Chances are if you were a kid growing up and had a working television set, you probably ended up watching many different cartoon shows. Cartoons are great because, since they are animated, the shows would be able to create insane visuals and stories that could stretch the realm of people's imaginations (especially children).

Another reason cartoons are awesome is because there is always an animated show for every demographic. Whether it be shows like Peppa Pig that are aimed at younger children, programs like Pokémon that seem to garner interest from children to adults alike, and even cartoons like South Park or Rick and Morty that are made with adults in mind, there is a cartoon for everyone out there.

Now and then, though, cartoon creators will sometimes choose to include something in their show that pushes the boundaries of what can be aired on television. It is sometimes intentional, where a creator will include a joke in a kids' show to appeal to the parents. Other times it can be unintentional, like when a cartoon features something that might be considered entertaining at the time, but then accidentally leads to real-life issues or disasters.

12 Gargoyles

Even though it was a Disney cartoon, Gargoyles was a show that maintained a darker tone throughout its series run. It was basically like Batman, except instead of being billionaires during the day, the Gargoyles were subjected to being castle decorations instead. So, while intense scenes weren't a native concept to the show, one episode featured a scene deemed too graphic to show unedited.

This particular episode had one of the Gargoyles (named Broadway) playing around with a gun that belonged to Elisa (the human detective in the show who works with the Gargoyles) in her apartment. The gun accidentally goes off, and to Broadway's shock and horror, he discovers that the bullet hit Elisa. While the episode was meant to teach about gun safety, the episode was pulled from the air because of the intense nature of the scene. It would later re-air but Elisa's blood would be edited out.

11 Peppa Pig

via youtube channel (play doh diy learning colors with peppa pig)

Fun fact about spiders: Some species are harmless, while others can be VERY dangerous. Australia is a country that is home to a few species of spiders that can ruin any person's day with a single bite. It is even home to one of the world's deadliest spiders, the Australian funnel-web spider! So while caution around the eight-legged creatures is encouraged in the land Down Under, an episode of the British cartoon Peppa Pig suggested doing the opposite.

In the episode, Peppa's father tells her that spiders are small and harmless after she discovers a spider (adorably named Mister Skinnylegs). The children do things like hold the spider, bring it to a tea party, and even tuck it into bed. Complaints out of Australia about how the show encouraged kids to play with spiders would lead to the show being banned from Australian broadcasts.

10 Betty Boop

via youtube channel (simply cartoons)

The saying "laughter is contagious" is taken a little too literally in one of the animated shorts for Betty Boop. In the short, Betty discovers that her clown friend, Koko, has a bad toothache. Instead of taking Koko to a certified dentist, Betty decides that she is better suited for the job. In a scene not unlike something you would see in the Hostel movies, Betty takes some pliers and continuously yanks on Koko's tooth with zero success.

With Koko still writhing in pain, Betty decides that laughing gas is the best medicine. She ends up using too much, which causes the gas to spill out into an entire town, causing live-action townsfolk and living inanimate objects (like clocks and vehicles) to laugh uncontrollably. The cartoon would be banned, with "substance use" being the reason behind the decision.

9 Rocko's Modern Life

via reddit.com

If you ever watched Rocko's Modern Life, you probably enjoyed it as a kid because it was kind of a unique and weird cartoon about the adventures of a wallaby named Rocko. But, if you ever watched it in your teen/adult years, you would have probably noticed that the show snuck in a TON of grown-up jokes. Things like Rocko working for a grown-up phone line or Rocko grabbing berries that were not berries at all, for example, made it past the censors.

The show did manage to get one episode banned though. The plot of this episode was about Rocko's neighbor Beverly Bighead and some turmoil she was experiencing with her husband. This causes Beverly to invite Rocko over to "fix things around her house", in an attempt to be closer to him. Because of the themes and plot, this episode would be banned from airing on Nickelodeon.

8 TaleSpin

via: blogger.com

If you ever thought, "How cool would it be if Baloo, the lovably lazy bear from the Jungle Book, was a skilled pilot who went on adventures for an air cargo business instead of just doing simple bear things," then you would have to look no further than the cartoon series TaleSpin. While the show only had one season under its belt, it did last a whopping 65 episodes. But, it would be the final episode of the series that would garner controversy.

In the last episode, Baloo is asked to deliver a package to the High Marshall of the fictional country Thembria. Unbeknownst to Baloo though, the package is actually a bomb, given by manufacturers who want to start a war. For this reason, the episode would be banned from ever playing again on Disney channels (although it would play once in 1999 on Toon Disney, possibly by mistake).

