32 replies to this topic

[Eurospy]

Anybody has favorite cartoon shows that they enjoy, no matter how old one is?

I always loved The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (also the orginal one, but I prefer the most recent one), Batman The Animated Series, Superman (both by Fleischer and the ones by the same team as Batman), JLA, and that old and too short Lone Ranger cartoon show.

Anybody care to share what they enjoyed in the past or what that they still enjoy?

[BlackFire]

Today shows are high quality crap, but the old good shows IMO were:

-Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
-Dexter's Lab
-Animaniacs
-Rocko's Modern Life
-Hey Arnold!
-Doug
-Clarissa explains it all
-Kenan & Kel
-Captain Planet

[Eurospy]

Dexter' Lab - loved that one, although I haven't watched it in quite a while.

Also used to like the humour of Powerpuff Girls.

I still have to give The Brave & The Bold a look. I prefer my Batman darker, but I'm always up for a fun 'toon show.

[MkB]

Today shows are high quality crap, but the old good shows IMO were:

-Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
-Dexter's Lab
-Animaniacs
-Rocko's Modern Life
-Hey Arnold!
-Doug
-Clarissa explains it all
-Kenan & Kel
-Captain Planet

*gasp* Now I feel really old... Not only I have never watched any of the shows you mentioned, but I have never even heard about them

[TheSaint]

My nephew watched Power Rangers when he was a kid, and I caught an episode or 2 but, I don't remember it being animated. It was a live action show.

[BlackFire]

My nephew watched Power Rangers when he was a kid, and I caught an episode or 2 but, I don't remember it being animated. It was a live action show.

Yes it is live action, but is one of those old and awesome TV shows

[Matt_13]

Family Guy.

Old cartoons I loved were Rocko, Hey Arnold, and Inspector Gadget. Spongebob is still a fav of mine, though.

[JackWade]

I grew up on The Disney Afternoon shows and all of the old Looney Tunes stuff.

[Aris007]

Everything that's produced by Disney! Top!

And Dexter's lab was great fan! I used to watch it with my sister!

Power Rangers was one of my favourites, but you can't really call it a cartoon, because it was full of violence!

P.S: Today's cartoons are garbage!

[ImTheMoneypenny]

Today shows are high quality crap, but the old good shows IMO were:

-Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
-Dexter's Lab
-Animaniacs
-Rocko's Modern Life
-Hey Arnold!
-Doug
-Clarissa explains it all
-Kenan & Kel
-Captain Planet

*gasp* Now I feel really old... Not only I have never watched any of the shows you mentioned, but I have never even heard about them

I feel your pain. I heard of all of them, and sadly watched a few, Animaniacs (funny Hollywood parodies),Rocko ( B52's did the themesong for a bit.), Dexter's Lab ( for the Justice Friends superhero parody). I was waaayyyy too old to be watching them!

Now and days I mainly watch (leave tv on while I'm doing something else) Family Guy, American Dad, Simpsons (although they have certainly lost their shine for me.), King of The Hill. Now Venture Bros. them I make time for. I have to say Venture Bros. beats all of these hands down.

Now as a child, man I watched it all. He-man and She-Ra, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Start trek cartoon, Looney Tunes, Smurfs, Scooby-Doo, Jackson Five cartoon, anything hip and happenin' for the under 10 crowd in the late 70's early 80's I watched.

As a late teen I delighted in the sort of kids (I say sort of for kids as I'm not entirely sure it was.) live action show Pete and Pete. I mean Iggy ing Pop played a suburban dad on the show! That alone kept me tuned in.

[Eurospy]

I love all cartoons especially manga, and ghibli etc...

But my favourite as a child was 'Marine Boy' and 'HERGES ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN'.
Just googled Marine Boy and to my surprise I find I could download the theme tune and episodes from u-tube - so take a look if you don't know it.

I think it was the music that stayed with me, very odd (nd I think meant to be dolpins singing) but sounded like it was sung by the ovalteenies!

At the moment I am mostly watching American Dad, Family Guy, Frisky Dingo - (Killface, Captain Awesome), and when it appears on terrestrial PJ's though don't know if you would count that as a cartoon.

