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Cartoons you loved as a child that are still amazing

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250px-Rocko_title_card.jpg


Rocko was, and always will be, one of the best written and voice acted cartoons of all time.

You know, seeing all the praise for that here and knowing the creators of P+F worked on it, so I watched a few episodes recently on Nick's 90s block and.... I just don't see what the fuss is about.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
You know, seeing all the praise for that here and knowing the creators of P+F worked on it, so I watched a few episodes recently on Nick's 90s block and.... I just don't see what the fuss is about.

It's a weird show, with several adult-only references. Some communist stuff, nudist stuff, I remember a fairly well-done parody of The Shining. Those references do go a long way.

But it is quite wacky, which is kind of off-putting going back to it. But if you get into it, it's a good show with good writing.

In my opinion, it's just over the line into being enjoyable, unlike other shows of its ilk like Cow and Chicken and Ren and Stimpy. I know those shows have their fanbases, but they were too wacky and crude, even for me as a kid and as an adult.
 
Max Fleischer's Superman
toon-10-400x267.gif

Way older than me, but I watched them as a kid. And since they are on Netflix I recently decide to watch them again.

And woah! I'm glad these are from the 40's , because the animation is so utterly hand-made and with such production values that for decades it must have put to shame almost every superhero cartoon that came after.
 

Eusis

Member
Other way around...IMO
Agreed there. Well, I don't think Transformers will hold up very well with me now either, but I got some enjoyment out of the movie recently at the least and some of the cartoons when rewatched as a teen, and the same can't be said for Thunder Cats.

And man, classic Disney/Looney Toons is practically cheating. Not necessarily the newer stuff (I bet I'd like Tiny Toons a lot more than most other stuff from then, even if some grownups of the time considered it an abomination), but the old stuff is just classic. Probably helps that as I recall the target audience was adults though, it's just that kids REALLY enjoyed it too, similar to something like the Simpsons when I was growing up.
 

MikeMyers

Member
Actually one of my first cartoon (after I found out that, anime is the proper word) that I've watch from the first episode to the end was
- Sailor Moon. I still remember when my tv-channel made the announcement that Sailor Moon continues with Sailor Moon Sailor Stars and the ending was just; Full Of Man Tears. This anime had so much life.

Sailor_Senshi2.png

I;m wearing my Sailor Moon shirt now!

S4 is lame, but the rest of SM is classic
 

Log4Girlz

Member
Max Fleischer's Superman
toon-10-400x267.gif

Way older than me, but I watched them as a kid. And since they are on Netflix I recently decide to watch them again.

And woah! I'm glad these are from the 40's , because the animation is so utterly hand-made and with such production values that for decades it must have put to shame almost every superhero cartoon that came after.

I have to find my DVD, yeah the animation is fantastic. Superman flies in the comic to this day because they didn't want to animate him leaping all the time HAHA.

Anyway, the old Popeye stuff is absolutely great too, so much fucking movement and fluid animation.
 

Dariee

Member
Oh hellz ya!

INTRO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpuhLkh358Y

TOYS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flXE1ZbEwLc
ZissenToyShowDinoRiders2a.jpg


Edit: My brother and I were like, "This couldn't have happened cause T-Rex existed in the Cretaceous period and Diplodocus existed in the Jurassic period millions of years apart. :(

It was part of the Marvel Action Universe block on Saturday mornings *sheds tear* with Spiderman and his Amazing Friends and Robocop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywbrUpDjPgc
Seems I missed out on one of the best ideas during my childhood. Dino's and laserguns; come on, who doesn't want that?

Every generation should have something like that.
 
It's a weird show, with several adult-only references. Some communist stuff, nudist stuff, I remember a fairly well-done parody of The Shining. Those references do go a long way.

But it is quite wacky, which is kind of off-putting going back to it. But if you get into it, it's a good show with good writing.

In my opinion, it's just over the line into being enjoyable, unlike other shows of its ilk like Cow and Chicken and Ren and Stimpy. I know those shows have their fanbases, but they were too wacky and crude, even for me as a kid and as an adult.

Early Ren and Stimpy was brilliant. The problem was that Nickelodeon kicked John K. off the production team and did later episodes in-house, since he had signed the rights to the characters over to them and they didn't like the direction he was taking them in. The quality plummeted.

But anyway, Ren and Stimpy was waaay more subversive than Rocko's Modern Life. Rocko was "wholesomely subversive", if that makes any sense.
 

Dishwalla

Banned
Aside from a few stand alone cartoons, like "Stimpy's Invention", Ren and Stimpy is awful and really hard to watch now. The art is interesting in the show, but I'm not a fan of John K's sense of humor at all.

