As I promised, because the honourable mention list grew so out of proportion, I had no choice but to make a whole other list of classic cartoons I used to watch. Enjoy, and be sure to check out parts one and two if you haven't already, as well as my most recent Movie vs. Movie article on The Thing!
Criteria: same as
first list of Cartoons from my childhood
Honourable mentions: Beavis and Butthead and The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show. These
are the only two honourable mentions, I promise. I quite enjoyed the brief
revival episodes of Beavis and Butthead
on MTV. However, this was still not a staple of my childhood. As for Bugs Bunny and Tweety, I mention it
because this is one show I have watched ever since I first watched TV. However,
the show is technically just an hour long compilation of Looney Tunes and Merrie
Melodies shorts. Since I have already addressed Looney Tunes as my number one cartoon that I still watch to this
day, I’ve already detailed what The Bugs
Bunny and Tweety Show essentially is, so there’s no need to explain this
one.
10. Rocket Robin Hood
First up are the intergalactic adventures of a classic hero
in the same year Futurama takes place
(but definitely not the same universe). This Canadian sixties series follows
the characters of Robin Hood, only they’re in a futuristic space setting. There’s
Little John the giant man, Friar Tuck who just shoves his face with food at
every opportunity, and many other original Robin Hood characters re-invented,
such as his girlfriend Maid Marian and main villain Prince John. All the crazy
adventures they have are classic. Although not as notorious for the stock
footage recycling as Spider-Man
(check my other cartoon list for more on that), the creators of Rocket Robin Hood must still be blamed
for shamelessly going cheap on numerous episodes. However, this didn’t faze me
as a kid, and looking back, it almost adds to the charm. This was the kind of
cartoon I didn’t want to miss an episode of as a kid.
9. The Tom and Jerry Show
This cartoon has become so classic, the mere mention of the
name conjures the image of a brown mouse being chased by a gray cat in your
mind. Before the half hour Saturday morning show I was most familiar with, the
characters Tom—a hungry and unfortunate cat not unlike Sylvester of Looney Tunes—and Jerry—basically a mouse
version of Sylvester’s Tweety Bird—starred in Hanna Barbera produced theatrical shorts which were first
made back in 1940. Since then there have been many memorable side characters that’ve
starred alongside the feuding pair, and numerous spinoff shows, including Tom and Jerry Kids, and my favourite, The Tom and Jerry Show from 1975. Like
some of the greatest cartoon characters ever, Tom and Jerry rarely speak, and
rely on bodily gestures and slapstick comedy. It never gets old, which says
something, because the same formula of Tom trying to catch Jerry and failing
has been used for decades. There have been attempts to change it up, such as
with the first full length feature Tom
and Jerry: The Movie, in which they have dialogue, however it just doesn’t
work. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons certainly weren’t broken. Their Academy
Award winning shorts from the forties and fifties rank up there with the best
cartoons of all time. I have watched Tom
and Jerry for many years and still enjoy tuning in to the odd re-run.
8. CatDog
This nickelodeon original wasn’t on all that often when I
watched TV, but when it was, I didn’t want to miss a minute. I distinctly
remember watching an episode in grade two while eating scrambled eggs with
ketchup for dinner (not sure why I remember this, I just do). As random as that
sentence was, this show may be even more random. The main character/characters
is/are, as the title suggests, CatDog. Half cat, half dog, all hilarious. Cat
is the more dominant and intelligible of the two, whereas Dog is more dimwitted
but much happier in general. Together they have hilarious adventures, almost
always involving the predicament of being conjoined at the waist. Sharing this
world are other anthropomorphized animals, and a humanoid thrown in once in
awhile for good measure. It’s ridiculous, yes, but also original, witty, and
surprisingly mature.
7. The Batman
The Batman may not
be the most popular of the Dark Knight cartoons, but it was the one I tuned in
to the most. I watched it quite a bit in elementary school, mainly because it
was on Teletoon and there was little else on in the afternoons. The character
and general content of the cartoon needs no introduction. It ignores some of
the plot continuity of the Tim Burton Batman
movies, the original comics, and other animated series’, but at times this is a
benefit rather than a detriment, because it makes for more interesting viewing.
All the classic villains are here, with many of them getting awesome updates.
