There's always someone willing to ruin it for everyone! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the craziest conspiracy theories that will make you completely reevaluate your favorite cartoons.
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00:00I spent two whole dollars on these boots, and now I'm stuck with them!
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the craziest
00:09conspiracy theories that will make you completely re-evaluate your favorite cartoons.
00:14Mom! What do we do?
00:18Number 50. Bikini Bottom is a nuclear test site.
00:21Spongebob Squarepants. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
00:25Apparently, the remnants of a radioactive testing operation.
00:28While Bikini Bottom doesn't seem like a particularly dangerous place to live,
00:32it notably shares its name with Bikini Atoll,
00:35aka the United States nuclear test site after World War II.
00:38Nuclear contamination has made this group of islands permanently uninhabitable.
00:42The radiation's effects on the environment would explain a lot of the peculiarities about the show.
00:47Like how a sponge learned to talk.
00:50So, what's your name?
00:52Sandy.
00:53Shorty!
00:54What do y'all call your shelf?
00:58Or how a school of fish managed to create their own society?
01:01The answers are all in the history books, but that doesn't make them any easier to stomach.
01:06Where have I seen this before?
01:08Number 49. Bender's Reprogramming.
01:11Futurama. These days, everyone's favorite sociopathic robot is known for its vulgar
01:16and prejudicial outbursts, so it's odd to learn that wasn't always the case.
01:21Listen, buddy, I'm in a hurry here. Let's try for a twofer.
01:24Before Bender got, well, bent out of shape,
01:27he was a measly steelworker contemplating ending it all.
01:30But after a quick pep talk from Fry and a shock from a stray wire,
01:34his personality underwent a complete 180.
01:37Come on, Bender. It's up to you to make your own decisions in life.
01:40That's what separates people and robots from animals and animal robots.
01:45As nice as Fry's words were,
01:47there's a much better chance the vote of electricity rewired some of Bender's code.
01:52It completely reframes not just the pilot,
01:54but the entirety of Bender and Fry's friendship. Shocking, isn't it?
01:58This is quite a shock. On the other hand, it's not surprising in the least.
02:03Number 48. Casper is the Ghost of Richie Rich.
02:06Casper the Friendly Ghost Franchise and Richie Rich Franchise.
02:09Imagine a young kid with a cheerful smile and a penchant for well-meaning antics.
02:14Good morning. Oh, no, no. Please don't scream. I promise I won't hurt you.
02:18I'm a ghost. Yes, I admit it, but I'm a friendly ghost.
02:21You have to trust me.
02:22We could be describing either Casper the Ghost or Richie Rich.
02:26One look at them side-by-side is enough to prove there's more than a passing resemblance.
02:30What's more, they're both characters published by Harvey Comics.
02:34So, as morbid as it is to say,
02:36there's a possibility that Casper and Richie Rich are the same person.
02:39Just at very different stages of life, if you catch our drift.
02:43You don't have to take our word for it, though.
02:45Ugh, yikes. They smell awful.
02:48Uh, yes. Yes, quite true.
02:50Bart and Lisa Simpson believe in the theory.
02:52And who are we to say they're wrong?
02:54Well, you know what I think? I think Casper's the ghost of Richie Rich.
02:58Number 47.
02:59Donkey is from Pleasure Island, Shrek franchise, and Pinocchio.
03:03Despite pulling from all different types of fairy tales,
03:06there's one prominent character in Shrek with no clear origin.
03:09Donkey. Where did he come from? And how did he learn to talk?
03:13Well, it's no wonder you don't have any friends.
03:16Wow. Only a true friend would be that truly honest.
03:19The explanation is pretty simple when you think about it.
03:22He's from Pleasure Island.
03:23In Pinocchio, bad kids who visit and misbehave
03:27are sold into servitude and turned into, you guessed it, donkeys.
03:31What's going on?
03:35Pinocchio himself also appears in Shrek.
03:37And in the very same scene, donkeys introduced too.
03:41Maybe because they're coming from the same tale?
03:44If this version of Donkey's origin story is even partly true,
03:47it's amazing he's still so cheerful.
03:49We can stay up late swapping manless stories,
03:51and in the morning, I'm making waffles.
03:54Number 46.
03:55Miss Frizzle's class grew up to be the Planeteers,
03:58the magic school bus in Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
04:01Team belts, everyone!
04:02Please let this be a normal field trip.
04:05Full disclosure, there isn't any fancy lore,
04:08hidden details, or behind-the-scenes drama to explain this one.
04:11The only evidence we have is our eyes.
04:13And quite frankly, it's still pretty convincing.
04:16Oh, yeah!
04:18Prove it!
04:19Stop the bus!
04:21Arnold and Wiggler are basically twins.
04:23The same goes for Wanda, Lee, and Gee, and D.A. and Linka.
04:27Need we mention Carlos and Mati?
04:29There's a chance all the similarities are just a coincidence.
04:32But it would have to be one gigantic, massive, planet-sized coincidence.
04:37Plus, whether intentional or not,
04:39it just makes sense that Miss Frizzle's unorthodox teaching style
04:43inspired the heroes of tomorrow.
04:44As I always say, class, you're out of this world.
04:49Number 45.
04:50Kuzco wasn't the first person turned into an animal.
04:53The Emperor's new groove.
04:54Turning into a llama isn't exactly Kuzco's idea of a good time.
04:58My face!
04:59Good!
05:00My beautiful, beautiful face!
