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Your Favourite Childhood Cartoons

October 24th 2006 01:53
I thought I’d take a stroll down quaint old memory lane today and revisit some of the cartoons of my youth, back when I wasn’t as jaded and cynical as I am today.

Two of my favourite cartoons were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Samurai Pizza Cats. I guess I had a thing for anthropomorphic creatures that were skilled in Japanese martial arts and that had a love of pizza.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles followed four humanoid turtles living secret lives in the sewers of Manhattan. They were trained by the sensei, Master Splinter, to become ninja warriors battling criminals of every type.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*
The original series that I watched ran from 1987 to 1996, but a new, somewhat darker series began in 2003. A new CGI movie, TMNT, will also be released next year. I think what I loved so much about the series when I was a kid was the differing personalities of the turtles. They were all elements of human nature – Leonardo, the honourable leader; Raphael, the fierce anti-hero; Donatello, the geeky pacifist; and Michelangelo, the adventurous free-spirit.


Samurai Pizza Cats
Samurai Pizza Cats*


Samurai Pizza Cats was quite an unusual adaptation of a Japanese anime. When American producers bought the rights, they received a show with no English transcripts and chock full of Japanese-centric references. This led to the decision to write new scripts to match the animation. The resulting show was somewhat of a spoof of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but also of itself. It was fun, good-naturedly mocking and slightly of the wall. This show very much appealed to my irreverent side.

So, my question to you: what cartoons did you love as a child? It's not obligatory, but it would be great if you could post a picture as well to refresh our memories.

*Images courtesy of Wikipedia, and used under Fair Dealing as identification and commentary.
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86 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Cibbuano

October 24th 2006 02:09
Without a doubt, my favourite cartoon was Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.

It only lasted one season, but formed the basis of my childhood war fantasies. The opening theme music was amazing, too.

Visionaries Intro Theme Song

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 02:15
Cibbuano: I can't say I've ever heard of that cartoon, but I love the opening. It's very epic. By the way, thanks for the idea for the post!

Comment by Aaron

October 24th 2006 03:22
Isn't posting pictures in comments so much fun? Here's some of my favs when I was a young tyke.

All images are from that wonderful world of Wikipedia.
Man I miss those cartoons. They don't make cartoons like they used to, that's for sure.

Aaron.

Anamainiacs


Tiny Toons


The Tick


X-men






Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 03:33
Some great picks there, Aaron. Animaniacs and Tiny Toons were fun because they were just so zany.

X-Men was great too - it had a lot of deeper issues and themes that were left out of other kids programming.

Comment by The Voices in my Head

October 24th 2006 03:46

The Smurfs...I loved the Smurfs and Gargamel! :c)




Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 03:56
Voices: How could I forget the Smurfs? They were awesome! It must have been an interesting life for Smurfette, being the only female in town...

Comment by Anonymous

October 24th 2006 04:15
Nina,

I don't have time today to access pictures (plus I'm not much good at it anyway ...

I'm taking you back to the late 60s & early 70s ...

My mates lived on a farm. We used to get dropped off by the school bus and have to walk about a mile or so to the house ... We would race each other home to watch either:

Marine Boy or Prince Planet ...

But the cartoons I really loved:

Batfink & Karate ...

Felix the Cat

Aesop's Fables ...

Plus a few more (plus some) ...

Felix the Cat was one day trying to set up a fold up chair on the beach and it kept collapsing on him ...

He said, " I wouldn't touch that thing with a ten foot pole."

He then produced a pole, and said.

" Luckily I have an eleven foot pole." ... Just one of those things that sticks in the memory ...

Homer ...

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 04:39
Homer, I remember catching the occassional Felix the Cat episode of TV. I can't remember if it was the original series or not (I'm quite certain that there was a remake) but I always found it entertaining.

Comment by Icognito

October 24th 2006 05:36
Teenage Mutuant Ninja Turtles were great, I remember rushing home from primary school with only one goal in mind.. To be in time to watch them in action. People were obsessed with their personalities to the point that almost every person in my class knew how to draw their favourite character.

I guess its always hard to go past the Simpsons and Xmen weren't too far behind.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 05:48
Icognito: While I am a huge fan of the Simpsons I didn't include them because I think I enjoy the show much more now than I did when I was a kid. There really is a lot of adult humour in it that just goes over the heads of children.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 06:00
An interesting tidbit for fans of the Smurfs - the characters were first drawn by Belgian artist Peyo 48 years ago. When the cartoon went to air in the 80s, people accused them of being communists!

