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Moments in cartoons where shit got real
- Thread starter Bor Gullet
- Start date
OP
OP
Okay we don't talk about this episode because it hurt me emotionallyShe Ra, Season 1, Episode 11: "The Promise".
Dark as hell ending that set the arcs for the show's two main characters.
The one episode of Teen Titans where Robin goes nuts from illusions of Slade and the bombs he thought were planted on some bridge.
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Steven Universe, he's trying to learn to control his transformation powers, and becomes this body horror amalgamation of cute cats, it's pretty terrifying
The difference is that 2003 Turtles was marketed as "the edgy turtles". All of the branding and character designs aimed towards gritty, angry, edgy. The tone is set pretty early on and you can see that they were aiming for more of a X-Men and Batman TAS style cartoon rather than the 80's Saturday morning antics of it's predecessor.
2012 TMNT pulls you in with more of an emphasis on comedy and fight choreography. It also goes out of its way to blend references to the original comic, live action movies and the 80's cartoon. The writers grew up loving the franchise and it shows.
But when it gets "real" it catches you off guard completey. And the emotional moments hit me so much harder.
Steven Universe S4E11 Adventures in Light Distortion legitimately fucked me right up. The eerie music, the distorted visuals, Steven trying so hard, then accepting that he can't do it and just crying that he wants his dad as he knows they're all about to die... It's like so fucking sad it breaks my heart.
Watching this as a jaded adult, I think I'm more touched by the fact that Mr. Burns was charitable enough to give Homer his job back after he played Mr. Burns's head like a bongo and literally burnt the bridge to the plant.
My vote is basically the entirety of the Spawn animated series, it was some hardcore shit I'm telling you.
Tuca and Bertie
Episode 1:
Here's two wacky birds living in this bizarre world, I wonder what wild and goofy adventures they will get on.
Oh.
Oohhh...
Ohh?
Aww...
Yeah this shows certainly ramps things up the closer you get to the end.
Episode 1:
Here's two wacky birds living in this bizarre world, I wonder what wild and goofy adventures they will get on.
Oh.
Oohhh...
Ohh?
Aww...
Yeah this shows certainly ramps things up the closer you get to the end.
An episode of Steven Universe. I forget which one, but the show occasionally dabbles in body-horror for its bits.
Ok, so there's this obscure Christmas special called Cricket on the Hearth. It's an awful movie and you shouldn't watch it. The only reason I know about it is because it came on a DVD with the classic Rankin Bass Rudolph movie. My wife and I put on for the kids a few years ago thinking it would just be, at worst, a horrible cartoon. But then this scene happens:
My wife and I were shocked. I know times were different back whenever this piece of garbage was made, but holy shit. Oh and they're definitely dead. Those characters are never seen again.
My wife and I were shocked. I know times were different back whenever this piece of garbage was made, but holy shit. Oh and they're definitely dead. Those characters are never seen again.
That shit was like a punch to the gut.
Also, the two parter Nature episodes of Moral Orel changed the whole tone of the show.
You guys are missing the GOAT
No cartoon ever got me as emotional as this as a kid. This episode is the single best thing to ever come out of the Transformers franchise.
No cartoon ever got me as emotional as this as a kid. This episode is the single best thing to ever come out of the Transformers franchise.
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On Avatar The Last Airbender when Oppa got separated from Ang and the gang. He took quite the abuse on that episode and I actually felt bad. Almost to the point where I thought the show portrayed animal cruelty against Oppa.
When Digimon starts referencing the number 666 being the mark of the beast.
These deaths made me physically ill as a child.
Probably the single most scene that frightened me the most as a child, as far as cartoons go.
Yeah, I've heard the 2012 cartoon is great. Keep in mind though: the reason the 2003 show was received so well back in the day, was because it was far closer to the tone of the original comics. And in contrast, the insanely silly, self-aware tone of the first animated series was at least partially a way of compensating for how strict censorship was when it came out. Poor Mikey couldn't even have his nunchucks, because of a law the U.K. had at the time. And ironically, this also has allowed it age a bit better than certain other toy-driven cartoons back in the day. *coughTransformersG1cough*
Honestly, this is what I love the most about the franchise. It's been constantly reinventing itself across its entire history, for one reason or another. And it has Batman levels of flexibility when it comes to the tone, so there's room for wholly silly iterations, dark iterations and everything in between.
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Must have blocked it out because I watched most of the show
This. This sooo much. From the Web World War to the lost of Bob to this. Made the "final" showdown between Matrix and Megabyte even more better.
Also dog episode in Futurama... never a cartoon made me so sad. Last time was... Fry discovering his nephew was named after him. Damnit Futurama!!
[Adult Swim] We LOVED the ending of season one! For season two take it in that direction, go Dark.That shit was like a punch to the gut.
Also, the two parter Nature episodes of Moral Orel changed the whole tone of the show.
'Moral Oral Team' Will do!
-Season Two-
[Adult Swim] Oh, oh sweet merciful god, not that dark!
The GOAT, for sure.
Watching it again just now, I'm surprised how well it holds up.
'Moral Orel Team' Maybe we should give more context on what happened in those first two seasons to explain the ending to season two?
[Adult Swim] O-okay.... That doesn't sound too bad right...?
-Season Three-
[Adult Swim] Oh no...
I think I was like 12 or so when this scene happened and had been an avid Beast Wars fan and this scene blew me away. I think it was one of the first times a cartoon of this nature really shocked me and got me emotional. It had happened before but I was never quite able to truly appreciate what I was seeing on screen. Excellent stuff both from a narrative point as well as a character development point. DinoBot went from arrogant dickheaded turncoat to an out and out hero even if a surly one. That and him taking out everyone by himself and then going out quoting Hamlet! Hell he even "inspired" mankind in the end which was a great way to cap that entire arc.
Watership Down is a story about cute and funny talking animals that turns into a survival horror and is ultimately about accepting death as an inevitability.
Its generally shown to young kids in our country.
Its generally shown to young kids in our country.
This part in Korra.
I was like "did they seriously just do that?"
Was that before or after people were being suffocated?
In the OG pokemon anime, when the SS Anne sunk and was teetering on the edge of a trench.
The ship flipped upside down so Ash and co had to climb to and cut a hole in the hull then swim to the surface or fucking drown.
Would the pokemon anime of today do something like this? Hell no.
The ship flipped upside down so Ash and co had to climb to and cut a hole in the hull then swim to the surface or fucking drown.
Would the pokemon anime of today do something like this? Hell no.