Do You Guys Remember Some Really Good Cartoon Shows?
10-01-05, 09:42 PM
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Do You Guys Remember Some Really Good Cartoon Shows?
I remember being hooked to this cartoon when I was little. It was The Pirates Of Dark Water. It had a really good story to it and that's what made me watch after the initial episodes. I was bummed out when they cancelled it without finishing the story. It was a quest to find 13 treasures to stop that tar-like black stuff in the water and they only got around to finding 7 or 8 of them.
Another cartoon was the Batman one in the early 90's not the newer crappy one they had around 2000. It kept a really dark feel to it and didn't feel like a cartoon, it was more mature than any cartoon around that time.
Gargoyles was another good one. The story was well told and they ruined it around the second season. The stories turned really strange and the characters were different than in the beginning. I remember seeing some of the later ones when the evil gargoyle chick (Demona?) was a human. I never understood this and they didn't even use the human friend anymore.
Aeon Flux was a good one too. I would have appreciated it much more if I was older when it came out on MTV, unfortunately I never understood it but what I did watch, I liked.
Daria was pretty good too just for the ridiculous factor in it. Pretty much went downhill the season leading up to the MTV movie they made from it. Shame.
This is pretty sad but I remember watching Sailor Moon. The whole mythos of it was pretty good even though I don't remember much about it anymore. I do remember that they got rid of one of the evil people and replacing him or her with a new one.
Anyways, if you could think of any other, please post.
Another cartoon was the Batman one in the early 90's not the newer crappy one they had around 2000. It kept a really dark feel to it and didn't feel like a cartoon, it was more mature than any cartoon around that time.
Gargoyles was another good one. The story was well told and they ruined it around the second season. The stories turned really strange and the characters were different than in the beginning. I remember seeing some of the later ones when the evil gargoyle chick (Demona?) was a human. I never understood this and they didn't even use the human friend anymore.
Aeon Flux was a good one too. I would have appreciated it much more if I was older when it came out on MTV, unfortunately I never understood it but what I did watch, I liked.
Daria was pretty good too just for the ridiculous factor in it. Pretty much went downhill the season leading up to the MTV movie they made from it. Shame.
This is pretty sad but I remember watching Sailor Moon. The whole mythos of it was pretty good even though I don't remember much about it anymore. I do remember that they got rid of one of the evil people and replacing him or her with a new one.
Anyways, if you could think of any other, please post.
10-01-05, 11:48 PM
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The Mysterious Cities of Gold. I think there were around 39 episodes. It's about three kids (Esteban? Tao? and I can't remember the girl's name) getting mixed up with some treasure thing. Sounds vague, I know, but I saw it a loooooooong time ago. Too bad there's no DVD release.
10-02-05, 11:43 AM
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I agree about Batman: the Animated Series. The production value of the show seemed very high for a kids' cartoon. Like you mentioned, it had a more mature feel, so it's probably the most likely to still hold my interest if I rewatched the show.
Others I remember fondly are the X-men and Spiderman cartoons on Saturday mornings. They gave me a similar feeling as Batman, but I don't think they'd hold up as well today.
I enjoyed The Tick as a particularly funny cartoon, but I doubt I'd like it today.
Others I remember fondly are the X-men and Spiderman cartoons on Saturday mornings. They gave me a similar feeling as Batman, but I don't think they'd hold up as well today.
I enjoyed The Tick as a particularly funny cartoon, but I doubt I'd like it today.
10-02-05, 02:49 PM
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I loved Pirates of Dark Water, but I don't know if it'd hold up for me now. I think some of the cartoons from the early 90s are pretty overrated. I feel like Batman:TAS isn't as good as JL and X-men and Spider-man flat out suck compared to the more recent versions.
I was recently looking through a bunch of TV series and had forgotten how many great cartoons started up 4-5 years ago: Invader Zim, Justice League, Cardcaptors, Escaflowne, Jackie Chan, Max Steel, Action Man, X-men Evolution, and the entire line-up of Adult Swim which I feel has gone downhill in quality ever since.
Even though I just bashed the 90s, 94-95 was also a great time for new cartoons with Critic, Space Ghost, Tick, Reboot, Dr. Katz, Earthworm Jim, Freakazoid, and Pinky and the Brain which I felt was much better than the shorts on Animaniacs.
I was recently looking through a bunch of TV series and had forgotten how many great cartoons started up 4-5 years ago: Invader Zim, Justice League, Cardcaptors, Escaflowne, Jackie Chan, Max Steel, Action Man, X-men Evolution, and the entire line-up of Adult Swim which I feel has gone downhill in quality ever since.