Comment by Tracy

October 24th 2006 06:25
What an interesting question, I have a few faves:

The Smurfs - loved them all

Magic Roundabout- this was an English program

Rainbow - another English program

Tintin - what a hero

Pepe Le Peu

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 06:46
Tracy: Tintin was another great show. I loved all the adventures he had. Although it was a childrens show, the situations and enemies he faced always seemed quite grown up to me when I was a kid.

Comment by KylieW

October 24th 2006 07:10
Definitely the Smurfs! They're one of my all-time favourites. Garfield was my other favourite (ah, if only they had done the Garfield movies just as cartoons instead of insisting on doing a ridiculous CGI cat...sigh). And you can't forget He-Man and She-ra. I really wanted to be She-ra. She rocked.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would also be in my top cartoons.

I'm sure there's many others!


Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 07:18
KylieW: I totally agree, making Garfield CGI just wasn't the same. It really would have been better if the whole thing was animated in the style of the cartoons. If they really felt they had to have humans in it, they should have had Garfield and Odie as 2-D cartoons - after all, that style worked for 'Who Killed Roger Rabbit.'

Comment by Ash

October 24th 2006 07:46
The Smurfs rocked!
...and The Care Bears
...and Transformers
...and Dinosaucers
...and Captain Planet
...and The Gummy Bears
...and Danger Mouse
...and probably the greatest cartoon ever...HE -MAN!!!

Ash

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 08:05
Ash: Whenever I think British cartoon I think Dangermouse. I never realised that David Jason did so many of the voices. It was a very enjoyable show.

Comment by Ragin Cajun

October 24th 2006 08:25
I loved the Thundercats! I always wished I could own the Sword of Omens. I especially liked cartoon shows with dinosaurs like Dino-riders, Dinosaucers, and Denver the Last Dinosaur (even if he was a bit lame *lol*). The theme song to Denver was very infectious, though. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the Superfriends.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 08:34
Ragin Cajun: You can't help but love the Superfriends! It was great having the iconic DC superheroes all together.

Comment by Little Angry Doll

October 24th 2006 08:41
Reruns of "Birdman". I had such a crush on him!
No I get to relive that crush with "Harvey Birdman - Attorney at Law."
Creepy.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 08:48
Little Angry Doll: Harvey Birdman - Attorney at Law is certainly an interesting reworking of the older Hanna Barbara characters. Try not to let it ruin your treasured childhood memories!

Comment by Lilla

October 24th 2006 10:40
Hi Nina,

What a great question...

I loved Scooby Doo and Thunderbirds -- loved 'em - wow, now doesn't that take you back ....

I also liked Marine boy, Batfink and all the Looney Tunes.

(these days I watch Sailor Moon and The Winks, and the T.M.N.T's with my girls).

Lilla.

Comment by Tracy

October 24th 2006 11:12
Ah yes, good one, Lilla. I loved Scooby and still do.....

Comment by Luke

October 24th 2006 12:35
I HATED Samurai Pizza Cats SO MUCH.

Faves...
Astro Boy (80s version)
Cities of Lost Gold
Tintin (even though I wasn't a kid when I saw it LOL)
Ewoks
Ghostbusters (NOT the 'Real Ghostbusters')
Gummi Bears
Smurfs
Daffy Duck cartoons (Daffy rules)

Most of the Disney Cartoons can eat my arse.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 12:44
Lilla: I loved Scooby Doo cartoons, but I couldn't stand any that featured Scrappy Doo. Cartoons tend not to fall into the Cousin Oliver trap as much as realistic shows, but Scrappy was a prime example of the phenomenon.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 12:48
Luke: I really enjoyed the 80s version of Astro Boy. I've tried watching the version from 2003 and it just grates on me. It's the same with the new version of TMNT - I guess it just doesn't fit with my childhood memories.

Comment by Anonymous

October 24th 2006 13:10
Hi Nina,

I *adored* Samurai Pizza Cats - love the postmodern humour. I have a review of 'Kind of a Drag' on my site, I have to put some more up! )

PC

Comment by postmoderncritic

October 24th 2006 13:11
oops, the above comment was by me - I forgot to sign in!

Comment by Ahmed

October 24th 2006 13:56
Hmm, teenage mutant ninja turtles, pokemon (I'm quite a bit younger than most I guess...) and looney tunes probably.

Less conventional ones that haven't been released in english pseaking countries (or not very popular atleast) would be Grendizer, Adnan Wa LIna (or Conan and Lara as it is known in english), and umm, yeah... I have every episode of Grendizer and Adnan Wa Lina, no one sells it anymore, no one even owns the rights to them even but you can thank Mr. BitComet for helping me there...

