Nightmare Ned

Well Ned is such a brave boy who always faces his own fears it released in 1997 and it ended the same year it premiered just like the shnookums and meat funny cartoon show.

I didn't intend to write a review on a show this vintage, especially in the month of October. But as it would happen, and since I remember coming across that show 25 years ago on ABC's Saturday morning block back when I was in middle school, I'm not passing up the opportunity.

While I don't remember the PC game from which the show was based on, yet I remember hearing about it, I do remember watching the show and taping it back then. One particular episode I remember most is where Ned loses a baby tooth and freaks out about it. In the nightmare, the Tooth Fairy wanted to take all of Ned's teeth. I also remember the show that had the stories where Ned mistakenly wanders into the girl's bathroom and dreams he's a girl. It was funny watching him freak out saying, "I'm a boy! A BOY!" In the second story, Ned wanted a pig for a pet and dreams about Canada.

Nightmare Ned aired its last on August 29, 1997. That's four and a half months before it would have otherwise become lost media. With a total of 25 episodes/stories in 12 half-hour shows, I never thought Nightmare Ned would be that short-lived. The reason for that, according to what I heard, was because of over budgeting and many parents argued and complained that the show was far too scary for young viewers, maybe even scarier than Goosebumps, Mummies Alive, or Tales from the Cryptkeeper. Maybe the nightmares were even scarier than the Little Nemo movie. Whatever the case, Nightmare Ned was a dark, short-lived vintage Disney show from the late '90s that didn't deserve any better. BUt just the same, I'm glad it has not been forgotten. The animation really fit the shows well.

Don't be surprised if Disney/Buena Vista decides one day to release an animated program as vintage as Nightmare Ned on DVD/blu-ray or if they decide to add it to the Disney+ library. Pretty much the entirety of Nightmare Ned can be found on YouTube. If you like dark, scary shows like that, along with the other shows I mentioned, I also recommend another dark, short-lived show from the '90s, Gravedale Hi. I also suggest Count Duckula.

I definitely remember this show. The coloring was really well done, with several non'standard colors used quite often. All of the episodes that I saw were pretty dark, for a cartoon, and I loved the show. One I remember had Ned and his dad out fishing, and somehow his dad ended up with a wooden head, instead of a wooden leg..weird. If anyone has any info on where these episodes can be found, please let me know. Great show that disappeared way too quickly. I do own the pc Nightmare Ned video game, which is designed for kids and has a lot of tiresome walking and jumping, terrible controls but it looks good, somewhat like a Nightmare before Christmas feel to the menu and initial lands to explore. Eric

Nightmare Ned, as it actually aired, was an extremely watered down version from it's original concept. Nightmare Ned was too dark to be successfully suitable for Saturday morning cartoon fare. The world which animator Walt Dohrn had originally created for Ned and his nightmares, was far darker, and more grotesquely stylized than the version that made it to TV. Had this property been sold to a cable network like "Comedy Central," where it's darkly sinister, gruesome nature could more fully be realized, no doubt the series might still be running.

I think this show is even better than gravity falls. And that this show is Disney's best cartoon that you never saw. And that this show is a Disney CLASSIC. Because the show is clever, has good humor, uses a charming old school art style, and it even had a video game which was Disney's best game, has good plot, very creative, Ned Needlemeyer is very likable character.