As for strips, I am a bit of popular strip lover, Get Fuzzy, Dilbert, Calvin & Hobbs, of course Peanuts and Asterix and Tin Tin. Oh and 'The Broons and 'Oor Wullie' (Scottish Funnies to be found in the Sunday Post). I just can't have a bath without reading one of them!

But as for current 'family shows' I am not keen on any of Blackfires except for Kenan and Kel though not a cartoon. Loved Pokemon though.

I certainly know about manga and enjoy quite a few, but I'm not sure I know about ghibli - could you shed some light on what it is, please?

I love Tintin, but then Blake & Mortimer moved up as my fave Franco-Belgian comic books.

Had also forgotten to include Spongebob - great comedy. And I'll also include The Simpsons and Futurama.

Power Rangers I never really enjoyed I'm afraid.

And the heck with age, there are toons out there that I stil enjoy watching and will always keep watching. A good story is a good story.

I did watch adult stuff when I was a kid (and I'm not refering simply to the ones featuring a lot of nakedness ), so why not the other way around?

[Safari Suit]

My all time favourite cartoon in character in the Pink Panther. What style! What grace!

Manga/Anime is not my cup of tea I'm afraid. If I ever considered the genre, I was truly put off by seeing a clip from Legend of the Overfiends! (Probably spelt wrong but I don't care)

My favourites, aside from the obvious ones "everyone" like (Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, Goofy etc.) include:

Count Duckula (quite genuinely one of the funniest shows ever, I think), Dangermouse, Roobarb (and Custard), Spongebob, Fairly Odd Parents, The Alvin Show, The Critic, American Dad, Johnny Bravo, M.A.S.K., Transformers (Original 80s Version natch), G.I. Joe (ditto, used to be called Action Force over here), Oggy and the Cockroaches. Probably loads more, too many for a 22 year old some (miserable bastards) might say

The Simpsons has certainly had its ups and downs, but for a while (I would say 1992-98) it was unbeatable. I have seen a few episodes I hadn't seen before recently and they were quite good, I liked the movie too.

I guess I would still consider myself a Family Guy fan even though it's lost a lot of luster since its return. I saw one last week which delt with Brian having a (human!) son which was pretty horrible on several levels.

South Park may be touched with genius at times, but I also feel it really panders to its audience in a cringeworthy manner at times (the napster episode, the Indy IV parody), and I have never really considered myself a fan.

[Matt_13]

Today shows are high quality crap, but the old good shows IMO were:

-Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
-Dexter's Lab
-Animaniacs
-Rocko's Modern Life
-Hey Arnold!
-Doug
-Clarissa explains it all
-Kenan & Kel
-Captain Planet

*gasp* Now I feel really old... Not only I have never watched any of the shows you mentioned, but I have never even heard about them

I feel your pain. I heard of all of them, and sadly watched a few, Animaniacs (funny Hollywood parodies),Rocko ( B52's did the themesong for a bit.), Dexter's Lab ( for the Justice Friends superhero parody). I was waaayyyy too old to be watching them!

Now and days I mainly watch (leave tv on while I'm doing something else) Family Guy, American Dad, Simpsons (although they have certainly lost their shine for me.), King of The Hill. Now Venture Bros. them I make time for. I have to say Venture Bros. beats all of these hands down.

Now as a child, man I watched it all. He-man and She-Ra, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Start trek cartoon, Looney Tunes, Smurfs, Scooby-Doo, Jackson Five cartoon, anything hip and happenin' for the under 10 crowd in the late 70's early 80's I watched.

As a late teen I delighted in the sort of kids (I say sort of for kids as I'm not entirely sure it was.) live action show Pete and Pete. I mean Iggy ing Pop played a suburban dad on the show! That alone kept me tuned in.

Was a fan of Pete and Pete myself. As for the shows Blackfire listed, Clarissa Explains It All with Melissa Joan Hart was good fun and Kenan and Kel is still my favorite Nick show ever. Those were live action, though, and not cartoons. Angry Beavers were pretty great, too.

[Eurospy]

My all time favourite cartoon in character in the Pink Panther. What style! What grace!

