Childhood cartoons revisited

[Alex Dame]

I'm pretty new to this site (I only joined last Saturday evening), but this seems like a good place for me to talk about something I've been obsessed with for a long time. For as long as I can remember, I've enjoyed watching cartoons, and for a long time, I followed the cartoons of the time and just watched what was new on television, like any normal young person. However, after I watched all the episodes I could find of Samurai Jack, I noticed a show from the 1980's: Thundercats. I felt that the drawings, animation, plot-per-episode etc., was better than a lot of the shows going on at the time. My life was never quite the same after that.

I started looking back toward the history of cartoons, especially American cartoons, and my first college class was a History of Animation class. Now, growing up, I'd always enjoyed watching shows and cartoon movies, often over and over to memorize parts and lines, but I hadn't really thought of chronicling cartoon information, especially since it never seemed to interest the people around me. It sure interested ME, though, especially since hand-drawn animation (Which was what was mainly used before the rise of computer and digital animation) requires about thirty drawings per second ! It boggled the mind since I could never even get 1 right!

Anyway, I watched all the Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons I could find, and was quite entertained by seven minute shorts done during the golden age of animation. I also checked out classic Disney cartoons, and especially enjoyed things made by Buena Vista. I came to rediscover cartoons made from OTHER companies as well, including Chuck Jones cartoons like the 30-minute Dr. Seuss shorts, and The Phantom Tollbooth. However, I'd say some of my favorite animation of all time comes from the same company that the original Thundercats came from: Rankin-Bass. It was this company that created The Last Unicorn and The Hobbit and The Return of the King.

Naturally, the Lord of the Rings is a much older story, the Rankin-Bass cartoons are probably very inaccurate indeed to the original story given that they were made with a more "family" audience in mind, they were much shorter than the more recent live-action epics, and needless to say less graphic violence. Likewise, I've heard it said that Chuck Jones' The Phantom Tollbooth was very different from the book story. However, I loved all three of them regardless. In my personal opinion, the drawing and animation of The Hobbit and The Return of the King was even better than that of Buena Vista Disney cartoons, and as for The Phantom Tollbooth, the live action-animation scenes are charming and imaginative, the animation throughout the film is pretty good, and the animation near the END of the movie (With the demons of ignorance) is amazing (Again, this is just my opinion).

Anyway, in the last four or five years, I've also been reviewing cartoons that occurred when I was growing up. If I'd have followed cartoons the way they've been made in the last ten to fifteen years, I could probably relate better to the younger generation (Who, unlike my Mom and my older brother, have yet to "outgrow" cartoons), but I don't think I'd be nearly as satisfied with what I saw. Anyway, the cartoons I grew up with were definitely worth getting up early on Saturday Mornings for, and I've been doing my best to have information from those cartoons as available as possible.

Cartoons like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and his sister, She-Ra, Princess of Power, have great nostalgiac value as they mark the first cartoons in television history to be made off a toy line. Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters gave us over a hundred episodes of zapping, trapping, and fun. Thundercats gave us over a hundred episodes featuring the same kind of animation I'd much admired from Rankin Bass. Then, there was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There have been remakes of all of the above cartoon shows, but as far as I'm concerned, there's no improving on the originals.

Growing up, I remember that Power Rangers (Starting from the original series) was hugely popular with me and all the kids I knew. However, the fact of always having to resort to huge, destructive weapons and blow stuff up eventually lost its charm with me (The sheer repetition of it was what disenchanted my older brother), and I now much prefer conflict resolutions that DON'T involve blowing someone up. In fact, there are some shows that I've found appeal to me due to their charm over conflict in general. First on the list here is Muppet Babies. These junior spinoffs of the Muppets are well known for their use of stock footage as well as pop-culture references. It's surprising I don't see more DVDs with them in stores.

As a researcher, I've seen plenty of cute and cuddly cartoons and cartoon characters, but the most charming and arguably the most adorable, is probably Care Bears (Or Care Bear Family, as it's shown on Youtube). These little guys started out as an American Greeting card and quickly went from a half-hour animated special to making two distinct shows in the 80's, as well as three animated movies around the same time. The power of cute is strong!

Of course, there are also cartoon shows I've seen that are now extremely rare, such as Superdave Osborne, and Hammer Man, which starred celebrities of that era (Granted M.C. Hammer was a lot better known than Superdave, but still). There was also the show "Allstars" with Bo Jackson, Micheal Jordan, and Wayne Gretsky, and a junior spinoff of Rosy O' Donnel called "Little Rosy". Hulk Hogan joined the mix with a show called Hulk Hogan's Rock n' Wrestling, Mr. T had his own Hanna Barbara series, and even McCauly Caulkin lent his voice and some live-action appearances to a show called "Wish Kid" (Which, in terms of logistics, general artwork, and creativity, has Fairly Oddparents beaten by a mile as far as I'm concerned, but only made thirteen episodes).

