Buzz
It can be challenging for adults to create a cartoon that genuinely resonates with children, particularly when catering to a global audience. How much eccentricity should be included? How much 'attitude' is necessary to prevent it from feeling overly sanitized and dull? How frightening should the animation studio make their creation?
These are tough questions to tackle. Get any of these elements wrong, and a studio might end up producing something like one of the following examples:
10. CrackeCanada
When Squeeze Studio Animation in Quebec City launched this series of 52 one-minute cartoons in 2015, it probably seemed like a harmless endeavor. The premise revolves around an ostrich named Ed who must protect his clutch of eggs from various threats. This sounds like a fairly typical cartoon. However, the execution was more about disturbing body horror than playful slapstick, with scenes that make the main character resemble the alien from John Carpenter’s *The Thing*.
In one episode titled 'Ghost,' Ed suffers a heart attack after encountering a crocodile, and his spirit must defend his eggs by using his lifeless body as a weapon. The crocodile tears his body apart, and in the final scene, Ed's ghost re-enters his body, only to return to life as a pile of organs resting atop his eggs.
The strangest episode is 'Factory,' where Ed ends up rolling his eggs across a rhino's back, is liquefied by traveling through the rhino's digestive system in reverse, and somehow gets reshaped by the rhino's teeth into an egg carton for his eggs. The most unsettling part is when the rhino's eyes pop out, still attached by their optic nerves, during the final step. Keep in mind, all of this happens in a G-rated cartoon.
9. The Treasure PlanetBulgaria
Based on the English dub of this 1982 film by Rumen Petkov, it seems the goal was to merge whimsy with a blend of *Treasure Island* and light science fiction, much like what Disney’s *Treasure Planet* tried to do two decades later.
The storyline is a rough adaptation of *Treasure Island*, with characters bearing the same names and corresponding voices. During one scene, the characters *travel through time*, and their ship transforms into an actual wooden ship of the line, with Robert Louis Stevenson and his book specifically mentioned. However, the character designs are so odd and inconsistent that it's unclear if they’re even human. The pacing is erratic, making it hard to follow the plot at times. (The recycled animation doesn’t help either.)
The animation, while intriguing, often suffers from choppy movements that may be uncomfortable for some viewers. The film also contains a surprising amount of graphic violence, making it a strange fit for a children's movie. Additionally, there are racist depictions throughout the film, adding to its unsettling and perplexing nature, despite the attempt to make it entertaining.
8. Hedgehog In The FogRussia
Created in 1975 by Yuriy Norshten, this short film won Best Animated Film at the Tehran Children's Festival. It tells the story of a hedgehog navigating through a fog to attend a dinner party, while being stalked by a bat and an owl. During his journey, the hedgehog falls into a brook and floats on his back, calmly accepting his fate as he says, 'I’m soaked. I’ll drown soon.'
It’s rare for a children's film to present a protagonist so resigned to death at the climax of the story. Although the hedgehog is rescued by a bear, the ending is not entirely happy. At the party, he remains haunted by the image of a horse he saw in the fog. The existential undertones of this story are further amplified by the eerie cutout animation, with textured characters that move unnaturally, particularly the owl.
7. FatFrance
This animated short, created in 2012 by directors Gary Fouchy, Yohann Bernard, and Sebastien De Oliveira Bispo, gained over a million views on a channel called The Kids Club. Likely, most of the young audience was puzzled, with many feeling disgusted. The plot is simple yet bizarre: a farmer and his wife go about their daily tasks while strange things on their farm begin to inflate. It starts with farm animals, then even tools like tractors and pitchforks expand like balloons, and ultimately, it even happens to the wife herself.
The lack of any attempt at a humorous explanation makes the whole situation feel odd and unsatisfying. The most unsettling part is that the characters don't even seem to mind the absurdity happening around them. A particularly strange image is of the wife, so inflated with air that she fills the entire house, which was likely meant to be charming but came across as downright grotesque. There's also a moment where the farmer milks a cow, only for it to be swapped with a bull while his back is turned, a gag that ends up being more gross than funny.
6. Toell The GreatEstonia
For those who are not familiar with Estonian legends, this 1980 short film tells the story of Toell, a giant who fought in battle by bringing soldiers on wheels. After being decapitated in combat, he placed his head on his sword and continued walking to his grave, vowing to return should Estonia ever face another war.
