In a previous post we reflected on the fact that these days nearly all animated shows aimed at kids are totally suitable for the age range they are targeting, whilst back in the 1980s, although some of the shows were absolutely fine, others were not quite as harmless as our parents thought they were!
Below we present another 16 facts about 80s cartoons that are definitely going to ruin your childhood.
[adunit mobile=”RTK_dVa8″]
Be sure to post a comment letting us know your thoughts, as well as sharing any 80s cartoon secrets you’re aware of that we don’t mention!
Dungeons & Dragons
The level of violence in Dungeons & Dragons was extremely controversial, with the script for the episode ‘The Dragon’s Graveyard’, almost being scrapped. In addition, the National Coalition on Television Violence in the US demanded that a warning be shown before each episode stating that Dungeons & Dragons had been linked to real life violent deaths.
Another shocking revelation for fans of Dungeons & Dragons is that Venger is actually Dungeon Master’s son. The final episode would have confirmed this, but the show was cancelled before it was completed.
[adunit mobile=”RTK_wCZW”]
He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe
Ok He-Man fans, hold onto your armour, because we’re going to hit you with the news that blue is actually the colour of Skeletor’s skin rather than an outfit. Yes, you heard us correctly, apart from his armour and boots, he’s just as naked as He-Man!
Be honest now, did you admire He-Man for the way he struck down the bad guys with his sword? Well believe it or not, in the original cartoon series He-Man never actually harmed any living creature. His sword was only ever used for cutting obstacles and blocking attacks.
[adunit mobile=”RTK_z9hm”]
Jem
Jem wasn’t always as squeaky clean as you might remember, because in the episode ‘Starbright, Part One: Falling Star’, she sang some saucy lyrics about her man Ken, wondering “Is it me, or is he making love to a fantasy?”. Naughty girl!
The Mysterious Cities Of Gold
Do you consider The Mysterious Cities of Gold to be the greatest cartoon of all time? But did you know that there was a follow up?
[adunit mobile=”RTK_dVa8″]
Yes, 3 new series of 26 episodes picked up the storyline where the classic 1982 series left off.
Pokemon
An episode of Pokemon called ‘Electric Soldier Porygon’ caused more than 600 people to be rushed to hospital when it was shown in Japan.
[adunit mobile=”RTK_wCZW”]
This was due to a section of the episode where red and blue lights started flashing quickly, which caused headaches, blurred vision, dizziness and even seizures in those unfortunate enough to be watching it.
Rainbow Brite
In the episode ‘The Beginning of Rainbow Land’, Rainbow Brite battles ‘The Evil One’. The story brings her to an environment where children are being held hostage and babies are being left to die in the middle of nowhere.
[adunit mobile=”RTK_z9hm”]
And our parents let us watch this?
She-Ra: Princess Of Power
For reaction shots where She-Ra needed to be overly ‘expressive’, producers used one female animator in particular. According to one of the show’s writers, when there was a shot where ‘extra passion’ was required this animator would be used, as she “threw lust into everything”.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons predicted Donald Trump would become president way back in 2000 in an episode called ‘Bart To The Future’.
[adunit mobile=”RTK_dVa8″]
In the episode, Lisa becomes the first female president of the United States, telling one of her advisors “As you know, we’ve inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump.” The advisors then go on to inform her that Trump has in fact bankrupt the country.
SuperTed
Do you think you know what SuperTed’s magic word was? You know, the one that enabled him to be adorned with a red suit, cape and rocket boots? Well you’d be wrong, because we never found out what the magic word was, although his nemesis Texas Peter tried to find out a few times.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Can you believe that Turtle Michelangelo’s name was spelt wrong until 2003?
[adunit mobile=”RTK_wCZW”]
This was because it was incorrect in the first issue of the comic, and copyright reasons meant they had to keep it the same for around 20 years!
We really hope that your young innocent child eyes didn’t have to watch this, but in the episode ‘April Fool’, April dresses in casual attire, causing her to be lusted after by the naughty turtles. You definitely wouldn’t get away with that these days.
[adunit mobile=”RTK_z9hm”]
ThunderCats
Do you remember the nudity in ThunderCats? Yep, because until they were given ‘protective clothing’ by their mentor, the ThunderCats were completely naked.
The Transformers
We kid you not, in the US someone actually changed their name to Optimus Prime.
[adunit mobile=”RTK_dVa8″]
A guardsman in the United States Army had his name officially changed on his 30th birthday, claiming that the Autobot leader helped him through difficult times.
Sadly, a number of mistakes can be found in the Transformers cartoons, with characters often being coloured differently from one scene to the next and voices coming from the wrong character.