The list of celebrity appearances and spinoffs continues with spinoffs of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (Made Excellent Adventures (Plural) in series form), and Back to the future (Which had Christopher Loyd making appearances before and after each episode) respectively. Even in the 90's, Louie Anderson made live-action intros in a cartoon show about his childhood (Or "Junior spinoff") known as "Life with Louie". Shows were also made of Punky Brewster, a feature-length Rodney Dangerfield cartoon ("Rover" Dangerfield), and, if you delve into Hannah Barbara history, you can come up with even more examples of celebrities being put into family-friendly cartoons.

I could come up with many more examples of why I appreciate and enjoy looking for older cartoons (Particularly American made cartoons), but the point is that cartoons are a big deal, and if my mom and brother don't understand that (Seriously, my mom can hardly tell one cartoon from another), then that's THEY'RE problem, not mine. Also, as a matter of personal feeling, I'm offended by a lot of the present-day remakes that movie and show creators have done, even if plenty of people (Like my mom) can't tell the difference. The feature-length CGI animation of The Lorax was a lot different from the book on so many levels, to say nothing of how much The Grinch was messed with, Paddington should have been called that because of the ton of padding the producers put in it that wasn't in the original stories, the movie Maleficent totally turned Disney's Sleeping Beauty on its head (Which made no sense as far as I'm concerned since Maleficent was also made by Disney!), and that's just for openers!

Don't get me wrong here, I've seen plenty of mistellings of famous stories, and some of them are clever, charming, funny, adventurous and/or exciting, but it seems to me there really should be a limit to how much creative license is used. Otherwise, people who have never experienced the original could get a completely distorted view of what it was like based on the remakes. Then again, others may like the remakes better, and if that doesn't bother them, it doesn't bother me. But my personal view is that you should either strive to accurately tell someone else's story or come up with an original story of your own and tell it. For myself, I'd opt for creating something original, putting my own title on it, and hoping that maybe, just maybe, it becomes like the cartoons that inspired me from the beginning.

In closing here, I'd like to sum up my obsession on cartoons: Animated cartoons that I know of have existed for roughly one hundred years now, and have shown generations things they could otherwise only have dreamed of. They are what countless parents have shown their children over the years, and what has inspired the hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of drawings necessary to create them. Whether you've seen the oldest or the newest cartoons, whether you've watched them all your life or simply seen DVDs of cartoons stacked up on shelves in stores, you know that this art form endures, and that it will endure for generations to come. Cartoons ARE a big deal, and I'll never forget the classics.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Well written article.

I had a bit of a fondness for anime as well as a variety of cartoons that got shown during my childhood. One of my favorites was Cardcaptors.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Rankin-Bass and Don Bluth are some of my favorite cartoon makers. Rankin-Bass' attempts at Tolkien's works went over very well in the nerd communities I was involved in because they put some effort into the character designs, and some have said they handled Frodo and Gollum's fight much better than the live action version by Peter Jackson. A lot of people owe their knowledge of classical music works to Looney Toons, or so they say. Chuck Jones and Tex Avery made some pretty good stuff too, like "The Bear That Wasn't" and ol' Droopy. Can't forget Hanna-Barbera, I grew up on Yogi Bear. I like to believe crime rates would be much lower if they would lift the ban on "violent" Roadrunner And Coyote episodes because if most kids saw how badly a plot can backfire, they might behave themselves! And there are other oldies that are fun to watch too, like the Herculoids, Pirates of Dark Water, Valley of the Dinosaurs, and a few others. Sometimes I miss that strange 60's to 80's obsession of having primitive barbarians fighting aliens or wielding laser guns, it's kind of charming in its own way.

What I really hate about modern cartoons is that there is no real effort put into most them. The artwork sucks, the voice actors sound like they're high, and I think the script writers were too. Jonny Quest was good. The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest was good. This Jonny Test nonsense? Oh goodness... At least there is The Secret of Kells to show some people still know how to make good cartoons. I'm pretty fond of anime too (Funimation and Shonen Jump, anybody?), but most of it I'm not impressed with either. Many American cartoons are nothing but fart jokes and booger flicking, and much of anime is nothing but boobies and panty-shots. I hate having to dig through to find something worth watching, or something I don't mind my kid watching! I'm turning into one of THOSE moms because I've banned Figaro Pho and Uncle Grampa from the house because they're so blehhh.

And I thoroughly disagree with weird character changes. Funshine was a girl in my day, not some sports nut!

