Cartoons of the 80's and early 90's

[FallenStar]

This is a topic to discuss and bring back fond memories of the cartoons of the 80's and early 90's.  This includes cartoons like He-Man, She-Ra, and Inspector Gadget as well as Freakazoid, Pinky and the Brain, and the golden Tiny Toons & Animaniacs series.

Feel free to talk about any cartoon that falls within this category.  For me, I'd like to say that way back in the day, I used to watch Thundercats and Silverhawks religiously.  I also kinda liked this goofy cartoon called The Littles about these little people with mousetails that lived in a house with this regular sized peoples.

Also, Disney was a huge juggernaut of massive win during this period with cartoons like Duck Tales (one of my personal favs), Darkwing Duck (another personal favorite), and Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers.  Classic cartoons these are. 

I also watched Tailspin (kinda like Casablanca mixed with The Jungle Book - Disney version), Goof Troop (seriously, if anyone hates Goofy, I'll wring their scrawny little necks    ).

On the other hand, Filmation did some good work in the 80's until they were shut down by LóReal cosmetics  <_<;

And Warner Brothers hit their stride with the aforementioned Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain (a spinoff from Animaniacs), Freakazoid (goofy in its own way).

Heh, has anyone ever seen the early video game attempts at cartoons? Shows like Sonic the Hedgehog and The Super Mario Brothers Super Show?

[Serika]

It's been so long since i've watched He-Man and She-Ra i can't even remember what they were like.

Conan the Adventurer was pretty cool. The heroes had weapons forged from a meteorite (they called it Starmetal) that could send the serpentmen back to their home dimension. The villain was trying to summon the snake god Set while Conan was trying to hunt him down and undo the petrification spell on his family.

Batman and Beetlejuice were good ones to watch too.

Heh, has anyone ever seen the early video game attempts at cartoons? Shows like Sonic the Hedgehog and The Super Mario Brothers Super Show?

Fuck yeah!! I have the DVDs of The Super Mario Brothers Super Show, SMB3, Super Mario World, Captain N, and Legend of Zelda.

Captain N mangled most of the Nintendo characters (ugh, Megaman and Icarus...) it portrayed, but the villains and original characters made up for it. Legend of Zelda just turned Link into a horny idiot.

[LivingInfinite]

Gargoyles was a solid show with an awesome theme song. I recently watched the entire series...along with X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman. Gargoyles and Batman are actually pretty good, X-Men and Spider-Man are totally silly and only fun to watch as a kid or on drugs.

[FallenStar]

I'll have you know that I am NOT on drugs, nor a silly little kid and I still enjoy Spider-Man TAS quite as well as the next person, THANK YOU.   

Seriously, where do you get all this crap that those two cartoons are silly? For their time, they were top of the line animation;  not to mention that you can't find ANYTHING nearly as good these days. (Of course, that's not entirely fair - the CN is fucked fucked up these days      ).

I will agree with you on Gargoyles, however;  Great series. I haven't finished watching my DVDs yet, but eventually I'll go back and watch them too.  Batman TAS is sheer godliness.

[LivingInfinite]

As far as I can tell, they were taken much less seriously than Gargoyles or Batman. If you're familiar with the creators of those shows you'll know how passionate they were about what they were working on, and I think it really comes through despite being aimed at kids. I liked X-Men and Spider-Man a lot as a kid...I had all the toys and I taped every episode. But I can't honestly say I get any real feeling out of either of them now (other than nostalgia).

[FallenStar]

I fail to see how there's much difference between Gargoyles, Batman: TAS and at least Spider-Man, TAS if not X-Men: TAS at the same time.

All four series dealt with intense issues of the day; Hell, X-Men is a great example of the type of racial divide that generally permeates the real world. Not to mention bad choices in the past that bring about less fortunate futures. Spider-Man, in fact, did a whole episode on the poor black (no racism intended; it's just what the episode talked about) kids who can either choose to go into science and education or join a gang.

I fail to see how any of that is "kiddy".  It may not be *your* thing, but I really don't think it's as juvenile as you think.

[LivingInfinite]

X-Men and Spider-Man deal with adult themes, sure, but I'm referring mostly to the execution.

I don't want to go and pull out examples of corny dialogue in Spider-Man and X-Men, but it's there, and it makes me take them less seriously. And visually, X-Men and Spider-Man are nothing beyond standard western comics style, while Batman and Gargoyles are both uniquely visually identifiable and completely original.

I might be out of line calling X-Men/Spider-Man 'totally silly', but I can't agree that they're on the same level artistically as Batman or Gargoyles.

[FallenStar]

You don't think CGI graphics are... artistically equal or superior to a show that featured none of them?  O_o;

What does it take to impress you? A freaking three ring circus?   

[LivingInfinite]

I don't think having 3D says anything about artistic merit. I don't want to debate how to gauge merit in art, but I think we can agree that it's not about the tools you use to make it.

[FallenStar]

That goes without saying;  but really, I really don't see how you can dislike Spider-Man and X-Men and then turn around and like Batman.  The art style was vastly improved upon from Batman.

As for Gargoyles, that's Disney animation and you have to admit that whatever else Disney is, they are no slouches at Animation.

[LivingInfinite]

Well, I was measuring artistic merit in terms of originality more than raw animation quality. Bruce Timm came up with an original and appealing art style for the Batman show; a lot of people might like the Marvel art style better than Timm's, but from an art history standpoint, I'll bet that Bruce Timm is going to be way more significant than your average Marvel grunt.

[FallenStar]

See, now you're changing the subject into a DC VS Marvel debate.  It kinda seems to me that you're ragging on Spider-Man and X-Men simply because you don't like Marvel nearly as much as DC.   

[LivingInfinite]

Nonono, not at all. I'm not into comics enough to like DC or Marvel more than the other. And both DC and Marvel have grunts who just do things 'comics style', so replace 'Marvel grunt' with 'DC grunt' and my point still stands.

I don't even think Bruce Timm can really be associated with DC, I'm sure he's worked on a lot of other stuff by now...but either way, I was definitely not trying to imply anything in terms of Marvel vs. DC.

[FallenStar]

Well, that's good because that would have been a lose-lose proposition, lol.

I've seen both series but to be totally honest, I don't see where one is better than the other at all. Both are at the top of their game even inasmuch as Batman and Gargoyles were;  sure, the style is a little different but that doesn't mean it sucks or that it's done by some Marvel grunt, as you call them. 

[ltmt]

Holy crap. Gargoyles! I actually remember a cartoon from the 90s- while it was airing! I loved that show as a kid, though I can't remember a thing about it now. I was never much into cartoons, but that one got me hooked. I might have to purchase it and relive my youth. Gha, whip out the Sesame Street and the Sharon, Lois and Bram, too!! Let's pump some Raffi!! Fuck life and it's responsibilities! I want to be taught how to tie my shoes and count to ten!! I want to feel young again!