Children’s shows can be family affairs and beloved by all ages. Recent successes like The Dragon Prince and The Owl House epitomize this ideal, and can often bring surprisingly dark themes into their work, despite the primary viewership being children. However, this does also limit
For example, the recent release of Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers is more akin to a Roger Rabbit meta-comedy than it is a kid’s movie. People are once again reminded that kids’ shows are capable of telling more mature stories when taken under the helm of other creators.
Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a “sequel” in the loosest possible terms. The movie treats the show as what it is, a fictional TV show. Here, Chip and Dale are actors decades past their show’s heyday. Chip is an insurance salesman and Dale is a failed actor coasting off the success of his old show.
The movie is more of a sequel to Roger Rabbit than it is to Chip ‘n Dale. It even follows the same plot beats of a mysterious villain kidnapping toons for nefarious purposes. The movie deals with surprisingly heavy topics such as depression, mid-life crises, and human trafficking. Well, more like toon trafficking.
G.I. Joe: Resolute
G.I. Joe: Resolute is a dark reimagining of the G.I. Joe lore. After a series of terrorist attacks by the villainous COBRA, the Joes are forced to make a desperate last stand. With Snake Eyes MIA and several other agents killed, it’s looking grim for the defenders of peace.
Being written by Warren Ellis, a more mature story was to be expected. While still firmly in PG-13 territory, just the fact that bullets actually hit people and characters can die, it’s already a much darker take on the franchise.
Riverdale
Riverdale is a complete retool of the beloved Archie comics. To set the tone, the very first arc centers around investigating the death of a town local, Jason Blossom. Archie Andrews and his gang uncover dark secrets about the town, and it’s only scratching the surface.
Riverdale is borderline impossible to summarize. Every season is a completely different story from the previous. Unlike Sabrina, Riverdale revels far more in its absurd stories and incredibly corny dialogue. Nevertheless, that wackiness is why fans have embraced the show.
The Flintstones (DC Comics)
The Flintstones comic follows Fred Flintstone as he tries to negotiate a stone-age world that is comparable to modern life, just like in the animation. Wilma, his patient wife, Pebbles, his teenage daughter, and friends and neighbors Barney, Betty, and Bam-Bam Rubble join him.
This time around, the story deals with very contemporary issues and dresses them in a stone age aesthetic. Topics such as PTSD, anti-intellectualism, and even gay marriage are tackled in a simultaneously serious and hilarious way. It’s not every day one sees Fred Flintstone says the word “genocide”.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a dark reimagining of the classic animated sitcom, Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Sabrina Spellman must juggle school life, the supernatural, and all the forces who threaten her life. Using her magical powers, she must hide her true nature even from friends, lest they be in danger.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, much like its sister show Riverdale, plays very fast and loose with the established “lore” of the franchise. Everything is familiar, and yet it takes on a much darker tone, as Sabrina fends off eldritch horrors beyond mortal comprehension.
Osomatsu-San
Osomatsu-San brings the Matsuno brothers and their quirky cast of costars back to life ten years after the first series ended, and shows what happened to them. To keep up with its contemporaries, the original series’ slapstick Showa-era humor is replaced with fourth-wall-breaking gags that joke about the nature of media itself.
The show even tackles darker topics from time to time, particularly with the difficulties of adulthood. However, it would be a mistake to assume that it loses its zaniness. If anything, the series got even zanier than before, befitting the absurd meme culture of today.
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast is a very odd adaptation of the classic Space Ghost cartoon. Mostly being edited stock footage set to trippy visuals, swearing, and a general disregard for whatever guest Space Ghost has on the screen.
The show is responsible for Adult Swim’s eventual evolution into complete lunacy. Shows such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and its own spinoff Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law can thank Space Ghost for paving the road for absurd adult comedies on Adult Swim.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is the darkest saga in the Batman: The Animated Series continuity. Batman’s greatest villain, The Joker, somehow returns to Gotham, decades after his alleged death. The Joker has somehow not aged in the interim, and they must work together to uncover who this “Joker” really is, uncovering dark secrets along the way.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker truly explores how demented the Joker is. His sadism, previously played for laughs, is now seen as far more sinister. The trauma he inflicted on Bruce here, as well as some surprisingly violent deaths, make this a fittingly mature end to the Joker’s saga.
Cells at Work: CODE BLACK
Cells at Work: Code BLACK is set in a sick body and depicted as a hazardous workplace gone wrong. The cells within must deal with the repercussions of laziness, promiscuous sex, stress, and general unhealthiness. The body is bereft of optimism, and the cells within suffering an existential dread.
The concept is very sound. If Cells at Work shows how difficult life is for an average person’s body, it only makes sense that an unhealthy man’s body would be Resident Evil. Unlike the original anime, this spin-off loses a lot of the comedic elements, focussing instead on darker and more mature themes.
Pokemon Adventures
Pokemon Adventures is a seemingly typical adaptation of the Pokemon games. It features several characters from the series proper and changes POVs more times than Game of Thrones does. However, beneath the adventures lies a surprisingly darker underbelly.
Pokemon Adventures, for once, portrays the Pokemon battles as true life-or-death struggles. Pokemon and humans die in surprisingly graphic ways. The most brutal example is the rotting horde of Pokemon zombies that act as the main villains. And that’s just the first arc, so buckle up.
