- [Strider] D'ooooh...
(Boo cackles)
Sometimes, a cartoon series
can be destroyed or made even worse
by a cheap, disappointing,
or completely lackluster ending,
leaving a foul taste in the viewer's mouth.
In my opinion,
these are some of the lousiest of these endings.
So let's check out the Top 6 Worst Cartoon Finales.
(Robotnik laughing)
- [Strider] And if you do like these cartoon finales,
that's great!
I respect your opinion,
and I'm glad you can enjoy them.
Anyway, let's go!
Number six...
The Teen Titans Original finale - Things Change.
Huh, so far this last episode doesn't seem so bad.
Beast Boy's trying to get Terra back.
It's emotional and melancholy.
I wonder how it ends.
- Things change, Beast Boy.
The girl you want me to be is just a memory.
(somber music)
(cheery fanfare) - [Strider] Wait, that's it?!
(cheery fanfare)
Don't I get...
ANY closure?
(cheery fanfare) D'augh...
The ironic part
is that the Teen Titans seem
acutely aware they're about to get canned in this ending.
- [Cyborg] The whole block is gone.
They're building a new office complex.
- Things sure have changed.
- Where am I gonna buy my books?
There's a real sense of sadness and melancholy to it.
And in that way,
I feel conflicted about this ending.
A part of me feels unsatisfied
and wanting ANSWERS to this cliffhanger.
But another part of me
really appreciates the sad atmosphere of this episode.
It feels like the Titans
are mourning the loss of their own show.
I really wondered when I saw this
if the Teen Titans writing team
knew that Warner Bros. was about to can them.
The Teen Titans come home
to realize the world has changed around them.
And things can never go back to the way they were.
And if the garbage we have now
to put up with years later
with Teen Titans Go
isn't a beautiful reflection of that,
then I don't know what is.
We've all had that same disillusionment
the Teen Titans and Beast Boy had.
Cartoon Network treating their viewers
with dignity, respect, and intelligence
started to be sidelined
in the name of playing
a mostly overly-colorful
trashy cartoon remake
that could be shoveled out en masse
like cheap, nutritionless fairy floss.
(electrical buzzing)
(echoing) - [Slade] She doesn't want to see you anymore.
She doesn't want to see you anymore.
- [Strider] This finale gave us
a faceful of gravel
and told us to chew.
(glass breaking)
The quiet, sad chords of the music.
The slow building atmosphere.
It's a beautiful,
but equally infuriating episode.
- Beast Boy...
- [Strider] Because that DAMN cliffhanger
will never be concluded!
But that isn't the fault of this amazing cartoon.
You can blame Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network for that.
And for number five...
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog finale - Sonically Ever After.
Aha!
Now THIS is the kind of corny, stupid,
dumb finale to a series I was looking for.
- Always remember your fairy "Tails"!
- [Strider] Even by The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog's
off-the-wall, pants-on-head insane standards,
this is a truly scholarly level of stupid!
Like, we're talking
"Tails being transformed into a girl" stupid.
- Hey, I just noticed!
I'm a girl!
And despite him being four and a half years old,
he has... cleavage!
I never thought I'd say in a sentence
that Tails has cleavage.
I-I'll never get this image out of my head!
Ugh...
So listen to this.
For this finale,
Sonic and Tails are magically transported
into a storybook of fairy tales.
You may be asking,
"what on Earth does Sonic have to do with fairy tales?"
That is a legitimate question.
"Absolutely nothing" is your answer.
- This is as weird as it gets!
- [Strider] Oh, no, no, Sonic.
Believe me,
it gets SO much weirder.
And guess who the evil wicked witch
in Hansel & Gretel is?
- Why don't you two sweet, adorable children
come inside as lun--
(clears throat)
FOR lunch!
- [Strider] Didn't you know?
Robotnik likes to dress up in drag
for the great finale of the first Sonic series ever made!
So, the nice witch Robotnik's house
is made of...
of course, chili dogs.
His house is made of chili dogs.