Manga/Anime is not my cup of tea I'm afraid. If I ever considered the genre, I was truly put off by seeing a clip from Legend of the Overfiends! (Probably spelt wrong but I don't care)

My favourites, aside from the obvious ones "everyone" like (Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, Goofy etc.) include:

Count Duckula (quite genuinely one of the funniest shows ever, I think), Dangermouse, Roobarb (and Custard), Spongebob, Fairly Odd Parents, The Alvin Show, The Critic, American Dad, Johnny Bravo, M.A.S.K., Transformers (Original 80s Version natch), G.I. Joe (ditto, used to be called Action Force over here), Oggy and the Cockroaches. Probably loads more, too many for a 22 year old some (miserable bastards) might say

The Simpsons has certainly had its ups and downs, but for a while (I would say 1992-98) it was unbeatable. I have seen a few episodes I hadn't seen before recently and they were quite good, I liked the movie too.

I guess I would still consider myself a Family Guy fan even though it's lost a lot of luster since its return. I saw one last week which delt with Brian having a (human!) son which was pretty horrible on several levels.

South Park may be touched with genius at times, but I also feel it really panders to its audience in a cringeworthy manner at times (the napster episode, the Indy IV parody), and I have never really considered myself a fan.

Ah, you list quite a few that I also enjoyed a great deal (Pink Panther, Duckula, The Critic, M.A.S.K.etc.).

Was never much of a Johnny Bravo fan, the humour never tickled me properly.

Oy, you started with Overfiend? Not a good choice. Try Howl's Moving Castle, Wings of Honeimase (didn't spell this one right and I'm starting to get too drunk at the moment to check the proper spelling), Porco Rosso, Nausicaa, and quite a few others that are actually quite good.

Those who wish to give anime a try shouldn't start with Overfiend and other variations.

[Safari Suit]

I didn't actually watch Overfiend, I saw a clip of it when Channel 4 showed their 100 Greatest Cartoons programme. They showed a scene involving tentacles which can't described on a family site, and even if this weren't a family site I still wouldn't want to. Horrific! Who even nominated that, let alone voted for it?

To be honest I don't like the Anime drawing style in general, and there is a general vibe with them which doesn't really sit with me either, but thanks for the suggestions anyway.

[BlackFire]

I suppose everyone watched Speed Racer?

Edited by BlackFire, 11 January 2009 - 11:09 PM.

[Jose]

Ah... Back when Saturday morning cartoons were worth getting up for.

X-Men (not to be confused with X-Men: Evolutions)
Spider-Man: The Animated Series (not to be confused with Spectacular Spider-Man which is false advertisement as there's nothing spectacular about it.)
Recess
Captain Planet
The Incredible Hulk
Extreme Ghosbusters
Big Guy and Rusty

The list is endless.

Edited by Jose, 12 January 2009 - 06:41 AM.

[Shadow Syndicate]

Anybody has favorite cartoon shows that they enjoy, no matter how old one is?

I always loved The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (also the orginal one, but I prefer the most recent one), Batman The Animated Series, Superman (both by Fleischer and the ones by the same team as Batman), JLA, and that old and too short Lone Ranger cartoon show.

Anybody care to share what they enjoyed in the past or what that they still enjoy?

Oh jeeze...I remember almost being on the verge of tears when I heard Cartoon Network canceled The Real Adventures. What an awsome show that was. I loved the one with the two fudeing families in the New Jersey backwoods, that had been fighting since the Revolution. Then something to do with the original Declaration of Independence and the Jersey Devil...anyway, it was amazing. Race Banon from season 1 is still my hero. And Batman: TAS...oh jeeze. Soooooo...Brilliant. Feel so sorry for the kids who have to watch Spongebob and crap like that. With Batman, you had a FREAKING FULL ORCHESTRA composing music for every episode. And the plots and characters...sooo deep. Mr. Freeze and Clayface for instance, such a tragic back story. What an amazing TV show. The animations too...the whole art-darko concept was supurb, and i loved the Golden-era styling. Those two shows...damn they were good

[00Twelve]

Love some cartoons.

- Ren & Stimpy
- Batman: The Animated Series
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast
- Old school Looney Tunes, particularly Wyle E. Coyote & Yosemite Sam
- X-Men
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- G.I. Joe
- Transformers
- The Brak Show
- Sealab 2021
- Aquateen Hunger Force
- Home Movies
- Harvey Birdman
- Animaniacs

Can't get into anime at all. Just not any kind of fan of the animation style or the majority of the voice acting. The only one I ever liked, even loved, was one of my favorites from childhood-- Inspector Gadget.

