Disturbing/Scary cartoons

[kaseykockroach]

Name some shorts you find rather disturbing. Cartoons that might have terrified you as a child. two cartoons I found rather scary were:
Gene Deitch's Tom & Jerrys. :D

[Chow Hound]

The Case of the Stuttering Pig really creeped me out as a child, and I'm so glad it made into the LTGC so I can watch it every Halloween. It's one of the very few B&W cartoons I enjoy. The Scaredy Cat trilogy and The Wearing of the Grin creeped me out too, but to a much lesser extent. The Minah Bird freaked me out, but not the cartoons he was in as whole.

[J. A. Boschen]

I can remember the Casper cartoon, "There's Good Boos tonight", use to upset me when I was younger. That whole scene where CAsper's new best friend the Fox was shot, and then Capser brings him out dead crying his eyes out always bothered me. Even though the fox comes back to life as a ghost and the cartoon ends happily.

Today the film does not bother me but I still think that the whole concept was a bit too much and unnecessary for a six minute cartoon short.

[Sean Gaffney]

Two Tom and Jerrys terrified me as a kid. Heavenly Puss, basically the entire cartoon was scary as hell. And The Missing Mouse, Tom's look and tone when he intones "Don't you believe it!" still gives me the heebie-jeebies.

[cngsoft]

There are plenty of disturbing cartoons, but I'll keep the list short. It helps a lot that Noveltoons/Harveytoons (with all their violence (http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com/showthread.php?t=9023)) were never aired here in Spain.

* Friz Freleng's Satan's Waitin' Looney Tune disturbed me to no end because of the whole notion of killing Sylvester, one life at a time, but also because I didn't know where he got his two extra lives from: here in Spain, cats have seven lives rather than nine. Similarly, I found Mouse Mazurka to be very bad taste.

* Tex Avery's Sh-h-h-h-h-h! Foolish Fable scared me as well. The lethal case of trombonosis that kills the poor man at the end is one of the freakiest full-colour fantasies ever filmed. By the way, the scene was paid an homage by Spanish comics artist Oscar Martín, whose name may ring a bell because of his Tom & Jerry comics:

http://www.cngsoft.dyndns.org/dolordecabeza.jpg

The two-headed monster whose annoying voice and endless chatter creates lethal headaches even mentions "un señor bajito, con bigote que [...] tenía la cabeza muy grande y fue espectacular": "a short gentleman with a moustache who [...] had a very big head and made a great show".

* Last but not least, the exaggerated cruelty of the children in Walt Disney's Orphans' Picnic and Orphans' Benefit (1941) (actually directed by Ben Sharpsteen and Riley Thompson respectively) scared me at the first, then made me very angry. And now that I've also watched the other Mickey's Orphans cartoons I keep finding them annoying and irritating.

EDIT: I've just corrected the picture URL because it didn't show. My apologies for the inconvenience.

[The Spectre]

* Friz Freleng's Satan's Waitin' Looney Tune disturbed me to no end because of the whole notion of killing Sylvester, one life at a time, but also because I didn't know where he got his two extra lives from: here in Spain, cats have seven lives rather than nine.


Interesting that you mention Oscar Martin later on... I remember as a kid reading a Tom and Jerry comic by Martin which mentions cats having seven lives.

[J Lee]

I can remember the Casper cartoon, "There's Good Boos tonight", use to upset me when I was younger. That whole scene where CAsper's new best friend the Fox was shot, and then Capser brings him out dead crying his eyes out always bothered me. Even though the fox comes back to life as a ghost and the cartoon ends happily.

Today the film does not bother me but I still think that the whole concept was a bit too much and unnecessary for a six minute cartoon short.

Myron Waldman and Willard Bowsky had a bunch of disturbing cartoons at Paramount. Waldman ususally was the one doing all the cute cartoons, but when he took a harder line, some of the endings of his shorts, like "There's Good Boos Tonight", "You Can't Shoe a Horsefly" or "Winner by a Hare" could be pretty gruesome, with on screen deaths that were unsettling for the youths sitting in front of their TV sets.

Bowsky went for more nightmarish stuff that would scare children (in fact, at the end of the Screen Song "Popular Melodies" the devil's head through the closing iris bids the kiddies in the theater audience a good night and pleasant dreams before closing with an evil laugh). "Minnie the Moocher," "Small Fry," "Wotta Nightmare" and "King for a Day" are other Bowsky shorts that don't contain any deaths, but do have images that stick with you (it's also why the Fleischers chose Bowsky, instead of Seymour Kneitel, to do the first two color Popeyes, since those had to be more dramatic than your average cartoon, and Bowsky was probably the best non-Disney feature director of the 1930s at putting a sense of menace in his cartoons).

[Geezil]

[...]Bowsky went for more nightmarish stuff that would scare children (in fact, at the end of the Screen Song "Popular Melodies" the devil's head through the closing iris bids the kiddies in the theater audience a good night and pleasant dreams before closing with an evil laugh). "Minnie the Moocher," "Small Fry," "Wotta Nightmare" and "King for a Day" are other Bowsky shorts that don't contain any deaths, but do have images that stick with you (it's also why the Fleischers chose Bowsky, instead of Seymour Kneitel, to do the first two color Popeyes, since those had to be more dramatic than your average cartoon, and Bowsky was probably the best non-Disney feature director of the 1930s at putting a sense of menace in his cartoons).

Then, since Bowsky is credited on "Betty Boop, M.D.," no doubt his was the animation in the closing scene (as the last Jippo drinker's face morphs into Fredric March-as-Mr. Hyde, which no doubt sent many a child viewer into :eek: mode).

[gdX]

I guess I sleep deeply – I don't remember but a handful of dreams... especially one from when I was about 6 or 7... a desolate house in a dark rainstorm, and very scary goings on inside, and a memorable grim reaper character... I recall every detail to this day.

Flash forward to the mid-90s and I'm collecting animation laserdiscs... picked up a Disney title that contained an early-30s Mickey Mouse short, The Haunted House... I can't overstate how freaked out I was to see my nightmare from decades prior replayed in considerable detail!

Though I can't remember ever seeing the cartoon, it's obvious I must have, likely having been featured on an original MM Club broadcast in the 50s – and it must have sunk in mighty deep.

Good to have closure, I guess.

Otherwise, I can't think of any titles that scare or disturb... not even Betty Boop MD.

:mickey:

[rp-j]

Heavenly Puss-While not as scary as the PJD, the fact that it deals with heaven/heck still creeps me out a little bit.

