“Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue” was arguably one of the most exciting crossover events of many Millennial childhoods, despite it being an unabashed D.A.R.E. promotion. For the uninitiated, the premise is that the hottest Saturday morning cartoon characters of 1990 spring to life so they can lecture a teen named Michael a valuable lesson about how weed and alcohol would eventually lead him to hard drugs and living in a never-ending nightmare hellscape. It’s as corny as it sounds, but when the hell were we ever going to see Ninja Turtles and Muppet Babies sharing screen time?
But as we reach the 34-year anniversary of its debut, one question remains: what’s the likelihood these animated anti-drug advocates would turn to drugs after the special faded from memory? We ranked all the characters with number one being the most likely to be a complete junkie.
12. Slimer
It was clear by the early ’90s that Slimer was the star of “The Real Ghostbusters,” but the likeliness of him feeling the crushing weight of carrying the show (and haunting Michael’s house for some reason) wouldn’t lead to any significant substance abuse, on account that he is already dead.
11. ALF
We could’ve sworn ALF was a puppet, but I guess his agent busted the execs at CBS’s balls to be in on this thing. Regardless of him being retconned as a cartoon for the purposes of drug abstinence, it’s hard to imagine him tripping balls unless eating cats gives you some kind of natural high we’re not aware of.
10. Garfield
Well he’s a lasagna addict that’s for damn sure, but aren’t we all? Now let’s keep in mind this production was from a time when Garfield was actually funny and needed to bring his A-game and be “on” all the time, a little pick me up every now and then might be necessary. Perhaps all those naps were combination food/barbiturates comas?
9. Smurfs
It’s hard to believe that there isn’t a single mushroom-shaped Smurf dwelling that doesn’t have hallucinogenic properties. Our money is on Brainy Smurf, on account it’s always the ones you least suspect. Who the hell knows what he’s cooking in that lab of his?
8. Daffy Duck
The gruesome, and sometimes self-inflicted, injuries Daffy has endured over the years make him a prime candidate for relying on oxycodone just to get through a day of filming. He’s old-school Hollywood, after all.
7. Bugs Bunny
You can only take so many wrong turns at Albuquerque before people suspect you’re burrowing under the influence. It also doesn’t help his case that he makes his appearance in this special as a cop, so there’s a pretty good likelihood he’s helping himself to the goods in evidence storage, if you catch our drift.
6. Tigger
You cannot convince us that Tigger isn’t a meth addict. I mean just look at him! And the fact he makes his appearance special by bounding out of the bushes unannounced doesn’t help his case either.
5. Winnie the Pooh
The jury is still out on Pooh though. He’s much too chill to become a junkie, but it wouldn’t be shocking to find out he “accidentally” ingests Himalayan mad honey on a regular basis.
4. Michaelangelo
Truth be told, the future was never looking bright for Mikey. He can lambast others about drug-induced poor decision-making, but fact is that an incalculable amount of drugs are flushed into the sewers every year, and given his predilection for partying that makes him a textbook high-risk teen(age mutant ninja turtle). Not long until he’s stealing Donatello’s Adderall to fund his crippling ketamine dependency.
3. Muppet Babies (Kermit, Piggy, and Gonzo)
The one thing the Muppet Babies had going for them was their unparalleled gift of imagination, but that can only get you so far. Don’t be shocked if all those unsupervised shenanigans in the nursery turned into rampant LSD use to expand their minds.
2. The Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore)
There’s lots of evidence that many artists’ best work came to be while under copious amounts of drugs, so it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that the Chipmunks would attempt to leave cover songs behind and write their own material fueled by enough blow to kill a capybara. Coupled with a grueling touring schedule and strict stage dad, the brothers were a sure bet to end up booted from their record label and in rehab by 1996.
1. Ducktales (Huey, Louie, and Dewey)
Don’t let their leading “There’s a Million Ways to Say No” fool you, these are trust fund kids and they are always going to do trust fund kid crap. They’re just one globe-trotting adventure away from smoking PCP at an illegal rave in Thailand before burning through their inheritance on a crippling heroin addiction. Life is like a hurricane, indeed.
Honorable Mention: George H.W. Bush
Granted he and Barbara technically only were in the intro for 30 seconds, but you mean to tell us that he didn’t once try crack before the CIA used it to destroy black communities? We’re not buying it. Just look at his kid and you’ll see the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

Out of all Linda Blair’s post “The Exorcist” movies, “Hell Night” is certainly… uhm, one of them. Four college pledges spend the night in an infamous house of horrors, unaware that it is the home of a maniac who picks them off one by one. It’s nothing groundbreaking and a little uneven, but if this one is on your radar, congratulations, you probably have no marketable skills.
Years after a boy accidentally shoots his mother attempting to clean his father’s gun, the dad has a meltdown and seeks revenge against the boy and all his friends. Yes, it’s insane that this movie is bookended by the upbeat sitcom opening-esque song “Fall Break,” it’s a bonkers choice that does not match the tone of the film at all, but you really need to stop talking about it at job interviews.
This movie has long been criticized as a shameless “Halloween” rip-off, but you yourself have long been criticized as an unemployable train wreck who just can’t get their shit together. The truth hurts is what I’m saying.
It’s standard slasher fair but its unique snowy setting will give you something to talk about while dodging questions like “So how’s the job search coming?”
A bullied high school nerd gets revenge on his abusers by staging a fake reunion and locking them in the school where he picks them off one by one. It’s no “Halloween,” or even “Halloween 5,” but what else were you gonna do today?
We all know the spa is supposed to be a place of health and relaxation, but what if, instead of that, they MURDERED you?! That’s the premise, and it’s more than you deserve. And hey, Ken Foree is in it! You know who he is because you haven’t had a job since before the pandemic.
This is your classic young people in the woods being murdered formula with a fun twist totally worth blowing off that job fair for.
The title is a little misleading. At no point do any of the characters get hit with overdraft fees and an eviction notice on the same day. Can YOU survive? Seriously, can you?
6 women, each auditioning for the same film role at a mansion, are targeted by a deranged killer, but hey, at least they’re trying to find work. What have you done all day?
A slasher villain who rides a motorcycle?! Oh shit, guess checking for entry-level job postings on Craigslist will have to wait, this demands your attention!
Of all the college sorority-based horror movies of the ’80s you can watch in the middle of the day instead of attempting to improve your life in any way shape or form, this is one you maybe haven’t done that with yet.
Sure, the Friday the 13th franchise is far from underrated, but this one has always been the black sheep of the franchise and frankly, we think it’s about due for a “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch” type resurgence. It was unfairly maligned upon its release because it doesn’t feature Jason, focusing instead on a copycat killer, but it’s a perfect time capsule of peak ’80s sleaziness, and championing dumb opinions is the closest thing to a job you have.
Another sorority pledge gone wrong horror movie. Man, a lot of these horror movies take place at college. Probably best you don’t finish school.
A competent, well-executed by-the-book slasher with a fun twist that will leave you, well, pretty much the same unemployable mess, but you’ll have seen this movie!
While largely underseen, this slasher inspired by the legend of Cropsy has long enjoyed cult-classic status among horror aficionados. If you haven’t already seen it, face it, you have time to watch an ’80s slasher where you see Jason Alexander’s big ol’ butt, and while that might not be an ideal mode of life, you should take advantage of the perks.