Killer Kroc, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and everyone’s favourite The Joker all appear
here, as well as many others. Some of the voice acting talent is quite
impressive. There’s Robert Englund (who played Freddy Kreuger) as Riddler, Ron
Perlman (who played Hellboy) as Killer Kroc, and even Adam West (who played Batman
in the sixties TV series) as the Mayor Marion Grange. The action is terrific
and the tone is great, but stick to the earlier seasons, mainly season one and
two. Much like the Tim Burton movie franchise, the quality begins to dip as it
goes on.
6. Potatoes and Dragons
Some of the Teletoon original series were indeed original
(and a bit strange), and this one is no exception. It follows potatoes—no, not
the vegetable, a type of people—who live in medieval castles under the rule of
a dimwitted king. The king has an unending hatred for the local dragon, who
really isn’t a bad guy. In fact, every time Dragon roasts the king with his
fire breath, the king deserves it (and this happens in every episode I have
seen). There are fun supporting characters, like the jester who’s in love with
the princess, and of course the dragon, which doesn’t speak and lives in a cave
near the castle. Every episode sees a new knight show up in Potato Land to try
and slay the dragon, in order to take the hand of the princess in marriage.
However, the princess, Jester, and others always help Dragon out in making the
knights fail, and the king is always left scorched—literally and emotionally.
It may sound repetitive, but it’s actually quite entertaining, quick paced, and
the various knights are creative. I used to watch this quite often on Teletoon,
but have never been able to find it on DVD; however there are some episodes on
YouTube.
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (second
animated series, 2003-2009)
Teletoon showed regular re-runs
of this series. TMNT was always on at
four o’clock every week, which was perfectly timed so I could come home from
elementary school, turn on my TV, and watch the next exciting episode of the
most badass show featuring turtles in cartoon history. I was born in the
mid-nineties, so I missed the initial TMNT
craze that began in the late eighties. The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was never on regularly when I was a
kid, but this second series was, so I made do. But honestly, this was a pretty
cool show. I remember turning up the volume when the theme song played; it’s
not quite as cheesy as the original series’ theme, but is definitely more
rockin’. Shredder is much cooler looking than he was in the original series and
is actually formidable. All the turtle’s, on the other hand, act more or less
the same as they used to. This second series re-tells their origins, but they
have many different adventures than the original, and the scope of the series
is huge, taking the turtles everywhere from the sewers of New York, to rural
New England, to alternate dimensions. My favourite plot arch is when they fight
the Triceratons—a warring alien race from another planet—which only ever made
one appearance in the original animated series, but are recurring villains in
the comics, as well as in this television incarnation. The action is great, but
there are a few alterations that some hardcore fans of the original series
might frown at (such as Raphael riding a motorcycle, for example). The
animation is smooth, the voices are good, the tone is somewhat darker than the
original, but it is still fun and maintains the essence of what TMNT is.
4. Ozzy & Drix
This was a staple of Saturday mornings, and one of the shows
I looked forward to the most. A spinoff of the 2001 film Osmosis Jones, Ozzy & Drix provided the same type of bodily
humour, while forging a new plotline and further developing the characters. Osmosis Jones followed the life of Frank
(played by Bill Murray) and the world within his body—in particular, the
partnership of Drixonol cold pill Drix and white blood cell police officer
Osmosis Jones, and their mission to fight off the villainous virus Thrax. It
was a mix of computer animation and live action, but for the TV show, it was
done entirely as a cartoon. Ozzy and Drix
get sucked up by a mosquito and are transferred from Frank’s body to the body
of a high school boy, Hector. For the rest of the series, the duo work as
private investigators to help fight crime within their new home of Hector. The
show explores further themes of health which were at the root of the film by
using creative, villainous representations, such as smoking, brought about by
Nick O’ Teen, head lice spread by Mother Louse, and even trichinella spiralis
worms, which takes on the a giant monster form similar to Godzilla. Every
episode always felt original, and the overall tone was a little lighter than
the movie, which featured cells actually being killed, while the show does not.
The animation is bright and fast, there is a talented range of voice acting, and
overall it made for some infectious weekend entertainment.
