Top 4 WTF's Of 90's Cartoons

Ahh, the 1990’s. A time of punk rock music, “American Pie” and Warner Brothers creating a fresh new sitcom called “Friends.”Contemporary cartoon classics like “Dexter’s Laboratory,” “The Powerpuff Girls” and “Ed, Edd n Eddy” were all born in this wonderful decade and many kids spent long summer days watching their favourite shows on TV while their moms screamed at them to go outside and play. If you’re anything like me, you spent your childhood laughing at the antics of your favourite cartoon characters and you then spent your teenage years wondering if the creators had been on acid when they thought some of that stuff up.
While it’s common for kids’ shows to sometimes throw in a little, tiny bit of adult humour for any parents watching the show to chuckle at, there’s a big difference between subtly hinting at something and making it audaciously strip onstage in front of everyone (see #1).
Ladies and gentlemen, I was a cartoon aficionado growing up in the 1990’s and that’s why it brings me great pride to bring to you the top 5 WTF’s of 90’s cartoons...


#4: The Negatively Portrayed Transvestite On “The Powerpuff Girls” 
Who knows? When this proposal was first cooked up at a meeting with the Cartoon Network executives, maybe it was seen as a good idea. In the changing times of the late 90’s, perhaps it would have been innovative and forward-thinking to introduce children to a transsexual cartoon character, simply so they’d be accepting and open-minded when they’d meet one in real life.
But then someone had the idea of making it arguably the scariest villain on the show and insinuating that it was Satan. OK, so the ship of acceptance has sailed then...
In his first appearance on the show, he was called a “king of darkness” and it was said that because his very name strikes fear into the hearts of men, he can only be referred to as “Him.” So either he’s Lucifer or some sort of death metal rocker. And since he never wielded a Flying V and performed a mind-blowing guitar solo, we should probably go with the first option.

Or a cosmetics salesman. There’s always that.
Picture from thepowerpuffgirls.free.fr 

So yeah. If you watched Cartoon Network growing up (and unless you knew someone personally who was transgender), this was probably your first introduction to the trans world. It wasn’t a very positive one but the reason it’s not higher on this list is because Him turned out to be a pretty beloved “Powerpuff Girls” villain (personally, he was always my favourite). So maybe he did help bring a little bit of acceptance around.
Even if he was a metaphor for the devil.
And completely terrifying.
And he licked the professor’s face once.
Oh forget it, let’s just move on!

#3: The Sheer Psychological Horror Of “Courage The Cowardly Dog”
You know that guy you went to school with who is now a serial killer? Well, his murderous ways were DEFINITELY not inspired by this show. After all, the following clip could only serve to encourage a sensitive child to be well-adjusted and completely self-assured...
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AXseEnXtsc
Nope, no trauma here!

See what I mean? No? OK, I’ll level with you.
Nearly every episode of “Courage The Cowardly Dog” was a fifteen-minute recital of horrifying monsters, sinister catchphrases (anyone remember “return the slab?”), creepy storylines, crappy animation techniques, eerie-sounding music and a dose of pure, unbridled terror.
The show centred around a pusillanimous dog named Courage who continuously had to save his owners from monsters, ghouls and ghosts. The show also liked to experiment with different methods of computer graphics, some of which worked well but most of which only had the purpose of making the show much more disturbing than it actually had to be. Behold... 

THIS is how you make a child’s delicate mental state stable.Picture from courage.wikia.com

And hey, before you start complaining, I’m a big fan of the horror genre. I just think that because it was a kids’ show, “Courage The Cowardly Dog” should have been a bit more “Scooby-Doo” and a bit less “The Exorcist.” And no, that’s not an exaggeration. There was actually an episode with an exorcism. 

This could actually be seen as educational.
All kids need to learn how to perform an exorcism sooner or later, right? 

Picture from courage.wikia.com 

#2: The Blatant Lesbian Stereotypes In An Episode Of “Cow & Chicken” I don’t ever remember seeing this episode growing up because I’m pretty sure it was taken out of syndication faster than an engine-powered cheetah on Prozac. But I know for a fact that the episode, entitled “Buffalo Gals,” drew huge controversy for portraying gay stereotypes in a way that made you wonder if the censors were incredibly homophobic or just plain stupid. 

“So the horrifically offensive stereotypes are the bad guys?

Perfect! Kids today need to be more prejudiced!”

Picture from www.dreamstime.com 

The episode included a group of burly, female bikers bursting into Cow and Chicken’s home and viciously chewing on their carpet (yes, you read that right). According to Cow and Chicken’s mother (ingeniously named “Mom”) the Buffalo Gals randomly break into people’s houses and do this kind of thing all the time, metaphorically suggesting that all lesbians are opportune criminals who casually break into people’s homes for the purpose of oral rape. Now if that isn’t tolerance of the gay community, I don’t know what is! 
The episode also contains the bikers playing softball (a sport commonly linked to your average butch lesbian) and singing a song with the line “Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight?” Oh, and also one of the bikers was named “Munch Kelly.” Can you feel yourself turning into a homophobe (even if you’re gay)? So can I. So let’s move on while our broad-mindedness is still intact. 

#1: The Stripper In “2 Stupid Dogs” 
Remember when I mentioned that adult humour is sometimes included in kids’ shows for the benefit of any older people watching? Well, “2 Stupid Dogs” tended to do that quite a lot and usually they did it very cunningly. For example, in an episode where the two main characters (who were two stupid dogs, shockingly) went to a drive-in movie, it was insinuated that many people only went to drive-in movies to have a grand old time in the backseat of their cars. Kindly watch this video to see what I mean... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDimSN9AIUA
We COULD get angry about this...or admit that they’re absolutely right... 

See? Adults would get a laugh out of that while kids wouldn’t really understand what was going on but would shrug it off and keep watching the funny cartoon doggies. Everybody wins! It seems that “2 Stupid Dogs” had mastered the art of subtle adult humour. 

Or not. Really, really not.
Picture from http://pimpdaddylovemuffin.com/2011/08/22/cartoon-of-the-week-2-stupid-dogs/ 

But sadly, no. They HAD to push the bra – I mean bar!
The above picture is NOT Photoshopped. It’s from an episode called “Door Jam” where the two dogs were looking for shoes and went to a strip club (which are known for their wide selection of footwear). The stripper (although in silhouette) takes her bra off in front of them while the little dog shouts eagerly for her to take off her shoe. Once she does, he practically faints in ecstasy. 
There are so many things to comment on here that I don’t even know where to start. My first reaction is to utter a long and unquenchable cry of “why?” My second response is to question the motives of the patron on the right who paints an extremely bad picture of strip club-goers with his creepy, immoral smile. I also feel compelled to ask why the two dogs couldn’t have gone looking for shoes in a logical place...such as a clothes store. But I guess that would have made too much sense. 
Also, to top it all off...What??? 

Yep, totally normal kids’ television. 
But I’ll be honest, I’m glad I grew up with the craziness of Cartoon Network and all the great shows it produced. After all, if I hadn’t been exposed to these crazy cartoons, maybe I wouldn't be the blogging nutcase I am today. 
And then what would you be mildly amused by?