[Eurospy]

I didn't actually watch Overfiend, I saw a clip of it when Channel 4 showed their 100 Greatest Cartoons programme. They showed a scene involving tentacles which can't described on a family site, and even if this weren't a family site I still wouldn't want to. Horrific! Who even nominated that, let alone voted for it?

To be honest I don't like the Anime drawing style in general, and there is a general vibe with them which doesn't really sit with me either, but thanks for the suggestions anyway.

There is a lot - A LOT - of bad anime out there (and don't even get me started on the voice acting), but I do strongly advise to give the ones I mentioned a fair chance.
Those are good and solid examples IMHO.

BLACKFIRE - Did watch Speed Racer. Not my favourite thing, I'm afraid. I guess I'm more of a Michel Vaillant kind of guy when it comes to "racing heroes".

Some other good ones I see mentioned here. X-Men, also enjoyed that one a great deal (even if I didn't find the animation as good as it could have been), also Rusty and Spider-man (I was surprised by one particular episode where he tells his origin to a little girl, and in the end we find out that the little girl is terminally ill - thought it was a powerful note for such a usually kid-fiendly show).

Inspector Gadget, never tickled me enough (but it should win an Oscar if it came into direct competition with the live-action remake).

And the Road Runner toons! Hah, one has to truly admire Mr. Coyote's perseverance. The poor fellow is always starving, and he could use the money to buy at least some burgers or fish and chips (now I'm hungry)- but does he do so? Nope. He orders fantastic gadgets to try to trap his nemesis.
Of all the ones along these lines (like Tom & Jerry for example), Coyote was always my favourite. I do miss this one.

When it comes to the Turtles, I gave quite a few looks at these newest series, and it seemed quite good (which is odd, since these last re-adaptations of Spider-Man and many others leave me a bit cold).

G.I. Joe/Action Force - these were extreme fun. I dread at the thought of what is going to end up on the big screen by the hnd of Stephen Sommers (love the first Mummy, but not much else).

I'd like to also throw in the following:

- Night Hood (a.k.a. Arséne Lupin)
- Diabolik
- Where on Earth is Carmen SanDiego?
- Bob Morane
- Mighty Max
- Mysterious Cities of Gold

I always wanted to give the animated version of Belphegor a look, but this is incredibly hard to track down.

Edited by Eurospy, 12 January 2009 - 08:23 AM.

[Safari Suit]

Feel so sorry for the kids who have to watch Spongebob and crap like that.

I'm not having a go at you specifically, but it's interesting the way we naturally asume cartoons were at their apotheosis when we were kids and what kids watch today is crap. I mean I have chanced upon a couple of modern cartoons that I genuinely did think were terrible. But for all its good intentions, I seriously can't see any real argument that Captain Planet is better than Spongebob or Fairly Odd Parents, unless you believe cartoons should all be about morals.

I agree with everyone who mentioned the Batman cartoon, I probably forgot about it because we're a bit Batman-ed out at the moment IMO.

I don't know if I'd really consider stuff like Inspector Gadget anime, even though it was animated in Japan.

[Captain Tightpants]

I'm a bit of a fan of FUTURAMA, possibly because I get every last pop culture reference they make, though it is a little embarrassing to sit there in a room full of people and be the only one laughing at the subtle jokes. And on exactly the opposite side of things, I have been known to sit through entire episodes of FAMILY GUY without laughing once in a room full of people who are nearly wetting themselves with laughter. I just don't get it.

[ImTheMoneypenny]

I suppose everyone watched Speed Racer?

Oh of course! Forgot that one. Throw the creepy early Capt. Harlock series on the pile as well.

[Eurospy]

I'm not having a go at you specifically, but it's interesting the way we naturally asume cartoons were at their apotheosis when we were kids and what kids watch today is crap. I mean I have chanced upon a couple of modern cartoons that I genuinely did think were terrible. But for all its good intentions, I seriously can't see any real argument that Captain Planet is better than Spongebob or Fairly Odd Parents, unless you believe cartoons should all be about morals.

I agree with everyone who mentioned the Batman cartoon, I probably forgot about it because we're a bit Batman-ed out at the moment IMO.

I don't know if I'd really consider stuff like Inspector Gadget anime, even though it was animated in Japan.