05:01Okay, okay, okay.
05:02I'm an ugly, stinky llama!
05:04Okay, okay, okay.
05:06Llama face!
05:07But if this crackpot theory has any basis,
05:10at least he isn't alone.
05:12Think about it.
05:12Yzma's got a lot of potions around her off.
05:15Who's to say she doesn't have a few spares, too?
05:18Say, ones that turn her enemies into other kinds of animals?
05:21It's brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, I tell you!
05:24Genius, I say!
05:26Kuzco's adventures almost prove as much.
05:28He seemingly can't understand squirrel talk.
05:30But when he finds a bug in a spider's web,
05:33he hears it whimper in English clear as day.
05:36Alfie!
05:37Alfie!
05:38Alfie!
05:38How could that creature have talked unless he was transformed by Yzma, too?
05:42Scary stuff.
05:43Number 44.
05:45Breaking the fourth wall.
05:46Rick and Morty.
05:47Mad scientists or not, you've gotta give Rick some credit.
05:50He really knows how to make a portal.
05:52Hold on tight, Morty!
05:53We gotta get through the opening titles!
05:54Opening titles with what?!
05:56Because of that, he and Morty have pretty much seen it all,
05:59including the other side of the fourth wall.
06:01While Rick and Morty is far from the first cartoon to acknowledge the audience,
06:04the portal-hopping antics make you wonder.
06:07Morty, none of this is real!
06:08We're in a previously-on spiral!
06:09Clear your head!
06:10After all that's happened?!
06:12What if one of these portals brought them to our dimension,
06:14and that's how they know they're on a TV show?
06:17It makes about as much sense as everything else in Rick and Morty.
06:20That is to say, it's weird, but kind of works in its own strange way.
06:24Did he use a portal?!
06:25He wishes!
06:26He wriggled back to the meta-layer, threw a hole in the fourth wall.
06:28Put these on and help me find it!
06:30Number 43.
06:31Nemo never existed.
06:32Finding Nemo.
06:33Just think, in a couple of days, we're gonna be parents!
06:36Yeah.
06:37Bring out a box of tissues.
06:39This theory is tragedy on top of tragedy.
06:42To set the scene, Finding Nemo follows single dad Marlon
06:46as he sets out to, well, find Nemo.
06:48I gotta find my son Nemo!
06:50Nemo?!
06:51Hey, he's that fish!
06:53You know the one we've been talking about,
06:54the one that's been fighting the whole ocean!
06:55But what if Nemo was never born?
06:58The fatal barracuda attack that opens the film might be just that.
07:02Completely fatal.
07:03From there, Marlon slowly tackles the five stages of grief,
07:06eventually accepting that he needs to let go of his son.
07:09Or rather, the memory of him.
07:11It adds a dark spin to what is already an incredibly fraught tale.
07:15But at least no one can see you cry under the sea.
07:18I don't wanna forget.
07:21I'm sorry, Dory.
07:24But I do.
07:26Number 42.
07:27It's all in Garfield's head.
07:29Garfield franchise.
07:30Most of the time, Garfield is made up of fun, light-hearted tales
07:34involving lasagna, Mondays, and punchlines galore.
07:38However, in a particularly traumatizing comic strip,
07:41Garfield wakes up in an abandoned building.
07:43You were having a nightmare, Garfield.
07:45That's what it was, a nightmare.
07:47John isn't there, and neither is Odie.
07:50He's all alone, and he's probably starving.
07:52Then, in the blink of an eye,
07:54Garfield's family reappears like nothing happened.
07:57Yeah, when the going gets tough, the great ones party.
08:01The strip ends with an ominous quote about the power of one's imagination,
08:06potentially implying that everything Garfield has been through was made up.
08:09It's so traumatic, it puts the entire Garfield canon into question.
08:13Who knew a grumpy orange cat could be so depressing?
08:16Golly, this is without a doubt my all-time crummiest moment.
08:21Number 41.
08:22The Disney family tree.
08:24Frozen franchise, Tangled franchise, The Little Mermaid, and Tarzan.
08:28Buckle up, there's a lot to go over.
08:30In Frozen, Flynn and Rapunzel make a cameo attending Elsa's coronation.
08:36What if that was more than a friendly gesture?
08:46A theory once apparently confirmed by co-director-writer Jennifer Lee
08:50was that Elsa and Anna's parents died at sea going to a wedding,
08:53though the sequel discounts that.
08:55Still, considering that version of events,
08:57it could have been the Tangled couple's nuptials.
09:00There's more, though.
09:01The ship that Anna and Elsa's parents were on?
09:03That could be the one Ariel explores at the start of The Little Mermaid.
09:12And since the parents' bodies were never found,
09:14rumor has it they washed ashore and gave birth to a baby boy, Tarzan.
09:19Talk about being part of your world.
09:28Number 40.
09:29Dexter's family are cloned.
09:31Dexter's Laboratory.
09:32The most unbelievable part of Dexter's childhood
09:36isn't his out-of-this-world experiments,
09:38it's that his parents never catch him in the act,
09:40especially considering Deedee isn't exactly stealthy.
09:48It's all completely far-fetched.
09:50In fact, it's so far-fetched that some have begun to wonder
09:54if Dexter's parents are actually experiments too.
09:57The show's closing theme song alludes to Deedee
10:00making one of Dexter's inventions go boom.
10:09That's a bit specific, don't you think?
