Image via Complex Original
Lots of kid's television and movies are designed to make you want to buy the related merchandise. But there's a higher level of advertising—Don Draper probably has a speech for this—and it touches something deeper inside the young viewer, makes that person want to do more than just bitch at their parents till they cave and ride out to KB Toys. We're talking about lust for a lifestyle. It's the kind of feeling that makes you listen to rap music when you grow up.
When you're young, your living situation could always be better. You could get that racecar bed, for instance. But sometimes you watched, say, Hey Arnold! and you thought, "No, I need this motherfucker's entire life. I need his bedroom."
Here are all of those bedrooms you lusted after.
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Brad and Randy on Home Improvement
Stairs! Sweet sports gear! A computer! Brad and Randy had an obstacle course of a room you wouldn't mind being grounded in.
Dawson Leery on Dawson's Creek
Dawson had the room every young film nerd wished to recreate: one with complete with decorative reels, director's chairs, stacks of VHS tapes, and a window easily accessible for a cute girl to periodically climb a ladder into (to watch those movies with).
Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992)
Why does Jasmine look depressed as hell in her room? She's got so much space.
Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause (1994)
Santa Claus had a sleigh bed, talking puppets for live entertainment, and a view of flying polar bears from his balcony. Meanwhile, you had a mattress, arm-less G.I. Joes, and a view of your old neighbor mowing the lawn in his underwear.
Jamie Langston in Jingle All the Way (1996)
Not only did Jamie have all the superhero action figures he could want—and, you known, his dad was Turbo Man!—he had a ginormous Captain America painted against his bedroom wall.
Ryan Atwood on The OC
Imagine a room airlifted from Pottery Barn and dropped next to an infinity pool alongside a cliff with a view of the Pacific Ocean.
Cher Horowitz in Clueless (1995)
All you need to know is that she has a revolving digitized closet that assembles the outfits she chooses on her computer. This is the future we were promised.
Kat Stratford in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Behold, the inspiration for every emo kid who plastered their feels on the walls. Fuck conformity! Fuck off mom and dad! Clutter is art!
Tony Stonem on Skins
You only wanted this room so you could tell your friends, "I've got a naked girl in my bed every night," and technically not be lying about it.
Andy in Toy Story (1995)
Double or nothing says this movie made you paint clouds on your walls and/or try to sneak up on your toys to catch them in the act. It also made you question your sanity.
Preston Waters in Blank Check (1994)
Fuck just one bedroom, Preston Waters had an entire mansion made of a kid's wet dream.
Richie Rich in Richie Rich (1994)
Richie Rich had a McDonald's in his house. You had an Easy Bake oven.
Buzz McCallister in Home Alone (1990)
You wouldn't be the cool older brother without a stacked off-limits room your siblings dream of sneaking into.
Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries (2001)
What's cooler than having your room be an attic in a converted fire house? Having your own tower over said attic and a fire pole to slide down on.
Rocky, Tom Tom and Colt in 3 Ninjas (1992)
Thanks to Rocky and Emily, who didn't fantasize about a cute girl next door to connect a tin can telephone to?
Muffy on Arthur
@ItsLavishBitch cries real tears over the opulence of Muffy's palatial bedroom. How many racks for that bedframe, Muffy? She just laughs.
Margot Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Even if you were Margot's adopted brother, you'd creep into her bedroom for literature and snuggling.
Daria on Daria
You could've cultivated so much angst here. Such beautiful, pure angst.
Eddy on Ed, Edd, and Eddy
You didn't envy Eddy's room for its things (though the lava lamp is dope), so much as you wanted it because it'd make your life like an acid trip. They've also got Pin-Ups magazine, the hottest girlie mag in Cartoon Network history.
Sabrina Spellman on Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Where'd they get that bed? Out of the Wiccan equivalent of SkyMall? Must be, because there's a book of spells sitting next to it. We're not saying you'd automatically become magical if you spent the night here, but it would be your best shot.
Bart Simpson on The Simpsons
If the particulars of this room—the Sideshow Bob poster, the Itchy and Scratchy toys—had the chance to rub of on you, you'd give just as many fucks as Bart Simpson. Which is to say, zero fucks.
Clarissa on Clarissa Explains It All
You can't tell in this shot, but Clarissa kept posters of Keith Haring artwork in her bedroom, which is badass. Her bedroom also offered easy friend-with-ladder access, perfect for snooping around without the parents knowing. Basically, this is the early 1990s compressed into a carpted rectangle of space, and you'd disappear in it if you could.
Arnold on Hey Arnold!
This is the room by which all other kids TV bedrooms were measured. The roof? Nothing but skylights. Where's the couch? Oh, it folds out of the wall like a hidden government experiment. And the best part? The room plays all the smooth jazz you could ever want.
Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
If you had this room, then you were a member of Gryffindor and you lived at Hogwarts. What else do you need to convince you?
Wallace in The Wrong Trousers (1993)
Wallace is a corny guy, but the way his bedroom was automated so that his breakfast would be sent to him, and then he'd be dressed by machines—that's laziness we can understand.