History WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids / WesternAnimation

Parents, just because it is a cartoon doesn't always mean it's for kids, as many of these examples contain sex, violence and tons of F-bombs. [softreturn]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': A TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons-themed adventure series from the same people behind ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', many of whom have been prominently involved in a number of family friendly media, that looks like something children would enjoy at first. Then the first episode airs with TheChosenOne[=s=] getting violently slaughtered. Cut to our intrepid heroes, who spend their first minutes onscreen drinking, cussing, barfing, screwing, getting into a bar fight, getting kicked out of the bar, and generally shooting down the idea of being more than just a marauding band of murder hobos: just like the equally raunchy and irreverent livestream series it's based on!

* This was one of two reasons why ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'' was short-lived: it was promoted as a family show despite it containing tons of sexual innuendos. Even worse, [[https://www.ksl.com/article/46705725/here-are-the-movies-and-shows-coming-to-peacock Peacock classifies it as a children's show]], and thus will recommend children's shows like ''WesternAnimation/CuriousGeorge'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/NoddysToylandAdventures Make Way For Noddy]]'' to viewers who've watched the show. An issue of Disney Adventures magazine even talked about the show and interviewed Daryl Sabara (the voice actor of Hunter)

* And while we're talking about works created before the AnimationAgeGhetto kicked in, some children's TV cartoon anthology slots have included ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'' cartoons, some of which were risqué enough to be attacked by MoralGuardians at the time.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeFionnaAndCake'' is a spinoff of [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime a show]] that ''is'' appropriate for kids ([[DemographicallyInappropriateHumor mostly]]), and features the same colorful, zany, cartoonish art style. Perfect for introducing your kids to the series, right? Sure, if you don't mind mild-to-moderate swearing and averted BloodlessCarnage in your kids' shows. The AudienceShift strikes again! Not helping matters is its similar conceit to ''Bee and Puppycat'', which is also aimed at teens and adults and even has a similar art style, but is ''much'' tamer in comparison.

* The streaming site Flixanity has ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'' (a series about clones of famous historical figures as stock high school teen show characters, like the JerkJock, the AlphaBitch, the apathetic Goth girl who hates the popular kids, has a crush on TheEveryman protagonist, and dresses in black, the party animal and comic foil to the protagonist, etc) listed as a kids show. While animated historical series for kids exist (''WesternAnimation/LibertysKids'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'', ''WesternAnimation/HorribleHistories'', ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'', and ''Sherman and Mr. Peabody's Improbable Histories''), this one is not all that educational and not all that kid-friendly.

* ''WesternAnimation/ProducingParker'' is a show with an animation style similar to '' WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'' and the animation studio behind the show, Breakthrough Entertainment, worked on several kids shows including ''WesternAnimation/AtomicBetty'' and '' WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes". Despite this, the show is NOT for kids as it contains uncensored nudity and swearing. Despite this, COPPA marked it as "for kids."

* ''WesternAnimation/ProducingParker'' is a show with an animation style similar to '' WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'' and the animation studio behind the show, Breakthrough Entertainment, worked on several kids shows including ''WesternAnimation/AtomicBetty'' and '' WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes". Despite this the show is NOT for kids. as it contains uncensored nudity and swearing. Despite this, COPPA marked it as "for kids."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': A TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons-themed adventure series from the same people behind ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', many of whom have been prominently involved in a number of family friendly media, that looks like something children would enjoy at first. Then the first episode airs with TheChosenOne[=s=] getting violently slaughtered. Cut to our intrepid heroes, who spend their first minutes onscreen drinking, cussing, barfing, getting into a bar fight, getting kicked out of the bar, and generally shooting down the idea of being more than just a marauding band of murder hobos: just like the equally raunchy and irreverent livestream series it's based on!

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': A TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons-themed adventure series from the same people behind ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' that looks like something children would enjoy at first. Then the first episode airs with TheChosenOne[=s=] getting violently slaughtered. Cut to our intrepid heroes, who spend their first minutes onscreen drinking, cussing, barfing, getting into a bar fight, getting kicked out of the bar, and generally shooting down the idea of being more than just a marauding band of murder hobos: just like the equally raunchy and irreverent livestream series it's based on!

* ''WesternAnimation/ProducingParker'' is a show with an animation style similar to '' WesternAnimation/6teen'' and the animation studio behind the show, Breakthrough Entertainment, worked on several kids shows including ''WesternAnimation/AtomicBetty'' and '' WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes". Despite this the show is NOT for kids. as it contains uncensored nudity and swearing. Despite this, COPPA marked it as "for kids."

* This was one of two reasons why ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'' was short-lived: it was promoted as a family show despite it containing tons of sexual innuendos. Even worse, [[https://www.ksl.com/article/46705725/here-are-the-movies-and-shows-coming-to-peacock Peacock classifies it as a children's show]], and thus will recommend children's shows like ''WesternAnimation/CuriousGeorge'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/NoddysToylandAdventures Make Way For Noddy]]'' to viewers who've watched the show.