I feel like there's a...
slight variation on the fairy tale
that wasn't there before.
And, uh...
Cleavage Tails...
seems keen
to head right on inside
the old witch's house for dinner!
I mean,
who wouldn't trust a face like THIS?
- [Robotnik] Why don't you two
incredibly cute tykes
help me by stirring the chili
(laughing) while I prepare my secret ingedient!
- [Strider] But believe it or not,
it gets EVEN MORE insane.
You see,
Robotnik has a magic wand.
The mad scientist of technology and robots
has a magic wand.
- ...whether I turn you into a toadstool...
- [Strider] What?!
Now Robotnik's on a DRAGON?
There's an interdimensional vortex
connecting the real world to the fairy tale world?
Now the Godfather's there?
Now... Sonic is Rapunzel?
Now Robotnik's in love with Sonic again?
Well, technically, they're still married,
so I guess that makes sense.
And now,
the giant of the fairy tale
is a jazz musician.
THIS is how Sonic ends?
Sonic even outright lies to us at the end,
promising more Sonic episodes soon!
- But it's no fairy tale to say,
see you soon
for more Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
- [Strider] While this series is a guilty pleasure for me,
this ending was clearly made by a deranged lunatic.
(smooching)
And for number four...
Johnny Bravo - Back on Shaq.
I've never quite been able to disregard
how disappointed I was
in the end of Johnny's story.
How does Johnny Bravo's final season end?
Does the final season conclude
with him finally meeting the right lady?
Does he accept that he might be single for a while
and start focusing on other aspects of his life?
Does he just give us one final, crazy,
taser-filled, pepper spray-filled
night on the town?
(explosion)
No.
That would make SENSE to do.
Instead,
we just get your traditional
Hanna-Barbera sellout episode.
This time,
(sighing) for Shaquille O'Neal.
And it's about as entertaining and satisfying
as Shaq Fu was.
In other words,
you'll likely have a more fulfilling experience
(thwack) being repeatedly bludgeoned over the head
with a blunt object.
The episode doesn't even have that much...
Johnny Bravo in it.
It's basically ten straight minutes
of Shaq doing basketball!
I swear Hanna-Barbera is being paid $1000
every time they put Shaq's name in a sentence.
This final episode had zero closure
and feels more like Hanna-Barbera
just tried to...
shove in one final celebrity appearance
at the last minute
to cash in on Johnny Bravo.
(applause) - You hear that, Half-Pint?
That's for you and me, dawg!
- [Strider] Resulting in an ending
having all the pleasure and joy
of having your head ground into the pavement.
And the third-worst cartoon finale is...
(Robotnik laughing)
Sonic the Hedgehog - The Doomsday Project.
I've got a bone to pick with this ending,
and it's not just the cliffhanger ending!
Now don't get me wrong,
I loved this series.
In fact,
the funny part is,
this final episode starts off
with an amazing buildup.
It keeps smart,
has a beautiful face-off
with Sonic having to overpower
a roboticizer in Robotnik's lair.
But something...
weird happens in the final third.
Some people call this kind of ending
the "deus ex machina" ending.
Essentially it's where one thing comes along
that magically makes everything right.
Even in the most terrible situation.
In this case,
we have the...
"deep power stones".
The end-all super "win" button
to make everything right.
Now don't get me wrong,
I like Sally and Sonic working together at the end.
What I can't stand
is them suddenly getting magical bubbles around them
and destroying ALL of Robotropolis
in essentially a corny
"love conquers all" message.
I mean,
how is Sally
suddenly running at super speed?
So anyway,
Sonic and Sally magically destroy
all of Robotropolis
in a flickery, flashy mess
that looks like the animation budget ran out
90% into the episode.
Seriously,
what is with this flickery disco effect?
I don't even like to show it
because this stupid flickery effect
wouldn't be tolerable
in even one of MY crummy videos.
Yet alone in the season finale to Sonic the Hedgehog!
The weird part is
that we can see the same repeated footage of explosions
over and over,
but they don't have any actual exploding sounds.
