Cartoons have a wonderful way of taking the viewer to another world. Full of creativity, interesting characters, and often extremely entertaining storylines, animated shows can bring us a lot of joy. However, growing up and even today we have often faced those types of shows. These shows are all of the things listed above, but there is always something off about every single aspect. Often the designs throw us for a loop, the characters have odd and sometimes weird characteristics or lines, and the storylines feel more like a fever dream. These shows broke our concept of reality and left us drifting in a sea of confusion and unease. Growing up, these were the shows that captivated us and weirded us out at the same time.

1. 'The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack'

The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack knew just how to keep us entertained while creeped out at the same time. This show centered on a young boy named Flapjack who was raised by a whale named Bubbie. Flapjack lives with his adoptive mother and is mentored by an old crusty pirate named Captain K'nuckles. Together, they get into tons of mischief in their home, Stormalong Harbor.

This show, though harmless in theory, actually could get strange very quickly. This is mostly due to the story choices the show makes like focusing one episode on a mechanical genie and another on a horrific monster who haunts an island. This leads into the other off-putting yet interesting aspects of the show: its art style. This show had a pretty consistent and pleasing to look at art style with pretty to look at and interesting backgrounds. However, this show loved to shock its viewers with detailed and sometimes startling pictures, designs, expressions, and animation. It would happen every so often with just enough of normalcy strung in between to recreate a sense of shock. This mixed with the crazy storylines and creative adventures created one insanity fueled experience.

2. 'Courage the Cowardly Dog'

Courage is definitely a Cartoon Network classic. The show centers on a timid dog named Courage who lives with his family, Muriel and Eustace in a place simply known as Nowhere. Though living in a seemingly insignificant area, Courage must face creatures and monsters almost daily in order to keep his ragtag family safe from harm. This show was and still is a marvel due to its unbridled insanity. What threw kids off about this show was mainly its unsettling tone. Every time this show aired on TV, I felt either scared or unsettled throughout the entire episodes. Its plot that could turn from calm to threatening in a snap and its often unsettling character designs coupled with off color palletes made this show quite a reality bending experience.

3. 'The Ren and Stimpy Show'

Ren and Stimpy must be what happens when you allow illegal substances to fully take control. This show centers on the lives and misadventures of a simple cat named Stimpy and an angry chihuahua named Ren. For me, this show was always off its rocker and I, along with countless others, loved every second of it. Everything about this show screamed odd and off the wall from the writing decisions to the characters designs. Even the crazy expressions the kids made seemed off with the muted and often dark backgrounds. The scenarios these characters got into mixed with its spontaneous and often seemingly crazy sense of humor made every kid feel like they were experiencing some sort of fever dream.

4. 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy'

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is another piece of my childhood that I adore, yet have a healthy respect for the level of frightening and crazy images it instilled in my brain. It centers on the Grim Reaper who is forced to entertain and watch over an idiotic boy named Billy and a seemingly threatening and terrifying girl named Mandy. Like Courage, this show had its moments that gave me mild nightmares. To be fair, I should have guessed as much with a show centering on death, ghouls, and monsters. This show explored darker themes under the disguise of a children's show which made it addicting to little kids like me. I loved this show because of its creative designs and creatures, but I admit that it often weirded me out with some of its storylines and character choices. This show was and still is one of my favorite cartoons due to its insanity and creativity.

5. 'Cow and Chicken'

This show was simply an experience; there is no other way to describe this odd and off the wall cartoon. It centered on a cow named, of course, Cow and a chicken named, unsurprisingly, Chicken and the antics these two would get into with their human parents and an odd reoccurring character only known as the Red Guy. This show was the complete definition of random; the jokes were often so bizarre and the storylines centered on insanity. I still loved this show; it was odd and crazy with its vibrant colors and Gary Larson-esque character designs. The cartoon's oddity factor goes up when you consider that the three main characters of the show are all voiced by the same wonderful main, Charlie Alder, who is one of my favorite voice actors. Essentially this show was just one guy riffing and yelling at himself and about himself which perfectly sums up how absolutely bonkers and weird this show was.