 

[Datura]

my personal view is that you should either strive to accurately tell someone else's story or come up with an original story of your own and tell it.

In totally agree with you there. I actually liked Melificent, but couldn't understand why it went so far out of its way to look like a prequel when it obviously wasn't. Unfortunately commerce dictates that a familiar brand will attract a larger audience. It's sad, but I am as much a sucker for this tactic as anyone else.

Looking back at the 80s the animation style was very different. Most studios were going for a less stylized, realistic look. Through the 90s there was a major shift toward more stlyization and bolder geometry in character design, at least on television. As with many things in televised animation I believe that budget was. Simple characters are easier to draw, and later on lent themselves quite well to the rise of flash animation. I find a lot of these designs quite appealing, but must admit that we could use a bit more of the realism we used to see in cartoons.

Going back and watching some of the shows I used to watch in the 80s and 90s has born some mixed results. I can't believe I ever used to like He Man, for example. The animation was really stiff, and the writing was cringe worthy. Also; I later found out that Orco was originally going to be called Gorco. They changed his name because having a symmetrical "O" on his outfit meant they could reuse the same frames by flipping them around.

On the other end of things I found that the old Ninja Turtles cartoon still stands up really well. The characters were great and the scripts were really sharp. In fact, I don't think I fully appreciated how hilarious that show was as a kid. Krang's voice was also priceless.

As for modern cartoons; I still think there are some exciting things going on. I recently got into Gravity Falls and would highly recommend it. I'm a big fan (though not nearly as big as some) of My Little Pony.

There is also a whole scene that has cropped up around Adventure Time and the alumni of their team. Strictly speaking though, I don't think their cartoons are really aimed so much at kids as they are at child-like adults who want to feel complex emotions.

 

[ChrisC1983]

i love cartoons.. i don't mind watching other stuff but i usually connect more with cartoons. i think the same way many of their reactions are. some cartoons today are fine... adventure time, regular show and the amazing world of gumball are actually pretty good if you get past the corny animation. but i grew up with scooby doo, darkwing duck, tailspin.. the storyline used today is fine but the animation itself has went downhill

i like japanese anime as well but some of that can send me for a traumatic loop. i get far too into them and they'll actually break through my crazy oversized emotional wall and just destroy me.

 

[Alex Dame]

i love cartoons.. i don't mind watching other stuff but i usually connect more with cartoons. i think the same way many of their reactions are. some cartoons today are fine... adventure time, regular show and the amazing world of gumball are actually pretty good if you get past the corny animation. but i grew up with scooby doo, darkwing duck, tailspin.. the storyline used today is fine but the animation itself has went downhill

i like japanese anime as well but some of that can send me for a traumatic loop. i get far too into them and they'll actually break through my crazy oversized emotional wall and just destroy me.

I respectfully disagree with the storyline used today being fine, if compared so to some of the older cartoons such as Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Tailspin, Goof Troop, etc. I mean, naturally, the storylines could be worse, it's just that earlier cartoons used to use up the entire half hour better and lead up to an unexpected climax that was only hinted at in commercials. At least that's MY take. And as for Japanese animation, I USED to enjoy it, watching Poke'mon and Yugioh, but it was too hard to talk about to the other adults in my life. Also, maybe it's just because I've been concentrating primarily on American shows, but Naruto, a show recommended to me by my older brother, repulses me. Some of the more emotionally intense scenes of that show may have triggered one of those traumatic loops you mentioned.

 

[Alex Dame]

In totally agree with you there. I actually liked Melificent, but couldn't understand why it went so far out of its way to look like a prequel when it obviously wasn't. Unfortunately commerce dictates that a familiar brand will attract a larger audience. It's sad, but I am as much a sucker for this tactic as anyone else.

Looking back at the 80s the animation style was very different. Most studios were going for a less stylized, realistic look. Through the 90s there was a major shift toward more stlyization and bolder geometry in character design, at least on television. As with many things in televised animation I believe that budget was. Simple characters are easier to draw, and later on lent themselves quite well to the rise of flash animation. I find a lot of these designs quite appealing, but must admit that we could use a bit more of the realism we used to see in cartoons.

Going back and watching some of the shows I used to watch in the 80s and 90s has born some mixed results. I can't believe I ever used to like He Man, for example. The animation was really stiff, and the writing was cringe worthy. Also; I later found out that Orco was originally going to be called Gorco. They changed his name because having a symmetrical "O" on his outfit meant they could reuse the same frames by flipping them around.

On the other end of things I found that the old Ninja Turtles cartoon still stands up really well. The characters were great and the scripts were really sharp. In fact, I don't think I fully appreciated how hilarious that show was as a kid. Krang's voice was also priceless.