** ''WesternAnimation/CreatureComforts'': Often brings up adult themes in the interviews, as well as most of its humor going over younger viewers' heads.it doesn't help that kellogs once promoted toys of the show in their cereals.

** ''WesternAnimation/CreatureComforts'': Often brings up adult themes in the interviews, as well as most of its humor going over younger viewers' heads.

* ''WesternAnimation/BunnyMaloney'' Is A French cartoon produced by Moonscoop and was distributed in the US by Kabillion… It got canceled after one season because of sexual content. Tons of Dirty jokes in this show. Aside from the cutsey animation and heroic plot. Don’t get fooled by this comedy/action show!

* ''WesternAnimation/BunnyMaloney''Is A French cartoon produced by Moonscoop and was distributed in the US by Kabillion… It got canceled after one season because of sexual content. Tons of Dirty jokes in this show. Aside from the cutsey animation and heroic plot. Don’t get fooled by this comedy/action show!

* ''WesternAnimation/BunnyMaloney''
Is A French cartoon produced by Moonscoop and was distributed in the US by Kabillion… It got canceled after one season because of sexual content. Tons of Dirty jokes in this show. Aside from the cutsey animation and heroic plot. Don’t get fooled by this comedy/action show!

* ''WesternAnimation/BeeAndPuppycat'' is a downplayed example. Demographically it's not aimed at kids at all--every distributor from Channel Frederator to Netflix has labelled it adult animation. Content-wise, the show ''is'' perfectly accessible for all ages, though. On Netflix it's rated TV-PG, or the equivalent of most modern-day Cartoon Network shows.

* ''The Maxx'' has an animated adaptation. Needless to say, showing this to your kids is not a good idea, but it aired on Teletoon for a while anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': A TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons-themed adventure series from the same people behind ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' that looks like something children would enjoy at first. Then the first episode airs with TheChosenOne[=s=] getting painfully, bloodily, ''[[{{Gorn}} viscerally]]'' slaughtered. Cut to our intrepid heroes, who spend their first minutes onscreen drinking, cussing, barfing, getting into a bar fight, getting kicked out of the bar, and instantly shooting down the idea of being more than just a marauding band of murder hobos: just like the equally raunchy and irreverent livestream series it's based on!

* One of the biggest is ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''; despite airing at a time when kids should be in bed, some kids watch it anyway. Despite the animation using a paper cut-out doll style, and the main characters being children, it is ''full'' of swearing, violent death, gore (especially in the later seasons), uncensored cartoon nudity, implied and explicit sexual abuse (including scenes of rape), and child abuse both implied and confirmed. People with various prejudices aren't always directly punished, and childish innocence is rarely a good thing, which might confuse children. It also makes fun of Political Correctness and features a manipulative, sociopathic, anti-Semitic little boy (Cartman) as one of the show's most popular characters. It also doesn't help that from seasons one to six, the theme song was more cheerful and unassuming, which lured a lot of people into thinking it wasn't that bad ([[ContentWarnings despite the TV-MA rating and that warning that says all the celebrities are impersonated and the show's content is so vulgar that nobody should watch it]]).\\

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animals}}'' looks like a cute show about what animals do when their owners aren't home. But it actually contains such elements as alcoholic parents, a Nazi dog and an episode in which [[spoiler: a virus wipes out most of New York City's population]]. Making matters worse is that this show premiered at the same time as ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretLifeOfPets'', a movie with a very similar premise that actually was for children.

* One of the biggest is ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''; despite airing at a time when kids should be in bed, some kids watch it anyway. Despite the animation using a paper cut-out doll style, and the main characters being children, it is ''full'' of swearing, violent death, gore (especially in the later seasons), uncensored cartoon nudity, implied and explicit sexual abuse (including scenes of rape), and child abuse both implied and confirmed. People with various prejudices aren't always directly punished, and childish innocence is rarely a good thing, which might confuse children. It also makes fun of PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad and features a manipulative, sociopathic, anti-Semitic little boy (Cartman) as one of the show's most popular characters. It also doesn't help that from seasons one to six, the theme song was more cheerful and unassuming, which lured a lot of people into thinking it wasn't that bad ([[ContentWarnings despite the TV-MA rating and that warning that says all the celebrities are impersonated and the show's content is so vulgar that nobody should watch it]]).\\

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': A Tabletop/DungeonsAndDragons-themed adventure series from the same people behind ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' that looks like something children would enjoy at first. Then the first episode airs with TheChosenOne[=s=] getting painfully, bloodily, ''[[{{Gorn}} viscerally]]'' slaughtered. Cut to our intrepid heroes, who spend their first minutes onscreen drinking, cussing, barfing, getting into a bar fight, getting kicked out of the bar, and instantly shooting down the idea of being more than just a marauding band of murder hobos: just like the equally raunchy and irreverent livestream series it's based on!