10:11What if Deedee's curiosity cost her family their lives
10:14and blaming himself, Dexter created exact copies of them?
10:18He's made clones before and it would explain
10:21why his family is unfazed by just about everything.
10:24Number 39.
10:26Wolverine's Yellow Suit.
10:27X-Men the animated series.
10:29When you think of the cuddliest members of the X-Men,
10:32Logan with his animanium claws probably isn't topping the list,
10:36but this one detail completely reframes
10:40all of Wolverine's actions.
10:48As the comic tidbit explains, when Logan storms into a fight,
10:52his classic blue and yellow suit isn't just a bold style choice.
10:56He intentionally wears bright colors
10:58in order to stand out more on the battlefield.
11:00The more focus there is on him,
11:02the less of a chance one of his teammates gets hurt.
11:08It's a silent bit of character insight
11:10that makes you realize, even when he claims otherwise,
11:14that Wolverine has always been a team player.
11:17Number 38.
11:18Calhoun killed her fiance, Wreck-It Ralph.
11:21For the most part, cybugs become what they eat, literally.
11:26However, that leads to a whole lot of grim implications,
11:29particularly for Sergeant Calhoun.
11:32It's not her fault.
11:34She's programmed with the most tragic backstory ever.
11:37The one day she didn't do a perimeter check.
11:41Her wedding day.
11:42Her entire character motivation hinges upon the fact
11:46that her fiance was devoured by a bug at their wedding.
11:49In return, she understandably shot the critter to bits.
11:52But if Turbo's future transformation is any indication,
11:57being eaten by a cybug isn't fatal.
12:00Sure, you grow a few extra legs,
12:02but you maintain your own free will.
12:05All that points to the idea that Calhoun
12:08is the only one responsible for her current single status.
12:11No wonder she's full of so much rage.
12:14You die outside your game, you don't regenerate.
12:17Number 37.
12:18Frankie is imaginary.
12:19Foster's home for imaginary friends.
12:22Anyone with eyes can tell Frankie and Madam Foster look alike
12:25in ways that go far beyond mere familiar resemblance.
12:29But maybe that was intentional.
12:37Madam Foster did always wish she was young enough
12:40to continue taking care of the home.
12:42And lo and behold, Frankie does just that.
12:46All the while sporting an outfit
12:48extremely reminiscent of her grandmother.
12:50They take care of a foster home for imaginary friends,
12:54so it's not too out there to assume
12:56that Madam Foster lives there too.
13:06For what it's worth,
13:07series creator Craig McCracken has publicly refuted this claim.
13:11But the evidence is pretty damning either way.
13:14And, you know, the internet knows better than the creator, of course.
13:19Number 36.
13:20Kristoff is wearing Sven's dead mom, Frozen.
13:24How did a boy and a reindeer become friends?
13:27Some eager Disney fans sought to answer that.
13:30But unfortunately, what they found wasn't merry or bright.
13:40As audience learned, Kristoff was raised in the woods by trolls.
13:44There would have been slim pickings for fashion
13:47and coats are practically a must-have
13:49to protect any child from the cold.
13:51Since current day, Kristoff wears a jacket made of reindeer clippings.
13:56The natural conclusion is that he and his fixer-upper parents
13:59took it from Sven's mother.
14:04At the very least, Sven got a new parental figure out of it.
14:08But that doesn't make it any less haunting.
14:11Number 35.
14:13Comatose Danny, Danny Phantom.
14:15Danny Phantom got his ghostly powers by walking through a malfunctioning portal.
14:19Or so he thinks.
14:21This hypothesis asks, what if Danny never actually woke up from the accident?
14:34Yes, this is another age old, it was all a coma theory.
14:39But this one actually has some good points behind it.
14:42Each of Danny's villains could be interpreted as a figment of his repressed psyche.
14:54None more so than his parents, whose quest to capture ghosts
14:58could be seen as a metaphor for keeping Danny on life support.
15:01Need more convincing?
15:02How about the fact that Danny is literally half human, half ghost?
15:07In hindsight, it feels a bit on the nose.
15:10Number 34.
15:12Black Death, Monsters Inc.
15:13The monsters do most of the actual scaring around here.
15:17But the kid's fear is very much mutual.
15:19Look no further than Sully himself.
15:22Just the mere presence of Boo has him practically showering in disinfectant.
15:33It begs the question, what do these burly monsters have to be so afraid of?
15:39Well, a popular Reddit theory argues that, maybe,
15:42the monsters entered the wrong kid's room during the bubonic plague.
15:47If they unknowingly brought that lethal virus back with them,
15:50then it makes sense why monsters are so frightened of interacting with humans again.
15:54Although, to be fair, Roz and her team seem pretty well equipped for another breakout.
16:09Number 33.
16:10Kim was genetically altered.
16:12Kim Possible.
16:21Kim's your basic average girl.
16:23Or so says the theme song.
16:25But we don't know many teenagers who can kick butt like she can.
16:29No matter how much training she went through,
16:31it's still strange that a young girl could take on genetically modified supervillains.
16:36Unless, of course, Kim had been genetically enhanced too.
16:40Look at it this way.
16:41Both her parents are geniuses.
16:43Her younger brothers are already inventors and she's a secret spy.
16:54There's gotta be something in the water at their house.
16:56That's all we're saying.
16:58At the very least,
16:59Kim's frequent exposure to all of Shego's energy blasts can't help matters either.