Even though I just bashed the 90s, 94-95 was also a great time for new cartoons with Critic, Space Ghost, Tick, Reboot, Dr. Katz, Earthworm Jim, Freakazoid, and Pinky and the Brain which I felt was much better than the shorts on Animaniacs.
10-02-05, 04:52 PM
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Teddy Ruxpin = the best cartoon ever
In highschool I told a few of my friends that I watched this cartoon and got laughed at pretty bad. A couple weeks later my entire class was addicted to it. The series has a fairly complex plot and a lot of character development. I hope they put it out on dvd soon.
In highschool I told a few of my friends that I watched this cartoon and got laughed at pretty bad. A couple weeks later my entire class was addicted to it. The series has a fairly complex plot and a lot of character development. I hope they put it out on dvd soon.
10-02-05, 06:50 PM
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The Real Ghostbusters (best cartoon)
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the early 90's version
Batman animated series
Gargoyles
DuckTales
Darkwing Duck
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the early 90's version
Batman animated series
Gargoyles
DuckTales
Darkwing Duck
10-03-05, 03:03 PM
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Teddy Ruxpin? Really? I think I saw a few eps on tape, since my brother had the doll/tape player and loved it. Him and Grubby.
Pirates of Dark Water was ahead of it's time, IMHO. I appreciate that Hanna Barbera was trying to do some continuity in its series, but it just didn't catch on. A later American-based show, Exo-Squad, also tried to do this, but for some reason I could never catch the shows in order, and so lost interest.
There's the 80's boom of pretty much toy-driven franchises like He-man, Transformers, GI Joe, and later stuff like Thundercats, Silverhawks, etc. While I enjoyed them as a kid, they have lost a lot of their appeal.
The Tick is showing on Fox Family or something, and while I'm sure it's still as funny as ever, the dated animation really hurts it in my eyes. This is true of all the earlier 80's Marvel cartoons like X-men and Spiderman, but especially the lower budget ones like Fantastic Four and Hulk (also on Fox Family): it's almost painful to watch. Certainly more cartooony shows that are easier to animate age much better (Batman doesn't look half as dated)
Although people associate the anime boom with Pokemon, both Robotech (a combination of Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada) and Star Blazers (Space Cruiser Yamato) had an excellent space soap-opera storyline to them. Before that, we had classic, brainless fun with Tranzor Z, Force V, etc. And Mysterious Cities of Gold was also an anime on Nick.
On the cartoonish front, I've always loved Duck Tales for adapting some of my favorite Carl Barks comics into animated form. Disney had this string of great shows based on older franchise characters: the underappreciated Gummi Bears, Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers, Tail Spin, Darkwing Duck, and later Gargoyles. I also loved Rocco's Modern Life for some reason... But time has not been kind to other stuff I thought was hilarious when I was younger: both Ren and Stimpy and Beavis and Butthead don't elicit the same kind of laughs...
My favorite underappreciated show was Ralph Bakshi's take on Mighty Mouse.
Pirates of Dark Water was ahead of it's time, IMHO. I appreciate that Hanna Barbera was trying to do some continuity in its series, but it just didn't catch on. A later American-based show, Exo-Squad, also tried to do this, but for some reason I could never catch the shows in order, and so lost interest.
There's the 80's boom of pretty much toy-driven franchises like He-man, Transformers, GI Joe, and later stuff like Thundercats, Silverhawks, etc. While I enjoyed them as a kid, they have lost a lot of their appeal.
The Tick is showing on Fox Family or something, and while I'm sure it's still as funny as ever, the dated animation really hurts it in my eyes. This is true of all the earlier 80's Marvel cartoons like X-men and Spiderman, but especially the lower budget ones like Fantastic Four and Hulk (also on Fox Family): it's almost painful to watch. Certainly more cartooony shows that are easier to animate age much better (Batman doesn't look half as dated)
Although people associate the anime boom with Pokemon, both Robotech (a combination of Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada) and Star Blazers (Space Cruiser Yamato) had an excellent space soap-opera storyline to them. Before that, we had classic, brainless fun with Tranzor Z, Force V, etc. And Mysterious Cities of Gold was also an anime on Nick.
On the cartoonish front, I've always loved Duck Tales for adapting some of my favorite Carl Barks comics into animated form. Disney had this string of great shows based on older franchise characters: the underappreciated Gummi Bears, Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers, Tail Spin, Darkwing Duck, and later Gargoyles. I also loved Rocco's Modern Life for some reason... But time has not been kind to other stuff I thought was hilarious when I was younger: both Ren and Stimpy and Beavis and Butthead don't elicit the same kind of laughs...
