Meeting your favorite cartoon character was supposed to be one of the best parts of childhood. Judging by these photos, however, things didn’t always go according to plan. Giant heads, creepy smiles, questionable homemade costumes, and characters that looked only vaguely like the ones they were supposed to represent – the kids’ reactions make these photos even better.
The community at ‘Awkward Family Photos’ has been sharing amusing pictures from family albums, along with the hilarious stories behind them, for years.
Scroll down for photos that sometimes look less like a dream come true and more like the beginning of a nightmare – or a straight-up horror movie. What about you, Pandas? Do you remember any similar situations from your childhood, where your parents tried to entertain you, but you ended up with a trauma for life?
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#1
“My brother met a clown during our trip to New York City. He was thrilled.”
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#2
“My sister at her Chuck E. Cheese birthday party. I am the child on the right doing absolutely nothing to console her.”
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#3
“Here’s me in 1986 with this terrifying Big Bird where you can see the guy’s face in the cutout below the beak.”
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#4
“Chicago, 1982. The year I became afraid of clowns. And whatever that thing is behind me.”
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#5
“It was 1979, and I met Miss Piggy in Pontins holiday park, Prestatyn, North Wales. It looked like she was recovering from a rough night.”
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#6
“Mr. Peanut still haunts me to this day.”
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#7
“Stockton-On-Tees in the early 80s, and I got to meet Rupert!”
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#8
“My first Easter. Looks like even back then I thought it was pretty dodgy.”
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#9
“Strange times at the Montgomery County Fair in Ohio, 1981.”
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#10
“My mom thought it would be a good idea to hire whatever this is for my 3rd birthday party. This photo was taken moments before I started screaming and crying.”
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#11
“My friend Shawn when she was in 2nd grade.”
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#12
“Found this gem while digitizing our family photos. It was taken sometime in the late 70s in Des Moines, Iowa. I’m the little guy with Cookie Monster and my brother, whose sole comment upon seeing this photo was, ‘miss that hat.’”
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#13
“Bert and Ernie helped me celebrate my first birthday in 1978. That’s me sitting on the lady in yellow’s lap.”
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#14
“My cousins and I at a birthday party with Alf, who appears to be having a rough one.”
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#15
“When I was 4, I met Mickey Mouse in Argentina.”
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#16
“There was a meet-and-greet with Fred Flintstone at a Shopper’s Drug Mart, and I got to sit on his lap.”
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#17
“Our early 90s triplets in unison Santa photo.”
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#18
“We took my son to a church Easter egg hunt. Afterward, he took photos with the bunny… and a bonus clown and bird.”
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#19
“Just what every kid recovering from an elbow reconstruction wants: a huge promotional fish from Long John Silver’s stopping by with a care package of coloring supplies. The early 90s were a strange time.”
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#20
“Every year for the holidays, my family took me to the Westland Mall in Columbus, OH, for pictures. My 1984 encounter with a bunny filled with darkness still haunts me to this day.”
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#21
“When I was one, I met Big Bird and the Easter Bunny in 1979 at the Eastgate Square Mall in Hamilton, Ontario.”
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#22
“Still not sure why my mom wanted to take us for Halloween pics with the Michael Myers of penguins.”
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#23
“My bowl cut and I got to meet Barney.”
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#24
“At the Lakeside Mall in New Orleans in 1985, I was lucky enough to meet a leprechaun.”
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#25
“Me and a really drunk Miss Piggy in Long Beach Island, 1982.”
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#26
“My brother and I with a bootleg Big Bird & Oscar in 1991.”
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#27
“1989, Texas. Me with our local mall easter bunny. Something seemed a little off.”
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#28
“Big Bird was a big hit at our 1983 block party.”
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#29
“My sister on the lap of the most gawd-awful Easter Bunny ever.”
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#30
“Four-year-old me, 1998, on one of my family’s many caravan holidays in Cornwall, UK.”
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