17:05Number 32.
17:06Simba causes the drought.
17:08The Lion King.
17:08Look, as much as we'd like to blame Scar for Pride Rock's decline,
17:13not even he can control the weather.
17:15But if this theory is to be believed, Simba can.
17:19He sees first hand that the past kings of Pride Rock take the form of clouds in the sky,
17:24aka the rain water that feeds the valley.
17:27Somebody once told me that the great kings of the past are up there watching over us.
17:33It perfectly ties into the movie's message about lineage and the circle of life.
17:38Since Simba is the rightful heir,
17:40the former kings follow him on his journey with Timon and Pumbaa.
17:48Later, once Simba returns to Pride Rock to reclaim his crown,
17:52the rain follows him.
17:54Coincidence?
17:55We think not.
17:57Number 31.
17:58The Powerpuff Girls are one person.
18:00The Powerpuff Girls.
18:01Meet Brenda.
18:02She's your typical superhero girl.
18:04The only issue?
18:06Her brother ridicules her constantly, and eventually it becomes too much to endure.
18:11Brenda fractures into three different versions of herself.
18:14Blossom, who she wants to be, Bubbles, her innocent side,
18:18and Buttercup, who represents her mean streak.
18:21Thus, the Powerpuff Girls were born!
18:24The older brother becomes Mojo Jojo.
18:26That's the gist of this widely circulated Brenda theory,
18:30a fan idea so widespread they even gave the rumored girl a name.
18:35While Brenda herself hasn't ever appeared in canon,
18:38we can't deny that the girls do act like three sides of the same coin.
18:48Maybe they were actually made with sugar, spice, and a brother who wasn't nice.
18:53Number 30.
18:55The Cars Overthrew Mankind.
18:57There's no tinfoil hats here.
18:59Instead, this suspicion came straight from the Cars creative director himself, Jay Ward.
19:05While he clarifies that none of his ideas are Pixar approved,
19:09he still personally addressed a few longstanding questions about the film.
19:13Like, why do the cars have doors if there's no people to use them?
19:23His answer is pretty cut and dry.
19:25They were for humans, but one day, the cars didn't need people anymore,
19:30so they got rid of them.
19:31Ward likened it to the current evolution of real-life self-driving vehicles.
19:36If they ever gain sentience, we may be looking at an all-too-real live-action remake of Cars.
19:52Number 29.
19:54All the Simpsons Are Geniuses.
19:55The Simpsons.
19:56It's no small secret that this family is better known for their hijinks than their brains.
20:01But as much as it may pain Lisa to admit, she isn't the only bright member of the Simpsons.
20:07In fact, she may not even be the smartest.
20:10An episode in season 12 confirms that.
20:13Were it not for a crown in Homer's brain, he'd be a bona fide genius.
20:18Apparently, he passed that on to kids, too.
20:26All of them.
20:27Case in point, Bart crafts some pretty intricate pranks,
20:31and Maggie canonically has a higher IQ than Lisa.
20:34For all the trouble the Simpsons get into,
20:37it's clear that they're a whole lot wiser than they let on.
20:40Number 28.
20:46Syndrome Is Mr. Incredible's Son.
20:48The Incredibles.
20:52In a world with no shortage of superheroes, why does Buddy fixate on Mr. Incredible?
20:57Well, the answer may lie in their looks.
21:00Buddy and Bob Parr do have passing resemblance, especially in their jaw shape.
21:05Maybe unbeknownst to Mr. Incredible, their connection runs blood deep.
21:10While Bob is a family man nowadays, he and Helen were often stretched to their limits.
21:15Pun fully intended.
21:16An affair or a one night stand is not out of the realm of possibility.
21:20Plus, remember how Syndrome takes a surprisingly amount of interest in Mr. Incredible's family?
21:26You married Elastigirl?
21:30And got busy!
21:33It's a whole family of supers!
21:36Yeah, his actions practically scream redheaded stepchild.
21:40He's already got the red hair too.
21:42Number 27.
21:44Phineas and Ferb don't exist.
21:45Phineas and Ferb.
21:47Fair warning.
21:48After you hear this, you may not be able to see Phineas and Ferb the same way ever again.
21:53Still here?
21:54Good.
21:55Ever notice how Candace almost never busts her brothers?
22:06Well, it's become such a running gag that many are starting to side with her parents.
22:11Maybe she's just imagining it all.
22:13The prevalent rumor is that Candace's brothers are a desperate ploy for attention
22:17that she conveniently shoves all her trauma onto.
22:20It sounds a bit odd, but keep in mind,
22:23this is a girl who semi-frequently hallucinates a talking zebra.
22:27Love the beard, Kevin.
22:29Compared to that, imagining two tech-savvy brothers is nothing.
22:33Number 26.
22:35Ellie's Infertility Up.
22:37As if the opening scene isn't heartbreaking enough,
22:40some eagle-eyed viewers discovered something that might make it even worse.
22:44On paper, Carl and Ellie meet, renovate their home, lose their baby, and that's that.
22:51However, using Carl's age as a ruler,
22:54it's safe to assume their house was constructed before people knew about the dangers of lead paint.
22:58The prolonged exposure from a renovation would probably cause lead poisoning.
23:03Occasionally, that can lead to infertility too.
23:06While there's no way of knowing if this is true for Ellie,
23:09it's the closest thing to an explanation Up offers.
23:12Either way, it explains why Carl takes so long to warm up to Russell.
