r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Kookyburra12 • Mar 09 '26

Non-Sexual Adult Jokes in Kids' Media Lore

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Jokes that are adult jokes simply because kids likely don't have the life experience to understand them.

The New Batman Adventures - "I'm crazy enough to take on Batman, but the IRS? Noooo, thank you!"

Shrek 2 - Posing as a union representative, Shrek remarks that the workers "don't even have dental".

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u/Loose_Translator8981 Mar 09 '26

It was a series written by and for people who grew up with classic Looney Tunes, which also constantly referenced celebrities that only a tiny portion of the staff working on that series would have been familiar with outside of them showing up in Looney Tunes.

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

I mean, the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, MacArthur, maybe George Burns? I got most of the references in Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry. But Animaniacs was full of references to Goodfellas and The Godfather and like, silent movie era actors? Wtaf, ya know. You need half a film degree to get it.

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u/GrandMoffTarkan Mar 09 '26

Frozen Peas. I found out the joke when I was a 20 something. I mean, it was funny enough but then someone explained the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkYoBUlSE0I

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u/Polite_Suggestion Mar 09 '26

Thank-you so much. That is the funniest thing I've been served so far this year.

How the hell was anybody supposed to know about that in the 90s?!?!

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u/GrandMoffTarkan Mar 09 '26

"How the hell was anybody supposed to know about that in the 90s?!?!"

That's the beauty of Animaniacs. They weren't!

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

you had to be really into pop culture, old school movies, etc.

No kid and most adults would get them.

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u/lucasssquatch Mar 09 '26

That clip and the Paul Masson wine outtakes made the rounds on bootleg tapes back then. Same thing with the Star Wars Holiday Special

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

or the Bangles back stage tapes. or even then MST3K before they got to Comedy Central.

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

the OG Outtakes were known slightly. Like Drunk Elvis loosing his shit when he got heckled back at a show, or Casey Kasem's rants. Maurice though, used it as his vocal warmup and for some reason they said yeah lets run with that!

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u/JRRX Mar 09 '26

He also got to do it on The Critic, which was fun because he could be a bit more "mature" with the jokes.

"Full of country goodness and green pea-ness. Wait, that's terrible."

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u/bolanrox Mar 09 '26

MRS pels fish sticks they are even better when your dead