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Old Cartoons vs. New Cartoons

Thundercats! Earlier today at the office I was talking about this, and half of the people in my department didn't know what I was talking about! Crazy.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was probably my biggest obsession as a kid.

I also quite regularly watched:

He-Man
Transformers
GI Joe
Flinstones
Jetsons
Chip and Dale (not the strippers!)
Talespin
Ducktales
Loony Toons
Tiny Toons
Animaniacs

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but those are the ones that really stick out in my mind.

The only cartoon I watch nowadays is Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's freakin awesome, and it has great replay-ability!

Other than that, most cartoons today are rubbish.
 
I never saw Animaniacs! until this year, and now I now all my state capitals. It's rare to find a cartoon that can be genuinely educational and entertaining at the same time.
 
MyDesktopBroke said:
I never saw Animaniacs! until this year, and now I now all my state capitals. It's rare to find a cartoon that can be genuinely educational and entertaining at the same time.
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The thing about Animaniacs is that they put references of old slapstick comedy and vaudeville into just about each one of their shows. For example, in 'Woodstock Slappy', they do a play on Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First?" skit with the bands at Woodstock, using The Who, Yes, and The Band. If you hadn't heard (of) Who's On First, you wouldn't get it at all.

Besides.. a throwback to Bosco! Classic.

Anywho.. What I was getting at in my original post, is that with the drama thing and thongs, the whole taking things to the extreme that was done in the 90s included this to the point where it's become mainstream, so of course, the Disneys and the Nickelodeons are going to pick up on it. But the moment She-Ra or He-Man takes out their sword, or start to throw a punch or kick, "it's too violent!!"

I don't remember ever seeing (read: been subjected to/tortured with) an episode of Kim Possible where they showed a lesson or PSA at the end of the show. Filmation did that with just about every show they produced. GI Joe did, Jem and the Holograms did, Thundercats did, and Silverhawks had an astronomy lesson at the end!

To add more into these, let's see.. Space Ghost, Teen Force, Samson & Goliath, Jana of the Jungle, Devlin, Bionic Six, Galtar and the Golden Lance, Pole Position, GaiKing, All of which were really good, sparked the imagination for fantasy, plus helped people grow.

IF anything, I would say Looney Toons were the biggest hurdle to cross. You have Southern and hispanic stereotypes, and racism to deal with. So to the OP, if you show your child Looney Toons, be sure to show them the ones from the DVD box sets, and TEACH THEM WHY WHAT THEY SAID IS WRONG now. Turner 'voluntarily censored' the ones on Cartoon Network so they wouldn't show the racist remarks, let alone show Speedy Gonzales/Slowpoke Rodriguez, so kids saw them, saw what was wrong with them, they wouldn't have a reason as to why its wrong, leading the parents to complain to the TV networks/FCC and have them do the parenting for them instead of taking it upon themselves as they should be doing anyway.

I'll think of more as I go along; I have a ton of tapes to go through! :)

BL.
 
jecapaga said:
This link may be helpful for some on this thread. It lists animated series by decade and country. I totally forgot about Jabberjaw. :rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animated_television_series
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good find.

I missed a bit too. MASK, ST: TAS, Dastardly and Muttley, Blackstar, Inch High, Private Eye, Grape Ape, list goes on.

Pretty much it comes down to this: when looking at today's cartoons (Like I said, exclude anime), find how many shows have the message in it, compared to how many back then.

BL.
 
The Bruce Timm Batman series is a classic, as is most of Genndy's stuff, especially Dexter's Lab and Samurai Jack.

The classic Warner Bros./Disney shorts are of course among the best cartoons ever made.

Thundercats, Voltron, etc. are good for the nostalgia factor, but the lack of funding that tv gets is pretty apparent when you look at the quality of the animation. Of course, that still holds true, which is why so much of it is, like another poster remarked, drawn in Flash. Sometimes it works, like Foster's, and sometimes, frankly, it just looks like crap.
 
I've went of western animation fairly rescently, mainly because its all flash animated and so scared of offending anyone that it just blain sucks.

As an 80's kin I loved, Thundercats, He-Man (yes even the abysmal Dolf Lungdren flic), Visionaries, Uliseese, mysterious cities of gold, Mask, and that one where there was three guys (a blue one, a green one and a Yellow one) who got equipment beamed down to them from a ginger chick in a space station (who had an orangutang) whenever they shouted (POWER EXTREME).

Someone please remember it and tell me the frackin' name of the program

BUT in the mid-late 90's I started my sordid love afair with Anime, and now I adore it, especially anything gundam. I just rescently watched Zeta Gundam, and it was great. I also love Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED and SEED Destiny, and think that GUNDAM 00 is fantastic (waiting for the BD release in the uk)
 
millar876 said:
I've went of western animation fairly rescently, mainly because its all flash animated and so scared of offending anyone that it just blain sucks.