Directed by Rein Raamat, this 14-minute film brings the heroic tale to vivid life, graphically depicting Toell's tragic end along with intense battlefield deaths, such as soldiers being stabbed through the face. However, the Soviet Union was more concerned with the nationalist undertones of the film than its violence, leading to its removal from circulation.
5. Popee The PerformerJapan
In this unsettling 2001 show from Kids Station, a character dressed as a clown in white, red-striped pajamas causes mischief and torment to a purple wolf wearing various expressive masks. The plot is as bizarre as it sounds, and like many other dialogue-free shows, it doesn't offer much in terms of explanation. The disturbing 3-D animation, which makes Popee uncomfortable to watch even in moments of happiness, only adds to the strangeness. The sheer randomness of the events is often more jarring than it should be.
In one memorable moment from episode 4, the characters perform a knife-throwing trick, only to have knives lodged in their faces. Episode 10 is even stranger: Popee fires a gun, and after the bullet ricochets, Popee hides behind the wolf. The bullet passes through the wolf multiple times, exits through his rear, and ultimately lands in Popee's mouth. Despite the oddities, the show continued for 40 surreal episodes.
4. The Animals Of Farthing WoodGreat Britain
This series, which aired on BBC from 1993 to 1995, was scheduled to catch children just returning home from school at 4:00 PM. The plot follows a group of animals who are forced to leave their home as it's set to be destroyed by humans, a premise similar to that of the book and 1978 film Watership Down. Like its predecessor, Farthing Wood is known for its graphic violence, even pushing the limits further with its portrayal of animal deaths, which became infamous in a viral compilation.
The most striking moment in the series is undeniably a scene where baby mice are impaled on thorns by a shrike, an occurrence that's deeply rooted in reality. Although the show eventually concludes with a positive ending, its bright, colorful visuals make the sudden violence feel even more shocking.
3. Fun Kids SmileUnited States
It was only a matter of time before an American film made the list, but who would have predicted it would be the one with the worst animation? Fun Kids Smile is, in many ways, a scam. The YouTube channel repurposes popular characters like Mickey Mouse, Peppa Pig, and the Angry Birds, animating them with stiff, unnatural movements through repetitive storylines—all without any proper licensing from the copyright owners.
According to Baby Center, these cartoons feature some disturbingly inappropriate content for children, such as a baby chopping off Mickey Mouse's nose. One particularly unsettling segment shows Mickey and Minnie's toddlers being chased by a dog, leaving them dirty and bloody. The scene culminates with Mickey and Minnie laughing over their injured children. The issue isn't just the fact that these cartoons are targeted at young audiences, but rather that the content suggests humor derived from mentally unhealthy behavior.
2. Ringing BellJapan
This 1978 film by Sanrio, which runs for 47 minutes, feels like two completely different movies fused together. The first half is a serene, pastoral tale of a lamb and his mother on a farm. The story takes a dark turn when the lamb's mother is killed by a wolf while they are hiding in the barn. The lamb then embarks on a quest to hunt down the wolf. Unable to kill it, the lamb inexplicably asks the wolf to take him on as an apprentice, a request the wolf agrees to. Once the lamb, now fully grown, and the wolf attack the farm, the lamb takes the opportunity to kill the wolf. However, he soon realizes that his harsh experiences in the wild have made him too frightening for the sheep to accept, so he leaves the farm for good.
The film's grim message is somewhat unclear. While it's clearly a critique of living for revenge, it also leaves a lingering question: should the lamb have just lived in fear, considering the sheep were still vulnerable to the wolf until the lamb took action? This is never addressed within the story. Additionally, despite the film's charming appearance, it includes shockingly graphic scenes of animal violence.
1. Squirrel And HedgehogNorth Korea
This propaganda series, which began in 1977 and is still in production today, seems to have been designed with a certain level of unintended irony. The show centers on a group of animals who defend their homeland, Flower Hill, from a barrage of well-armed invaders, clearly meant as a metaphor for North Korea's ongoing tensions with the US and Japan.
The characters representing North Korea are squirrels, hedgehogs, and ducks, while the Americans are depicted as wolves wielding laser gunships capable of throwing jeeps. The Japanese are portrayed as weasels, South Koreans as mice, and Russia is represented by drunken bears—a stereotype that seems odd, especially given that North Korea was once a client state of Russia.
The cartoon isn't just filled with intense gunfights, but as shown in the clip above, it isn't hesitant to depict creatures being impaled alive, much like Animals of Farthing Wood. It also features an abundance of casual profanity. Despite this, the characters have become culturally iconic, with their images adorning nursery walls.
