in Funny, Life Fails, LOL

12 Cartoons Your Mom Shouldn’t Let You Watch When You Were Young

Don’t think of cartoons as being for kids

by Bilabubu updated December 3, 2025, 2:28 pm 15.1k Views 1.5k Votes 10 Comments

Given that we came up during the days of but-why-would-you-make-that-parenting-decision? and “just put something on the TV so they shut up,” a lot of us grew up with cartoons that absolutely made us who we are today — and not necessarily in a good way. Some of the TV we grew up watching, in fact, explains everything from our sense of humor to why it’s so difficult for us to take life seriously. Ng If you had any of these cartoons on a childhood TV list, congratulations: You can finally stop wondering why your personality is so weird.

Here are 12 cartoons that your mom surely should never have let you watch, even if it did keep the house nice and quiet.

#1 Courage the Cowardly Dog

A show that asked, via the proliferation of double entendre: What if we traumatize children gently?

Courage went up against demons, cursed spirits, cosmic monsters and giant floating heads — all while your mom thought you were picking up “problem-solving skills.” Meanwhile you learned how to sleep with the lights on until you were 14.

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tonymeg says:

December 6, 2025 at 3:57 am Copy Link of a Comment

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#2 Ren & Stimpy

This show was essentially a psychology experiment posing as an animated series.

Ren was mad, Stimpy baffled and everything … questionable. If you grew up watching this, chances are you now have a sense of humor that freaks everyone out.

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#3 Ed, Edd n Eddy

Three children who intrigue their lives in executing scams for jawbreakers?

Yes, this is the financial education we’ve all been waiting for — manipulation, collaborative chaos and excessively large candies. No wonder adulthood felt disappointing.

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#4 Invader Zim

Tiny little alien guy trying to take over Earth with suspect science and aggressive shouting.

If you saw yourself in Zim, congratulations —we bet you still threaten to kill your computer when it won’t respond.

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#5 Tom & Jerry

Your mom just thought it was innocent fun.

You learned:

violence is funny
pain is temporary
revenge is forever
cats and mice don’t solve problems; they escalate them

This cartoon is one of the reasons how we resolve conflicts in the modern world.

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#6 The Grimm Adventures of Billy & Mandy

There’s nothing that says “good kids’ TV” like a show where the Grim Reaper is your best friend because you’ve beaten him at limbo.

If this was your after-school viewing, you’re probably a little too into dark humor.

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#7 SpongeBob SquarePants

Sponge with a job, starfish with no job, squid who hates his job — the entire economy captured in one cartoon.

Your mother believed it to be an educational.

You emerged from the oven quoting lines that continue to baffle everyone at holiday family reunions.

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John says:

December 6, 2025 at 12:28 am Copy Link of a Comment

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#8 Johnny Bravo

Ah yes, the show that showed an entire generation what, precisely not to do when talking to other humans.

Your mom never should have allowed you to have seen this, but let’s face it: that hair flip also was iconic.

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#9 Courageous Cats

This cartoon crossed lines and raised the bar in ways no TV network today would sign off on without a warning label, a therapist and a team of lawyers.

Half the time, you couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be funny or the product of a midlife crisis.

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#10 Pokémon

The show that taught millions of kids it was perfectly normal to get animals to fight each other for sport and friendship.

Also to blame for the dramatic life moment when your mom tossed all of your cards because they were “distracting you from school.”

You’re still not over it.

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#11 Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse

This show was educational! It had lessons like:

superheroes don’t need training
sidekicks suffer the most
all problems can be solved with gadgets no one can afford

Basically Apple’s business model.

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#12 Dragon Ball Z

Your mom thought it was “a cartoon about friends.”

She didn’t know that you watched people scream for 7 episodes and power up magical energy blasts with the strength of emotional trauma.

Valuable? Yes. Appropriate? Absolutely not.

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Written by Bilabubu

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