23:23Number 25.
23:25Avoiding the Draft.
23:26Scooby-Doo, where are you?
23:33These meddling kids never seem to settle down in one place for more than a single episode.
23:38They don't appear to be going anywhere in particular either.
23:41So why waste all that gas?
23:44Thankfully, this is a mystery you don't need a Scooby snack to solve.
23:48The long-rumored answer lies in the political climate the series debuted in.
23:52See, the first iteration of Mystery, Inc. hit screens in 1969,
23:57right at the height of the Vietnam War.
23:59The gang could have been avoiding the draft and had to keep moving to stay ahead of the authorities.
24:11It would also explain why there's so much crime in the world.
24:14Although, the monster costumes are still a mystery.
24:18Number 24.
24:20Wally Coyote is in Hell, Looney Tunes Franchise.
24:23Picture this, you're trapped in a desolate wasteland,
24:26constantly taunted with your wildest dreams.
24:28But they're always just out of reach.
24:31Oh, and all the while, an annoying pest keeps laughing at you when you fail.
24:35Doesn't sound too nice, does it?
24:38Well, that's been Wally Coyote's life for the better part of a century.
24:48Ever since his Looney debut, he's been humiliated,
24:51tormented, laughed at, and just about everything in between.
24:55All things considered, if this isn't some form of toon hell, we don't know what is.
25:09At this point, the only question remaining is what Wally did to deserve this.
25:14Number 23.
25:15Peter Pan is a cold-blooded killer.
25:18Peter Pan.
25:19Apparently, there's a very simple reason why kids don't grow up in Neverland.
25:24Peter kills them before they have a chance to.
25:30It's hard to believe, but the original novel, Peter and Wendy,
25:34heavily implies that Peter has had to put some of the lost boys six feet deep.
25:39Even though it's not overt,
25:41the implications alone is enough to turn the film adaptation into a straight-up horror film.
25:46After all, what was Peter planning to do with Wendy and the others once they grew up?
25:54Thankfully, we never have to see, but still,
25:58this is enough to prove that Neverland is full of more than just faith, trust, and pixie dust.
26:04Number 22.
26:05Mr. Krabs plans to use his daughter for Krabby Patties.
26:08SpongeBob SquarePants.
26:09If there's one thing in the world Mr. Krabs loves more than anything else, it's money.
26:14So it's very suspicious that he puts up with Pearl's spending habits.
26:18Actually, it's weird that his daughter is a well in the first place.
26:21Throw in the fact that Pearl's mom is nowhere to be seen, and the theory starts to write itself.
26:31Maybe, all this time, the secret to the Krabby Patty formula has been well meat.
26:36Their carcasses leave enough behind to feed entire ecosystems,
26:40and in Mr. Krabs' case, he has a second serving ready to go whenever he runs out.
26:46Yeah, remind us to never eat at the Krusty Krab ever again.
26:54Number 21.
26:56Allegory for Substance Use Disorder.
26:58Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
27:00Sleepy, happy, doc, dopey, sneezy, bashful, and grumpy.
27:05They're the Seven Dwarfs, but as it turns out,
27:08each of those emotions also represent a different stage of cocaine misuse and withdrawal.
27:16That's right, there's a lot of compelling evidence to suggest that Snow White
27:20is a thinly veiled analogy for drug use.
27:23It's not just with the Dwarfs either.
27:26Little things like the setting and character designs all lend credence to this idea.
27:31Heck, the main character's name is Snow White.
27:34Classic fairytale or not, once you see the signs, you'll never be able to unsee them.
27:40As they say, one bad apple and all that.
27:46Oh, I feel strange.
27:51Number 20.
27:52Economic Depression.
27:53Scooby-Doo, where are you?
27:55He wanted to scare us off so he could pick up the land cheap.
27:59And I'd have done it too if you kids hadn't come along.
28:02Perhaps it wasn't just the monsters that Mystery Incorporated had to be afraid of.
28:06According to one theory,
28:07the original Scooby-Doo series was actually set during a time when the economy had gone bust.
28:12Things were so dire that even well-known individuals like celebrities,
28:16intellectuals and so forth became criminals to survive the desperate financial climate,
28:21all while dressing up as creatures so that the blame would not be put on them.
28:26Does this seaweed help remind you of that picture on Widow Cutler's wall?
28:33Captain Cutler!
28:34It might sound like a stretch,
28:36but you gotta admit there were a lot of abandoned buildings and downtrodden areas on that show.
28:40Sign of the times?
28:42Well, the tracks clearly lead into that old mill.
28:50Number 19.
28:51Claw is Gadget.
28:52Inspector Gadget.
29:00This fan theory is a shot to the heart of this light-hearted cartoon
29:03about everyone's favorite robotic detective.
29:05The theory in question states that Dr. Claw is actually the real,
29:08or at least the original, Inspector Gadget,
29:11who supposedly died via an explosion.
29:13His genius niece Penny then created a robotic replica out of grief.
29:17It's time to throw in the sponge.
29:19This would explain why Gadget pretty much always escapes from the villain's clutches unscathed.
29:24These robots are useless.
29:26They're weak and feeble like you.
29:30He wouldn't want to actually harm his own niece
29:32and only wants to destroy his mechanical replacement.
29:35It also explains why we never actually see Dr. Claw's face.
29:39My plan was foolproof, but not Gadget-proof.
29:44Number 18.