My favorite underappreciated show was Ralph Bakshi's take on Mighty Mouse.
10-03-05, 10:03 PM
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Looney Tunes of course is a given.
Of 'newer' shows, my favorite was Animaniacs, although there were some characters I didn't like [the Goodfeathers, Mindy and Buttons, Reba the singing cat. Okay I actually mainly liked Yakko Wakko and Dot and the characters they ran into.]. I never got into Tiny Toons, too 'cutesy' for me.
I've got Sailor Moon S1 on my computer desk, and I'm working my way through the entire Cardcaptor Sakura series as well [although I never watched these on American tv, the dubs/edits were painful.]
Rocko's Modern Life was pretty good, and I used to watch Doug before it became "Disney's Doug."
I know I watched Thundercats when it was on, but I have no interest in watching it again. I never got into Transformers, but my brother did, so sometimes I'd watch it via him.
Of 'newer' shows, my favorite was Animaniacs, although there were some characters I didn't like [the Goodfeathers, Mindy and Buttons, Reba the singing cat. Okay I actually mainly liked Yakko Wakko and Dot and the characters they ran into.]. I never got into Tiny Toons, too 'cutesy' for me.
I've got Sailor Moon S1 on my computer desk, and I'm working my way through the entire Cardcaptor Sakura series as well [although I never watched these on American tv, the dubs/edits were painful.]
Rocko's Modern Life was pretty good, and I used to watch Doug before it became "Disney's Doug."
I know I watched Thundercats when it was on, but I have no interest in watching it again. I never got into Transformers, but my brother did, so sometimes I'd watch it via him.
10-03-05, 11:35 PM
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Originally Posted by fujishig
Pirates of Dark Water was ahead of it's time, IMHO. I appreciate that Hanna Barbera was trying to do some continuity in its series, but it just didn't catch on. A later American-based show, Exo-Squad, also tried to do this, but for some reason I could never catch the shows in order, and so lost interest.
10-04-05, 12:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Joe Molotov
Both shows are favorites of mine. It's unfortunate that Pirates of Dark Water didn't last long enough to reach any kind of conclusion. At least Exo-Squad managed to wrap up the war with the Neo-Sapians, although it still ended with a cliffhanger.
I'm surprised that someone mentioned Exo-Squad. It was an excellent series and very adult for it's day.
10-04-05, 01:30 AM
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Hey, here's an interesting thought I had a while back, and I wanted to know what everyone thought being that there are multiple generations of people here...
Cartoons in the 80s were the brainchild of people who had been children during the cold war. Hence the dark comic nature of most shows, as well as a constant - yet clear cut - line between good and evil. That struggle was the core of most shows.
Fast forward about 20 years...and you have cartoons that are now the brainchild of kids that grew up during the age of untold weath and materialism (at least in the states). Now you have cartoons that are all about material gain - take Pokemon for instance. There's no real good or evil in the cartoons anymore...it's all about who can get the most stuff. Transformers too has followed this trend. What was once an epic battle between good and evil is now sidelined to the struggle over who can get the most Mini Cons.
Anyone agree? that's why I find most cartoons nowadays abhorrent...also, the animation sucks...
Cartoons in the 80s were the brainchild of people who had been children during the cold war. Hence the dark comic nature of most shows, as well as a constant - yet clear cut - line between good and evil. That struggle was the core of most shows.
Fast forward about 20 years...and you have cartoons that are now the brainchild of kids that grew up during the age of untold weath and materialism (at least in the states). Now you have cartoons that are all about material gain - take Pokemon for instance. There's no real good or evil in the cartoons anymore...it's all about who can get the most stuff. Transformers too has followed this trend. What was once an epic battle between good and evil is now sidelined to the struggle over who can get the most Mini Cons.
Anyone agree? that's why I find most cartoons nowadays abhorrent...also, the animation sucks...
10-04-05, 08:12 AM
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Inhumanoids...Dark and creepy
Silver Surfer...Dark with a great style. Too much for younger viewers
Big Guy and Rusty the Robot...cool cartoon.
Gargoyles...Great because they weren't afraid to branch out with stories and characters. CHANGE IS GOOD. I enjoyed all the new characters they were always adding to the show and I LOVED how characters would suddenly come back after appearing earlier in teh series. I also liked how they had lotsa cast members from STAR TREK:TNG and ST:Voyager doing a kickass job on the voicework.
Silver Surfer...Dark with a great style. Too much for younger viewers
Big Guy and Rusty the Robot...cool cartoon.
