# This generation's cartoon. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2019, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012 "2019-07-13T12:37:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/21 "2019-07-14T17:38:14Z")
For my 18-year old grandson, there is only one cartoon: _Clone Wars_. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/22 "2019-07-14T18:32:27Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Nitpick: The first Looney Tunes cartoons were produced in 1930. They were as much the Greatest Generation’s property as the Boomers. > > The cartoons Boomers could plausibly claim ownership of are the limited animation Hanna Barbera TV shows like Flintstones, Jetsons, etc. > > I guess that’s more proof we Boomers ruined everything. Young boomers were watching in the early 50s. Anything coming then is boomer. The peak looney tunes were then. Courageous cat came out in 1960. There is a big difference when “your” cartoon was on tv as opposed to the cinema. The half hour hanna barbera prime time shows are prime boomer. But Jay Ward is the patron saint of boomer cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/23 "2019-07-14T19:10:33Z")
I grew up on Dick Tales, Gummi Bears, Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck and during the summer whatever was on Nickleodeon while I built with Legos. Watched a lot of Nick at Night also so things like Donna Reed and My Three Sons. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/24 "2019-07-14T20:02:19Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > I’ve seen one sociologist who split Gen-X into 2 waves, “Atari Wave” and “Nintendo Wave”. Speaking as an Atari Wave Gen-Xer, I was already in college by the time the toy commercial shows were on. Instead, I grew up on the dregs of Filmation and Hanna-Barbera’s death throes, the shit Boomerang won’t touch despite having the rights. Crap like “Hong Kong Phooey” and all the kids-and-a-talking-critter-in-a-vehicle-solving-mysteries shows that just duplicated the Scooby-Doo formula - Funky Phantom “let’s make an real ghost part of the team” - Jabberjaw “talking shark instead of talking dog” - Speed Buggy - “ah fuck it, can’t think of an animal, just make the car talk and call it a day” and all the animated spinoffs of current prime time hits (“The Brady Kids”, “New Adventures of Gilligans Island”, “Emergency +4”). > It’s amazing anyone my age likes animation, especially as Disney Feature Animation was at its absolute nadir in the 1970s. All of this is true, although I _also_ grew up on reruns of earlier generations’ cartoons (Disney, Looney Tunes, Jay Ward, etc.). If “my generation’s cartoon” has to be something that was currently in production while I was a kid, Scooby Doo may be as good a candidate as any, ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/25 "2019-07-15T21:05:37Z")
i was born in 1980… too young to be a _real_ Gen Xer, too old to be a _real_ millennial. We had a lot of cartoons that we could claim as “ours”: Beavis & Butthead, Ren & Stimpy, Rugrats, Animaniacs. What a time to be alive. Edit: HOW DID I FORGET DUCKTALES!!!?!?!?111/!?1!?!?!?!!! Edit again: AND TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ??? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/26 "2019-07-15T21:39:21Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The Millenial cartoon is probably South Park or Pokemon, no? I feel like South Park is more Xer. It was aimed at an older audience, and, sure, I was in college when it hit, but it definitely has an Xer vibe to me, and feels more like a Gen X cartoon than a Millennial cartoon. My brother was very tail end of Gen X (what some call Xennials) and that was high school stuff for him. I think it qualifies as X. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/27 "2019-07-15T22:10:27Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The Millenial cartoon is probably South Park or Pokemon, no? > > Spongebob always struck me as a Generation Z thing. It started just after those two, but it seems like it was mostly watched by people born in the 2000s? Yeah, Spongebob started in 1999, when the oldest Millennials were about 18-19. I’m near the older end, but I’ve never even watched a whole episode. Except for the stoner college kids, Spongebob was tail end of Millennial, start of Z. I saw a ton of South Park though, and slightly younger friends, near the middle of the Millennial age range, were into Pokemon. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/28 "2019-07-15T22:20:34Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > i was born in 1980… too young to be a _real_ Gen Xer, too old to be a _real_ millennial. I was born the same year. I like to call myself the World’s Oldest Millennial. I kind of feel like _The Simpsons_ is just as much ours as it is the Gen Xers’. I was in the fourth grade when the show debuted (Which means Bart should be at least my age by now. If we call Bart’s debut the start of the Tracy Ulman shorts he should be even older). I remember almost all the boys in my class wanted to be Bart Simpson for Halloween that year. And “Don’t have a cow” tshirts were all the rage among my peers. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/29 "2019-07-18T01:27:08Z")
Nt 10 yr old was talking (unprompted) before he went to bed last night. His classics: Minecraft Fortnight I don’t think he’s going to have a classic cartoon like Sponge Bob or Batfink. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/30 "2019-07-18T02:17:14Z")