29:45Bill Dautreve is Bobby Hill's father.
29:47King of the Hill.
30:01It's fair to say that not all children turn out like their parents,
30:04whether it's in appearance or personality.
30:06But when it comes to Hank and Bobby,
30:08the difference is like night and day.
30:10Along with how dissimilar they are,
30:12fans of the show have pointed out that there are hints
30:15that Bill might actually be Bobby's biological father.
30:18My dad didn't buy me a car when I turned 16.
30:21He sold me one, and it was a lemon.
30:24Taught me the value of a dollar.
30:26My dad never sold me anything.
30:28You've got the physical likeness
30:29and the fact that the two spend so much time together bonding.
30:32Not to mention the little fact that Hank has a rather narrow urethra,
30:36which the Hills were originally told
30:38meant that they could never have children.
30:40Damn, Hank, you may be the king,
30:41but from the sounds of it, someone got with your queen.
30:44Although I suspected as much when it took you 30 minutes
30:47to produce a urine sample.
30:49Hey, you want it done quick or you want it done right?
30:52Hank, please calm down.
30:53Number 17.
30:54The Flintstones live in the future.
30:56The Flintstones.
31:03If you thought Bedrock's favorite family
31:05was kicking it back in the Stone Age,
31:06then this theory will make you think again.
31:08Evidence for this one comes from the 1978 TV movie
31:11The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones,
31:13where a malfunction with a time machine
31:15leads two of animation's most beloved families
31:17to share the screen.
31:18I think Daddy's got a new favorite now, Mom.
31:21Playing horseyback.
31:22How does this support the theory?
31:24Well, the time machine was created by Elroy Jetson
31:27to bring his family to the future.
31:28That is, further in time than the future
31:30in which they already live.
31:32But what if the machine actually worked?
31:34They're out of the past, all right.
31:36Some kind of crazy flying nuts.
31:38We know the Jetsons live in the sky,
31:39and perhaps they're doing that
31:40to avoid the nuclear wasteland below
31:42that's been brewing into another Stone Age.
31:44Maybe we've gone so far into the future,
31:46the time has started all over again.
31:48I wonder if they know any other words.
31:50That means The Flintstones is actually set
31:52in a post-apocalyptic future
31:54instead of thousands of years in the past.
31:57Number 16.
31:58Nazi propaganda.
31:59The Tom and Jerry franchise.
32:05You know the drill.
32:07Tom Cat tries his best to take out
32:09his mousy nemesis Jerry
32:10with all manner of nefarious
32:12and ill-conceived ideas.
32:14But were you aware that these two
32:16are the physical representation of countries?
32:18That's right.
32:19Someone out there posted a theory
32:20that states Tom and Jerry
32:21represent the Tommies and Jerrys,
32:24also known as the British and the Germans,
32:26during the early years of World War II.
32:34So if you put that into context,
32:36we've been watching Nazi Germany
32:37outdo the Brits with their
32:39superior intelligence all these years.
32:47Number 15.
32:48Peach Creek is purgatory.
32:50Ed, Ed and Eddie.
32:51Try to contain yourself, Eddie.
32:53The adrenaline of irreverence
32:55can be quite overwhelming.
32:57Did you ever wonder why we never saw
32:59Ed, Ed and Eddie's parents
33:00and why they were perpetually stuck
33:01in the cul-de-sac?
33:02Well, this theory says it's because
33:04they're all stuck in purgatory.
33:05I was asked to mend the curtains by mother.
33:08Every child should start their day
33:09by completing the tasks set upon them
33:10by their parents.
33:12No, we're not kidding.
33:13Each character apparently died as a child
33:15at different points in time
33:16and now remains confined
33:18to their suburban afterlife.
33:19For example,
33:19Rolf spends most of his time with farm animals
33:21because he died in 1903.
33:23Why do I condone such behavior?
33:29Eddie is so obsessed with money and wealth
33:31because he died during the Great Depression
33:33and Ed loves comic books so much
33:35because he died right as their popularity soared
33:37near the end of the Second World War.
33:52It's no secret that Donald doesn't exactly
33:54have the best temperament
33:55and that he goes on the odd rant
33:57every now and again.
33:59While most of us just find it funny
34:00and associate it with his character,
34:02some have claimed that his escalating rage
34:04is a result of his PTSD.
34:06How did he get such a thing?
34:08Well, as a Second World War paratrooper.
34:10Poor old Donald was used for plenty
34:12of military propaganda back in the day,
34:14with one cartoon showing him fighting
34:16against the Japanese by himself.
34:18That's bound to drive anyone over the edge.
34:2813. Charlie Brown is Dying of Cancer
34:31The Peanuts Franchise
34:35You thought Charlie Brown was just an unlucky kid
34:37who happened to have a receding hairline?
34:39Actually, according to this theory,
34:40he's got terminal cancer.
34:52Not horrifically dark enough for you?
34:54The reason he always seems so down
34:55and life doesn't seem to give him a break
34:57is that his adventures and entire life
34:59are all an illusion.
35:01In other words, nothing but a dream
35:02created out of sadness for his brief existence.
35:08Each of his failures is just his own misery
35:11manifesting itself.
35:12Try to watch any Charlie special now
35:14without feeling hollow inside.
35:2212. Shared Universe – Samurai Jack
35:28Crossovers are nothing new,
35:31and if fans even get a whiff
35:32that some of their favorite cartoons
35:34are entangled in some subtle or overt way,
35:36you can be sure they will find evidence of it.