7 Futurama

via horrorclix.wikia.com

Futurama's debut Christmas episode featured an angry Robot Santa who considered everyone naughty, unleashing chaos and havoc upon the world (rather than lumps of coal). Complaint letters would be sent into Fox, the network that Futurama played on, after the episode had aired. So, when Futurama decided to feature another Christmas episode involving the Robot Santa with an extreme bloodlust again, Fox was in a pickle. The network would make the decision not to air the episode until a year later. The reason?

Because they would be able to move the episode into a later time slot that they considered more appropriate and safer. So while the episode wasn't banned entirely, it was banned from a time slot for a whole year, probably because children would have been more likely to view the episode in the earlier time slot.

6 Arthur

via arthur.wikia.com

The sporting world was rocked the day when Lance Armstrong, the accomplished cyclist who had won seven Tour de France titles, had announced that he had used performance-enhancing substances. Armstrong would be stripped of his titles, leaving a dark cloud over the history of dominance that Armstrong had displayed in his sport. This situation would also affect the popular children's show, Arthur. Why?

Well, prior to the allegations, he was actually featured on an episode of Arthur. In the episode, a character in the show named Binky is campaigning for his city to put in more bike lanes. With bike safety being the theme here, it only made sense that Armstrong would make a cameo in the episode. But, after Armstrong's investigation found him guilty, PBS would pull the episode from its rotation.

5 Beavis and Butthead

via pogdesign.co.uk

Beavis and Butthead is no stranger when it comes to banned episodes, as the show has pushed the limits a few times. In the episode titled "Comedians", Beavis and Butthead try their hand at being stand-up comedians. When they ultimately fail, Beavis ends up burning the comedy club down when he lights some newspapers on fire.

A month later, a boy in Ohio set fire to his family's trailer home, who was apparently inspired by the show to copy the stunt that Beavis pulled in the episode. Because of this, the episode would be pulled from airing on MTV eventually, although the network did try showing an edited version first. This would lead to fan complaints and threats though, so MTV stopped showing it completely.

4 The Powerpuff Girls

via plus.google.com

In a special rock opera episode of The Powerpuff Girls, the girls find themselves overwhelmed by the number of enemies they have to fight, so they become defeated in the process. Coming to the rescue, though, is a magical gnome who informs the girls that he can rid the world of evil, but it would come at the cost of the girls giving up their superpowers. The girls agree, so the gnome turns the city of Townsville into an apparent utopia of peace. A cult is formed by the townspeople and they choose to worship the gnome.

The girls learn from the Professor that the town has given up their freedom in exchange for peace, so the girls end up confronting and defeating the gnome in the end. The episode's apparent references to leaders, as well as cults, are seen as possible reasons why the episode was banned after its initial airing.

3 Ren & Stimpy

via: youtube.com

Ren & Stimpy was another children's cartoon that seemed to get away with including crude humor in its show with no problems. This would change in the episode titled "Man's Best Friend" though. In the episode, Ren and Stimpy are adopted as pets by a new owner who dresses like a drill sergeant and tries to discipline them. When the owner tells the pair to attack him as a part of their training, Ren becomes fed up with him and decides to brutally attack him with an oar.

This part was seen as excessively violent by Nickelodeon and would get the episode banned from playing on the network ever again. To make matters worse, the show's creator (John Kricfalusi) mentioned that the episode would be the reason why he was fired from his own show by Nickelodeon.

2 Tiny Toon Adventures

via: complex.com

I'm sure the creators of Tiny Toon Adventures meant well when they decided to make an episode teaching about the dangers of underage drinking, but they probably did not expect the episode to be banned after airing one time. The episode was about the three main characters (Buster Bunny, Hampton J. Pig, and Plucky Duck) trying a single beverage and getting intoxicated in the process.

The trio would go on to steal a police car and drive it off a cliff. The characters actually perish, implied by them gaining angel wings and flying up to the sky after the crash. It had a good message, but Warner Brothers ultimately decided to pull it, with the only version available to watch is on the DVD.

1 Pokémon

via jambareeqi.com

Pokémon, as a whole, has had quite an impact on people around the world, in terms of pop culture, ever since the show was released. However, before the show crossed over into other countries, a controversial episode was released that impacted the health of many children in Japan. In the notorious episode, titled "Electric Soldier Porygon," Ash and his friends end up traveling into a Pokémon transfer device to fix it.

While in cyberspace, Pikachu has to attack virtual missiles with his lightning attack, causing an explosion. This explosion causes a strobe-like effect where blue and red colors flash at a rapid pace on screen. This effect would cause almost 700 children in Japan to have some sort of medical issue (seizures, dizziness, temporary blindness, etc.). Pokémon as a series would be off the air in Japan for four months following this incident, and the now-infamous episode would not be aired anywhere else in the world.