It’s Halloween time again, or “Spooky Month” as some call October. Like last year, Google has published a page (“Freightgeist”) listing the most popular Halloween costumes this year based on Google searches. This year’s version splits the costumes into several categories, including “overall” and “kids.”
Below, I look at the most popular cartoon-related Halloween costumes for 2024. Note the entries are primarily based on an animated cartoon, comic, or video game. So while “Beetlejuice” does have an animated series (airing in the early 90s), it’s primarily a pair of live-action films, so doesn’t count for this list.
Top 10 overall cartoon-based Halloween costumes
- Catnap (“Poppy Playtime”)
- Pomni (“The Amazing Digital Circus”)
- Envy (“Inside Out”)
- Dr. Doom (Marvel)
- Lady Deadpool (Marvel)
- Anger (“Inside Out”)
- Disgust (“Inside Out”)
- Wolverine (Marvel)
- Anxiety (“Inside Out”)
- Gambit (Marvel)
The most popular cartoon-based costumes, surprisingly, aren’t from mainstream studios; instead, they’re from independent efforts. “Poppy Playtime” is a 2021 horror video game; “The Amazing Digital Circus” is an adult Australian animated series that’s streaming on YouTube and Netflix. I never heard of either one until writing this post, though I assume they’re popular among Gen Zers.
The most popular mainstream cartoon costumes this year are the emotions from “Inside Out,” thanks to the sequel becoming the top-grossing animated film of all time. The film takes up four of the top 10 spots.
For that matter, Disney overall ended up occupying eight of the top 10 spots, thanks to Marvel. The most popular Marvel character is Dr. Doom, the Fantastic Four’s longtime foe. Despite the “Fantastic Four” film not out yet, Doom managed to eclipse the other Marvel characters, all who appeared either in “Deadpool and Wolverine” or the “X-Men ‘97” animated series. That said, more people wanted to dress as Gambit than any other non-Wolverine X-Men?
Top 10 kids cartoon-based Halloween costumes
- Red (Disney’s Descendants)
- Dr. Doom (Marvel)
- Kidpool (Marvel)
- Gojo (“Jujutsu Kaisen”)
- Wolverine (Marvel)
- The Queen of Hearts (Disney)
- Peely (“Fortnite”)
- Corpse Bride (“Corpse Bride”)
- Minion (“Despicable Me”)
- Jack Skellington (“The Nightmare Before Christmas”)
I wasn’t sure whether to include Red, the daughter of the Queen of Hearts from Disney’s “Descendants” franchise. But given it’s a live-action film based in part on Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and the Queen of Hearts appears in “Descendants,” I figure I’d list Red.
Along with various Marvel and Disney films, also appearing on the kids’ list is one video game (“Fortnite”) and an anime/manga series (“Jujutsu Kaisen”).
Top 5 cartoon-related dog Halloween costumes
- Dogpool (Marvel)
- Wolverine (Marvel)
- Zero (Disney)
- Batman (DC Comics)
- Minion (“Despicable Me”)
Google listed a series of popular dog costumes. The most popular one overall is “Dogpool,” yet another Deadpool variant.
Zero is Jack Skellington’s pet ghost dog in “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Apparently Batman makes for a popular dog costume. I suppose it could also be interpreted as a costume of Ace the Bat-Hound, Batman’s pet dog who (in many versions) is also a crime-fighting canine.
The top 5 cartoon-related duo Halloween costumes
- Wolverine and Deadpool (Marvel)
- Velvet and Veneer (“Trolls”)
- Janet and Rita (“Bluey”)
- Lightning McQueen and Sally (“Cars”)
- Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable (“Kim Possible”)
The duo costumes are dominated by Disney and Disney+ related material. Besides the expected Wolverine and Deadpool, there’s also a few aughts-era entries, presumably from nostalgic younger Millennials/Gen Zers: two characters from “Cars” (really?) and the stars of “Kim Possible.” Again, Disney not having “Kim Possible” on DVD/Blu-ray is disappointing.
“Janet and Rita” are the elderly cosplay identities of Bluey and Bingo, the two young stars of “Bluey.”
“Spirit Halloween Shop 2016, Former Sports Authority, Farmington, CT” by JeepersMedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0. (Flickr / cropped from original)
