In recent years, filmmakers have gotten a lot better at making kids’ movies appeal
to adults – usually by filling it with jokes and references that the average kid won’t
even understand.
There are almost too many to choose from, but these are just a few of our favorite adult
jokes that younger audiences never caught.
Here are Screen Rant’s 10 Hidden Adult Jokes In Children's Movies.
Space Jam (Warner Bros.)
In the wacky universe of Space Jam, anything could happen!
After a cosmic amusement park experiences a dip in attendance, the owner starts to scout
out some new talent.
When The Looney Tunes become the target of a cosmic amusement park owner looking to boost
profits, they wind up having their freedom bet on a basketball game.
Thankfully, the Looney Tunes have Michael Jordan on their side, but the opposition is
tough.
The MonSTARS cheat by stealing the talents of real-world NBA stars.
When the players are given physicals to try to understand why they suddenly can’t play
basketball, the doctor drops a erectile dysfunction joke (“how’s your performance off the
court?”) that definitely stayed under the radar of most kids.
Shrek (DreamWorks Pictures)
In Shrek’s movie debut, his peaceful existence is ruined when an evil Lord banishes all fairy
tale characters to live in his beloved swamp.
Shrek heads off to see the Lord and convince him to reverse the decision, but even before
he meets “Lord Farquaad," kids will have missed a particularly crude joke.
Try saying Lord Farquaad’s name twice as fast, and you’ll hear the R-Rated nickname
“F-wad” some fans claim is an obvious joke, not to mention Shrek and Donkey implying
that his massive castle is making up for a shortage elsewhere.
Monster House (Columbia Pictures)
Neighborly disputes are common, but Monster House shows how bad things can get when the
owner’s soul literally merges with his house.
When the films’ trio of kids loses their basketball on the property leads to a grisly
scuffle, the kids decide to investigate inside.
The house is modeled after the human body, with references to anatomy worked right into
its architecture.
The parts of the house never head below the belt, but when a part of the human anatomy
comes close, the filmmakers couldn’t pass up the gag that even adults might miss.
101 Dalmatians (Walt Disney Pictures)
Not all cartoons translate well to live-action, but Disney’s retelling of 101 Dalmatians
sticks pretty close to the original story.
When Cruella De Ville talks to stars Roger and Anita, it’s revealed that the couple
is also expecting a baby to go along with the upcoming litter of puppies.
Cruella snaps her gaze to Roger and makes a crude joke that is at best, accusing him
of cheating, and at worst, well you’ll see.
Neither one seems at home in a Disney movie.
The Little Mermaid (Disney)
When the restless mermaid star of this Disney classic falls in love with a human, she makes
a deal that goes horribly wrong.
She winds up with her prince in the end, but the wedding scene didn’t kill the rumor
that Disney likes to hide adult references in all of their films.
Conspiracy theorists like to point out that the minister is far too excited to be leading
the ceremony (See Still Image), while Disney’s defenders claim his knobby knees are the obvious
explanation.
Either way, Disney took note, and only copies produced during the original run contain the
scene in its true state.
It was modified for the 2006 re-release.
Muppet Treasure Island (Buena Vista Pictures)
Based on the classic pirate caper, Muppet Treasure Island keeps to the original plot,
sending Muppets on a search for treasure while navigating pirate-infested waters.
The Muppets have always been as popular with adults as kids, and known for incorporating
dirty, sometimes dark humor into their show.
One of the film’s more risqué scenes sees Kermit and Miss Piggy reunite, with the pink
pirates discussing her past lovers.
She then greets Tim Curry’s Long John Silver a little too intimately, leading Kermit to
assume they’ve also knocked boots.
Madagascar (DreamWorks Pictures)
Most parents learn fast that inventing words or phrases to replace cursing in front of
their kids is a must, but sometimes, the cleverest solutions make it into film.
In the animal adventure Madagascar, a group of pampered animals escape their New York
zoo to wind up on the island of Madagascar.
Alex the lion is prone to hunger-induced hallucinations, which means his friend Marty the zebra starts
to look a little too delicious.
When their ride home arrives, Marty runs to fetch a starving Alex.
As Marty turns to flee the attack, he shouts out a seemingly meaningless string of words
(“sugar honey iced tea”).
When adults take a second to think it over, they’ll realize the words’ first letters
are a bit more accurate.
The Rugrats Movie (Paramount Pictures)
If you were watching Nickelodeon in the nineties, there’s a good chance you know cartoon babies
Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil, and the rest of the Rugrats gang.
The cartoon’s full-length movie saw Tommy and his friends set out to return his newborn
brother Dil to the hospital.
The show was always a bit edgy, but one dirty little joke slides by almost completely undetected.
A conversation between two newborns turns dark as one laments the loss of her umbilical
cord.
The second baby stares longingly into his diaper, telling her to be happy that’s all
they took.
Mrs. Doubtfire (20th Century Fox)
Deadbeat dads are nothing new for Hollywood, but when it’s Robin Williams in the role,
you know it’s going to be funny.
It’s bad enough that his character loses his kids in a custody battle with his soon-to-be
ex-wife, but disguising himself as the elderly Mrs. Doubtfire actually works - until a new
suitor named Stu starts courting his wife.
People who only saw the movie as children might now realize that the villainous Stu
was actually a decent guy, but most of the sexual innuendo probably went completely over
their heads.
No conversation proves it better than Mrs. Doubtfire’s attempt to scare him off by
discussing her nighttime hobbies, all of which were completely meaningless to the kids just
laughing at a man dressed as an old woman.
The Road to El Dorado (DreamWorks Pictures)
In this Dreamworks adventure, two quasi-criminals quest to find a mystical “city of gold,”
but it wouldn't be much of a movie if things went smoothly for the heroes Tulio and Miguel.
The journey isn't all bad though, especially for Tulio, who enjoys the company of a beautiful
woman named Chel.
In fact, he might be enjoying it a little too much.
In one scene, the camera pans across a couch before Chel appears from below, followed by
a satisfied Tulio.
Considering the sounds heard before they're interrupted - and the fact that their heads
pop up from two different places - the animators seem to be implying something far more adult
than a PG kids movie.
But we'll let you decide.
So what do you think of our list?
Did we miss any of your favorite hidden jokes?
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videos like this one, especially our Dirty Disney video!
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