Comment by Miss Faith

October 24th 2006 17:18
I completely forgot about Samarai Pizza Cats! I used to watch that one! My fave when I was really
young was Rainbow Bright. When I was a little older I liked the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon too.
Great blog by the way! It's funny the things we forget about as we get older.

Miss Faith

Comment by Adrienne

October 24th 2006 17:40
What about Punky Brewster? Lady Lovely Locks? They just don't have cartoons like that anymore...

Comment by Little Angry Doll

October 24th 2006 18:01
Luke - oh my God - Cities of Lost Gold. Estaphan (?) and his shipwreck? Always trying to find - was it his father or uncle? South America (obviously). I can't remember, but I can remember dropping my school bag and watching it with my sister! Thanks for reminding me.

Comment by Luke

October 24th 2006 21:28
They made a cartoon of Punk Brewster?!

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 22:38
Postmoderncritic: Great review! If you post some more I'll definitely be over to read them.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 22:45
Ahmed: I think I was about 12 when Pokemon first started airing here. My younger brother was really into it, so I watched a fair few episodes. The video games were really fun too.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 22:51
Miss Faith: It's fun to reminisce, isn' t it? I think it's important to think back to our childhood, lest we forget where we came from.

Comment by Nina

October 24th 2006 22:53
Adrienne: I'd completely forgotten about Lady Lovely Locks! I've got the theme tune stuck in my head now.

Comment by JohnDoe

October 25th 2006 05:58
I loved cartoons as a kid, what am I talking about i still love animation. A few faves when I was a kid-

SpeedRacer
AstroBoy
Battle Of The Planets
Looney Tunes-escpecially Road Runner and Foghorn Leghorn
Hong Kong Fooey
Wacky Races
The Flintstones
Superfriends
Captain Caveman
Dynomut and The Blue Falcon
Birdman
Defenders of The Earth

Comment by Tracy

October 25th 2006 07:10
John has just reminded me of a few faves that I'd forgotten about like Hong Kong Fooey, Captain Caveman (impossible to say without yelling) and The Flinstones.

Comment by Hellvis

October 25th 2006 08:18
Mysterious Cities of Gold was awesome, and I used to love the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon and Thundercats, not to mention TMNT, He-Man, and the Smurfs.

Does anyone remember the cartoon called The Comic Strip? There was four segments to it: Karate Kat (a rippoff of Hong Kong Phoeey), The Street Frogs (about a bunch of rapping frogs), Mini Monsters (which were kid verison of Dracula, the Werewolf, etc.) and Tiger Sharks (which was a ripoff of Thundercats but set underwater with fishmen).

Actually, now that I see it written down in front of me, The Comic Strip was really shit.

Comment by Ragin Cajun

October 25th 2006 08:46
Oh yeah, I remember The Comic Strip, Hellvis. Wasn't that in Nickelodeon? I used to remember the Street Frogs song by heart. Hah! How lame is that. I thought the Tiger Sharks were pretty cool, though. There was also this show, which I think was part of the Strip, but wasn't a cartoon. It was called Wet, Wild, and Woolly, and I think it was about animals.

Comment by Nina

October 25th 2006 09:10
JohnDoe: Some great picks there. I really used to enjoy the Flintstones, so I was equal parts amused and horrified when, while researching an assignment, I came upon this clip from the early days of the show

Comment by Nina

October 25th 2006 09:15
Hellvis: I can't I remember the Comic Strip, but judging by what you've said perhaps I didn't miss that much.

A lot of people have mentioned He-Man as well. I never watched it, but maybe I should have - it's got a lot of fans!

Comment by JohnDoe

October 25th 2006 10:30
Season 1 of masters of the Universe/He Man is available in Oz on DVD.

Good fun

Comment by Ash

October 25th 2006 12:56
Ragin Cajun you brought back so many memories I just have to sing it...
DENVER THE LAST DINOSAUR...HE'S MY FRIEND AND A WHOLE LOT MORE (duh duh) DENVER THE LAST DINOSAUR blah blah blah!!!...
JohnDoe - I may actually go and buy that! I sed to LOVE He-Man and She-Ra - I even had the figurines, they were great...thanks for the heads up on that!

Ash

Comment by Joy

October 26th 2006 01:08
Cartoons when I was young? Oh wow. Ghostbusters, Pokemon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog...