Gargoyles...Great because they weren't afraid to branch out with stories and characters. CHANGE IS GOOD. I enjoyed all the new characters they were always adding to the show and I LOVED how characters would suddenly come back after appearing earlier in teh series. I also liked how they had lotsa cast members from STAR TREK:TNG and ST:Voyager doing a kickass job on the voicework.
Last edited by Giantrobo; 10-04-05 at 08:24 AM.
10-04-05, 08:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Superboy
Hey, here's an interesting thought I had a while back, and I wanted to know what everyone thought being that there are multiple generations of people here...
Cartoons in the 80s were the brainchild of people who had been children during the cold war. Hence the dark comic nature of most shows, as well as a constant - yet clear cut - line between good and evil. That struggle was the core of most shows.
Fast forward about 20 years...and you have cartoons that are now the brainchild of kids that grew up during the age of untold weath and materialism (at least in the states). Now you have cartoons that are all about material gain - take Pokemon for instance. There's no real good or evil in the cartoons anymore...it's all about who can get the most stuff. Transformers too has followed this trend. What was once an epic battle between good and evil is now sidelined to the struggle over who can get the most Mini Cons.
Anyone agree? that's why I find most cartoons nowadays abhorrent...also, the animation sucks...
Cartoons in the 80s were the brainchild of people who had been children during the cold war. Hence the dark comic nature of most shows, as well as a constant - yet clear cut - line between good and evil. That struggle was the core of most shows.
Fast forward about 20 years...and you have cartoons that are now the brainchild of kids that grew up during the age of untold weath and materialism (at least in the states). Now you have cartoons that are all about material gain - take Pokemon for instance. There's no real good or evil in the cartoons anymore...it's all about who can get the most stuff. Transformers too has followed this trend. What was once an epic battle between good and evil is now sidelined to the struggle over who can get the most Mini Cons.
Anyone agree? that's why I find most cartoons nowadays abhorrent...also, the animation sucks...
As far as "Good vs Evil", Society has been trying to get rid of this concept for years. Now things aren't "good or evil", they're just "another point of view and not necessarily wrong or right". So this trend you obsereved would make sense because it's simply following society.
I would also argue that most cartoons are based on the idea of some bad guy trying to take over the world, steal resources, or destroy something or someone so why you "abhorre" today's cartoons while looking back with respect on past cartoons doesn't make sense to me. IT's all the same shit with new characters.
10-04-05, 08:46 AM
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I second The Mysterious Cities of Gold and Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego (which also had a great theme song).
The Disney lineup too (Late 80's/Early 90's?): Tale Spin, Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, Gummi Bears & Duck Tales.
Also: G.I. Joe, The Snorks, Beany & Cecil, Voltron, He-Man...
The Disney lineup too (Late 80's/Early 90's?): Tale Spin, Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, Gummi Bears & Duck Tales.
Also: G.I. Joe, The Snorks, Beany & Cecil, Voltron, He-Man...
Last edited by wnyx1440; 10-04-05 at 08:49 AM.
10-04-05, 11:04 AM
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Ok, you all will laugh but I think the Arthur cartoon on PBS is really great. It's kind of like Charlie Brown for this generation. That had nothing to do with anything.
The WB cartoons from the early-mid 90's were/are great and I can't wait for some dvd treatment. Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Hysteria(did anyone watch this?) all fantastic. Same with the late 80's early 90's disney stuff. Talespin, Ducktales, Goof Troop were all fun shows.
Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys (though I was in high school when this aired). This is like the Firefly of cartoons. I don't even know what I mean by that, but it sounded good in my head.
Gargoyles was great and only got BETTER in the second season. They really embraced there fantasy setting and pushed for great and deep stories. This coupled with BTAS house some of the best stories cartoons have ever had.
The cartoons that I watched when I was an actual kid were kinda shit. He-Man, Thundercats, TMNT, Silverhawks...back then I thought there was nothing better, but looking at some of that stuff now makes me wonder what I was smoking.
The WB cartoons from the early-mid 90's were/are great and I can't wait for some dvd treatment. Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Hysteria(did anyone watch this?) all fantastic. Same with the late 80's early 90's disney stuff. Talespin, Ducktales, Goof Troop were all fun shows.
Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys (though I was in high school when this aired). This is like the Firefly of cartoons. I don't even know what I mean by that, but it sounded good in my head.
Gargoyles was great and only got BETTER in the second season. They really embraced there fantasy setting and pushed for great and deep stories. This coupled with BTAS house some of the best stories cartoons have ever had.
The cartoons that I watched when I was an actual kid were kinda shit. He-Man, Thundercats, TMNT, Silverhawks...back then I thought there was nothing better, but looking at some of that stuff now makes me wonder what I was smoking.