The first time I saw it, I must admit that it was slightly alarming when Tom got hit by the piano, in so much as he didn't pop back into shape and continue chasing Jerry. When I saw him climbing the "Stairway to Heaven" (as Led Zeppelin might put it), it was somewhat strange to be honest... It's one of my fave shorts now, though - beautiful animation... :cool:

[Matt the Y]

"Scaredy Cat" used to give me the willies as a kid. The idea of the whole criminal intent behind those murderous mice particularly during the Death March sequence... Brrrrr!!!!

Of course, now the cartoon is one of my favorite WB cartoons of all time. Maturing will do that...

[J Lee]

Then, since Bowsky is credited on "Betty Boop, M.D.," no doubt his was the animation in the closing scene (as the last Jippo drinker's face morphs into Fredric March-as-Mr. Hyde, which no doubt sent many a child viewer into :eek: mode).

Really, right from the get-go in his first cartoon as animator, "Swing You Sinners", Bowsky did menacing images as well as anyone in the 1930s (he's also the most versatile of the Fleischer directors in the 30s when it came to musical cartoons, though Kneitel and Tendlar, Waldman and Johnson also handled cartoons with musical numbers well). If Willard had survived WWII and returned to Famous Studios, it would have been interesting to see what a collaberation between he and Bill Tytla would have looked like, since Famous still would do more serious/non-slapstick cartoons on occassion up through the late 1940s.

[Bobby Bickert]

The giant fly in "Soup or Sonic" creeped me out. (I was probably 11 when this was originally broadcast.)

[Rusty0918]

Here are a few of mine:

"Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid" (Bugs Bunny / WB) - I never was too crazy about the bone gag.

"Never Sock a Baby" (Popeye / Paramount) - It really tugs at you seeing Swee'Pea packing a bundle and running away. I never liked this one.

"Heavenly Puss" (Tom and Jerry / MGM) - Same reasons as mentioned previously by others.

"Satan's Waitin" (Sylvester and Tweety / WB) - Same reasons as mentioned previously by others.

"Sorry Safari" (Tom and Jerry / MGM) - One of the infamous Gene Deitch shorts (though many could fit in this): That guy looks like he went through botched electro-shock treatments due to his inhuman temper.

"Fireman's Brawl" - (Popeye / Paramount) - Obviously Olive's house seriously burns down and that scene where she's swinging from the chandelier and gets her butt burned and then uses the shower to extinguish it multiple times was very disturbing.

"Falling Hare" (Bugs Bunny / WB) - I wasn't too crazy about this one due to its wierdness (and the fact that Bugs Bunny is on the receiving end of the torture).

I'll think of some more later...

[dandu]

When I was around 7, I remember not liking Olive's Boithday Presink, I remember the first time I saw it I cried where popeye was about to shoot the bear. I wasnt too crazy about the bones gag in "Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid" either.

[Mr. Semaj]

That giant green asertisk from Pink Punch (1966) creeped me out as a kid. :o

[grim_tales]

The Case of the Stuttering Pig really creeped me out as a child, and I'm so glad it made into the LTGC so I can watch it every Halloween. It's one of the very few B&W cartoons I enjoy. The Scaredy Cat trilogy and The Wearing of the Grin creeped me out too, but to a much lesser extent. The Minah Bird freaked me out, but not the cartoons he was in as whole.

Is the Wearing of the Grin the one with Porky Pig and the magical shoes? That's not scary :) (not IMO).

[Marty26]

Is the Wearing of the Grin the one with Porky Pig and the magical shoes? That's not scary :) (not IMO).

I always used to find Treg Brown's use of that "broken down hydraulics" sound effect to signify unconsciousness kind of disturbing (don't really know why, though). It was also used in Leghorn Swoggled and I think Putty Tat Trouble.

[Geezil]

When I was around 7, I remember not liking Olive's Boithday Presink, I remember the first time I saw it I cried where popeye was about to shoot the bear.

:( But are you sure it wasn't ... ahem ... that bearded guy in the hat & long coat that freaked you out instead?

:p

[dandu]

Dont, worry geezil, I liked that dude! I wish he appeared in more cartoons...It's just the dramatic scene with popeye shooting the bear that made me upset.

[Fibber Fox]

The only one I can think of now is when Popeye is getting erased in 'The Ace of Space.' The sound effects and the backward dialogue helped.

FF

[Spike]

"BLUE CAT BLUES" for the ending

[Cartman]

The sequence in Pinocchio, in which the Coachman is rounding up the donkeys freaked me out.

[Chow Hound]

Is the Wearing of the Grin the one with Porky Pig and the magical shoes?Yes, it is. That's not scary :) (not IMO).I think the Leprechauns are a bit creepy, as is Porky's inability to control himself when he's wearing the shoes.

[Bugs Bunny]

"Physcadellic Pink" - My first viewing of a "Pink Panther" short. I wasn't used to abstract art at that time. My idea of the short was pretty bizzare. A world where colors and letters bleed. I kept on asking questons in my head like - "How can a book be damaged if if it falls? , "Why would you need to operate on a book?".

Pink Panther's design was different compared to the opening titles of "The Pink Panther " films. Tom O' Loughin's background for this short was spectacular, earlier I tought the orange looks appalling.

[frizfrelengfan]

When I was a kid "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" disturbed me. The grotesque villains in Daffy's imagination gave me the creeps - especially "Neon Noodle."

[OurGangAlfalfa]

Almost all of the Iwerks cartoons, but especially the Willie Whopper one where he goes to outer space.

[Do-Do]

That giant green asertisk from Pink Punch (1966) creeped me out as a kid. :o


It's time to face your fears......

*


Cathartic, no?

[Marty26]

Almost all of the Iwerks cartoons, but especially the Willie Whopper one where he goes to outer space.

You even consider Porky's Super Service scary? The only thing scary about it is the fact that its Porky design looks more like the conventional Porky design than the Porky design of later cartoons like Porky's Railroad and even Porky's Double Trouble (which didn't even use the Fat Porky title).

[Mr. Jinks]

For me.....The Old Grey Hare when baby Bugs was slappin around baby Elmer poking his eyes and hitting his head with the bottle....and the worst part of it.

Also, the end when Elmer was buried alive and Bugs came in with that big stick of dynamite and the look on Elmer's face...that scene mixed with the music (for some reason to me was weird and creeped me out) the Bob Clampett fadeout "bewwwwup" and the title card shake.

To this day, I cannot watch that cartoon.

[Geezil]

The only one I can think of now is when Popeye is getting erased in 'The Ace of Space.' The sound effects and the backward dialogue helped.

Speaking of Popeye, not so much scary as just plain disturbing, IMO, are two other Famous Studios "apparent disaster" setups involving near-dismemberment by a quartet of apes (Tops in the Big Top) (everybody sing: "You take the left arm and I'll take the right leg...") :shame: and being pounded into a concrete floor head first by one huge mutha of a gorilla (Baby Wants Spinach)!