Just more flickery flashes.
Aside from this effect being highly annoying
and making no sense at all,
this sudden...
"magic and love fixes everything" ending
goes against the entire feel
of every episode before this!
Yes, nature and human will is meant
to conquer the technology in this story,
but magical bubbles
and magical power stones fixing everything
is just stupid!
And behold,
with that seizure-inducing disco-fest,
everything is better!
And don't get me STARTED on this cliffhanger...
- Well, don't celebrate TOO soon, Hedgehog!
Now it's my turn!
(laughing)
And I'm NOT ALONE!
- [Strider] And what happens?
Whose eyes are those?
(cheery fanfare) Dammit, Sonic!
- Sorry, guys...
(Sally gasps) Didn't happen.
- Oh no!
We are doomèd!
- [Strider] Jeebus forbid
we let an actual decent Sonic cartoon series continue.
In case you're curious, though,
the writers later said those eyes
were meant to be Ixus Naugus's eyes.
This was an amazing Sonic series
that was dark,
questioning, subtle, and emotional.
So...
why we got this weird disco magical bubble ending
is beyond me.
And the second-worst cartoon finale is...
(Goku wincing)
Dragonball Z - Epidode 291.
Okay, I'm breaking my "no anime" rule to talk about this!
while I think GT also had a terrible last episode,
let's discuss Z's ending
to Goku's 291-episode journey
through the most powerful, fearsome creatures
in all the universe.
Until Baby and Omega Shenron came along,
but anyway.
How does Goku complete his epic, long journey?
Why, by going off to train a random guy
in some obscure village
because apparently he's the reincarnation of Buu.
And Goku gets him to fight
by telling him his mother is fat.
(Uub growling) - [Goku] Your mother's so fat
that cows moo at her!
- My mom isn't fat!
- [Strider] Okay...
so this is how we're finishing
the epic saga of Dragon Ball Z...
Uub.
This character that we know absolutely nothing about
is introduced to us in the 290th episode,
and he's apparently
EASILY outmatching the power of Vegeta, Piccolo,
Gohan, Goten,
and Trunks in one fight.
And we end with him being the new focus of the series!
Why?!
Uub's a nice enough guy,
I just never found him at all an interesting character.
And when I first saw this ending as a kid
before school when I was eight,
I felt legitimately gypped and annoyed.
The ironic part is that even the English dubbers
seem to think this ending is stupid.
I mean, just listen to this line delivery
from the awesome Sean Schemmel.
Followed by Bulma's line.
- I hate to do this,
but I just wanted to let you all know
I'm going to live in Uub's village so I can train him.
(Gohan gasps) - [Chi-Chi] Goku...
- [Bulma] That's lame.
- [Strider] Yes. Yes, Bulma.
That IS lame.
Goku disappears for what he claims may be forever.
Leaving behind his children and granddaughter.
For no other reason
than to train this random guy he met
who got angry when he said his mother was fat!
That's it!
He MIGHT be the reincarnation of Buu,
maybe?
Even then,
do we really NEED a reincarnation of Buu?
(crying) - [Pan] You can't go!
- [Strider] That's it, Pan, beat him up!
Make him pay
for ending the most well-kown anime
in the Western world
on such a stupid cliffhanger!
And the ironic part of all this?
In GT,
Uub is completely sidelined
and eventually turned into a piece of candy by Baby.
(Goku and Kibito Kai gasping)
- [Strider] Serving as barely an episode worth of filler
while Goku trains with the Supreme and Elder Kais.
So even the writers found him boring!
This finale is silly,
cheesy, annoying,
unsatisfying, pointless...
I just found it a disappointing, bad ending
to an otherwise unforgettable cartoon.
And before we get to number one,
I've got a few quick Honourable Mentions.
Young Justice - Endgame.
While this got a few recommendations,
I actually really liked the ending to Young Justice.
I like the disillusionment the team goes through
as the evil man is somehow voted into power
by the people.
And their sadness over the loss of Wally.
And how they recover from this sadness.