As an 80's kin I loved, Thundercats, He-Man (yes even the abysmal Dolf Lungdren flic), Visionaries, Uliseese, mysterious cities of gold, Mask, and that one where there was three guys (a blue one, a green one and a Yellow one) who got equipment beamed down to them from a ginger chick in a space station (who had an orangutang) whenever they shouted (POWER EXTREME).

Someone please remember it and tell me the frackin' name of the program
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This would be Centurions.

BL.
 
The OP reminds me of my mom who got scared half to death by violence/nudity/whatever shown in Asian cartoons and banned almost all TV programs when I was a kid (I was grown up in Japan, by the way). She finally gave up, and my younger brother grew up watching supposedly immoral cartoons while I only watched a few series he recommended to me. Now after 20 years he's a moral person and I'm sort of corrupt. Go figure.
 
Bring back the ones i grew up with:
(* marks recomended for your kid)

The Moomin * link
The racoons * link
Thundercats
Dragonball (not z) * link
The dreamstone
Tom and Jerry
Redwall * link
Rupert the bear * link
Babar
Mona the Vampire
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-87)
Duck tales
Garfield and Friends
Sonic and Tails * link
Sonic SatAM
Scooby Doo (pre 2000)

For movies, anything pixar, disney, studio ghibli are solid choices.

There all pretty wholesome entertainment without to much violence but nothing close to as terrible as todays nonsense.
 
I did a topic like this a while back. I've got a granddaughter we babysit, and before she turned three, there were actually some good cartoons for her to watch. I especially recommend The Backyardigans and The Wonder Pets. The Backyardigans in particular are really cute for toddlers, and they do something I really love: they do some gags that you just know sail completely over the heads of the little ones!

Thing is, when my granddaughter turned three, she started to broaden her cartoon horizons...and like everyone here has said, the stuff that is out there today tends to be kind of crude and stupid.

What really frustrated me is that I could find no Looney Tunes unless I moved up not one, but two digital tiers on my cable system. Well, to me, Bugs, Daffy and company are the acme (you should pardon the pun) of the cartoon universe. I wanted my granddaughter to know the joys of dynamite exploding in people's faces and anvils being dropped on heads. I ended up ordering the DVDs from Amazon. They're kind of pricey, but you know what? Those are the cartoons she asks for all the time. :)
 
I spent most of this morning watching the first DVD of the Transformers season 1 and then the Defenders of the Earth feature length episode at a friends house!

I haven't seen D.O.T.E. since I was about 10 or something! :D
 
I Am Weasel, Ren and Stimpy, Rockos Modern Life, the Simpsons, Beaves and Butt Head, Scooby Doo.
 
barkmonster said:
Ren & Stimpy :- Because Tom & Jerry just isn't extreme enough and the artwork is fantastic.
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Are you insane?? ;) For an adult, sure, but for a sub-teen?? :eek:

Little HZ said:
Rocky and Bullwinkle!! :D
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FTW, as well as Dudley Dooright, and the others on that show. :cool:

shneady said:
Yes, Looney Toons for sure, esp. Wile Coyote and Road Runner, Sylvester and Tweetie, Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny etc., my all time favorite, Scooby Doo! The Flinstones, the Jetsons, of course Tom and Jerry. Hmm, can't think of anything else right now...
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Also good fare for under 10's.

waloshin said:
Beaves and Butt Head.
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If your kids are dopers. :p

EDIT: Just remembered a good one, but had to check if it had been mentioned.

Pinky, and the Brain. Perhaps because I identify so much with Pinky. noog.
 
I still think the best cartoon of all time is Batman: The Animated Series.

The depth of that show is unbelievable.

A few other shows I watched as a kid:

Thundercats
Dino-riders
He-Man
GI Joe
Transformers
Exo-squad? (Not sure if that's the name, people would get into bio-mechanical suits)
Smurfs
Darkwing Duck
Gummi Bears
Tale Spin
Duck Tales
Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
X-Men (I noticed Disney recently released this on DVD)
James Bond, Jr.
The Pirates of Dark Water (still pissed that they never completed the series)

I'm sure there were others.

Most of what kids watch today is utter crap. It looks like something created using Microsoft's 3D Movie Maker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_Movie_Maker

Edit: It's funny looking back at how many of my favorite cartoons had a sci-fi theme.
 
I never got into American cartoons because a lack of storyline. That is why I liked Thundercats because it had greater storyline. Sailormoon had the arcs in each season. Power rangers kinda had seasonal arc but it died to me when they started replacing people (did you know the yellow ranger of the original cast died in a car accident?)

I did love the old Nick cartoons they where unique and interesting. Cartoon network had a good programming line up but now that I am done with college and have time to see tv the programming suck. Fosters Imaginary show is funny though.

Now i watch Anime cause they have an overall storyline and most series end. Like Code Geass and even One Piece will have an ending. I hate seeing shows that keep going and going.
 

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