Because of that business alone, those two shorts gave me the shivers as a five-year-old and still do.

(Note: Rhetorical question ahead; no reply required) As many GACers have wondered and probably will go on asking for all time, what was it with Famous and all that humorless violence, anyway? :huey:

[grim_tales]

"Physcadellic Pink" - My first viewing of a "Pink Panther" short. I wasn't used to abstract art at that time. My idea of the short was pretty bizzare. A world where colors and letters bleed. I kept on asking questons in my head like - "How can a book be damaged if if it falls? , "Why would you need to operate on a book?".

Pink Panther's design was different compared to the opening titles of "The Pink Panther " films. Tom O' Loughin's background for this short was spectacular, earlier I tought the orange looks appalling.

I have to agree I find/found that short wierd/creepy. Very much a product of its time.

[Harukuro]

The ending of "Donald's Birthday" (or something along those lines) made me cry because his poor nephews were forced to smoke all the cigars when all they wanted to do was give him a present.:( I'm not going to watch this cartoon again that's for sure.

[Larry T]

Most disturbing / scary cartoon?

Loonatics Unleashed.

(Oh wait, you said "cartoon") :p

The Tell-Tale Heart - UPA is a creepy cartoon.

The Hypochondri-cat is another I find somewhat disturbing.

Song of the Birds - featuring Little Audrey is verrrrrryyyy disturbing.

Buddy The Detective - Not scary or creepy, but the strangeness factor is certainly in there.

The Mad Doctor- this one is scary. Seeing poor old Pluto on the operating table always kind of disturbed me a little.

Peace On Earth - scary and disturbing at the same time.

One scene that always kind of freaked me out when I was a kid was in "Pop-Pie A La Mode" when the natives pound Popeye into a steak. I thought to myself, "Ewwww, that steak is going to have clothes and bones and organs in it....". But now that I'm older, I realize this is exactly what makes up hot dogs. ;)

[frootloops]

Pigs Is Pigs! The Merrie Melodies cartoon where the pig BURSTS at the end of the nightmare.

The Two Mousekateers when Tom gets BEHEADED at the end of the cartoon.

Satan's Waitin'. Sylvester is doomed to spend an eternity in a Hell at the end.

Lonesome Lenny. The CRUNCH noise as Lenny squeazes Screwy Squirrel to DEATH!

A lot of Tex Avery MGM cartoons where characters get KILLED or EATEN(although I still find these cartoons among the most entertaining).

[grim_tales]

The ending of "Donald's Birthday" (or something along those lines) made me cry because his poor nephews were forced to smoke all the cigars when all they wanted to do was give him a present.:( I'm not going to watch this cartoon again that's for sure.

I remember that cartoon!

[Matt the Y]

Here are three Bob Clampett cartoons I find rather disturbing...

1) The Daffy Doc - Any cartoons involving deranged doctors or operations aren't my cup of tea and this cartoon really bothers me. The idea of Daffy Duck as a crazy surgeon who tries to operate on Porky with a saw is more frightening than it is funny.

2) An Itch in Time - At the risk of upsetting people, this is quite possibly my least favorite WB cartoon of all time. I just don't see any humor (or, at least, tasteful humor) in the idea of a flea feeding on a dog's flesh and the numerous gags milked from it such as pick-axing and dynamiting the dog as well. The only thing I actually find funny in this whole cartoon is the dog's line, "I betty cut this out! I may get to like it! (Slobbers)".

3) A Coy Decoy - This cartoon probably wouldn't disturb others but I find it disturbing because of the remarkably literal and uncartoony-looking wolf who tries to devour Daffy. By using a "realistic" cartoon wolf, Clampett took away the benign effect of having other cartoony wolves chasing their prey. The wolf in this cartoon looks genuinely vicious, evil, and frightening so it really detracts from a lot of the humor, IMHO.

[BloodyChamp]

I can remember the Casper cartoon, "There's Good Boos tonight", use to upset me when I was younger. That whole scene where CAsper's new best friend the Fox was shot, and then Capser brings him out dead crying his eyes out always bothered me. Even though the fox comes back to life as a ghost and the cartoon ends happily.

Today the film does not bother me but I still think that the whole concept was a bit too much and unnecessary for a six minute cartoon short.

I absolutely love this cartoon. I'm a huge sucker cartoons that make you feel like you've just watched a sad (yet not sad, as you pointed out) movie.

[BloodyChamp]

* Tex Avery's Sh-h-h-h-h-h! Foolish Fable scared me as well. The lethal case of trombonosis that kills the poor man at the end is one of the freakiest full-colour fantasies ever filmed. By the way, the scene was paid an homage by Spanish comics artist Oscar Martín, whose name may ring a bell because of his Tom & Jerry comics:


Now THIS totally made me blurt out the phrase "O my G*D" when I watched it, and I'm a christian! Granted, I blurted it out in a comical way more than in a legit scared way but this is definitely a wacked out cartoon. If it wasn't so dang FUNNY and GENIOUS I'd truly be disturbed.

[BloodyChamp]

Song of the Birds[/b] - featuring Little Audrey is verrrrrryyyy disturbing.

Check out the original. I haven't seen the Audrey version but have read that it was a pathetic attempt at recreating the great version. Or is that what you meant, ya Loonatic :D

Peace On Earth[/b] - scary and disturbing at the same time.

Sad cartoons that make you feel good at the end (like the Casper one I also mentioned and your other pick) don't count as disturbing cartoons to me. I love these kinds of cartoons.

What disturbs me is that the cut and paste function doesn't work for me on this forum!

That's why I had to make 3 posts :D

[Geezil]

[...]One scene that always kind of freaked me out when I was a kid was in "Pop-Pie A La Mode" when the natives pound Popeye into a steak. I thought to myself, "Ewwww, that steak is going to have clothes and bones and organs in it....". But now that I'm older, I realize this is exactly what makes up hot dogs. ;)

Holy Fudd ... I never thought of that angle until now. LOL! (Of course, the last time I ever saw "Pop-Pie A La Mode" was ... believe it or not ... in the very late 1980s, when it somehow snuck into WWOR New York's weekday rotation of the Turner redrawns plus the Famous color Popeye library. Once, that is.)

And man, do I wish I still had the VHS tape I made that morning! :(

[Bugsmer]

I remember that cartoon!

It should be coming out in December, on the Chronological Donald vol 3!

[Jack G.]

Here's a Warner one that disturbed me:

A dog has the hots for a dog statue.
And the statue gets taken to be turned into a bomb.
Dog kisses bomb (labeled Daisy).
BOOM!