In my particular case I wasn't mentioning Gadget as being anime.

Although you do make a good point and although I might not agree with Shadow Syndicate all the way, I have to admit that I find a few examples where today's remakes on certain characters seem to be a bit lesser than previous incarnations.

But comparing Cpt. Planet with Spongebob is like comparing onions to carrots just because both are vegetables.

Cpt Tightpants - know how you feel, although I haven't watched Family Guy.

Edited by Eurospy, 12 January 2009 - 11:59 AM.

[Safari Suit]

But comparing Cpt. Planet with Spongebob is like comparing onions to carrots just because both are vegetables.

That is true, but Shadow specifically gave the 90s version of Quest as an example of a great cartoon, and then said he was sorry for kids today "who have to watch Spongebob and crap like that" so we were already starting with an apples and oranges comparison (and I brought CP up because Jose listed it). It's pretty common too, you see people on the internet say stuff like "in my day we had cartoons like He-Man, now it's all crap like Spongebob" etc. To really be able to compare the quality of 80s cartoons with contemporary cartoons, you'd have to compare something like Transformers with contemporary action/toy based cartoon, and Spongebob with 80s cartoons that tried to be funny (Heathcliff, Gadget and so forth). I think that on the whole American comedic cartoons (I'm talking about kid's ones here) have improved greatly since the 80s, but action-led cartoons have declined dramatically. And while that is a shame in some ways, I think comedy is where animation has most excelled historically. I know some will disagree, but it's certainly the area where animation can do more things that live action can't.

[Eurospy]

I think that on the whole American comedic cartoons (I'm talking about kid's ones here) have improved greatly since the 80s, but action-led cartoons have declined dramatically. And while that is a shame in some ways, I think comedy is where animation has most excelled historically. I know some will disagree, but it's certainly the area where animation can do more things that live action can't.

Very, very well stated. I had not made a conscious conclusion about that, but you are so incredibly right.

I don't know why that happens with the action-oriented shows, are the studios/producers/channels/writers running out of steam with the opposite going for humour?

There are so many great animated stories to tell, so much material out there, why can't we see more of that good stuff?

[Shadow Syndicate]

In the first half of the 90's, Nick ruled all for me. I do remember Rocko(which was a little weird), Rugrats, and Doug, which was one of the most morally strong shows I watched growing up. Around the mid 90's, I had a total change of heart and became a Cartoon Network kid. I loved Johnny Bravo, Dexters lab, Power Puff Girls(though I didn't admit it), Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Cartoon Planet. And when Cartoon network stopped playing all of the original Cartoon Cartoons, I went back to Nick and watched Spongebob and the fairly odd parents. After a few months of that, I decided I was too old for cartoons.

[Eurospy]

Ghibli (I may have spelt it wrong) are responsible for such gems as SPIRITED AWAY, METROPOLIS (masterpiece), HOWIES MOVING CASTLE, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE and the truly awesome MY NEIGHBOUR (TURTURRO)to name but a few.

Wasn't aware of that distinction, thank you.

Howl's Moviing Castle is on my favouite anime list.

[Robinson]

Being a child of the 70's & 80's my list may be a bit skewed:

• Spider-Man (60's version directed by Ralph Bashki)
• Johnny Quest (60's version)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series
• Star Blazers
• Robotech
• Battle of the Planets
• Transformers (original 80's series)
• G.I. Joe (the week long mini-series that always kicked off a new season. The animation was always better on those).
• Flash Gordon (Film-Ation ruled the 70's and this show was no exception. Try and check out the 2 hour version of this series if you can)
• Batman: The Animated Series
• Superman: The Animated Series
• Justice League
• Justice League Unilimited
• Spiderman and his Amazing Friends (especially when they brough The X-Men in)
• Duckman
• The Critic
• The Simpsons (the monorail episode is an all-time classic)
• Beast-Wars
• Squidbillies
• The Boondocks (once you get past the use of the N-word, this show can be witty)
• Robot Chicken (stop motion animation is animation)

[sharpshooter]

I love Baman The Animated Series, it's one of the best Batman interpretations ever.
The Simpsons in their glory days I do like, but the last few years have lost the plot I believe. I have absolutely no time for them anymore. The torch has been passed to Family Guy.