Not Quite Batman
For me, it's usually the other way around... things that are Nightmare Fuel to others don't do anything for me.
Not even Professor Screw-Eye's eccentric circus scared me as a kid.
edited 12th Oct '10 7:07:18 AM by EddieValiant,Jr.
"Religion isn't the cause of wars, it's the excuse." —Mycroft NextCan I hijack this thread with Courage The Cowardly Dog? No?
Well, there's generally a few that a lot (but by no means all) people consider pretty scary like King Ramses and Perfect, but basically everyone has their personal Nightmare Fuel episode. Since Courage deals with so many kinds of horror, there's bound to be at least one that hits close to home.
One word: Bunny
. I'll never know why it was on the Ice Age DVD since the bunny basicly commits suicide.
^ Actually, Word of God states that she died in her sleep. That's right, she's already dead when she enters the oven.
Anyway, Treehouse of Horror IV scared the crap outta me as a kid, especially Homer's punishment in "The Devil and Homer Simpson". It actually turned me off from the show until I was 12.
I was terrified of the Imagine Spot sequences in Arthur. I don't know why, and I don't want to find out if I still am.
edited 16th Oct '10 9:09:51 AM by Carth
When I was younger I was terrified of all cartoons geared towards adults, especially Beavis And Butthead, Ren And Stimpy, and Robot Chicken. I think it had a lot to do with the difference in art and animation style— it seemed very surreal to me.
I still can't watch Ren And Stimpy without cringing.
I've decided to start posting more often. Sorry.When I was a child, there was a claymation adaptation of The Little Prince that gave me some serious beejuses.
Especially the part with the viper, and not knowing if the sheep ate the rose or not. Silly as it was, it was chilling for me.
edited 17th Oct '10 8:59:52 AM by OverMaster?!
The Mott’s apple juice commercial from the early-mid 70s with the animated, singing apples. Mainly because it reminded me of a horrific carved, wooden anthropomorphic apple that hung over my great-aunt’s kitchen door. The two conspired to give me recurring nightmares throughout my childhood starring fruit with human faces.
Everything else that scared me as a kid I have since found others online that were scared of the same things (the trailers to Beyond the Door and Magic, that squeaky-nosed animated woman from Sesame Street, etc.).
edited 17th Oct '10 2:18:09 PM by Bananaquit
Apparently, the Incinerator sequence was just a Tear Jerker to most people. For me though, the hell-like imagery and the fact that characters I grew up with were about to be killed was far too much for me to handle.
edited 16th Jan '11 10:02:11 AM by MrW
Funny, I always thought that scene was more heartwarming than NF or HONF, especially how the toys had to ban together in that final moment. Now those day care scenes where the kids brutally ripped our heroes to shreds? That was scary for me.
As for scariest non-intentional PIXAR moments... I'd have to go with the initial introduction of WALL-A. Besides being giant Humongous Mecha s that could've instantly crushed both WALL-E and Eve without even blinking, they have little to now recognizable facial features and are accompanied by Nightmare Fuel inducing music. The whole scene, for me, was very reminiscent of that garbage worm in Star Wars where you know something is alive and moving.
edited 16th Jan '11 12:27:26 PM by Mattonymy
You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.The entirety of The Rocky Horror Picture Show after the Time Warp ended varied between unnerving me and flat-out terrifying me, and I loved it for that.
I'm feeling strangely happy now, contented and serene. Oh don't you see, finally I'll be, somewhere that's green...Oh, oops, forgot this thread was in Western Animation.
I'm feeling strangely happy now, contented and serene. Oh don't you see, finally I'll be, somewhere that's green...Whew, don't scare me like that!
You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.On that subject, I think that an animated adaptation of RHPS could be interesting.
I'm feeling strangely happy now, contented and serene. Oh don't you see, finally I'll be, somewhere that's green...For some reason, when I was a kid I was deathly afraid of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Have no idea why, really, but when I got older I rediscovered and loved it. Maybe it was "MY BUGSSSSSSSS" but I honestly don't have a clue.

One glance through the Nightmare Fuel page shows that a lot of things that were meant to be exciting or even funny ended up being disturbing to the target audience. Sometimes, it's easy to wonder what on earth the creators were thinking.
What freaked you out as a kid, but didn't seem to freak out anyone else?
For me, there's a couple things that come to mind:
The episode of Captain N which took place inside Kevin's body. Kevin is slowly dying of a "video virus", and so the N-Team shrink themselves down to enter his body and fight the virus from the inside. Not only is the inside of Kevin's body nasty to look at, the events that occur there are incredibly disturbing. Kevin's "soul" is running around, gets caught, and is strapped to a table inside his heart. When the soul gets zapped, he gets paralyzed, which in turn hurts the real Kevin. And the virus has the ability to force Kevin's stomach to produce extra acid to try to kill the N-Team. Just imagine all that. It all makes me wonder what they were thinking, yet from looking online, I only see one other person who admits to being freaked out by it.
Another personal Nightmare Fuel of mine was being turned to stone, especially if it happens slowly, with the individual fully conscious and aware of what is happening to them while it's happening, as opposed to it happening in a quick flash. Blame the Friday the 13th (I think) TV series, which had someone being slowly turned to stone, with a nasty cracking noise the whole time. Very vivid imagery. From that point on, turning to stone in any cartoon or TV show or movie or book just creeped me out.
What was your personal Nightmare Fuel that didn't seem to upset everyone else?