Comment by Anonymous

October 26th 2006 01:13
yay, another person who likes TMNT and Pokemon, I'm not alone...

Comment by Nina

October 26th 2006 01:23
Joy: I didn't realise until recently that there were two Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons that ran at the same time (One was simply called Sonic the Hedgehog, with the other was called the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog). I only remember the latter, which was bright and comedic, while apparently the other version was darker.

Comment by Ahmed

October 26th 2006 01:24
They also had a kirby cartoon, very violent, or so I hear...


But the super mario cartoons were the best...

Comment by Sandi

October 26th 2006 01:29
Oh My God! I was JUST thinking about Samurai Pizza Cats earlier this very evening!! That is hysterical!

I loved Voltron (the Lions, not the Cars) He-Man, She-Ra and Jem.

Comment by Nina

October 26th 2006 01:37
Ahmed: I loved the Super Mario cartoons. I had all the games on the Super Nintendo as well - in fact, I still get them out on occassion and play them.

Sandi: Great minds think alike

Comment by Lilla

October 26th 2006 01:55
Ooh NO, Nina, this is terrible, I keep remembering things and at my age its a funny sensation....

I just remmbered Shazam and Captain Planet.

L.

Comment by Nina

October 26th 2006 02:16
Lilla: Ah, good old Captain Planet. I always though Matee's power kind of sucked though - heart sounds nice, but it's not exactly practical...

Comment by Sisi

October 26th 2006 05:45
The Smurfs
Darkwing Duck
Superted
Widget
Roger Ramjet
Bananaman
Pinky and the Brain
Animaniacs
The Jetsons
Raggy Dolls
Captain Planet
Arthur
Inspector Gadget
Madeline

Sorry there are too many for me to post pics...if there are any in particular you can't remember I'll post some

Comment by Nina

October 26th 2006 06:21
Great list, Sisi. The main thing I'm finding with all these shows is that I'm getting the theme tunes stuck in my head - it's Raggy Dolls at the moment...

Comment by Hellvis

October 26th 2006 06:42
I remember hating Denver the Last Dinosaur but watching it anyway cuz, you know, it was a cartoon. We even had to sing the song in Chinese in primary school. Excuse my atrocious spelling in Chinese, but it was something along the lines of "Danfo Wo De How Peng Yo..."

But I don't want to bitch about cartoons anymore. Even when they were bad, they were still pretty good (like pizza or sex).

Comment by TonyK

October 26th 2006 07:40
My faves would be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Astro Boy the Smoggies and maybe Ghostbusters the cartoon.

In a totally unrelated question Nina, what program did you use for your banner, looks really good.

Comment by Nina

October 26th 2006 08:16
Thanks, TonyK. It's done in Adobe Photoshop, my editing program of choice for wasting time that could be better spent doing other things

Comment by TonyK

October 26th 2006 08:22
Sounds like your a great procrastinator like me

Comment by Gareth

October 26th 2006 09:36
I cant believe nobody has mentioned 'Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors'!
I used to love it when I was a kid but I cant really remember what it was all about, something about a sacred root and lots of bizarre organic cars!

Check out the intro & rocking theme tune here

Comment by Nina

October 26th 2006 09:46
TonyK: I definitely am. Here I am writing blog entries and comments when I should be studying for my final exams...

Gareth: I can't say I remember 'Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors', but it does look kind of awesome.

Comment by Hellvis

October 26th 2006 10:14
Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors? So that's what it was called. I used to have a colouring book of that cartoon, but had forgotten about it until now.

Thanks Gareth, and thanks Nina for the great post.

Comment by movieland

October 29th 2006 22:10
Smurfs and Ninja Turtles were my favourite!

Popeye was also good

Sometimes i miss those days, though..

Comment by Nina

October 29th 2006 22:15
movieland: I know what you mean! Some days I just think it would be great to be a kid again, with little to worry about getting up early enough before school to watch cartoons...

Comment by movieland

October 29th 2006 22:18
yes Nina.

but sometimes i am confused!! It is so nice coincidence that i had written about that as my first post in my blog here.
Nice posts btw

Comment by Nina

October 29th 2006 22:25
movieland: Quite a coincidence! I've just commented over there now...

Comment by movieland

October 29th 2006 22:27
Thank you! Very nice comment and life

Comment by SydneyPublicTransport

October 30th 2006 00:22
Does anyone remember a cartoon which played early in the morning on ABC in the early 80's called Ulysses 31?

I wasnt a huge fan cause it was a "Boy" cartoon. I watched it cause of NONO the little robot this kid has as a kind of pet!