35:40Given the history of Cartoon Network's properties
35:42making random cameos between shows,
35:44it's no surprise people latched on
35:46to this particular theory,
35:47which is that apparently,
35:49everyone's favorite time-traveling samurai
35:51was roaming around the post-apocalyptic
35:53but past version of Townsville this whole time.
35:57Given the identical landmarks
36:04seen throughout some episodes,
36:05the idea certainly has some merit.
36:08Meanwhile, there are others who insist
36:10that Jack and Professor Utonium
36:12are the same person.
36:19Aw man, time-travel makes our heads spin.
36:2111. WALL-E Doomed the Earth – WALL-E
36:27WALL-E is a lovesick robot
36:29that travels the stars
36:30to be with the one he loves,
36:31and has a voice that just makes
36:32you want to pinch his metallic cheeks.
36:41Well, what you didn't know about him
36:43is that this little guy
36:44actually doomed the planet.
36:48Didn't you wonder why the planet
36:50was covered in garbage
36:51at the beginning of the Pixar flick?
36:52That's because, according to this theory,
36:54WALL-E destroyed all of the other robots,
36:56took what he needed from their bodies
36:58to fix himself up,
36:59kept certain items of trash
37:00to decorate his home
37:01instead of compacting them,
37:02and left the robo-corpses
37:04of his fellow brethren
37:05scattered across the wasteland
37:06that was once Earth.
37:08Thanks, WALL-E!
37:0910. Mr. Crocker's Ulterior Motives – The Fairly Oddparents
37:13Brace yourself, people,
37:14because this one is bleak.
37:19Some fans theorize that Cosmo and Wanda
37:21could actually be metaphors
37:22for antidepressants.
37:24Well, this theory takes things
37:25a step further
37:26by stating that they are delusions
37:28of Timmy Turner's
37:29actual deceased godparents.
37:32He imagines them watching over him
37:34and granting his wishes,
37:35all in a bit to keep himself happy.
37:38Since his real parents don't care about him,
37:40he has one heck of a volatile babysitter,
37:42and Mr. Crocker's scheme
37:44to capture his fairy godparents
37:45is, in reality,
37:46just him making sexual advances on Timmy.
37:49I already paid $400 to rent this ice cream truck
37:51and this stupid costume!
37:53Yeesh.
37:549. Winnie and Friends Mental Disorders –
37:56The Winnie the Pooh Franchise
37:58The classic tales of Pooh Bear and his friends
38:00are beloved by children and adults everywhere.
38:03This makes things especially lovely
38:04considering this theory
38:06in which the timeless characters
38:07have each been diagnosed
38:08with a psychiatric disorder.
38:10We are not joking.
38:11Goes like this.
38:12Pooh is impulsive with obsessive fixations.
38:14So Pooh ate and ate and ate.
38:18Piglet has general anxiety.
38:24Tigger has ADHD.
38:28Owl is dyslexic.
38:30Rabbit has OCD.
38:35And, not surprisingly,
38:36Eeyore is a major depressive.
38:44We could have seen the Eeyore one coming,
38:46but does this maybe mean
38:47Christopher Robin is their therapist?
38:498. Pinky is the Genius –
38:51Pinky and the Brain
38:58How can one of cartoon's
38:59most lovable idiots
39:01possibly be smarter
39:02than the megalomaniacal mouse
39:04who dreams of taking over the world?
39:06Well, what if the brain
39:07is so loco in the head
39:09that all his thoughts of world domination
39:11are the result of madness?
39:14The pair's endeavors
39:20could be nothing more
39:21than delusions in his oversized head.
39:23But even if they aren't,
39:25you only need to look
39:26a little more closely to see
39:27that more often than not,
39:29it's Pinky's observations and comments
39:31that make the most logical sense
39:32compared to the brain's ramblings.
39:34One is a genius,
39:36the other's insane.
39:37But which is which?
39:447. The Pokemon War –
39:51The Pokemon Franchise
39:58For an anime about
39:59fighting pocket monsters,
40:01there doesn't really seem to be
40:02any horrifically mature content in Pokemon,
40:05at least as far as
40:06the original season is concerned.
40:07Or is there?
40:09According to this theory,
40:10the amount of gym leaders
40:11and organized crime,
40:13plus the fact that Ash and Gary
40:15are both missing parents,
40:16is because they are the generation
40:18born after a terrible war
40:20fought with Pokemon.
40:28While this creepypasta
40:29may seem more concrete
40:30with the video games,
40:31it does raise some interesting points.
40:34Where is Ash's dad anyway?
40:366. Timmy's on Antidepressants –
40:44The Fairly Oddparents
40:50No, we're not done
40:51with Fairly Oddparents just yet.
40:52While you may have thought
40:54that Timmy Turner
40:54was a lucky little boy
40:55with Fairy Godparents
40:56that could grant his every wish,
41:01this theory proposes
41:02what you were actually seeing
41:03was a metaphor for Timmy
41:04taking antidepressants
41:05to ensure he made it through the day.
41:07How does this make sense?
41:08Well, this theory states
41:09that this scenario is possible
41:11because the Godparents
41:12only appear when Timmy's life
41:13starts to take a tumble,
41:14but they aren't around
41:15when he doesn't need them.
41:19On top of this,
41:20too much use of their magic
41:21is shown to have disastrous results
41:23on Timmy personally.
