Some time ago I saw what seemes like the best cartoons since the Road Runner, in fact where 2 or 3 cartoons on a single program, one was called Pith Possum, Super-Dynamic Possum of Tomorrow, or something like that, it was hilarious beyond words, surrealistic anti-hero plots.
The other was Tex Tinstar, blah blah… I dont remember the full title, it had some sort of ongoing plot, but I couldn´t stick to it. The one thing I remember was an episode that ended with the Sheiff Tinstar chained to an asteroid headed to the Sun (:D) the speaker in a Texan accent was giving the closing lines, something like: "Will Tex survive this? nobody knows for sure, no, really, no-one knows, if you have any idea of how can he survive write us a letter ´cause we honestly dont know what to do next eipisode" Brilliant
My favourite old timers were the Road Runner and the Goofy “how to” cartoons. It´s a pitty cartoons are not done like that anymore.
Hey, not Rocky and Bullwinkle! Part of the charm of that show was the cheap animation, which was done IIRC in Mexico. Gorgeous animation it wasn’t, which is why the show had to rely on its witty dialogue, which worked well for adults as well as kids. (“An Arabian Dhow encrusted with red gems? That must be The Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam!”) Crusdaer Rabbit! Sniff! I miss that show. I used to get up at 7 AM on Saturday mornings to watch it. Jay Ward and the Rocky Crew came up with that one, too, althgough most of the episodes I saw as a kid were a later vintage, done by another crew that, fortunately, had the same weird sense of humor. (At the end of an adventure in the Sahara, villain Dudley Nightshade – and isn’t that a great name? – saves himself by ducking into a building with “AFL” written on it. “American Federation of Labor!” he gratefully exclaims, ignoring the fact that they were unlikely to be in the Sahara, and overtaxing my first grade brain. It turns out that it’s really the Arabian Foreign Legion, and he inadvertently signed up for a hitch, and so defeated himself.)
OK…for the Old Fogies…Gigantor, Speed Racer, Kimba the White Lion (the one Lionking ripped off?) as well as Col Bleep, Scratch & Squeak on Zero-Zero Island.
And for the semi-old: Banana splits, Hot Wheels, Whacky Races, and
Cartoon Rock! (…Conjunction Junction! What’s your Function?)
OK, it slipped a little with ‘Super Friends’ & ‘Sigmund the Seamonster’ (Curse you Sid&Marty Croft!!!) and ‘The Funky Phantom’
But what about ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ or the Star Wars cartoon (the one with original scores by one of the members of The Police?) or whole Spiderman saga (that one had a single evolving & consistent story line for 3 seasons with tangents that at times folded back in almost as well as Babylon5).
There was the whole original X-Men series which expanded their popularity far beyond their comic books.
There was Batman, the animated series, with the first American series with a Dark hero.
There was The Tick, the first American animated series with an anti-Super Hero (God I Miss ‘American Maid’ who was possibly the angriest super heroine ever drawn)
From the innocent Princess in Voltron to the decidedly less-than innocent girls of Sailor Moon, cartoons have come a long way. Yes, there is a good deal of Crap (‘cadillacs &dinosaurs’? Somebody had to get a pink slip over That turkey) there is still a lot of good as well. But that’s like all television…
With some embarrassment, I have to raise a glass to Davey and Goliath, for some truly weird childhood flashbacks. I swear, I didn’t even realize it was meant to be religious-themed until I was in high school.
Crusader Rabbit was the FIRST made for television cartoon - ran from 1950-52 (anything later than that was reruns.
Rocky and his Friends (1959 - 1961) was followed by The Bullwinkle Show (1961-1964) - the first was originally a morning cartoon, the latter an evening show, and one different networks, to boot.
Jay Ward’s company also created cereal icons Quisp and Quake, and, of course, theCap’n Crunch characters.
As much as I loved Voltron growing up (it came on before I got out of school and I felt so adult-ish setting the VCR each morning to tape it), it was hardly sophisticated. Villain has evil plan, villain uses Robeast to crush, kill, and destroy, Voltron forms blazing sword and slices Robeast down the center vertically and then horizontally thus scattering the villains well-laid plans and Voltron flies off into the sunset with a laugh at the villains expense.
Dangermouse though, now that was high comedy! I’d love to get my hands on those episodes. Oh crumbs!
Hanna Barbera is almost solely responsible, IMO, for the lack of creativity in an entire generation of kids that grew up watching their fodder in the 70’s and 80’s.
Fortunately Cartoon Network has opened up the world, in between re-runs of lame Scooby Doo episodes, to some great cartoons that actually are sophisticated and appeal to kids and adults like so few cartoons throughout the times could like Samurai Jack and even the Power Puff Girls.
And then of course there is Adult Swim. Now that’s some good stuff.
Dudley got his own show, too, which may be seen on Cartoon Network’s Boomerang spinoff (which even on NYC Time Warner Cable - a corporate sibling - is only available on digital, not regular). Likewise, Popeye, Bullwinkle, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi, Snagglepuss, and Top Cat are on regular Boomerang rotation.
Looney Tunes are on CN itself, Saturday mornings - I think mainly as a gesture to our generation, not the current kiddies.
What about Popeye and the others produced by the Merrie Melodies team? Rich visuals, strong storyline. A lot of them were in black and white they’re so old.
