As a young teenager I was obsessed with weirdness. I surrounded myself with the bizarre. I embodied the odd. I watched horror movies compulsively, read extensively on the abduction techniques favored by different serial killers and studied the indoctrination methodologies of cult leaders (I could tell you more about the Manson Family than I could about members of my own). One of the problems with surrounding yourself with this kinda stuff as a youngster is that some of the weirdness has a tendency to stick with you well into adulthood. I was always quite partial to animation, and now actively seek out the most disturbed cartoons I could get my hands on to watch over and over. Here are some of my favorite moments in which the seemingly innocuous medium of animated cartoons got a little sinister.

Superjail: The Galactoids Are Coming Tonight

Every episode of Superjail is a mind-threshing dip into the nightmarish recesses of the human imagination. However, in this particular episode, the  show out did itself in leading viewers into a hellish landscape of drug induced madness.

Beavis and Butthead Do America – Desert Peyote Freakout Sequence

As animated weird-out moments go, this is definitely up there,. Heavy metal music, skulls, the devil, I loved it!

Dumbo – Pink Elephants on Parade

With such a wholesome image, it’s easy to forget that Disney cartoons contain some genuinely dark and disturbing moments. The drunk sequence in Dumbo being a perfect example.

 Akira – Tetsuo’s Nightmare

True, I shouldn’t even have seen Akira as a 9 year old, but I did, so what can I say? Anyone has experienced a nocturnal bout of the Delirium Tremens will be able to identify with this one.

 Pinocchio and the Emperor of Night

This totally unnecessary and unnofficial sequel to Disney’s Pinocchio was just weird from start to finish. This scene in particular, should never have been animated.

 Barefoot Gen – Hiroshima Bombing

An animated Hiroshima bombing was never going to not be disturbing.

 HIM – The Powerpuff Girls

Combining elements of Satan, Buffalo Bill and Liza Minnelli, Him was the weirdly sexualized personification of everything  deranged about late 20th century life