41:285. Comatose Ash – The Pokemon Franchise
41:35I will be a Pokemon master.
41:37A lot of entries on this list
41:39involve the fantastical elements
41:41of their respective shows
41:42being nothing more than figments
41:44of the imagination.
41:45Pokeball, go!
41:51I did it!
41:52Well, this one deals with
41:53an entire world being made up
41:55in the mind of a comatose Ash Ketchum.
41:57You really saved us, Ash.
41:59No way.
42:00We did it together.
42:01One theorist makes the point
42:03that the tone of Pokemon
42:04became much lighter
42:05after Ash was struck by lightning
42:08in an earlier episode.
42:09Ever since then,
42:10Team Rocket became much less menacing
42:12and the 10-year-old
42:13can somehow traverse freely in the world
42:15without consequence.
42:16The fact that there are
42:17multiple Nurse Joys and Officer Jennies,
42:20plus countless other examples,
42:22seems to support the idea
42:23that his dream to become
42:24a Pokemon master
42:25may actually just be a dream after all.
42:28You know, do some detective work.
42:30Detective work?
42:31I'm going undercover.
42:33Who would have guessed
42:33that Bikini Bottom's
42:34most iconic residence
42:35would actually represent something
42:37as dark as the Seven Sins?
42:39It's not all that crazy
42:40when you think about it.
42:41SpongeBob has a lust for life,
42:44while Pearl is obsessed with males.
42:46Mr. Krabs is the greedy,
42:48but not the most attractive
42:49of the seven deadly sins.
42:51He's also the one who's
42:52the most attractive.
42:53He's the one who's the most
42:54attractive.
42:55He's the one who's the most
42:57is the greediest thing under the sea.
42:59Sandy takes great pride in her work.
43:01Patrick bests everyone
43:03when it comes to sloth.
43:04Both Gary and Mrs. Puff
43:05have been shown to be
43:06quite gluttonous.
43:07Plankton is obviously envious
43:09of the Krusty Krab's success.
43:11And Squidward,
43:12well, we all know
43:13how wrathful SpongeBob makes him.
43:15Turns out this show
43:16attracts weird theories,
43:17since there's another one
43:18that suggests these seven
43:20represent narcotics.
43:27Sorry, your hour's up.
43:28Number three.
43:29All in Angelica's imagination.
43:31Rugrats.
43:32I'm just gonna say it, Drew.
43:33She's the most beautiful
43:34little girl I've ever seen.
43:37No question about it,
43:38little brother.
43:39In this fan theory,
43:40it turns out all those
43:41adorable babies on Rugrats
43:42were nothing more than projections
43:44of a three-year-old
43:45psychological breakdown.
43:48We all thought Angelica
43:49was just moody
43:50because of her age
43:51and spoiled upbringing.
43:52But here,
43:52it's said that her attitude
43:53is actually due to
43:54the traumatic events
43:55of the Rugrats' deaths.
44:03Yep.
44:04Apparently,
44:04Chucky died with his mother
44:05in a crash,
44:06which is why his father
44:07is always overly worried
44:08about him.
44:09And Tommy was stillborn,
44:10which is why Uncle Stu
44:12is constantly making toys,
44:13i.e. for the son he never had.
44:16As for the DeVille twins,
44:17they were just a projection
44:18of an aborted baby.
44:19So Angelica projected them
44:21as identical twins
44:22since the gender remained unknown.
44:24Number two.
44:24There are no monsters.
44:26Courage the Cowardly Dog.
44:32Despite his timid nature
44:34in the face of
44:34the supernatural horrors
44:36going on in the middle of nowhere,
44:37Courage never fails
44:38to protect his owners
44:39from the many monsters
44:40and psychopaths
44:42that seem to come their way.
44:43This would all be fine and dandy.
44:45Except what if they're not all
44:47as scary as he thinks they are?
44:55Given that he's just a dog
44:56and the world probably
44:57looks a lot different to him,
44:59the entire show
45:00could be nothing more
45:01than Courage's canine perception
45:02tricking him into thinking
45:04he and his humans
45:05are in danger,
45:06when the truth is,
45:07all those monsters
45:08he thinks he's seeing
45:09are just people.
45:10But to be honest,
45:11we're not sure
45:12if that's uplifting
45:13or even more depressing.
45:22Before we continue,
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45:33make sure you go into your settings
45:34and switch on notifications.
45:49There is no doubt
45:50that the third installment
45:51of the Toy Story franchise
45:52is definitely the darkest.
45:54However, we bet
45:55that you wouldn't have guessed
45:56that the Oscar-winning
45:56computer animated movie
45:58also seems to have
45:58some unsettling parallels
46:00to the Holocaust.
46:04First off,
46:04the toys are forced
46:05to leave their home
46:06and then find themselves
46:08at Sunnyside Daycare,
46:09where they're imprisoned
46:10and routinely mistreated
46:11and injured.
46:16Near the film's climax,
46:17there's a scene
46:17that looks like they're
46:18all about to perish
46:19in an incinerator together.
46:23If you replace a few
46:27of those key characters
46:28and locations
46:29with some of the victims
46:30and perpetrators
46:30of World War II,
46:31there's definitely
46:32a disturbing similarity.
46:44Have any of these theories
46:45made you rethink your childhood?
46:47Let us know in the comments
46:48down below.
46:53Did you enjoy this video?
46:55Check out these other clips
46:56from WatchMojo,
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