What's the title to that one?

[Matt the Y]

Here's a Warner one that disturbed me:

A dog has the hots for a dog statue.
And the statue gets taken to be turned into a bomb.
Dog kisses bomb (labeled Daisy).
BOOM!

What's the title to that one?

That is Friz Freleng's "Ding Dog Daddy" [1942]. I've seen this one and I never found it that disturbing because I knew that "Daisy" was never a real dog. Although it is easy to sympathize with the main dog character (even if I is an imbecile) so if you put yourself in HIS shoes (loving a girl and having her melted into a bombshell), that would be traumatizing!

[mmtper]

(Note: Rhetorical question ahead; no reply required) As many GACers have wondered and probably will go on asking for all time, what was it with Famous and all that humorless violence, anyway? :huey:

It looks like I'm gonna be on sick leave from work for a couple of weeks, so I might try to write a little mini-essay about that subject. For now, I think Famous far outdistances any other studio in disturbing/scary scenes that were supposed to be funny or entertaining. I'd like to add Little Audrey's Butterscotch and Soda to the list of scarytoons, a sort of Lost Weekend/Dante's Inferno for 4-year-olds.

And over 40 years ago I dimly remember seeing a yucky toon of little mice or guines pigs in a lab being injected with experimental serums by a mad scientist. Could it have been Sad Little Guinea Pigs from Columbia?

[Mark McNeil]

One that comes to my mind was a Popeye cartoon from the early 60s. I don't know the name of it, but it ends with Brutus getting eaten by sharks.

[cartoonjoe@eart]

It's time to face your fears......

*


Cathartic, no?SHREEEEIIKK!!

[Mac]

I can't ever remember being really upset by a classic cartoon as a kid, but my tendency to over-think things did make a few scenes in cartoons seem mildly disturbing. I remember one Betty Boop cartoon where everyone is dancing at a party which of course means that the furniture eventually joins in too. One man winds up falling in the stove and emerges, still dancing, as a load of ashes. I couldn't help but wonder if, when the dancing stopped, he'd collapse as a dead pile of ashes and how the other characters would react when they discovered his remains!

When I first saw Beauty and the Beast (not golden age I know) I wondered about the part of the fight scene where one of the villagers falls into a chest (by the films logic, an enchanted human) who swallows him whole and burps. I remember it got quite a big laugh from the audience, but I was left thinking when that chest man turns back into a human what would happen to the man inside - will he cause the chest man to tear apart as he transforms or (and much more likely in my opinion) the chest man has already killed the villager by eating him! I tried to tell myself that maybe some of the objects were just enchanted and not transformed humans, (that would also explain Chip's many "brothers and sisters" and the thousands of living peices of cutlery which was also troubling me), so the villager was just trapped inside a box. However, the way it was animated left me in little doubt that I'd just witnessed a scene of canniballism and it made me slightly queasy!

[The Spectre]

One that comes to my mind was a Popeye cartoon from the early 60s. I don't know the name of it, but it ends with Brutus getting eaten by sharks.

Yeah, I remember that... it also featured the Sea Hag. I think it was called "Private Eye Popeye", which is the same name as a Famous cartoon. What disturbed me was the fact that, after Popeye says "Those sharks are going to have a bellyache!" *all* the sharks were shown holding their stomachs - he wasn't even swallowed whole with an obvious chance of escape the way most cartoon characters are when they're eaten!

[The Budman]

I, too, was disturbed by the "Popeye as a steak" scene in "Pop Pie Ala Mode." It featured cruelty, cannibulism, Popeye sizzling over a fire, and an apparently dead Sailor Man. The Famous Studios cartoons would sometimes make it appear that Popeye was dead, at least to me when I was a kid. Take "A Wolf In Sheik's Clothing" for example. The sheik grabs a mummy wrapped Popeye by the throat causing Popeye to lose consciousness or worse, stuffs him into a cannon, and fires him into a tomb which opens its mouth to swallow him. Or how about "The Royal Four Flusher" in which Popeye falls from a skyscraper and we then see him unmoving suspended on the water from a broken pipe while sad music is heard.

Olive Oyl herself got into situations that were both disturbing and, as I reached adolescence and beyond, were also titillating. In "The Royal Four Flusher," she's trapped in a straitjacket in a playboy's penthouse. In "Snow Place Like Home," she's helpless as Pierre hungrily and lustfully works at removing her outer covering. It's a pipe, but there were implications that Pierre certainly wasn't going to stop there. In "Jitterbug Jive," Olive is trapped in a string of redhots and a thoroughly male-on-the-make Bluto is confidently eating his way to her and will soon "consume" and enjoy her as well.

The cartoon "A Job for A Gob," also disturbed me. Here Bluto begins destroying Olive's ranch and is an arsonist. Arson is a little too "real life" for me.

In "Gift of Gag," Famous Studios reversed the way they had been portraying Olive Oyl. Instead of being a sweet young thing, in this cartoon she is a shrew. She cruelly laughs at every dirty trick Bluto plays on Popeye, but gets mad at Popeye every time he tries to retaliate. Why was I supposed to care who ended up with her?

[The Budman]

I thought of two "Popeye is dead/Popeye is eaten" Famous Studios scenes which I should also mention. In "Ration For The Duration," a giant chews on him while creepy, sick music plays. And in "Pre-Hysterical Man," a dinosaur crunches and munches contentedly away on a scrunched Popeye who has been stuffed into a spinach can. We eventually see Popeye eating the spinach, but the dinosaur swallows him before he can swallow the green stuff and let it take effect. Creepy stuff! (Don't worry - Popeye's spinach takes effect while he is going down the dinosaur's throat.)

[Matt the Y]

In "Gift of Gag," Famous Studios reversed the way they had been portraying Olive Oyl. Instead of being a sweet young thing, in this cartoon she is a shrew. She cruelly laughs at every dirty trick Bluto plays on Popeye, but gets mad at Popeye every time he tries to retaliate. Why was I supposed to care who ended up with her?

Actually, you're mixing up two Popeye cartoon titles. "Cookin' With Gags" is the cartoon where Bluto "celebrates" April Fool's Day by playing a variety of cruel jokes on Popeye. I actually like that cartoon although Olive is quite unlikeable in this short. It was still great to see Popeye get revenge (as usual) at the end though.

"Gift of Gag" is the cartoon where Popeye is suspicious because he sees his nephews trying to sneak a birthday present (unbeknownst to him) box into his house and keep it hidden from him.