Comment by Hellvis

October 30th 2006 07:51
Hey, I remember Ulyssus 31, and the theme song is running through my head right now. It had a weird vocodor robot voice in it if memory serves me correctly. Wasn't it like a sci fi thing but with charcaters from Greek Mythology? I used to love that cartoon.

What about this one. Does anyone remember the Impossibles? It was about a trio of superheroes. One could turn into water, one could multiply himself, and one had springy arms and legs. Thye were in a band, and at the end of every episode, they would play a song. It was totally '60s, like Batfink.

Comment by Bryn

November 1st 2006 00:48
Battle of the Planets was huge in my world! Transssssmute!
I was creeped out, but fascinated by the use of real mouths superimposed over cartoon faces in Clutch Cargo.
I also dug the weird early Popeye cartoons.
I also loved Donald Duck from Disney.
Daffy Duck and Sylvester from Looney Tunes
I also very much enjoyed Hong Kong Phooey, The Flintstones and The Jetsons from Hanna-Barbera.
.... as an adult I was completely captivated by Ren & Stimpy

Comment by Nina

November 1st 2006 01:25
Bryn: The early Popeye cartoons certainly were a bit strange. The Flintstones and the Jetsons are definitely two of the classics, and really the epitome of the great Hanna Barbara cartoon era.

Comment by Bryn

November 1st 2006 01:37
yeah, Bluto and Wimpy. I remember one unsettling one where Bluto kidnaps Olive's baby .... hmmmmm.

Comment by Hellvis

November 1st 2006 01:38
I liked how Hanna Barbara cartoons always seemed a bit cheap and nasty, like they spent the least amount of time and money possible to churn them out. Makes the whole thing seem kind of seedy, but there were some great shows. I even the think The Impossibles might've been made by Hanna Barbara.

Comment by Bryn

November 1st 2006 01:51
The Impossibles??? Are you confusing The Incredibles? Which is mindbogglingly well animated!

Comment by Nina

November 1st 2006 01:53
I just looked it up, Hellvis, and yes, the Impossibles was a Hanna Barbara production. (By the way, I meant to tell you earlier, I love your name!)

Comment by Bryn

November 1st 2006 01:57
I stand corrected.

Comment by holy smoke

November 7th 2006 09:41
Yo Joe!!!

I love G.I. Joe....until now...Holy Smoke!

Comment by Hellvis

November 7th 2006 09:54
Thanks for finding out about the Impossibles Nina. I thought I might have mistaken the name with the newer animation for a second, until Bryn reminded me it was the Incredibles.

Thanks for the compliment too, Nina. Part I of the Hellvis origin story can be found here.

Comment by Anonymous

February 22nd 2007 16:19
I have been chasing down how to get a copy of the impossibles for years now and it is good to see I am not the only person to remember it. I do find it weird though that I watched cartoons through the 80's as a child and no one seems to have mentioned Astro Boy.

Comment by Panthers

February 22nd 2007 16:23
sorry just had a closer look and some did mention astro boy

Comment by Nina

February 23rd 2007 00:03
Panthers: Welcome to Orble! There were a lot of comments to sort through, so I don't blame you for missing the mentions of Astro Boy. I'm not sure if you've checked out YouTube, but I found 4 episodes of the Impossibles on there. It's not the same as having your own copy, but at least it's something

The Bubbler
The Perilous Paper Doll
Beamatron
The Burrower


Comment by Anonymous

June 14th 2007 02:25
A couple of shows I used to watch (that weren't mentioned) were:
Biker Mice from Mars,
Yogi Bear,
Alvin and the Chipmunks,
Beetlejuice,
Fraggle Rock, and
Street Sharks



Comment by Nina

June 17th 2007 08:43
Thanks for stopping by, Anonymous. I loved Alvin and the Chipmunks when I was young!

Comment by Anonymous

July 21st 2007 16:58
I don't think anyone mentioned it here, so here it is.


Rainbow Brite!



Comment by Nina

September 24th 2007 23:04
That's a very good point, gorman. I think the inclusion of martial arts in cartoons is partly because it is so interesting to watch. The other reason is the themes that go hand in hand with it, such as justice, physical and mental discipline and confidence. If it encourages the kids to get out there and give it a go, then I'm all for it.

Comment by Anonymous

November 7th 2007 12:44
i think u forgot

-Casper
-Pink Panther
-Super Mario Brothers Super Show(included the zelda cartoon)
-Addams Family(animated)
-sonic

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