Ruin Your Fave Childhood Movies With These 13 Crazy Fan Theories

When we're kids our favorite movies are all happy and innocent. Then we get older and other people ruin our memories of them with their crazy fan theories. Sometimes the theories spark an interest and make us think. Other times the theories are really dark and make us sad. The best fan theories make us feel something because they make sense. Some batsh*t people might try to link Predator with Cinderella, but we ignore those ones because they're so utterly ridiculous. Other fans go over every detail of a movie and present a good case with lots of evidence to prove their theories might be true.

You are about to read some fan theories that make a lot of sense. They will change the way you think of your favorite childhood movies forever. For instance, when I was a kid, one of my favorite films was Matilda (another was Blade but we won't go into that). Now I know that Matilda could have been a prequel to Carrie, I won't be able to think of Matilda without also thinking of the crazed character from the horror movie…

Here are some other theories to ruin your childhood memories. Enjoy!

13 Shrek and Pinocchio?

One fan theory about the film Shrek suggests that Donkey is one of the boys that was turned into a donkey at Pleasure Island in Pinocchio. YeremyV posted the idea on Reddit along with some pretty convincing evidence. He says that, as Pinocchio shows up in Shrek, why shouldn't one of the boys from Pleasure Island? And while other characters, such as the Muffin Man or Three Little Pigs, come from fairy tales, Donkey doesn't belong to a specific story, or not one that is explained in the film anyway. So he could come from Pleasure Island. There's also a line in Shrek where Donkey seems to have memories of being a human when he's talking about "wedgies and swirlies". Puss in Boots asks Donkey about it but Donkey replies, “Some things are better left unsaid.” That mysterious answer could be a hint at Donkey's past life.

12 Carrie is the grown up Matilda

Be warned, this is one of those fan theories that will rob you of your innocent childhood memories. A fan theory says that Stephen King's Carrie is a grown-up Matilda. Nooo! According to the theory, Matilda and Miss Honey move house and change their names to Margaret and Carietta after the film to start afresh. Miss Honey/Margaret deals with her traumatic past through religion and Matilda/Carrie becomes a shy girl who stops using her telekinetic powers. As she gets older, she and her adoptive mom no longer talk about her powers, and it makes Matilda/Carrie wonder if she imagined them. That's the bridge between the end of Matilda and the beginning of Carrie. Unfortunately, this could make sense as both are stories about a girl with telekinetic powers. Plus, over at Thought Catalog, they reckon the events in Carrie could come as a result of the pair suffering from PTSD due to their childhood traumas.

11 Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

A new fan theory from Reddit claims that Harry Potter could have easily dealt with the Basilisk in The Chamber of Secrets, if he had only spoken to it. Tom Riddle claims that the giant snake will only obey him and Harry believes Riddle, but he might not be telling the truth. As we know from the story, Harry can speak Parseltongue and the reason for that is that a piece of Voldemort's soul exists inside of Harry. So, according to the theory, it's possible that Harry could have taken control of the Basilisk and turned it against Riddle. Though the proponent of the theory does admit that if this was a case it would have been an anticlimax and we wouldn't have seen the epic battle that ensues. Other Harry Potter mega fans have argued against this theory, however, by suggesting that the Basilisk might only obey a relative of Salazar Slytherin.

10 Aladdin- Apocalyptic future

There are many fan theories about the Disney universe, one of which suggests that the film Aladdin takes place in a far-off post-apocalyptic future. Fans have come to this theory by looking closely at the words of Genie throughout the film. When Aladdin is getting made over to look like a prince, Genie says his fez and vest combo is "much too third century". Previously in the film, when Genie emerges from the lamp, he says, "Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck." So if Genie had seen third century fashion before he was locked in the lamp for 10,000 years, that would mean that at the earliest, Aladdin is set in the year 10,300. But, since Genie impersonates 20th century personalities such as Jack Nicholson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, that means he must have been locked in the lamp later and thus Aladdin must take place after the year 11,970.

9 Willy Wonka is actually a murderer

This fan theory is way over on the creepy side, suggesting that Willy Wonka is a master child murderer who goes on to use the dead children as ingredients for his candy. Eww! The theory says that Wonka fired his previous employees and employed oompa loompas instead, because he thought they were spies and he didn't want them to find out his secret recipe included children. Wonka uses strategies to exploit the weaknesses of the children he lures to his factory so that he can murder them. For instance, he knows that Augustus Gloop is a glutton and will be drawn to the chocolate river. The strange thing is that the pipe Gloop gets sucked into is so wide, it's as though Wonka knew the pipes would need to be wide enough to fit a child inside. The theory also points out how only the children are asked to sign waivers in case of accidents at the start of their visit to the factory, and not the adults.

8 Kevin Mccallister grew up to be a serial killer

Here's another rather creepy fan theory that suggests Kevin from Home Alone grew up to be the serial killer Jigsaw from the Saw films. The theorist that came up with this doozie, Jason Concepcion, says that the theory is possible as Kevin shows that he is mentally unstable and has anger issues from the start, for example when he rages at his older brother Buzz and pins him against the kitchen counter. Kevin also has hallucinations which turn the furnace in his basement into a monster. Theorists suggest that the torture device attached to a woman's head in Saw is reminiscent of the furnace, and that the basement in Saw II is a recreation of Kevin's childhood basement. Jigsaw also puts a poison antidote inside a furnace as a trick to lure victims inside. So this furnace stuff is a recurrent theme. Moreover, Kevin sets traps that are like mini versions of Jigsaw's. For instance, he covers the basement stairs with tar and nails, while Jigsaw uses an electrified staircase which is also fitted with blades to slice up a SWAT team. So theorists claim that we can see an evolution from Kevin to Jigsaw.

