20 dream careers every '90s kids wanted

Many millennials were fascinated with the sea. Perhaps this was because The Little Mermaid kicked off what is arguably the best and most influential era of Disney movies, most of which that generation was raised by. It could also be because many of their school supplies were adorned with rainbow-hued dolphins, a la Lisa Frank.

Long before the youths danced on TikTok, their elders recorded music videos and watched them on repeat to master choreography. Then came along the home video, Darren’s Dance Grooves. It may have been a pastime for some, but others wanted to go on to be the next dance sensation. Of course, many probably wanted to be dancers just so they could then dance background in boy band videos, but still. A dream is a dream.

Opening up a park where gigantic, deadly creatures roam is probably not the best career choice. However, someone who just studies those cool, gigantic, deadly creatures? YES.

The likelihood of a floating head in a tube and a robot zapping you and your friends to their place of business to fight an evildoer was slim. However, what The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers did do was get a lot of kids into karate classes. So that’s awesome!

Movies made astronauts seem like they had the most dangerous jobs on Earth. Well, above Earth — way above Earth — and the kids that lived on the edge craved that path in life.

Hip-hop made huge waves in the '80s and cemented itself as one of the most influential genres ever by the '90s. Kids everywhere were enamored, and soon, some fans tried to spit bars just like their favorites. Some even became big names in the game later in life, such as Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

LeVar Burton and the whole gang at PBS, the Scholastic Book Fair, authors like R.L. Stine and Ann M. Martin, and reading for a personal pizza at Pizza Hut — all of the above made reading the coolest thing in the '90s — so much so that it spawned a generation of not only avid readers but some who wanted to spend their lives surrounded by books.

If there's one career that will bond every generation from Boomers to the end of time, it's wrestling. So long as people want to dress in elaborate costumes and put on physical soap operas, there will be kids who look at those people with wonder.

Everyone who still has the choreography to “Stop” memorized, raise a hand, please…

Free Willy’s impact lasted until ‘90s kids learned that places that keep large sea life aren’t the best places for animals.

When a kid lives through Michael Jordan owning every aspect of basketball, it’s going to move them to want to not only join their school team but go above and beyond to reach that pro level. Not only was Jordan making kids get out and play on the court, but there was also a large number of kids' movies that made sports look the ideal situation; The Little Giants, The Mighty Ducks, and The Sandlot.

Talk shows in the '90s laid the foundation for the "reality" that would come from reality television later on, but back then, the kids watching couldn't have predicted something like Kardashians and influencers. All they knew was that people like Ricki Lake, Jerry Springer, and Oprah had one of the coolest jobs in the world, at least to them.

A lot of '90s kids valued education because of things like PBS, especially seeing someone as fun and adventurous as Ms. Frizzle daily. They also had educators like Mr. Feeny around most of their formative years. So, it's no surprise that many aspired to want to change students' lives just as much as those fictional teachers did.

Tony Hawk soared to new heights and helped push skateboarding and extreme sports to a whole new audience. So, when '90s kids were wee teens in the 2000s, plenty of them took notice and set their eyes on a career that'd take their skatepark ways to the big leagues.

From movies like Homeward Bound and Air Bud to toy lines like The Littlest Pet Shop, the joy of animals was everywhere in the '90s, thus influencing kids everywhere to want to help the creatures and critters.

Between a teenage witch and a few youth-seeking witches, people wonder why millennials are so into crystals, horoscopes, and the occasional tarot card set. It's what they've wanted since childhood!

Harriet the Spy walked so a generation of true crime fans could run.

Before kids could make millions reviewing toys on YouTube (millennials aren't bitter or anything), kids really couldn't do much for their careers until they got older. That's why babysitting was interesting to many. It was a job they could take on as tweens or teens and maintain into adulthood. Oh, and The Baby-Sitters Club book series also played a hand in that.

Everyone and their mother may have every song ever created in their pocket, but once upon a time people relied on the AM/FM dials to hear new music, and delivering said sweet tunes were DJs. They had over-the-top personalities and lived lives that seemed pretty rock star adjacent. Who wouldn't want that?

Disney adults are still chasing this dream, and those who went on to work in the parks had those dreams realized!