[The Budman]

Actually, you're mixing up two Popeye cartoon titles. "Cookin' With Gags" is the cartoon where Bluto "celebrates" April Fool's Day by playing a variety of cruel jokes on Popeye. I actually like that cartoon although Olive is quite unlikeable in this short. It was still great to see Popeye get revenge (as usual) at the end though.

"Gift of Gag" is the cartoon where Popeye is suspicious because he sees his nephews trying to sneak a birthday present (unbeknownst to him) box into his house and keep it hidden from him.

You are quite right, Matt! My tired brain mixed up the titles. Thanks for setting the record straight!

[J Lee]

If we're going with slightly-unnerving Popeye stuff, but in terms of Bluto's fate, Jim Tyer's animator of an over-inflated Bluto floating into the thundercloud, exploding and then falling to Earth like a dead bird in "Too Weak to Work" is kind of creepy for youthful eyes, while Bowsky has Popeye turn Bluto into a giant baloney sausage hanging on the wall at the end of "We Aim to Please" (Bluto's dog also gets turned into little barking hot dogs in Kneitel's "Protek the Weakerist", a gag that Famous Studio would reuse a couple of times).

[Jack G.]

That is Friz Freleng's "Ding Dog Daddy" [1942]. I've seen this one and I never found it that disturbing because I knew that "Daisy" was never a real dog.I haven't seen it since I was little, but the dog searching through all the bombs calling "Daisy" seems to be the part I remember most.
Something about that cartoon struck me as unsettling.

[J Lee]

I haven't seen it since I was little, but the dog searching through all the bombs calling "Daisy" seems to be the part I remember most.
Something about that cartoon struck me as unsettling.

The cartoon does take a sudden dramatic shift in tone when the statue is taken to the munitions factory. Combine that with Stalling's use of Beethoven's 5th and the angles Friz chose for the factory scenes, and it's really unlike anything else Warners did for theatrical release in the early 1940s.

[Jack G.]

I must say it's a surprising turn for Freleng.

[frootloops]

Does anyone remember the Herman and Katnip cartoon where Katnip's tale blisters up into a red balloon and Herman bursts it with a pin? Ouch! :(


Another one that really disturbs me is Alice In Wonderland. All the clams get eaten! I was traumatised as a youngun! :eek:

[Rusty0918]

Oh yeah, "The Hypo-Chondri-Cat" - that WAS a quite disturbing one. As was "Pigs is Pigs," which I saw a few days ago on my LTGC3 collection.

Another one was the wolf dressed up as that old lady playing the violin in "Pigs in a Polka." Yeah, it was one of the Wolf's attempts at getting in, but it still gets to you.

There was also one that seemed to be an anti-smoking cartoon featuring Porky Pig that was ahead of its time.

As with those Popeye shorts, yeah I can see that "Protek the Weakerest" gag disturbing some, when Bluto's dog splits up into little barking sausages. I think all the cartoon studios have had their share of creepy animated shorts.


I'm surprised you're mentioning Disney full-length animation features. I do agree that the oysters getting devoured in "Alice in Wonderland" was a little too overdone, and the donkeys in "Pinnochio," that had to be downright creepy. One scene in the whole Winnie the Pooh adventures was when Pooh had that nightmare with the heffalumps/woozles. I hated the song in that (I remember the tune of that one). Though one of the creepiest bits has to be the scene in "Sleeping Beauty" when Aurora gets "hyptonitized" by Maleficent (the whole fireplace thing where she briefly appears can still give you the creeps, even in your 20's), not to mention the thorn bushes and Maleficent's domain (complete with celebrating goblins). Though I was also creeped out about that huntsman in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."

This is sort of off-topic, but I find some of those "bumper catoons" that Boomerang puts in sort of to fill in the extra space (since they're virtually commercial-free) disturbing. "Thanks a Latte," "Harasscat," etc. They all seem so GROSS!!!!

In the "Dennis the Menace" cartoon series of the 1980's, there were a few that I was irked by. One was when Dennis and company are on a conveyor belt that seems to be headed for a furnace ("The fire is going to melt us!" - Margaret). Another had to be "Cloneheads" - when Dennis and that genius friend of his "kill" his clones by somehow turning them into flat wooden watchamacallits.

[Fibber Fox]

One scene that always kind of freaked me out when I was a kid was in "Pop-Pie A La Mode" when the natives pound Popeye into a steak.

It's remarkable how cartoons leave an impression. I haven't seen this in decades but remember the scene (and several others mentioned here). I guess they don't show it on TV any more.

How come we don't imitate all this cartoon violence like the experts say? ;)

FF

[The Spectre]

There was also one that seemed to be an anti-smoking cartoon featuring Porky Pig that was ahead of its time.


Specifically it appears to be an anti-kids-smoking cartoon.

[grim_tales]

In the "Dennis the Menace" cartoon series of the 1980's, there were a few that I was irked by. One was when Dennis and company are on a conveyor belt that seems to be headed for a furnace ("The fire is going to melt us!" - Margaret). Another had to be "Cloneheads" - when Dennis and that genius friend of his "kill" his clones by somehow turning them into flat wooden watchamacallits.

Now you mention Dennis, I remember an episode of the 1980's Dennis the Menace that was almost exactly like that one. :) Maybe the 80's version (1986-88) was a remake? :confused:
I have quite a lot of episodes on VHS :D

[oceansoul]

Heavenly puss is really a scary cartoon, but that's why I love it. This is one typical short which stun you for moments or even hours.

Claws for alarm is another scary one, it has more horroristic feeling than Scaredy cat. Wearing of the grin has never been so disturbing to me in the other hand.

Bye, bye, bluebeard - another disturbing short.
Peace on Earth - well, supposed to be happy one, but also a bit scary, stunning cartoon
What's opera doc? - the ending is disturbing really.

[grim_tales]

The ending of What's Opera Doc is actually very sad I agree - one of the few (only?) times Elmer shows remorse.

"What have I done? I've killed the wabbit... poor little bunny..." :( :( :(

What makes it even sadder is the closing thrones of the opera play as Elmer walks away and he actually "sings" the line "poor little bunny" :(

[ohmahaaha]

I agree with others earlier in the thread that both "Heavenly Puss" and "Pluto's Judgement Day" are/were kind of disturbing or scary.

Also one that's always been disturbing to me was "Russian Rhapsody" - what a bizarre characterization of Hitler. I understand the need at that time to make fun of such a person, but knowing what we know now, it's hard to laugh at so IMO make this a disturbing cartoon.

Stuff that scared me as a kid: a Casper cartoon where Casper is on the moon and involves an attack by "The Tree Men;" also in Pinocchio, the evil Coachman, and any of the scenes where the little boys have been transformed into jackasses, especially Lampwick's transformation in particular.

