10 Fan Theories That Ruin Our Favorite Childhood Movies

Everyone has their favorite children’s movies. Such pictures are passed down to one’s children, rewatched a dozen times and ultimately grow to become a source of comforting warmth and remembrance.

Be that as it may, countless keyboard warriors around the world are crafting elaborate conspiracy theories that ‘corrupt’ such favorites. To make matters worse, these fan theories are quite convincing; some have even been confirmed by filmmakers.

10 Aladdin (1992)

According to fans, there is a darker side to this Disney classic than many would ever suspect. The theory proposes that the Aladdin films occur far into the future (almost 10,000 years worth) after a global nuclear war.

Genie is the character savvy viewers point to when making the argument that Agrabah is a dystopian society. Genie’s frequent referencing of pop-culture references throughout the film (which at times result from Robin Williams improvising as the voiceover), as well as the supposed timeline of his entrapment in the lamp, make this fan theory quite convincing.

9 Toy Story 3 (2010)

Fans have devised (to a cringe-worthy extent) the ultimate life cycle of a toy within the Toy Story universe. Turns out the toys that come alive when no one is looking are immortal. That means all of the toys in the films that are disfigured or thrown out will spend eternity that way; unless burnt/melted as seen in Toy Story 3 and above.

8 Mary Poppins (1964)

Mary Poppins’ time-traveling abilities have led fans to believe the magical nanny is a Time Lord, which originates from the Doctor Who series. Fans have also pointed to the nanny’s deceptively large bag, ability to talk to animals and the use of technobabble in both instances. Obviously, for Mary Poppins, technobabble comes in the form of supercallifragilisticexpialidocious.

Fans make the theory creepy as they tear into the relations of the nanny and the children, reconceiving the nanny as an oppressor who manipulates the memory and imaginations of the children. Many other fresh angles have been brought to the near sixty-year-old film.

7 Home Alone (1990)

This entry makes for one of the more popular fan theories listed. The witty and lovable eight-year-old Kevin McCallister may not be as sweet as audiences remember. Fans have drawn a connection between Jigsaw, the serial killer from the Saw franchise and McCallister’s devious trap-setting skills.

Accordingly, it is theorized that Jigsaw is actually McCallister as an adult because of Jigsaw’s similar tactics of deception and trickery. Jigsaw’s civilian name is John Kramer, and fans feel this is just an alias. Saw director James Wan disconfirmed the theory when asked by Huffington Post, but he did mention how amusing it is to see fans interact with his work so diligently.

6 Cars (2006)

According to fan theories, Cars does not include humans because the children’s movies take place in a post-apocalyptic future. The personalities and voices of the cars were absorbed by the humans who once owned them. Allegedly, this ‘passing-of-the-torch’ occurred after a nuclear bomb.

The viral theory was confirmed by the Creative Director of the film, Jay Ward. Ward admitted that the theory accurately describes the original premise writers had in mind before the film was made. There always seems to be more than meets the eye when it comes to Pixar films.

5 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Willy Wonka and the ChocolateFactory is a classic children’s movie centered around a brilliant (but slightly tortured) inventor who is fascinated with transportation, secludes himself from the outside world, employs spies on his subjects and controls them with fear and anxiety; audiences should remember Slugworth and that nightmarish train sequence.

Snowpiercer, a newer original film, is centered around the inventor of the ‘snowpiercer’ train network, Wilford. Wilford solicits his protégé using messages stored in food like Wonka, and large ‘W’ logos can be found throughout both films. Fans have theorized that Wilford is the adult version of Charlie, and Wilfred’s spy Gilliam is actually Slugworth at the near-end of his life.

4 Winnie The Pooh

The books and films of Winnie the Pooh are ubiquitous in the world of children. In 2018, Disney made Christopher Robin, a live-action film that portrays Robin’s rediscovery of his furry friends as a working man. The release certainly recharged many of the personality trait theories that have been attached to Winnie the Pooh for decades.

The theory claims that each character in Winnie the Pooh represents psychological conditions and disorders: Pooh (ADD), Piglet (Anxiety Disorder), Tigger (ADHD), Rabbit (OCD), Roo (Autism), Eeyore (Depression) and Christopher Robin (Schizophrenic). Additionally, A.A. Milne was never considered much of a ‘children’s person’ and his son Christopher Robin Milne resented his father for including his name in Winnie the Pooh after being bullied throughout his childhood for it.

3 Finding Nemo (2003)

In Finding Nemo, audiences are given Marlin, a clownfish who is very close to becoming a father. After a barracuda attack, Marlin wakes up to find that all of the eggs laid by his ‘school’ are taken except for his son’s. From there the movie follows the plotline that fans around the world have come to know and love.

Nevertheless, fans have theorized that Nemo, which means “nobody” in Latin, actually dies at the beginning of the film and audiences are actually watching Marlin progress through the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance.

2 The Wizard Of Oz (1925)

There are a plethora of different fan theories stemming from The Wizard of Oz. One theory that sticks out as particularly jarring, describes how Dorothy is actually the Wicked Witch of the East (hereinafter “WWE”), unknowingly. In the first sequence that takes place in Oz, Dorothy’s house lands on top of said witch after being dropped by the twister.

Audiences are only shown the dead witch’s legs wearing the ruby slippers. Viewers never get a look at the witch’s face and fans think it’s because the witch has a green replica of Dorothy’s face. Fans have also pointed to the supposed laws of parallel universes and claim that Dorothy’s penetration into the universe inevitably forces her copy, WWE, to cease existence. Accordingly, WWE’s legs disappear with a poof shortly after Dorothy exits the house. After all, how does those ruby slippers fit Dorothy so well?

1 Back To The Future (1985-1990)

According to fans, the nutty scientist in Back to the Future begins the series as a suicidal headcase. Fans point to Brown’s inability to get his past inventions to work and then ask why he’s so willing to put himself at risk as he tests the DeLorean for the first time.

Doc Brown stands in front of the speeding car and even hangs on to Marty as he tries to run, which fans have described as a possible murder-suicide combo. Nonetheless, the vehicle disappears just in time and no one is hurt. Perhaps, Doc Brown’s spirits were lifted for the rest of the series as a result of this one major success.