As for modern cartoons; I still think there are some exciting things going on. I recently got into Gravity Falls and would highly recommend it. I'm a big fan (though not nearly as big as some) of My Little Pony.

There is also a whole scene that has cropped up around Adventure Time and the alumni of their team. Strictly speaking though, I don't think their cartoons are really aimed so much at kids as they are at child-like adults who want to feel complex emotions.

You make a very good point in saying that some cartoons and media are really aimed more at child-like adults than children, and I really think that's a shame. First of all, not everyone that likes cartoons necessarily WANTS to feel complex emotions, at least not in the same way. I mean, I can appreciate the ability of cartoons like The Fox and the Hound to make me feel sad, or the ability of other cartoons like Alice in Wonderland to show a whimsical and creative world where nothing makes sense, or even a comedy like Shrek that got laughs by shamelessly poking fun at classic Disney (At least it was more respectful than Once Upon A Time), but sometimes, we just aren't ready to feel a certain way. More importantly though, there's a fatal flaw in making cartoons with a specific type of adult in mind instead of a kid, since, at least among the adults I know the best, there's still a major mentality that cartoons are for kids and adults should watch something different. Adults end up looking like weirdos to other adults, and kids end up not relating as well to the cartoons they're watching. Anyway, maybe that's not really how things add up, but it's certainly the way things feel to me sometimes.

 

[ChrisC1983]

I respectfully disagree with the storyline used today being fine, if compared so to some of the older cartoons such as Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Tailspin, Goof Troop, etc. I mean, naturally, the storylines could be worse, it's just that earlier cartoons used to use up the entire half hour better and lead up to an unexpected climax that was only hinted at in commercials. At least that's MY take. And as for Japanese animation, I USED to enjoy it, watching Poke'mon and Yugioh, but it was too hard to talk about to the other adults in my life. Also, maybe it's just because I've been concentrating primarily on American shows, but Naruto, a show recommended to me by my older brother, repulses me. Some of the more emotionally intense scenes of that show may have triggered one of those traumatic loops you mentioned.

that's why it's only "fine" and not "good". some of it (much of it) is just a mess. it pretty much gives you ADD. the older (even my era stuff like ducktales and tailspin) had a drawn out storyline spanning multiple episodes creating character connections... new ones (phineas and ferb for example) are mostly episode to episode totally unrelated to the last (and family guy is pretty much unrelated to the last 3 minutes of itself)... but P&F does loop back and carry on some things. like they have a time travel episode right now where it ties in to some past episodes, and they added a new character (forgot his name, some obsessed fanboy kind of kid) and are building his story slowly. even my little pony actually has that older style continuation story... the only problem being i live with family and god forbid i watch my little pony where anybody may see or hear it

as far as the anime stuff, i mean less mainstream... "Chobits" and "mahoromatic automatic maiden" for example are 2 that ended up messing me up (the latter significantly more than the former) then there's some more fun ones like "galaxy angels" or "vandread" (a bit overboard with "fanservice" but that's it's comedy style). pokemon and yugioh never did much for me.. i did watch naruto for a while, the action part is fine but i need to be in the mood for it and with all the filler tangent stuff i prefer things like "attack on titan" for action. or "highschool of the dead" but they stopped both the manga and anime :/

 

[Datura]

I was going to discuss the place of mature subject matter in cartoons, but perhaps this is steering the conversation too far off course.

Looking back I was thinking of how fabulous the Disney cartoons were that I grew up on. I used to watch a lot of the classics going back to long before I was born. As I grew up I learned to appreciate how great the animation was. They always did a much better job of animating than Warner Brothers, incorporating a lot more detail and expressive movement. Like Warner Brother's though a lot of stories ammounted to animals chasing each other around and trying to kill or hurt each other. In a sense, I think that today's cartoons are a lot less violent than those of yore. Not all of there shorts were like this, mind you. I really liked Goffy's instructional videos, and the whole Silly Symphonies series.

Contemporary to my childhood there were also great shows like Tail Spin, Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, and Gargoyles. Funny enough, even Gargoyles was less violent than a lot of the old stuff, even if the violence in that show had more consequences. But they were all really well done adventure series. I don't know if that style of cartoon really exists any more. But times do change.

 

[Mattymatt]

Three words: Tom and Jerry. Lol, now they are old school. :-D

 

[aceofheartsace]

I love cartoons and anime I love drawing them as well

 

[Adora]

I love 80s and early 90s cartoons in fact my username Adora is after Princess Adora aka She-Ra Princess of Power,my other favourites are Captain Planet,Gargoyles,He-man and sailor moon,I'm also a big fan of Disney princess movies from the Renascence era,and marvel cartoons from the 90s