I don’t know about you guys, but I think that cartoons just ain’t as cool as they were back when we were youts. When we were growing up, during the 80′s, we had some awesome Saturday cartoons that would most likely be considered too adult-like and too destructive in today’s politically correct society. Nowadays, kids get to watch Teletubbies, Bob the Builder, and if they’re lucky Spongebob Squarepants. Whoopdyfriggindoo! Not to brag, but these cartoons fall way short in comparison to the Saturday morning cartoons that were aired in the 80′s.
One thing is for certain, cartoons have some form of impact on the children that watch them. I would argue that the quality cartoons that I watched as a kid, like Voltron, Thundercats, He-Man, and G.I. Joe helped mold me into the man I am today (No wonder I constantly want to save the world). Out of curiosity, I asked the founding Babelers what their favorite childhood cartoons were. Here are their responses . . .
Jason Morgan
I’m not sure whether nostalgia clouds my perception or whether it is really true, but I feel that the cartoons I watched growing up in the 80′s were far superior to those today. This makes it difficult to decide which cartoon really was my favorite, but I would have to say that Transformers was a cut above the rest.
Transformers was a great cartoon with an awesome good versus evil plot line. Nothing beats intergalactic robot wars. The premise of shape-changing robots also made for phenomenal toys to go along with the show.
My runners-up for awesome childhood cartoons are Thundercats, GI Joe, Voltron, and Scooby Doo.
Jack Gamble
Transformers, hands down. There are still some unanswered questions though. Like when Optimus Prime transformed into the truck on Cybertron his trailer suddenly showed up even though he was in robot form when he came across the Space Bridge. Also, was the Optimus trailer ever hit by a tornado and were there red necks inside that went on the news to describe what the “tor-nader” sounded like?
Also, how did Omega Supreme’s base show up when he landed on another planet? The robot transformed into a rocket and a launch pad, yet somehow the launch pad made the trip?
Let’s not even talk about how Soundwave violated the law of conservation of matter and energy when he transformed. I also think the size of Devastator, or any of the combiners for that matter, was disproportionate to the sum mass of the individual Constructicons.
Not all was bad, at the very least there wasn’t a lame cube in the cartoon that easily explains the Transformers existence. I prefer the Terminator scenario personally.
Greg Molyneux
Wow. Too many to count really. In the interest of being decisive I am going to go with ThunderCats. Quality storyline, moral accountability, bad ass tech, and some outstanding characters. Let’s face it Mumm-Ra held it down as an all time bad guy, Panthro layed the smack down, Cheetara was smokin’, and Tygra was a tool—completely.
“Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight.”
Jeff Ruemeli
My mom told me that my favorite cartoon as a small child was Scooby Doo. This was before I made my own cartoon choices. What follows is a Cartoonaholics confession. This is a compilation of any and all (probably more like just some) cartoons that I regularly watched as my favorite. In no particular order.
- Loony Toons
- Animaniacs
- Batman
- Super Friends
- Herculoids
- Simpsons
- Liquid Television
- Rescue Rangers
- Duck Tales (a woo ooo)
- Laugh Olympics
- TaleSpin
- South Park
- Undergrads
- Muppet Babies
- Spider-man
- Ironman
- X-Men
- Transformers
- He-Man
One Comment
Clearly, you’re all just too young. Some of the best days of my life were Saturday mornings in my jammies eating Count Chocula and watching Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn, and Elmer Fudd. Best cartoons ever. Period.
Of course, I have to mention all the Hanna-Barbera cartoons including Magilla Gorilla, Snagglepuss, and Wally Gator, et al. And I can’t forget the laughs I got from Tennesse Tuxedo, Cecil the Seasick Sea-Serpent (Beanie ‘n Cecil), the Wacky Races and the Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Space Ghost and the Wonder Twins! And I think I got the biggest kick out of the Banana Splits (though technically not cartoons).
I watched He-Man, Thundercats, Transformers and Strawberry Shortcake with my kids in the 80′s…not bad, though to this day I still get the theme song from Strawberry Shortcake stuck in my head. And I liked Freakazoid and Beast Wars during the 90′s.
Ah, the memories…