3. Recess
In grade four, there were two TV shows that everyone I knew,
including myself, tuned in to after school every day. One of them was The Weekenders, which was on my previous
list, but the other was of equal importance to me, and that was Recess. Now regarded as a cult classic, Recess followed the adventures of six
fourth grade friends at Third Street Elementary School. There’s TJ, the street
smart group leader, Vince the athlete, Mikey, a lovable heavy weight, rough
around the edges rebel Spinelli, Gretchen, the smartest girl in the school, and
Gus, the dorky nervous boy who has been to thirteen different schools in his
life, and is the newest addition to the group. With numerous, memorable fellow
school mates (from Cornchip Girl and King Bob to Digger Sam and the four
Ashley’s) and an equally entertaining school staff (who could forget Principle
Prickly and Ms. Finster), Recess not
only offered funny, timeless cartoon antics, but it was the most relatable TV
show for me at that time. It seemed everyone I knew at school had gone through
the same thing as one of the characters on the show. Though some of the aspects
of the goings on at Third Street school were cliché, that helped make it relatable
and familiar. Just like The Weekenders,
it was a perfect representation of that age group, and made you want to have as
much fun as possible during recess in real life.
2. Tales from the Cryptkeeper
Sunday afternoons in elementary school were freaky and fun,
thanks to this animated series based on the British anthology HBO original. The
original, Tales from the Crypt, was
an adult targeted horror show with some comedy infused. This cartoon, Tales from the Cryptkeeper, was on
Teletoon for many years and, though a considerably tamer kid’s show, it still
has some horror elements. What I loved was the show didn’t always hold back;
some episodes were actually very dark. One of the scariest episodes (which, though
it doesn’t scare me much now, still gives me chills) features a poacher on the
trail of an elusive jungle beast. He gets caught by it, and it’s revealed the
monster is a former poacher, who was cursed for trying to hunt so many
endangered species. The monster form is passed on to the new poacher, and the
former one escapes, thus the curse lives on, and justice is served. All of the
episodes feature some form of a cautionary tale like this one, and each one
features new characters in new situations. The Crypt Keeper is an entertaining
host, even voiced by John Kassir, who voiced the Crypt Keeper in the HBO series
as well. Season two introduced additional recurring characters, the Old Witch
and the Vault Keeper, who continuously try to take over the hosting duty.
Though somewhat more light hearted than season one, it’s still entertaining and
the stories still sinister. I recently re-discovered this excellent cartoon,
and though it doesn’t have the same exciting scares and laughs it once did,
it’s still enjoyable and nostalgic as hell. Seasons one and two are readily
available on DVD; as for the third season, you can skip it. After being
cancelled for several years, it back brought back under the title New Tales from the Cryptkeeper, and the
horror was toned way down.
1. Ned’s Newt
How I failed to place this show on my first list of cartoons
from my childhood is beyond me, because from the beginning of grade three to
the beginning of grade four, I never missed a single episode of Ned’s Newt. Literally. I watched it
every weeknight at six. The theme song, which is super fast paced and lasts
just over thirty seconds goes like this: “There once was a boy who wanted a
pet, when he got to the store it was all he could get, he brought it home but
to his surprise, the newt just laid there, he was barely alive, the pet store
owner knew what to do, and he gave the boy a can of ‘Zippo For Newt’...” and so
begins the epic, outrageous, and hilarious adventures of Ned and his super-pet
newt, Newton. Newton becomes large, anthropomorphic, intelligent, and gains a
shape shifting ability (as well as a sense of humour) when fed his special
food. Their adventures often begin with mundane tasks, such as trying to get
the attention of Ned’s crush, Linda, or even taking out the garbage, but it
quickly spirals out of control and they end up doing outlandish things such as
building time machines and causing massive destruction. This show accomplishes
what so many cartoons fail to do: come up with extremely clever dialogue and
references, but make it relevant to younger kids who are more cerebral and want
typical cartoon antics, older kids who understand some of the pop culture
references and jokes, and even teenage to adult viewers who understand the more
sophisticated pokes at pop culture, sarcasm, and innuendos. All this humour is
compressed into a half hour, which is divided into two short episodes, so the
pace is ridiculously fast, but always easy to keep up with. Unfortunately, none
of the seasons have been released on DVD, but it was aired on Teletoon Retro a
few years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment