# Any 1980's/1990's cartoon shows that were NOT just 30 minute commercials? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730 "2007-01-27T16:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/41 "2007-01-28T12:49:22Z")
[QUOTE=Alan Smithee] How can it be that no one has mentioned _The Real Ghostbusters_? That was a high-water mark for 80’s animated storytelling. It had lots of sophisticated jokes and puns, pretty good characters, and references to real folklore, mythology, pop culture, and the Cthulu mythos. My favorite bit is when a group of Hollywood filmmakers decides to produce a movie about the Ghostbusters. At the end, you see the characters entering the theater to watch the movie, and you see the scene from _Ghostbuster_ with Bill Murray doing the experiment with the Zener cards. This prompts the animated Venkman to say, “That guy doesn’t look anything like me!” (The animators weren’t able to get likeness rights from Murray and the other stars, so none of the animated characters look anything like their movie counterparts.) [/QUOTE] I gotta agree. it was tops. Why the hoo-ha isn’t the series on DVD? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/42 "2007-01-28T13:04:00Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] And all of **Tengu’s** Disney cartoon nominations—hell, for the animation quality, if nothing else. (Though you left out _Winnie the Pooh_ and _Gargoyles_. [/QUOTE] Well, I was just listing the ones I thought were best - I did overlook Gargoyles, which was a favourite of mine when it was on, but Winnie the Pooh, while great (as, as I said, all the Disney 'toons were) wasn’t up there with the ones I listed. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/43 "2007-01-28T14:42:33Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Why the hoo-ha isn’t the series on DVD? 😕 [/QUOTE] There are a couple of collections of individual episodes on DVD, as well as a couple of episodes on the DVD of _Ghostbusters II_. (Another interesting bit is why the series is called _The Real Ghostbusters_. In the 1970s there was a live-action comedy called _Ghostbusters_. When the movie was made in the 1980s, the producers had to obtain permission to use the “Ghostbusters” name because of this show- “Ghoststoppers” was an alternate choice. Around the time the _Ghostbusters_ movie was released, Filmation obtained the rights to the live-action _Ghostbusters_ show and made a cartoon out of it. Presumably, _The Real Ghostbusters_ points out that these are indeed the Ghostbusters from the film as opposed to similarly-named impostors.) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/44 "2007-01-28T14:45:43Z")
[QUOTE=Tengu] Wuzzles was Disney? Hmm. I don’t remember it well enough to comment one way or the other, in any case. [/QUOTE] It was. It’s not as fondly remembered as most of the other Disney shows from that era, and for good reason. BTW, I also think that the Aladdin TV series was darned good. The Little Mermaid series was less appealing, but mostly because it was designed for a younger audience. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/45 "2007-01-28T14:48:05Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Battletech! _Which no-one has seen_. Well, not literally. But more people need to see it, if only for the CGI. It could easily have been just a commercial, too, so that it wasn’t make it extra shiny. [/QUOTE] I played Battletech but only saw some tiny bits of the show. Wasn’t the CGI just a couple mechs running around and shooting each other…on an open field with no terrain and no actual visible damage from all the weapons hitting each other? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/46 "2007-01-28T14:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] BTW, I also think that the Aladdin TV series was darned good. [/QUOTE] Aladdin was very good (I think Dan Castelenetta did a better Genie than Robin Williams), although my favourite of the straight-up feature-film\* spinoffs was Timon and Pumbaa. - As opposed to using the characters from shorts (as Rescue Rangers, Ducktales, and Goof Troop did), or loosely adapted versions of feature film characters (ie, Tailspin’s use of the Jungle Book characters). ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/47 "2007-01-28T15:01:27Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] There are a couple of collections of individual episodes on DVD, as well as a couple of episodes on the DVD of _Ghostbusters II_. (Another interesting bit is why the series is called _The Real Ghostbusters_. In the 1970s there was a live-action comedy called _Ghostbusters_. When the movie was made in the 1980s, the producers had to obtain permission to use the “Ghostbusters” name because of this show- “Ghoststoppers” was an alternate choice. Around the time the _Ghostbusters_ movie was released, Filmation obtained the rights to the live-action _Ghostbusters_ show and made a cartoon out of it. Presumably, _The Real Ghostbusters_ points out that these are indeed the Ghostbusters from the film as opposed to similarly-named impostors.) [/QUOTE] I thought it was “The REAL Ghostbusters” because, before TRG, there was a truly awful cartoon called “Ghostbusters” that involved a monkey and some other things I’ve blocked out from my youth. (looks at The Internets) Ah, the cartoon was based on the live-action one. As a kid I did not realize that. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/48 "2007-01-28T15:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] Other than that, I’d like to mention Gargoyles, a Disney cartoon that was surprisingly dark and moody, with great ongoing storylines and character development. It had a ton of Shakespeare stories tied into it, and a large portion of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast did voice-work, btw. I’m not sure if this series qualifies, because a good deal of (shitty, IMHO) merchandise was eventually made from it. But for the most part Gargoyles seemed to be made for the sake of making a good show to get ratings. [/QUOTE] I’d like to vote for Gargoyles too: the dialog isn’t movie-quality but certainly better than the average 80’s/90’s cartoon. But the plotlines and character development (in the sense of actually _having_ character development,) let it qualify. And I _wish_ they had more merchandise for it: I only saw merch for it once and stupidly passed up on it, so to me, it didn’t really push the merchandising very much. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/49 "2007-01-28T15:34:46Z")
There is a Gargoyles comic book that is out right now for those who are interested. It’s on a very loose schedule, though; it started last June IIRC and there are only 2 issues out so far. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/50 "2007-01-28T15:40:38Z")
W’re almost on page two and no mention of **The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse?** ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/51 "2007-01-28T19:48:51Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] Another interesting bit is why the series is called _The Real Ghostbusters_. [/QUOTE] I may be the only person with fond memories of the live action series and who was filled with great consternation that the film was not about the characters from the TV series. Spencer, Tracy, Kong, even if no one else remembers, I salute you! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/52 "2007-01-28T23:43:59Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I may be the only person with fond memories of the live action series and who was filled with great consternation that the film was not about the characters from the TV series. Spencer, Tracy, Kong, even if no one else remembers, I salute you! [/QUOTE] The bad guy was a cyborg ghost. Even back then, I found that a bit much. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/53 "2007-01-29T00:33:54Z")
[Ulysses 31](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_31) and the [Once Upon a Time…](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Once_Upon_a_Time...) series from the early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/54 "2007-01-29T00:46:26Z")
_The Mysterious Cities Of Gold_ on Nick. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/55 "2007-01-29T00:49:07Z")
Doo doo de doot dah doo! Ahahah Doo doo de doot dah doo! Cities of gold! ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/56 "2007-01-29T00:52:17Z")
[QUOTE=Alan Smithee] How can it be that no one has mentioned _The Real Ghostbusters_? That was a high-water mark for 80’s animated storytelling. It had lots of sophisticated jokes and puns, pretty good characters, and references to real folklore, mythology, pop culture, and the Cthulu mythos. My favorite bit is when a group of Hollywood filmmakers decides to produce a movie about the Ghostbusters. At the end, you see the characters entering the theater to watch the movie, and you see the scene from _Ghostbuster_ with Bill Murray doing the experiment with the Zener cards. This prompts the animated Venkman to say, “That guy doesn’t look anything like me!” (The animators weren’t able to get likeness rights from Murray and the other stars, so none of the animated characters look anything like their movie counterparts.) [/QUOTE] J. Michael Stracyznski, the creator of Babylon 5 and writer of several successful comic book series, was one of the main writers of The Real Ghostbusters, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was responsible for that little moment of metafictional humor. Script-wise, it was head-and-shoulders above any of the similar “toy commercial cartoons” of the '80s, and I suspect it would still stand up quite well today. I remember Kenner made the Real Ghostbusters toys (I still have the main four guys), and another company made the toys for the competing show, Filmation’s Ghostbusters (Jake Kong, Eddie Spencer, Tracy the Gorilla, and so on) – they were available around the same time, even! ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/57 "2007-01-29T00:53:19Z")
[QUOTE=DocCathode] The bad guy was a cyborg ghost. Even back then, I found that a bit much. [/QUOTE] Prime Evil, yes? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/58 "2007-01-29T00:54:29Z")
Yes Prime Evil was his name-o! ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/59 "2007-01-29T01:16:36Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] [QUOTE=Monstre] [Dungeons & Dragons](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085011/) – 1983-1984. [/QUOTE] Seeing as that’s based on a game, I don’t think that one counts as “not a commercial.” [/QUOTE] Did you ever actually watch it, or was this dismissal of my input solely based on the title? Because I was responding based on this question of the OP: > [@BluePitBull](#): > > Any shows of that era that actually had decent storylines, character developement and at least had uncheesy dialogue? I found it to have good storylines, with different episodes focusing on aspects of different characters. Relatively uncheesy dialogue, at least for kids – as that was the target audience. And a couple of really good recurring musical themes underscoring many of the action bits. I thought it was put together rather well. I watched it when I was a kid – then I checked it out again about a year ago, to see how my childhood impressions of it held up. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730/60 "2007-01-29T01:32:05Z")
If decent storylines, character development and uncheesy dialogue are the criteria, then within the 80s era, _The Real Ghostbusters_ and _Dungeons and Dragons_ definitely qualify. I’d say that _G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero_ does too, albeit to a lesser degree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-1980s-1990s-cartoon-shows-that-were-not-just-30-minute-commercials/389730.md?page=4)