Also, I've said it before but I don't get the praise for Animaniacs. It had some good cartoons/characters/segments, but at the same time it had a bunch of shitty characters and segments. Everyone loves Slappy Squirrel and Pinky and the Brain, but what about the Hip Hippos or Katie Kaboom or Chicken Boo? Very boring and/or annoying characters, and even the Warners crossed that line into annoying in some of the later episodes. It was a decent enough show, but Tiny Toons, Freakazoid, and P&tB were definitely stronger shows.
 

Angry Fork

Member
Superman: The Animated Series deserves a specific mention.

250px-Stas.jpg


I'm watching this right now, at age 22, and I love it more now than I ever did as a kid. Perfectly captures what Superman is all about, and creatively and intelligently updates the mythos in several areas. Having Braniac involved in the destruction of Krypton was nothing short of genius.

+1

Only thing I don't like is Superman's constant pro-police attitude and he has a bit too much of a black/white view of criminals. This is where Batman has the upper hand since he has his own set of morals, Superman seems like the kind of person that would follow the law even if it was stupid.

I still like Superman more than Batman though and this animated show was awesome. I wish Lois found out who he was though, I was really mad that they didn't do this.
 

Dascu

Member
Batman TAS and Samurai Jack are fantastic to this day.

Not a lot of people probably remembered this show but it was one of the best for more adult themes and awesome CGI war scenes. Same makers a reboot/beast machines/wars:

Shadow Raiders
xgyxP.jpg

This show was bad-ass. Planets eating other planets.
 

Sylver

Banned
zSDR9.png

I grew up watching a lot of anime :D... I'm really amazed how few anime/cartoons share current TV shows for child.
EDIT: Shit I missed Musculman :D (Kinnikuman). It's great listening to spanish/catalan openings :-D, I miss the times when our drawers used to collaborate with japanese artists [Marco (Haha o tazunete sanzenri), Heidi (Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji), La abeja Maya (Mitsubachi Maya no boken), La aldea del arce (Maple Town Monogatari)].
 
Well, there was still the Justice League series that came a little bit later, although that was obviously only partly about Superman.

The All-Star Superman movie that came out a little while ago was very good, too.

I agree that they could be doing a better job with the character. Batman gets way more love from WB executives than Superman and I think the character deserves better.

I'm kind of sad that Justice League didn't even cross my mind, but I don't remember being heavily invested in DCAU and Cartoon Network outside of Adult Swim by the time it aired. I did, however, really enjoy JL Unlimited.

I think I did see All-Star Superman on Netflix. That was pretty good, too.
 

mantidor

Member
I don't know why people mention Ren & Stimpy or Aeon Flux in these threads, those were not children cartoons at all, its exactly the reason they hold up well, they are meant for more mature audiences.
 

Animekatt

Member
Awesome choices! So glad many said Gargoyes. :3

gargoyles.jpg


I wish she stayed as a gargoyle... :(

ElisaMaza.png



Wuzzles is another choice for me.
(Will continue to post the Wuzzles as my choice cartoon in these types of threads!)

wuzzles.gif
 
Batman, Moomins, Alfred J Kwak, Looney tunes, Animaniacs, Willy Fog, Jackie Chan, Ducktales, Biker mice from mars and Darkwing are still amazing.

Spiderman is not that good but still watchable.

Turtles and Transformers are just baaaad :(.
 

Dynedom

Member
Batman: The Animated Series wins this thread hands down for me. This and Tom and Jerry, which still makes me crack up hard.

Other mentions:
-Selected Looney Tunes vignettes
-Superman: TAS
-Transformers (but only later seasons. First season hasn't aged well)
-Saint Seiya or I guess Knights of the Zodiac (lol dubs)
-Beast Wars (wasn't a fan of Beast Machines and I watched Machines for the first time about 3-4 years ago)
-Reboot (the show is still fun and DAT CLIFFHANGER SERIES END AAARGH)
-Spiderman (90's): Fuck the haters
-Samurai Pizza Cats: The dubbing/humor in this show is actually fantastic. It's almost MXC levels of funny.

Normally I'd write Sailor Moon here but the " Western censoring" and disjointed airing of the show make it seem I never watched it in the first place. I might have to re-watch it one of these days.

Technically I never watched Escaflowne till I was in University but it's my favorite Anime to this day. Justice League came out when I was pretty much getting into University I think (02 or 03) so I can't really put it here.
 

Dynedom

Member
I think one of the major reasons I love Batman: TAS to this day is because you pick up on so many mature touches when you re-watch it now. Some are subtle and some are really not (Harley's
"small penis" stab
at Bullock).
 
Haven't rewatched any of these but I remember loving

Winnie The Pooh
Duck Tales
Garfield and Friends
X-Men
Batman
Dennis The Menace
Tale Spin
Looney Toons
Muppet Babies


I've watched many more of course but those are the ones that stand out.
 

zoukka

Member
The holy trinity:

Moomins. (like a studio Ghibli animated TV show)

JAP_2.png


Alfred J. Kwak. (intelligent themes, trippy episodes and crazy locations and characters)

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Phileas Fog (around the world in 80 days). (pure awesome adventure)

i-transfer.jpg


Fuck your animated toy/comic commercials.
 
Danger Mouse.
GI Joe: The Movie.
(Certain) Tiny Toons.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
The Adventures of Mark Twain.
The Secret of NIMH.
 

Subitai

Member
zSDR9.png

I grew up watching a lot of anime :D... I'm really amazed how few anime/cartoons share current TV shows for child.
EDIT: Shit I missed Musculman :D (Kinnikuman). It's great listening to spanish/catalan openings :-D, I miss the times when our drawers used to collaborate with japanese artists [Marco (Haha o tazunete sanzenri), Heidi (Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji), La abeja Maya (Mitsubachi Maya no boken), La aldea del arce (Maple Town Monogatari)].
Isidoro was called Heathcliff here. I always wanted an orange cat like him that could beat up dogs I was afraid of as a kid.
 

Manp

Member
zSDR9.png

I grew up watching a lot of anime :D... I'm really amazed how few anime/cartoons share current TV shows for child.
EDIT: Shit I missed Musculman :D (Kinnikuman). It's great listening to spanish/catalan openings :-D, I miss the times when our drawers used to collaborate with japanese artists [Marco (Haha o tazunete sanzenri), Heidi (Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji), La abeja Maya (Mitsubachi Maya no boken), La aldea del arce (Maple Town Monogatari)].

Juana y Sergio. lol
 

Gamble

Member
Oh man, I can't belive I forgot about this one. Ouh, so many memories are coming now.

Youtubeeee....

Thank you for remind me of this :3

I managed to find this whole series for download years ago and I watch it all the way through every year from my external HD I'm mad at myself for not mentioning it sooner lol
 

Ceekus

Member
The Mysterious Cities of Gold is not getting nearly the attention it deserves. It is unique and outstanding on multiple levels.

mcog_eztm2.jpg


Here's my incomplete list of why The Mysterious Cities of Gold can't be beat:
  • Focuses on an under-explored topic in cartoons: colonial exploitation of the "New World". It is loosely based on the Scott O'Dell book, The King's Fifth, which is quite a bit different (and more realistic), but is certainly worth your time as well if the subject matter interests you.
  • Prominently included non-white characters (in fact, Westerners and Western culture is cast a pretty cynical eye overall and Spanish atrocities are both alluded to and depicted)... groundbreaking for a kids' cartoon, really.
  • Provided a mini-documentaries explaining a relevant historical content at the conclusion of each episode (I trace my love of colonial history to that very fact, actually).
  • Had great animation and a creative flair to concepts and design (I will never forget my childhood dreams of flying the golden condor) that has rarely been replicated in the twenty-five years since it aired.
  • Featured a fantastic soundtrack (and theme song) by Haim Saban (of future Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers fame). I still listen to it from time to time. "Adventure" never ceases to get heart pumping in anticipation.
  • had a genuine series-long plot in which characters' actions and decisions mattered; the main characters grew and changed over the course of the series. This makes it great DVD material. You can get it here.
  • Concluded with an actual (and very satisfying) conclusion! Watching the last episode of the series was something I'll never forget and makes it worth having watched the entire series to see characters' storylines brought to some logical end.
I was going to end this post with a hyperlinked, "What are you waiting for, buy it!" sort of thing, only to find you can no longer buy it new in the States. That's a shame. I would still recommend looking for it used somewhere. If you're a fan of high-quality cartoons, it really shouldn't be passed up.
 
Speaking of the cities of gold: Spartacus and the sun beneath the sea.

French original opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYb65UFuPBM

There was also an anime style cartoon on Nickelodeon that basically went through all the western fairy tales. I can't remember the name for the life of me but I'd love to see it again. One episode I remember in specific, they did a telling of The Six who went far..Forget it, I found it: Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics.

Man, the 80's had some pretty varied stuff. I never really realized.
 
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