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Image via Nickelodeon
For many people, children’s cartoons from the 2000s invoke a sense of nostalgia, bringing them back to a simpler time when their only concern was which show to watch after school. Some, like Jimmy Neutron (full name The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius), have gained a second wave of popularity long after their initial peak, thanks to the internet’s obsession with finding memes in obscure places.
After first appearing in the 2001 film Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius (which was nominated for the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, though it lost to Shrek), the eponymous boy genius went on to star in his own Nickelodeon series until 2006, shaping the humor of a generation of children. Those kids are grown up now, but they still find Jimmy Neutron and his friends — especially Carl Wheezer, who shows up on this list multiple times — hilarious, just in a slightly different way.
Like other Nickelodeon favorites including SpongeBob SquarePants and The Fairy OddParents, Jimmy Neutron has become a hunting ground for potential memes, with many going viral in the past few years. Whole communities on social media revolve around the creation of these memes, but I’ll save you the trouble of combing through the many available online; here are 10 of the funniest Jimmy Neutron created so far.
Hugh Neutron and the Jukebox
In one episode, a cool version of Jimmy’s dad makes use of the jukebox at the local diner and performs across the restaurant floor as cool people are apt to do. Never mind that he puts a quarter in the jukebox only to sing over the song that’s actually playing in the original scene — we don’t need to question how cool Hugh is. Though this is the original, many have dubbed over the jukebox song with everything from the sound of some really nasty gas to the cantina song from Star Wars.
“I don’t feel so good”
In an episode where Jimmy’s friends temporarily have superpowers, Carl has the ability to cause untold amounts of property damage through his powerful burps. This scene gained popularity after a scene in Avengers: Infinity War with a similar quote went viral. Like the jukebox meme, people have set Carl’s belch to sounds like rooster cries and old iPhone ringtones.
“No dude, I’m your higher up and what I say, goes.”
When Jimmy has a part-time job at local burger joint McSpankys, he gets on the nerves of his manager Skeet by acting a little too smart for his own good. He also replaces the workers with AI and ultimately destroys both the restaurant and its competitors, which seems oddly relevant in today’s climate for a show from the early 2000s.
The meme imagines a Skeet who fights aback against Jimmy’s lack of understanding what goes into running a successful fast food chain. When Jimmy calculates change in his head, this Skeet explains the concept of keeping an organized register to Jimmy. When Jimmy, mad with power, wants to change the Spankys slogan to something offensively cerebral, Skeet explains the importance of branding to the boy genius. This meme truly demonstrates the difference between practical intelligence and book smarts.
“Slap, slap, slap, clap, clap, clap”
Bolbi Stroganofsky, from the far and very fictional land of Backhairistan, is a foreign exchange student at Jimmy’s school who usually serves as simple comic relief when he appears. While he has some funny moments, like demonstrating a perfect voice for reciting Shakespeare, Bolbi is best known for his debut in the episode “Jimmy for President.” Bolbi runs on the campaign slogan “Slap, slap, slap, clap, clap, clap” and wins in a landslide victory (since every other candidate cheated and was taken out of the running).
His memorable catchphrase needed little to become a meme and will likely live on for eternity — and with some of the hour-long compilations on YouTube, you can experience a slice of eternity yourself. Thank you President Bolbi.
“I sat on a banana”
Hugh Neutron, like many television fathers, likes to tell stories about his childhood and sometimes they even make sense. This is not one of those times. While we can’t be sure what he means when he says sitting on a banana changed his life, it sure is provocative!
“Hi Mrs. Neutron”
At some point, Carl went from Jimmy’s nerdy best friend to a lover of older women, especially lusting after Jimmy’s mom. There’s a lot about this scene from The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour (a fever dream and a meme in itself) that makes me uncomfortable, but I can’t deny it’s a popular meme template from the franchise.
Sodium Chloride
Big McThankys from McSpankys! Jimmy is not only bad at working food service, but he’s also an insufferable know-it-all. He is obviously smart enough to call salt by its chemical name but not smart enough to realize how pretentious it makes him sound. Skeet, an accomplished manager, knows that this behavior not only alienates potential customers but is also annoying. We can all learn from Skeet.
Jimmy Neutron sings “Gangsta’s Paradise”
When Jimmy finds out that his future self married his nemesis Cindy, he lets out a scream for an uninterrupted four minutes. Not only does he demonstrate great lung capacity and breath control, his scream perfectly syncs with the beginning vocals in Coolio’s classic “Gangsta’s Paradise.” This is a fantastic reaction meme to use when anything bad happens to you and a demonstration of the creativity that goes into meme creation. Who thought of this?
“Are you gonna finish that croissant?”
Likely the most well-known of the many Jimmy Neutron memes across the internet, something about the way Carl asks for this man’s croissant in an exaggeratedly awful French accent is hilarious. The meme has inspired many variations with millions of views, including 10 hour-long versions, reversed versions, and has even transcended the boundaries of language. As it continues to be remixed (literally, there is a remix and it’s kind of a bop), the meme proves to be one with longevity. Long after Jimmy Neutron is forgotten, I predict this meme will be remembered.
“Looks like you’re going to the Shadow Realm, Jimbo.”
My favorite of the Jimmy Neutron memes, and easily the one with the highest production value, is this one that combines the world of Retroville with that of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Imagine a world where Hugh sends his only son to the Shadow Realm; it’s easy to imagine when his official voice actor, Mark DeCarlo, voices the meme himself. The meme was born out of an organized attempt by fans to get Jimmy’s father into the Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl game, which proved successful when he was added as DLC in August 2022.
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