparents episode where Timmy wishes he had never been born (or something along those lines), and then he ends up realizing that everyone (including his parents) is way happier without him....seemed pretty dark for a kid's show to me?"
"I know it's a parody of 'The Greatest Gift' and 'It's A Wonderful Life,' but to tell a child the world's better off without you. That's the road to suicidal ideation right there."
"And at one point, Timmy seems to resign himself to his fate."
Dad And The Banana
"Jimmy Neutron when he is talking with his dad Hugh. His dad randomly says, 'Once when I was 7, I sat on a banana. And of course, that changed my life...' Jimmy and his mom's face say it all."
But They Did Do That On Television
"There was a Canadian based sketch show called 'You Can't Do That on Television' that was on Nickelodeon that was crazy in a million ways. But the most crazy to me was the recurring Firing Squad sketches where a crazy South American Dictator was trying to put children to death. In most cases he would mess up and accidentally get killed himself."
The C-Word
"There was some locally made British kids show back in the 1970s, I think, which signed off one day with a card saying 'C U Next Time', with only the initial letters visible for a brief moment. I think someone got fired over it."
Everyone Crushed On Fred
"An episode of one of the incarnations of Scooby Doo in the late 2000s. My niece loved watching them, so I would sit and watch with her."
"Basically, a guest character who is a cute blonde and is crushing on Fred turns coyly to him while stating, 'I'm eighteen! Able to legally...vote!'"
Gun Safety
"Gargoyles in 1994."
"In the episode Deadly Force, Broadway, one of the gargoyles who likes cowboy movies accidentally shoots Elisa the cop with her own gun in her apartment. Blood is shown on the floor and a seriously well done episode commences about the dangers of guns and how Elisa should have been more careful where she left it, and Broadway understands guns are not toys. It was banned for a while, but is now on Disney +"
Munchers
"The episode of Cow & Chicken where a group of very butch looking female bikers called the Buffalo Gals show up and break into Cow & Chicken's house. They proceed to start 'munching' on the house's carpet nonstop. They also play softball."
"EDIT: A halfway decent copy of the scene I'm talking about. I'd forgotten the part where the dad jumps scared into the mom's arms and she's like 'They're not here for YOU! Haha!' Very subtle Cartoon Network lol."
– MikeFatz
The Subtitles
"Maybe off topic but in Iceland a few years ago the national tv showed the teletubbies with a grown up movie subtitles. That moment when tinky winky says 'I know you were high and f'ked him behind my back.'"
Amputation
"the ducktales reboot has a scene where it cuts from one of the protagonists having her leg stuck under a heavy metal beam or something to her, 2 weeks later, walking around on a robot leg and I think about the fact that this wholesome show canonically had a traumatised protagonist who CUT OFF HER OWN LEG all the damn time."
– NullMuse
What Happens Under The Sheets
"When I was a little kid we had a huge set of dozens of Hungarian stories on cassette tapes- every Hungarian kid I know had these, covering fairy tales of all sorts, and we'd listen to them before falling asleep at night. Anyway, there are definitely a few that once I was older I was like 'wait, what?' In particular, there's a fairy tale about a shepherd that never lies, and is entrusted to watch the king's sheep that has a golden fleeced sheep in it. Another king makes a wager with that king that he can get the trusted shepherd to lie, and to make it happen he sends his daughter the princess to the shepherd's field. Anyway, what then happens is they strike a bargain, and I directly translate, 'go under a blanket and play together all night long.' After which, in the morning, she leaves with the golden sheep."
"I remember as a little kid really wondering what they were playing that would result in her getting the sheep. Chess? Cards?"
"Edit: what then happens in the story is the king calls the shepherd in and asks what happened to the golden fleeced sheep, and both kings are sure he's going to lie. But then the shepherd says he traded the golden 'dear' for a black haired one. Then everyone has a good laugh about how clever he is, the shepherd marries the princess, and they all live happily ever after. Trust me guys, Hungarian fairy tales are weird!"
The Blue Cat Blues Episode
"There's an episode of Tom and Jerry called Blue cat Blues there Tom basically f'ks up his life going after a girl, and at the end it's heavily implied that he and Jerry kill themselves."
What SpongeBob Said
"When SpongeBob is trying to get Gary in the bath, and he shows Gary doubloon soaps and says, 'Look Gary, doubloons, don't drop em!'
Teamwork
"When Mr. Krabs goes with Spongebob and Patrick on a PANTY RAID OH MY GOD."
Looking back at some of these racy scenes, it is doubtful the scripting was not deliberate.
While many of the jokes may have gone over the heads of kids who were amused by the visual gags, the writers from these kids shows indubitably incorporated entertaining elements for the adults as well.