One of the things that we all tend to remember from our childhoods is the cartoons we used to watch, either on a Saturday morning or on a weekday afternoon after school, either way we looked forward to catching up with the characters regularly and enjoying their adventures.
When thinking about cartoons of this era, it is very easy for three in particular to stand out – He-Man, Thundercats and Transformers, so let’s take a look at some of the other popular ‘toons of the day. How many can you remember?
1. Tiny Toon Adventures
The adventures of young Warner Bros. cartoons, this was led by Babs and Buster Bunny and also had many recognisable characters like a young road runner and young Taz. This show was laugh out loud funny, had some jokes that you wouldn’t have got in the day and were aimed more at the parents, and was just enjoyable throughout!
2. Batman – The Animated Series
This is still massively popular today. It was dark, gritty and perfectly scripted and acted, with special mention having to go to Mark Hamill as The Joker! The fact that the voice cast still work together regularly on things like the Arkham series of video games speaks volumes to their success.
3. Ren & Stimpy
The tales of a cat and dog who are best friends, yet at times seem to hate each other, especially Ren who is downright nasty to Stimpy at times. The show was filled with dark and cynical humour and images and even had episodes that could turn your stomach!
4. Rugrats
Tommy, Angelica, Chucky and the gang, who could possibly not love these guys? Rugrats was a smash hit through the 90s and kids young and old could enjoy them with their innocence, yet there were lines even in this that only adults would get, especially when Granpa was about!
5. X-Men: The Animated Series
This was one of the best cartoons in terms of sticking to the source material, as the cartoon not only looked like it had been drawn by the same people that did the comics, it also featured some of the best stories from the X-Men including the now infamous Jean Grey / Phoenix saga.
6. Spider-Man
There have been many incarnations of animated Spider-Man cartoons, but the 90s one was made by the same people as the X-Men cartoon and it showed with vivid characters who were full of life, many of Spidey’s most famous foes and some fantastic story lines!
7. Animaniacs
Kind of similar in style to Tiny Toon Adventures, but the Animaniacs was split in to segments with different characters and situations. Highlights have got to include Pinky and the Brain and any scene were the male Animaniacs end up shouting “Hellllooooooo Nurse!”
8. The Real Ghostbusters
Based on the Ghostbusters movie, this was a great cartoon. It took a few liberties with Slimer not only turning good, but effectively becoming some kind of pet/mascot hybrid, but the program had its darker moments and was very well made. The link to the film also meant parents could enjoy it just as much as the kids!
9. Taz-mania
One of my personal favourites, Tazmania was a very funny cartoon that would draw you in to every episode, Taz is one of the great cartoon creations, and even though he never speaks properly he is full of character and can keep you laughing from one end of an episode to the other!
10. The Trap Door
Burke was on of the great Claymation creations, as he would meander about, making disgusting meals for his master, and he only ever had one proper job – don’t open the trap door…. Nope I don’t remember an episode where he managed it either!
11. Defenders of the Earth
When you put together a group of heroes including Flash Gordon and The Phantom and pit them against the evil Ming the Merciless and his minions you know you’re on to a winner! This was one of those cartoons that was just action start to finish and sometimes that’s all you need!
12. Inspector Gadget
Go go Gadget legs! We all used to shout things like that in the playground when pretending we had the same kinds of gadgets as the titular hero in this show. The clumsy police officer who was always outwitted and didn’t even realise he was relying on his niece and her dog to save the day in every episode!
Which of these was your favourite cartoon to look forward to? Which did you have to fight your big brother for the remote for so that you could switch it on and catch up with your favourite characters? Let us know all of your thoughts and memories in the comments as always!