[grim_tales]

Lampwick's transformation into a donkey scared the crap out of me :eek:
The "Pink Elephants" sequence in Dumbo (which is strangely psychadelic) is still disturbing, and the "Hephalumps and Woozles" routine in "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" is quite creepy too.

[Cartman]

There is one cartoon that is scarier than all those cartoons combined.

WARNING: DO NOT LOOK AT THIS BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP.
http://zewebanim.com/images/Loonatics_Unleashed.jpg

[Comicfan]

Speaking of disturbing "Popeye" scenes, how about the cartoon where Bluto poses as Superman and empties an entire machine gun clip into Popeye? Popeye lives, of course, still...

Count me as one of the group traumatized by Satan's Waitin'. Another cartoon that haunted me as a child was the Donald Duck short Duck Pimples.

Interestingly, there are some cartoons that didn't bother me as a kid, but looking at them now they seem more disturbingly violent. Tom and Jerry's Mousr Trouble is one of these-the bit where Jerry punches Tom directly in the eye bothers me a bit, as does the "suprise package" scene. The latter one gets particularly gruesome when Jerry pokes the hat pin into the box, only to have it stick halfway in. Jerry forces the pin, and it fully enters the box, while Tom yelps in pain. The thought of what must be going on inside the box....:eek:

Another distubing scene that sticks out in my mind is from a "Baby Huey" cartoon where the fox tosses a straight razor directly at Huey's throat, only to have the razor bounce off and cut fox to ribbons. The idea of what would have happened to BH if he wasn't invincible....

[The Budman]

Here are two more Popeye cartoons that creeped me out as a kid:

Wotta Nitemare - Bluto is a satanic beast who laughs as Popeye plunges to his doom without any spinach.

Me Feelin's Is Hurt - Popeye gets devoured by a stretchy evil jellyfish that mocking laughs his attempts to break free of its pliable body. This cartoon actually used to make me feel physically ill!

A Woody Woodpecker film that disturbed me was "Real Gone Woody." Buzz Buzzard puts Woody in a mound of pottery clay. Then Buzz works the clay, causing Woody to be engulfed and absorbed by it until Woody and the clay are one. He spins the clay on a wheel, working it through his fingers until the mound is gone and there is nothing left of Woody! Then he tells Winnie, "Woody's gone - real gone!" Very disturbing! But equally disturbing was the fact that Woody showed up in the very next scene without any explanation. As a kid, I always wondered how Woody had escaped.

[cngsoft]

The Daffy Doc - Any cartoons involving deranged doctors or operations aren't my cup of tea and this cartoon really bothers me. The idea of Daffy Duck as a crazy surgeon who tries to operate on Porky with a saw is more frightening than it is funny.The Daffy Doc crept me as a child, not only because of Daffy's lethal notions about surgery, but also because I thought that, in the same way Daffy's gloves explode after hitting the artificial lung for first time, both Daffy and Porky burst in flakes after the closing iris: just imagine that the farewell screen shook with a loud "bang" à la The Old Grey Hare, a disturbing cartoon as well.

And speaking of exploding things, Balloon Land has a strong disturbing point: in a world where balloons are people, the Pincushion Man is a mass murderer. Eight characters get killed onscreen, and the Pincushion Man pops more balloons while the children sound the alarm and ask for help in the barracks, where the cartoon pulls a cheap Deus Ex Machina that ruins the otherwise well built drama.

Edited because of bad grammar and spelling. Sorry.

[grim_tales]

The part in "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" when Rabbit loses his mind when getting lost in the forest and hears caterpillars munching and bullfrogs croaking at increased volume, is done in a creepy way, I thought.

[Marty26]

The image Cartman posted.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Of course, this is the runner up for Scariest cartoon ever made, and certainly scarier than any of the other entries listed here:

http://image.com.com/tv/images/processed/photo_viewer/44/3a/29426.jpg

[Marty26]

The Daffy Doc creeped me as a child, not only because of Daffy's lethal notions about surgery, but also because I thought that, in the same way that Daffy's gloves explode after hitting the artificial lung for first time, both Daffy and Porky burst in flakes after the closing iris: just imagine that the farewell screen shaked with a loud "bang" à la The Old Grey Hare.

And speaking of exploding things, Balloon Land has a strong disturbing point: in a world where balloons are people, the Pincushion Man is a mass murderer. Eight characters get killed onscreen, and the Pincushion Man pops more balloons while the children sound the alarm and ask for help in the barracks, where the cartoon pulls a cheap Deus Ex Machina out of thin air.

Actually, something else I often found disturbing (note: this is NOT a "classic cartoon") is that one closing blackout for Ren And Stimpy. Where Ren is suggesting different things Stimpy could do to stay busy until the next show, and then suggests Stimpy inflates himself like a balloon. After Stimpy does so, Ren "pops" him with a pin, and bits and pieces of the now popped Stimpy come flailing down on the stage.

[grim_tales]

:eek: To be fair I guess BLT is designed only for very young kids, but "why" make it? I mean what's wrong with the real Looney Tunes?

[Rusty0918]

I still think the most disturbing Popeye cartoon (which I haven't gotten any opinion on) has to be "Never Sock a Baby." The whole Swee'Pea running away thing is very unnerving.

I don't know how "Ren and Stimpy" got approved by Nickelodeon. IMHO, I'd rather have my kids watch "True Lies" or perhaps the "Terminator" movies than "Ren and Stimpy." It was too gross.

For the record, I wasn't too fond of that "Rabbit Sandwich" gag in "Hare Ribbin'" either (yeah Bugs Bunny faked it and demonstrated what he was doing, but still).

[kaseykockroach]

For the record, I wasn't too fond of that "Rabbit Sandwich" gag in "Hare Ribbin'" either (yeah Bugs Bunny faked it and demonstrated what he was doing, but still).[/QUOTE]
To think you thought THAT was the disturbing part of the cartoon.:D

[grim_tales]

Ren and Stimpy is a bit gross, but isn't really for kids IMO.

- This meatball soup is delicious, Stimpy!
- That's not meatball soup, that's my collection of furballs in stomach acid!
- IDIOT! You trying to kill me, man!

:D :eek:

[Rusty0918]

I have a few quirks on disturbingness...

Most of the Gene Deitch "Tom and Jerry" stuff is rather disturbing. Most of the human characters in themobviously belong in insane asylums.

Let's not forget "Jonny Quest" - although the originals actually had people dying. The biggest one I can think of there has to Turu that pterodactyl when he is shot down and lands in that tar pit. Though I can handle the other disturbing elements in it.

In "What's Opera Doc," Chuck Jones had to follow the opera's rules, which Bugs Bunny comments on at the very end - "What do you expect from an opera, a happy ending?"

