Ed Edd N Eddy: A deep dive
“A little childhood trauma builds character!”
Ed Edd N Eddy was a Canadian animated show on Cartoon Network that aired from 1999–2008 created by adult animator Danny Antonucci, that show was my absolute favorite to watch and has shaped my sense of humor as an adult. If you haven’t watched the show, Ed Edd N Eddy tells the story of three junior-high aged boys all named Ed and they all live in a cul-de-sac which takes place in the fictional town of Peach Creek. Ed is the loveable comic relief who says and does the craziest things, has an obsession with comic books and monster movies, Edd or “Double D” is the intelligent and soft-spoken neat freak of the group and Eddy is the short, loud-mouthed (borderline sociopathic) self-appointed leader of the group. The trio always invent scams to make money from their peers so they can all purchase jawbreakers.
Now that I’m older and I’ve rewatched it, holy shit….
- Ed, being the lovable goof he is and is the muscle of the group, is more than likely severely mentally handicapped and is being verbally abused by his younger sister Sarah and neglected by his parents. Since he is mentally handicapped, Sarah and her parents could face consequences of abusing a mentally handicapped minor. Ed also doesn’t seem to take care of himself as he has a huge bathtub of gravy in his bathroom and makes questionable hygiene choices. His parents clearly favor his tyrannical little sister over him. Hence the infamous scene,
Eddy: What happened to the stairs?!
Ed: My parents took them down because I am grounded…
Double D: That’s disturbing
Not to mention the relationship Ed’s mother has with her husband. As quoted by Ed multiple times,
“The school will tell Sarah, and Sarah will tell Mom, and Mom will tell Dad, and Dad will just sit there and watch TV!”
“Sarah will tell Mom, and Mom will tell Dad, and Dad will say ‘Not now, I just got home from work!’”
Ed’s dad doesn’t really care. Can you just imagine,
“Bill, how can you just sit there?”
“Janet, did you see that coconut? It fell on that guy’s head!”
- Double D’s parents are controlling neat freaks who communicate to their son via sticky notes, it shows they are busy professionals who don’t really make the time to speak to their son.
- Jonny, the loner, could possibly be schizophrenic or suffering from a type of mental disorder as he communicates to others using a plank of wood. (Maybe Plank really is alive, ya never know…)
- The Kanker Sisters, a trio of trashy half-sisters who come from the local trailer park, regularly sexually harass and have even sexually assaulted the Eds on multiple occasions. Since these girls come from a trailer park, it’s obvious these girls are in poverty. Going back to how they treat the Eds, it baffles me that there have never ever been any serious legitimate consequences for them. In their family, their fathers are nowhere to be seen.
When the Eds first meet them, the girls welcome the boys into their home and cook them food. However, as the boys get comfortable, they begin to unintentionally mistreat them or ignore them. Having enough, the girls finally snap at them:
“It’s not enough that we’ve worked hard and broken our backs for you?”
“If things don’t change around here, we’re leaving!”
“It’s time you good-for-nothings started to pull our own weight around here!”
This is called, learned behavior. The girls learned from their absent mother, and it seems the mothers has a negative attitude towards men.
- There is a cycle of physical abuse that runs in Eddy’s family, Eddy was physically abused by his sadistic older brother in the film. Eddy is quick-tempered and devious and has caused a lot of harm to other kids, but it seems obvious that his behavior is learned from his older brother.
- The Eds have trashed and destroyed many homes and it’s amazing that neighborhood kid’s parents never sued the Eds’ parents.
- The lack of adults! There are no adults anywhere to be seen! However, we do see Eddy’s father’s arm once and Ed’s mother’s hand and her back at one point.
Since there are zero adults anywhere, it’s pretty clear to me that a good portion of these kids are victims of parental negligence which is a kind of child abuse.
I know it’s just a cartoon, but that show has had some moments where it got a little too real. I still do wonder what is under Double D’s hat…
Come on, Antonucci, just say it already!
Well, that concludes my analysis. I hope you guys liked it! If you guys are interested in reading more, please go ahead and subscribe!
