Having only been back in the US for less than a month I’ve been reconnecting with old friends and relatives I haven’t spoken to for some time. My cousin and I had a conversation about old cartoons we used to watch and he insists he doesn’t remember Johnny Cypher in Dimension Zero. I was amazed because I have vivid memories of watching this cartoon with him. He almost convinced me that it was in my imagination until I found the youtube link.
He says he kinda remembers Sinbad Jr. He remembers The Mighty Herculesthough, but I remember seeing both of those cartoons on Captain Noah and His Magical Arkwith him. we used to watch it in the living room of my house in the morning waiting for the school bus. Actually its the same with after school cartoons. He claims to remember watching 8th Manbut he remembers watching Astro Boyand even Ultra Man…but we saw those shows back to back.
My other cousin for a few years told me she did not remember ever watching Kimba the White Lion, Marine Boyor Prince Planet. Even her husband said he remembered those cartoons but she thought he was just agreeing with me to trick her and we were making it up. Until I gave her kids the DVD box set of Kimba for Christmas last year, and her husband the original Captain Scarleton DVD.
My wife is 2 years older than I am and she was looking online for DVDs when she asked me if I’d ever heard of Quark. I thought she’d have known about the show, but apparently not. She had never heard of Space 1999until I got the box set. Considering how much she likes Star Trek the original series I took it for granted that she had seen other sci-fi shows from the period, I guess.
So what old shows and cartoons do you remember but no one else does? Shows that you’re on the verge of thinking maybe they never were real because no one else you know claims to have heard of or seen? Even though you remember seeing these shows with people that don’t recall them.
I can tell you that I remember a cartoon that had japanese mice. I can’t remember anything more except that they also had shorts about some revolutionary war guy named Hector Heathcoat or something. My cousin swears I’m making that up. If anyone can clear that up for mer I’d appreciate it
It may be an age thing. I don’t know how old you are, but most of the shows I linked were aired in the Philadelphia Tri state area in the 70’s. Kidd Video if I recall correctly was in the 80’s. I have heard of it, but not watched it. And I actually do remember the ladybug picnic.
I watched Kimba every day before or after school. I wish they’d show it again. And I remember Ladybug’s Picnic, and can still recall the song from memory.
A show nobody I know remembers is Groovy Ghoulies. I loved that cartoon (back in the 70s), and wish they would show that one as well.
It’s OK, Jolly Roger. I remember some of what you mentioned. I watched Kimba The White Lion all the time. I remember the theme from Sinbad, Jr.. The Mighty Hercules too. When I was very little, in Japan, I used to watch Tetsu-Jin. (I had an inflatable Tetsu-Jin that I played with all the time.) In the U.S. it was called Gigantor. And Thunderbirds was another favourite. It came on very early, before the ‘real’ cartoons came on. I always liked that one, and I have the boxed DVD set.
I remember Quark. Ah, yes. Syb (or was it Syd) and Trish Barnstable. Cheesy show, that; but I watched it every week.
I was disappointed in Space:1999 when it came out. As a child, I heard it was going to be 'better than Star Trek. Not so much. But it did grow on me, and I did watch it all the time. I have the boxed set.
Gerry Anderson’s earlier effort was U.F.O. I loved that one. Yep. Boxed set.
Some others I remember are:
[ul][li]It’s About Time, about astronauts that get thrown back to the Stone Age.[/li][li]Dusty’s Trail, which was Gilligan’s Island set in the Old West[/li][li]King Kong, the animated series. King Kong! You know the name of King Kong! You know the fame of King Kong! Ten times as big as a man![/li][li]Love, American Style[/li][li]Sky Hawks, a cartoon about General Aviation pilots who did Good Things.[/li][li]Hot Wheels, a cartoon either before or after Sky Hawks based on the toy cars.[/li][li]Lassie’s Rescue Rangers[/li][li]The Jackson 5 cartoon[/li][li]The Osmonds cartoon[/li][li]The Brady Kids cartoon[/li][li]Mission: Magic cartoon[/li][*]James At 15[/ul]
As I recall, the Groovy Ghoulies were Sabrina the Teenage witch’s housemates (I think they lived in her basement, or dungeon, or something). They were also a rock band (as the characters in practically every Saturday morning cartoon were in those days).
I was very disappointed when the Melissa Joan Hart live action series came out, and there were no Groovy Ghoulies. I was also disappointed that Melissa’s Sabrina never interacted with Archie and Betty and Veronica and Jughead and Reggie and Moose and Midge. It’s like once she had her own show, she didn’t need the people who made her very existence possible.
Everybody shout!
Come on, now, sing out!
It’s time for the Ghoulie Get-Together.
We have jokes for everyone
With laughter, songs, and fun
So let’s go to the Ghoulie Get-Together!
Nobody else seems to remember the shows “Sidekicks” and “Sledgehammer.” The former about a ninja kid (Ernie Reyes Jr.) that helps his cop foster father solve crimes and the latter about a police officer who sleeps with and talks to his gun. I remember watching both religiously, but nobody else has any idea what I’m talking about.
There was also a Saturday morning show about some popular (or made up) 80’s pop/mod band that turned into a cartoon during the opening credits. I think there might have been some sort of magic cat involved too. Anyone know what I’m referring to?
I also can’t find anyone else that remembers the Dukes of Hazard episode with an Alien in it. It really freaked me out as a kid!
Your cousin is either young and callow, or old and senescent. Hashimoto-San did indeed open a bento-box of whoopass on the sumo wrestler-sized cat every week, and I can also vouch for the presence of Hector Heathcoat’s hapless contributions to American history.
One of the weirder ones that no-one talks about these days is Clutch Cargo. The only animation was the mouths, everything else was just still drawings. But the mouths were really realistic. Creepy.
Going back much further was the Andy Devine kid’s show called Andy’s Gang. The sponsor was Buster Brown Shoes, and the one part I remember most clearly is his sort of catchphrase:
Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!
Never did understand quite what that meant. I also remember that Andy Devine was a very comfortable, avuncular presence. This would have been in the mid-50’s so you’d have to be over 55 to remember it.
Roddy