I was born in '79 and I feel bad trying to choose just one cartoon. I agree with those who are saying we had the best Saturday morning cartooon-a-mercials. We had the best after-school cartoons (Ducktales, Animaniacs, Tailspin). And of course we had prime-time cartoons (Simpsons, Beavis & Butthead, Southpark, Ren & Stimpy). Fuck I mean, our whole lives are cartoons. After that we’ve had more prime-time cartoons (Futurama, Bob’s Burgers), Adult Swim (Venture Bros, Johnny Bravo, ATHF), and I watch a lot of kids cartoons now! (Adventure Time, Stephen Universe, Star Wars Rebels, NEW Ducktales) Don’t forget how Gen X and above is anime-obsessed. And of course now we’ve (they’ve) all got kids so we’re watching their cartoons and showing them our cartoons and rebooting our cartoons. And it’s awesome. I guess, thinking of all of it, the cartoon that still abides is The Simpsons. Or, The Gummi Bears 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/31 "2019-07-18T04:44:49Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I grew up on Dick Tales, Gummi Bears, Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck Chippendales? **Dick** Tales? What kind of cartoons were you watching? (FTR, I also grew up on the Disney Afternoon shows, and was born in the same year as you) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/32 "2019-07-18T04:54:59Z")
dont forget batman the animated series is still the greatest warner bros.non-looney tunes/merrie melodies cartoon ever made I mean so much so that its still everyone’s version of batman 20 years later but in the 2000’s afternoons it was pokemon or power rangers both which are still going 20 years later Disney couldn’t beat either of them … i think power rangers is or almost is the longest continuing kid show ever ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/33 "2019-07-18T05:02:02Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I grew up on Dick Tales, Gummi Bears, Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck and during the summer whatever was on Nickleodeon while I built with Legos. Watched a lot of Nick at Night also so things like Donna Reed and My Three Sons. Stop stealing my life! 😃 (I never saw anything but the credits for Gummi Bears as it aired during my dinner home from school.) No single cartoon could really encapsulate the absolute ubiquity of 80s toy commercial shows. Ducktales did stand above all others for me, personally (and ironically didn’t have an associated toy line). Bookend those with Saturday morning Snorks, He-Man, GI Joe etc. And some Tiny Toons and Animaniacs. Between Atari/Commodore 64/Nintendo, Legos, plastic models, playing outside, and TV, it’s no wonder I never did homework. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2019, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/34 "2019-07-18T12:11:15Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I grew up on Dick Tales, Gummi Bears, Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck and during the summer whatever was on Nickleodeon while I built with Legos. Watched a lot of Nick at Night also so things like Donna Reed and My Three Sons. You had a crush on Gadget. Fess up. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/35 "2019-07-18T13:58:27Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > You had a crush on Gadget. > Fess up. Wait, the was an option NOT to? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/36 "2019-07-22T12:55:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I feel like South Park is more Xer. It was aimed at an older audience, and, sure, I was in college when it hit, but it definitely has an Xer vibe to me, and feels more like a Gen X cartoon than a Millennial cartoon. My brother was very tail end of Gen X (what some call Xennials) and that was high school stuff for him. I think it qualifies as X. I’m a Millennial and South Park was very popular among my cohort from its first season. Gen-Xers were mostly out of college when the first season was released while Millenials went through high school, college, and the beginning of their careers in South Park’s prime years. Yeah, you could argue that the tail end of Gen X is the right age for it, but pretty much all Millenials fit, age wise. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/37 "2019-07-22T13:16:29Z")
As a person who regularly interacts with Young People, I am consistently surprised at the lasting popularity of whatever the current Dragonball iterations are. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/38 "2019-07-22T18:33:27Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > i was born in 1980… too young to be a _real_ Gen Xer, too old to be a _real_ millennial. > > We had a lot of cartoons that we could claim as “ours”: Beavis & Butthead, Ren & Stimpy, Rugrats, Animaniacs. What a time to be alive. > > Edit: HOW DID I FORGET DUCKTALES!!!?!?!?111/!?1!?!?!?!!! > Edit again: AND TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ??? Don’t forget Doug. I woke up early to watch the three original Nicktoons on their debut broadcast. I wasn’t wild about the Rugrats, too babyish for nine year old me, but Doug and Ren & Stimpy were right up my alley. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/39 "2019-07-22T18:43:36Z")
> [@CastletonSnob](#): > > What is the cartoon for Zoomers? Maybe Adventure Time? I love Adventure Time (though I’m an Xennial, I guess). However, I’d guess that for Zoomers, Stephen Universe may have eclipsed that one. But SpongeBob was still going strong. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012/40 "2019-07-23T09:32:13Z")
Based on my child’s viewing habits, it appears to be DanTDM videos on YouTube (and others of that ilk). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-generations-cartoon/837012.md?page=3)