7 Ice Age- Set in the future

According to one fan theory, the film Ice Age is not set in the past but rather in the future. The story goes that humans resurrected dinosaurs and other extinct creatures using DNA. However, the humans themselves died out due to a nuclear war - so it's a post-apocalyptic future. The humans that survived the apocalypse have to live like neanderthals and the ice age depicted this film came about because of a nuclear winter (a time of cold and darkness that follows a nuclear war because of dust and smoke in the atmosphere blocking the sun's rays). Theorists claim as evidence the fact that humans only exist in the first Ice Age film and human history as we know it doesn't match up with the events in the film.

6 The Lion King- Mufasa controls the weather

Another Disney fan theory claims that The Lion King's Mufasa becomes a demigod who controls the weather. When Scar kills Mufasa, Scar takes charge of Pride Rock and Simba exiles himself. When Simba is older Mufasa appears to him in the clouds, proving his status as a demigod. Under Scar's leadership, Pride Rock suffers a drought and fan theorists claim this is Mufasa's doing - it is all part of a higher plan. He does it to make trouble for Scar and his regime. Plus, the drought is what encourages Nala to seek food outside of the area, where she runs into Simba, and this is the reason why he returns to Pride Rock to get his kingdom back. It's because of the drought that the lions join Simba to fight against Scar and the hyenas. Nice job, Mufasa!

5 Peter Pan is a lot darker than you think

For some reason people really like to create dark theories surrounding Disney movies. A fan theory that someone came up with for Peter Pan is pretty dark, and the unfortunate part is that it actually kind of makes sense. Stop ruining our childhoods already! So, according to the theory, Peter Pan is actually an angel who helps dying kids get to heaven safely. Heaven is what the film calls Neverland. This explains why the kids in this universe never age - it's because they're dead. Some think that this fan theory is in line with the original telling of Peter Pan, in which he murders the Lost Boys before they get too old. That's also very dark, but we know by now that most of our modern fairy tales are based on older, darker stories (Grimm's fairy tales for example).

4 Frozen fan theory is true!

Here we have a fan theory that has actually been confirmed by the film's director, which is always nice - usually they leave us to wonder. Fans speculated that Anna and Elsa from Frozen are Tarzan's older sisters, and it's true, they are. In Frozen, Anna and Elsa are said to be orphans whose parents died in a shipwreck. But actually, their parents survived the wreck and wound up in the jungle, according to Frozen director Chris Buck. They were on the boat longer than we may have previously thought because the mother gave birth to a baby boy. They built a tree house in the jungle for them and the boy, but were killed by leopards. Thus, the boy (Tarzan) was brought up by gorillas. I'm sure we'd all love for Anna and Elsa to meet their little brother!

3 Mary Poppins is a Time Lord

Apparently, people on the Internet love working out which characters from TV and movies could be Doctor Who-style Time Lords. In particular, there's a strong case for Mary Poppins being a Time Lord. One thing that suggests she's a Time Lord is that she arrives out of nowhere in a time of trouble. She also communicates with a variety of creatures and that's not something your average nanny can do. She wears a bow tie and is of course British. Poppins has oddball friends and goes on adventures with the kids. Her bag is way bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside. She helps out the needy before whizzing off to travel more. Some people think that all of this evidence amounts to her not just being a Time Lord but actually The Doctor. She certainly fits the bill.

2 The Finding Nemo theory will make you mad

Pixar always make sweet films that everybody loves, but of course people have got to put a depressing twist on them with their fan theories. A fan theory claims that Nemo died along with his mom and siblings in the attack that killed them. Thus the film chronicles his dad, Marlin, going through the different stages of grief. As evidence, fans have assigned parts of the film to each of the stages of grief. Denial is when Marlin doesn't want Nemo to go to school. Anger is when he shouts at Nemo for swimming out too far. Bargaining is represented by his whole journey across the ocean with his pal Dory. Despair is what happens when we see Nemo disappear down the drain. And acceptance comes when he can finally let go of what happened in the past, i.e. he realizes he doesn't need to wrap Nemo in cotton wool anymore.

1 The Hunger Games- A secret rebel spy

There are quite a lot of Hunger Games fan theories, one of which is that Rue, the young girl who befriended Katniss in the arena was actually a rebel spy. Fans see it this way as they find it odd that she interacts with Katniss as opposed to following the fight or flight instinct. They think that perhaps Rue was aware that Katniss was going to be important before the start of the games and it was her job to guide Katniss through them. Evidence for Rue being a rebel spy is that she's well-trained for a young kid and it's doubtful that she was trained by anyone in her district as they are a frightened bunch of people who aren't willing to stand up and take the place of a 12-year-old in the games. And her final words to Katniss are, "You have to win," which could mean that she has to win for the plan of the rebels to work.