The top 10 cartoon-based Halloween costumes for 2023
Halloween is upon us, though recent years have seen the entire month of October (and some September creep) become the so-called “spooky month.” As such, kids and adults are seen dressing up in costumes of popular characters.
Google Trends released a list of the most popular Halloween costumes for 2023. Unsurprisingly, #1 is Barbie, this year’s doll-based billion-dollar hit movie. Below, I look at the most popular costumes based on cartoon characters for 2023. (While there’s various Barbie-based cartoons, she’s primarily a doll, so I don’t count her on this list.)
Costume stereotype warning
Of course, for anyone reading this post, I shouldn’t have to remind you not to wear blackface as a “costume.” (*Sigh*.) Some advice for avoiding stereotypical or offensive costumes are here (USA Today) and here (Ohio University).
The producers of the PBS series “Molly of Denali” also made suggestions for any kids wanting to dress as Molly (an Alaskan Native person).
Top 10 cartoon-based costumes for 2023
Here are the top 10 costumes based on a cartoon character or franchise, with their rank on Google’s list in parentheses. The entries below have their origins in a comic, video game, or animated cartoon, even if it’s something live-action driving popularity (such as Netflix’s “Wednesday”).
Spider-Man (#3)
Wednesday Addams (#6)
Princess Peach (#13)
Batman (#16)
Harley Quinn (#23)
“Toy Story” (#27)
“Bluey” (#28)
“Monsters Inc.” (#34)
Tinker Bell (#35)
“Pokemon” (#37)
Observations
Spider-Man is the most popular cartoon character costume by far, coming in on Google’s list at #3 (behind Barbie at #1 and “princess” at #2).
Wednesday Addams is there due to the popularity of the Netflix “Wednesday” series. Of course, it’s debatable if the average person even knows “The Addams Family” was originally a comic strip. The comic has long been displaced in popularity by the 60s sitcom and/or the 90s movies.
Princess Peach is on the list due to the massive popularity of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Batman and Batman-related characters like Harley Quinn are well represented, unsurprisingly. If I hadn’t included video game characters, there’d be even more Bat-characters in the top 10, like the Joker (who clocks in at #40, between the Devil and Beetlejuice).
For “Toy Story” and “Monsters Inc.,” I gather people really want to go trick-or-treating as Mike Wazowski or the little green aliens?
For “Pokemon,” I’m guessing it’s probably either Ash Ketchum or Pikachu, the two most famous characters in the franchise. Maybe also their adversaries, Team Rocket?
“Bluey” (presumably either the character or the TV show itself) is also unsurprising, given its popularity.
Tinker Bell stands out; I’m not sure why she’s the most popular non-Pixar Disney character on this list, beating out any of the Disney Princesses. (Even assuming it’s for some crass “sexy” costume take, as such costumes are popular for adults.) Granted, she’s probably Disney’s biggest mascot after Mickey Mouse. That’s thanks to decades of appearing in the opening of the various Walt Disney anthology TV shows, collectively known to most as “The Wonderful World of Disney,” its longest-lasting and currently-used title. (Baby Boomers might instead think of its 60s-era title, “The Wonderful World of Color.”) There’s even a series of direct-to-video Tinker Bell films, starring her and her fellow pixies.
Other cartoon-related costumes
A few other cartoon costumes make Google’s list: the Powerpuff Girls (at #49), Poison Ivy (#57), Buzz Lightyear (#70), Shrek (#71), and Cruella De Vil (#73), among others.
Interestingly, Miles Morales by himself (not as Spider-Man) is also on the list, at #75, just above Spider-Gwen at #76. Peter himself (versus as Spidey) isn’t on the list at all. Between “Across the Spider-Verse” and Disney+’s “Spidey and His Amazing Friends,” there’s been no shortage of Gwen or Miles in media this year. This also makes Miles the most popular Black and Latino character on this list.
Wonder Woman clocks in at #88; Superman, unfortunately, isn’t in the top 100 at all. (Checking further down, the Man of Steel clocks in at #158, just below the Hulk.)
At #89 are the Flintstones, which seems surprising. Then again, USA Today notes Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are popular costumes for babies, while the Flintstone family itself is a popular family costume theme. At least, I assume among adults. As I’ve noted before, I wonder how many kids or teens even recognize the modern Stone Age family, beyond maybe “those weird looking guys on the cereal boxes/mentioned on ‘Family Guy.’” Still, making it into the top 100 shows pretty remarkable staying power for the Bedrock crew. (If wondering, the most popular individual character is Wilma, at #238.)
Just outside the top 100 is Fred Flintstone’s fellow Hanna-Barbera character, Velma Dinkley from “Scooby-Doo,” at #103. Velma’s gained recent attention thanks to last year’s movie “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo” (aka “the film where Velma has an open crush on another woman”) and the adult-only (and “Scooby-Doo-in-name-only”) Max series “Velma.” Meanwhile, Scooby himself comes in at #190, while Daphne Blake (#259) and Shaggy Rogers (#298) also appear. Unfortunately, no sign of Fred Jones; maybe nobody wants to wear an ascot?
Image, from left to right: "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" (Sony/Marvel); "The Addams Family" (Paramount); "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (Illumination/Nintendo)