I'd like to add "Porky the Fireman" to the list here. The whole prospect of the fire winning...

[Marty26]

I'd like to add "Porky the Fireman" to the list here. The whole prospect of the fire winning...

Yeah, that also used to bother me. One of those rare classic cartoons where the good guys actually lost.

[Lee Glover]

There were only two cartoons I can remember finding disturbing when I first watched them:

The Two Mouseketeers: Tom's beheading left me really cold after the cartoon finished. It was the only T&J cartoon that I didn't rush to see during my early childhood.

Chow Hound: The cat force-feeding the gravy to the overweight dog was both funny and deeply disturbing in equal measure.

[Matt the Y]

For the record, I wasn't too fond of that "Rabbit Sandwich" gag in "Hare Ribbin'" either (yeah Bugs Bunny faked it and demonstrated what he was doing, but still).

Just be grateful you didn't see the director's cut of "Hare Ribbin'". That version doesn't have the final scene of Bugs actually SHOWING us he's really scrunched up on one side of the sandwich. It just cuts from Bugs climbing inside to the dog biting the sandwich in half and Bugs yelping in pain. Personally, I'm GLAD the head staff made Clampett change that to the final version.

[ohmahaaha]

The Two Mouseketeers: Tom's beheading left me really cold after the cartoon finished. It was the only T&J cartoon that I didn't rush to see during my early childhood.
YES!!! I had just thought of that one too right before I read your post - the guillotine scene at the end was and still is EXTREMELY disturbing!

[Comicfan]

In one of Deitch's T&J cartoons (I think it was either Sorry Safari or Down and Outing), Tom's owner slams the lid of a box on Tom's fingers. We then get several seconds of Tom sniffling and crying while staring at his crushed hand. When cartoon charcters don't instantly pop back to normal after being hurt, it can get a bit distressing.

The talk about The Hecking Hare being changed (presumably to make it less distressing) reminded me of an anicdote told by one of the writers for Futurama in the audio commentary for the episode "Bendin' in the Wind". At the end of the episode, Bender gets launched into the air, flying offscreen. The scene then cuts to a dock, where a very fat man and a very thin woman are talking. Bender screams for someone fat to get under him, and promptly crashes on the woman, knocking her down. Later, we see the fat man helping the woozy woman up, but originally the woman just lay unmoving on the ground. The writers figured that was a bit to dark, so changed it to show the woman was still alive.

[merc]

I need some help on this one.


There was a Gumby (or another Gumby-like cartoon) from the fifties that I saw as a child where Gumby smoked cigarettes until he got sick. This was very disturbing to me as a child, but I cannot find a reference to it anywhere.

This cartoon probably disturbed me as a young child more than any of the ones with unrealistic violence.

Can anyone help me with what this one was?

[Speedy Boris]

I think if I would've seen the Gene Deitch T&J short "Dicky Moe" as a kid, it would've disturbed me. Heck, it disturbed me a little bit as a 23 year old! The dissonant, abruptly-edited music, the captain angrily grumbling "Dicky Moe!" over and over, the surreal artwork and odd comic timing compared to a Hanna Barbera T&J short, the distorted, space age-esque sound effects, the fact that Tom is forced to work on the boat by this crazy captain, and then wailing in terror when he's roped onto the retreating whale at the end (or maybe it was the whale bellowing, not really sure)...

It was like watching Tom & Jerry on drugs.

[Chow Hound]

Just be grateful you didn't see the director's cut of "Hare Ribbin'". That version doesn't have the final scene of Bugs actually SHOWING us he's really scrunched up on one side of the sandwich. It just cuts from Bugs climbing inside to the dog biting the sandwich in half and Bugs yelping in pain. Personally, I'm GLAD the head staff made Clampett change that to the final version.Me too. I've seen the original ending, and it is deeply disturbing to see Bugs murder the dog in cold blood. I also think it was very out of character for bugs to be THAT cold.

[Bobby Bickert]

(Of course, the last time I ever saw "Pop-Pie A La Mode" was ... believe it or not ... in the very late 1980s, when it somehow snuck into WWOR New York's weekday rotation of the Turner redrawns plus the Famous color Popeye library. Once, that is.)

And man, do I wish I still had the VHS tape I made that morning! :(

"Pop-Pie A La Mode" also aired once on TNT's "The Popeye Hour" one morning in early 1990. (And I didn't even have a tape in the VCR that morning. It would be nearly 12 years before I saw it again.)

[J. B. Warner]

Me too. I've seen the original ending, and it is deeply disturbing to see Bugs murder the dog in cold blood. I also think it was very out of character for bugs to be THAT cold.

Personally, I think that Bugs shoving the gun in the dog's mouth is a lot funnier thant Bugs just giving the gun to the dog and letting him do the deed himself. But that probably has to do with the fact that in the director's cut, it's timed to fit the rest of the scene, whereas the released ending had to be reanimated while still fitting in the confines of the space of the removed footage, so the timing is more rushed and the gag doesn't read as well. And not only that, but it's a very awkward jump cut to the new footage, so it's clear that something's been changed. I barely even smirk at the released ending to "Hare Ribbin'", but the director's cut makes me explode in gales of laughter every time.

Disturbing? Sure, maybe a little. But hey, in Clampett's cartoons, that's where a lot of the humor comes from.

[doctoon]

All of Gene Deitch's KFS Popeye cartoons frazzle me on some level. However, the creepiest is Swee'Pea Soup. The scenes of the baby in a cooking pot and of Popeye after misshapen by a vase were just too much for me. I really got the willies from Seeing Double, too.

[Frank]

The ending of Pantry Panic were you can see the moose's bones after Woody and the Cat eat him is a bit creepy.

The interrogation techniques the cops used agains the other vegetables in Fresh Vegetable Mystery are not very settling either.

Some of the stuff in Gene Deitch's Tom and Jerry cartoons could also be unsettling at times.

[Matt the Y]

Disturbing? Sure, maybe a little. But hey, in Clampett's cartoons, that's where a lot of the humor comes from.

Point taken. But even in the context of Clampett's sense of humor, the joke would've been better if it had been a character like Daffy instead of Bugs shooting the dog. Bugs is a fighter to the end but he has too much common sense to actually murder his opponent; the direct approach doesn't work with him.

Daffy, on the other hand, was always zanier in Clampett's cartoons but still zany enough to take on the task of shooting somebody over Bugs' usual level-headedness. Daffy's overt defensiveness and unbridled lunacy suits the situation better than Bugs who is defensive but also more cunning than to divulge on everyday firearms as a direct homicide intent.