It's bitter, but it has a bite,
and it has some guts to it.
ReBoot - Crouching Binome Hidden Virus.
This ending was basically the main villain Megabyte
becoming a trojan virus
and taking over the entire system.
And... that's it!
Leaving us with a good ol' cliffhanger
with no closure whatsoever.
Though to be fair,
I think the creators ran into budget cuts.
The Adventures of Flapjack.
I really liked this ending!
I don't know what people are talking about!
I liked them becoming human and floating away.
It was funny.
Danny Phantom - Phantom Planet.
I didn't mind this ending.
I mean, sure, it wasn't AMAZING,
but it concluded up the loose ends
and I actually liked seeing
the world and ghosts work together
to stop the Phantom Planet
from colliding with the Earth.
It's a bit cheesy
and felt a little bit random
when Danny and Sam kiss at the end,
but there is MUCH, much worse finales out there.
In fact,
let me show you.
(Sonic struggling) - [Robotnik] Yes! Yes! YES!
And the number one worst cartoon finale is...
Mr. Pickles's Season 1 finale - The Lair.
And now we jump into the ever-special category
of ROTTEN.
You ever wonder how this psychotic, evil, murdering,
Satanist dog ended up?
While I personally had hoped
he'd end up in a taxidermy clinic,
he unfortunately continues
to spread his misery and suffering.
And we get to watch him
every torturous step of the way.
So how do you end an already
cataclysmically-abysmal series?
Why, with gratuitous blood,
vomiting, inside-out faces,
and... dog shagging, of course.
What's that?
You're STILL not upchucking your lunch yet?
Well we're only getting started.
(Sheriff laughing, Henry sobbing) - [Henry] Oh no...
- [Sheriff] Here, Grandpa,
put this on!
How about torturing, abusing,
and humiliating Henry
while stripping him down to a dominatrix bra?
Showing off a vast array of disembodied carcasses
molded together by demonic rituals?
This finale isn't just BAD
because it's from one of the worst cartoons of all time,
it's BAD because it somehow
makes this abysmal cartoon even worse!
Like... how do you top this?!
- I hope you burn in hell,
you dumb DOOOOOOOOG...
- Would you believe it gets EVEN WORSE?!
(Henry screaming, jet ski revving)
- [Strider] So Mr. Pickles once again avoids being discovered,
knocks Henry into a river of blood,
sends him out through a river of blood
showing him more necrophilic corpse porn,
and finally,
this stupid mutt frames Henry,
gets his family to turn against him,
and they send him to the asylum,
threatening to lobotomize him.
Just... wow.
I think they ticked
every single squirmy, distasteful box
ever made!
It can't be bad enough
that its animation is as attractive
as a campsite toilet bowl,
it's not bad enough
that it's continually cruel,
stupid, and pointlessly ultra-violent!
No, you have to lock away the only hero
against the mass-murdering sociopathic MUTT
in the show!
Just... bad dog!
Bad, bad dog!
This is the most disappointing,
ugly, irritating, painful
cartoon finale I've ever watched.
I personally consider
Mr. Pickles's Season 1 finale, The Lair,
the absolute WORST cartoon finale
of them all.
(Strider sighs)
Well, it's sad to see some of these series
get prematurely cancelled,
sometimes leaving on disappointing cliffhangers.
But most of these endings are quite old
And I like to think modern cartoon creators
are always learning from the past.
Cartoons like Gravity Falls, Avatar,
Legend of Korra, Regular Show,
and Gumball have seen their endings coming
and have done their best
to give us satisfying conclusions
that allow us to say goodbye to these characters.
Not always giving us a completely happy ending,
but one that might hold a mirror to our own world
and we can see the humanity in.
And if you think I missed
a particularly lousy cartoon finale,
feel free to let me know in the comments.
And if you'd like to be notified
when I release these videos,
feel free to hit the bell icon next to the Subscribe button.
A few people mentioned they haven't been notified
about my new videos,
so I thought I'd mention it.
And as always,
thanks for watching,
and I'll see you next time!