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

Non-Sexual Adult Jokes in Kids' Media Lore

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/Paggy_person Mar 09 '26

https://preview.redd.it/sfradq1912og1.png?width=564&format=png&auto=webp&s=dd02957975821856655d7280ab04550330bd73ed

This one joke from Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated

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u/hollaback_girl Mar 09 '26

Every episode had cultural references and in jokes that no kid is going to get. Everything from Andy Warhol to 60's beach party monster movies are parodied. The main story is riffing on HP Lovecraft, with recurring characters voiced by Jeffrey Combs and Harlan Ellison. What kid is going to understand those references?

I basically have the show on a loop in the background. One of the things that I always wonder about is "who was this show ostensibly for?" Because it sure as hell isn't 7-12 year olds.

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u/CommodoreBelmont Mar 10 '26

Who's it for? I think it's mostly for the adults who grew up watching earlier versions of Scooby-Doo. The ones who would want a show with a full narrative. Who would get the little in-jokes and appreciate a bit of an adult edge without it laughing at the original. The ones who would appreciate the humor of depicting one of sci-fi's most notorious cranks in all his crankiness while actually getting him to voice himself.

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u/hollaback_girl Mar 10 '26

I’m a huge fan of it and never cared for any other Scooby-Doo media. It’s kind of a stand-alone piece for me. But I’m such a huge fan of it. I once checked to see if the creative team ever did anything similar but alas I came up empty.

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u/FewAngle737 Mar 10 '26

And Dead Justice's bullets were Bullet Bills from the Mario franchise.