[Mr. Semaj]

Somewhat unrelated, but one cartoon that really scarred me as a kid was a 1989 Rabbit Ears version of Sleepy Hollow.

(For those who don't know, it was a series of familiar stories, legends, etc. told in 30 minutes, accompanied by moving illustrations and cut-outs, and narrated by a celebrity.)

I was always afraid to be in alone in the dark when I watched or thought about this, especially if it was quiet. This Sleepy Hollow, narrated by Glenn Close, retold many of the stories' ghost tales, including the climactic chase, against these dark backgrounds , scary silohuettes and creepy music. It was only worsened by the multiple endings in the epilogue, all implying Icabod's death!

[oceansoul]

YES!!! I had just thought of that one too right before I read your post - the guillotine scene at the end was and still is EXTREMELY disturbing!

I'll second that. What were H&B thinking there when they made that scene? :confused:

[Larry T]

I'll second that. What were H&B thinking there when they made that scene? :confused:

I'll third it.

I think in the 40s there was a more romantic ideal with big-box-office epic pictures, especially historical or epic-flavoured venues. MGM's movies were quite lush, and I'm quite certain movie directors wanted to make the most "exhilarating" detailed productions- and to do so, included as much content as they could to bring back the 'age' of the times they depicted, even if it showcased the beheading of people in the French regime (which did happen).... so it probably influenced H&B to include that scene in the same manner in an attempt to achieve the same feel of the era.

(That chopping/crunching sound does make me cringe a little every time I hear it though...)

After all, they also did get a voice actor to speak French properly for Nibbles (as opposed to the pigeon-french of Pepe lePew or other foreign language speaking characters, which might have added a little too much humour to the 'grandeur' of that cartoon).

[Chow Hound]

Disturbing? Sure, maybe a little. But hey, in Clampett's cartoons, that's where a lot of the humor comes from. Which is why I don't like many of his cartoons. I think he's much funnier when he's not being disturbing. Unfortunately, that's not very often.

[AcmeCoyote]

Has "Riki-Tiki-Tavi" been mentioned here yet? This one really creeped me out as a kid.

[Rusty0918]

I guess I have the fortune of never watching a Gene Deitch Popeye (I don't even WANT to know what he did after Tom and Jerry).

BTW, where did you see the original cut to "Hare Ribbin'?" Is it on YouTube or something?

[Chow Hound]

BTW, where did you see the original cut to "Hare Ribbin'?" Is it on YouTube or something?I saw it online somewhere last year, but can't remember where exactly. Sorry.

[grim_tales]

Didn't Nibbles's voice come about ("Touché, pussy-cat!") when the animator heard a 6 year old girl speaking French :) (Or am I thinking of something else?)

[J. A. Boschen]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but one of the most disturbing cartoons to come from any studio (and was meant to be disturbing when it was produced), has to be "Education for Death" from the Disney Studios

[GeniusIntheLamp]

I also found THE TWO MUSKETEERS to be quite disturbing as well.

Another cartoon that made me freak out was WHO'S COOKIN WHO, especially the scene where the wolf shoots the arrow at Woody and then turns him on the rotisserie. :woody:

The scene in I YAM WHAT I YAM where Popeye punches the Indian Chief and turns him into Gandhi was both weird and hilarious at the same time. :sailor:

However, there are two cartoons that had disturbing scenes that have stuck in my head. Unfortunately, I don't know the titles of either one. The first one was a T&J where they were in outer space. The scene had Tom planted into the ground and then growing into this bizarre flower. Just the way it was animated, along with the strange music, unnerved me.:tomcat::jerry:

The other scene was not only disturbing, but downright offensive. It was one of those Harvey spot-gag cartoons. A motorist stops at some railroad tracks. He looks both ways, sees nothing, and crosses the tracks. Just as he's crossing, a speeding train comes out of nowhere and hits him. The engineer is then seen rubber-stamping a car on his engine as he laughs sadistically. I've known too many people who have died in car-train collisions for that gag to sit well with me.

Honourable Mention: Not animation as we know it, Jim, but the Thunderbirds episode TERROR IN NEW YORK CITY is very difficult to watch, especially with 9/11 still fresh on everyone's minds.

[Matt the Y]

hilarious at the same time. :sailor:

However, there are two cartoons that had disturbing scenes that have stuck in my head. Unfortunately, I don't know the titles of either one. The first one was a T&J where they were in outer space. The scene had Tom planted into the ground and then growing into this bizarre flower. Just the way it was animated, along with the strange music, unnerved me.:tomcat::jerry:

The other scene was not only disturbing, but downright offensive. It was one of those Harvey spot-gag cartoons. A motorist stops at some railroad tracks. He looks both ways, sees nothing, and crosses the tracks. Just as he's crossing, a speeding train comes out of nowhere and hits him. The engineer is then seen rubber-stamping a car on his engine as he laughs sadistically. I've known too many people who have died in car-train collisions for that gag to sit well with me.


Actually, that Tom & Jerry gag you mention is really from a Tex Avery cartoon, "The Cat That Hated People".

The spot-gag Harveytoon short in question was "Gag and Baggage".

[Rusty0918]

I know it was mentioned before, but "The Missing Mouse," especially when the real white mouse comes in, has to be probably the scariest T&J's ever made.

[The Spectre]

Scariest Tom and Jerry cartoon? Don't you believe it. :)

[Rusty0918]

I was going to say "one of them."

[kaseykockroach]

Most disturbing cartoon in history? Nex to Pluto's Judgement Day,Sunday Go Meetin Time always creeped me out. The involvment of heck, stereotypes,thievery, what does it take to have a scary cartoon(besides murder)

[J. B. Warner]

The other scene was not only disturbing, but downright offensive. It was one of those Harvey spot-gag cartoons. A motorist stops at some railroad tracks. He looks both ways, sees nothing, and crosses the tracks. Just as he's crossing, a speeding train comes out of nowhere and hits him. The engineer is then seen rubber-stamping a car on his engine as he laughs sadistically. I've known too many people who have died in car-train collisions for that gag to sit well with me.

I suppose it wouldn't be right for me to quote "Last Clear Chance" right now, would it?

[Rusty0918]

Ah, is that from the MST3K "520: Radar Secret Service?"

Anyway, I might as well throw this one in: Popeye's "Be Kind to 'Ani-mals'" - I've never seen Bluto so cruel as in that one. Denying the horse water and then beating up on him because he blames the fiasco totally on him?

[grim_tales]

I've just seen "Pluto's Judgement Day" on the Mickey Mouse in Colour set, and found that really quite disturbing :eek: The scene when Pluto is goaded by the whole court that he's guilty and the little flames work on the rope to make it snap... :(
"Mickey's Garden" is a bit disturbing as well.