Favorite Cartoons - Then and Now

[Wilpar76]

I hope someone hasn't already posted a thread about this.

I still enjoy a good dose of cartoons as a nice escape mechanism for a hectic day, week , etc. However, most cartoons are pretty crappy now. I remember growing up that cartoons were more than just things falling and funny noises. They reinforced life lessons, i.e. good vs. evil, order vs. anarchy. Anyway, now most cartoons just barely have enough substance to keep the attention of today's ADD generation. The story lines are week and the animation is crappy.

This inspired me to put out a call for the cartoons that we grew up with or still like to watch.

Now
1. Justice League and Justice League Unlimited - I always like cartoons where the bad guys were not bumbling dumbasses. The last season of JLU was/is one of my favorite of all time from the writing, animation, storyline, everything.

2. Family Guy - speaks for itself.

3. Wolverine and the X-men - In my opinion this is significantly better than the series that used to play on Fox Saturday mornings.

4. The Backyardigans - ok, this cartoon is actually a little weird to me, but my daughter likes it. The songs get stuck in my head very easily, but I like it because it is actually a child's cartoon and I don't have to show her the violence in other cartoons that currently play.


Then
1. Woody Woodpecker - I have seen every episode.

2. GI JOE - Remember GI JOE The Movie. I still know the words to the theme song from the movie. Loved it.

3. Transformers

4. Looney Tunes - As adult I can look back at Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes and see tons of propaganda, as it was designed to do at the time. HOwever, they were actually good cartoons, and one of the only times that I thought buffonery was funny.


Any other favorites?

 

[philipfromga]

Scooby Doo has to be there as well as the Flintstones. Two of the all time classics that still can keep my 9 year old daughter mesmerized.

 

[SRock]

How did you miss The Simpsons? It's the longest running animated program in history!

Then:

Justice League
G.I. Joe
He Man
Transformers
Go-Bots

Now:

Justice League Unlimited and just about anything superhero related (especially featuring Superman). My son loves superhero cartoons!

 

[Wilpar76]

How did you miss The Simpsons? It's the longest running animated program in history!

I used to watch The Simpsons, but for whatever reason I just stopped. I still want to check out The Simpsons Movie that came out last year or was it the year before that.

 

[mulepackin]

Then:
Bugs Bunney, Looney Tunes
Johnny Quest
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Pink Panther

Now:
see then

 

[nikkuchan]

Thank you much for posting this. I was thinking of starting one myself.

Anyway, I have always loved animation. Moving drawings excited me, and I still love to watch them to this day. Even if it’s primarily aimed at a younger crowd (which most of them are), if it’s done well I’ll still watch it. Anyway, here’s my list:

Now:

Avatar: The Last Airbender: I accidentally stumbled on this one day while channel surfing. I have to say, this show is a rare piece of work; it’s just high quality through and through. Amazing story that’s actually structured and has an ending, clever dialogue, interesting characters and character development for the villains, amazing animation and some of the most inventive action scenes I’ve ever seen, and best of all, it’s almost totally void of the overly cutesy and childish material that treats children like they’re idiots.

Pinky and the Brain: Two genetically alter lab mice trying to take over the world. Pure genius. Its big brother, Animaniacs is also a great show.

Gargoyles: I watched this show religiously in my younger days. Great use of Shakespeare material and various myths and legends, and some of the most intelligent writing in a cartoon show. Also, it had an amazing cast.

Then:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: I, like every kid in those days, worshipped the turtles, and though the show was not all that great in retrospect, it eventually got me into the more adult and vastly superior original comic book series. I still am a turtles fan to this day.

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle: Yeah, it’s old, but it had some of most clever and goofy comedy I have ever seen in cartoon show. I loved the fractured fairy tales.

GI Joe: “Now you know, and knowing is half the battle” is a phrase that has been forever burned into my brain.

 

[Bertilak]

Then:

The original Merrie Melodies / Looney Tunes
Popeye​

Now:

Simpsons
King of the Hill (RIP)​

Recent Movies:

Wallace and Gromit -- several movies / short subjects
Cars
Ratatouille
Team America: World Police (not sure if this counts as a cartoon or not!)​

 

[Wilpar76]

Pinky and the Brain: Two genetically alter lab mice trying to take over the world. Pure genius. Its big brother, Animaniacs is also a great show.

Gargoyles: I watched this show religiously in my younger days. Great use of Shakespeare material and various myths and legends, and some of the most intelligent writing in a cartoon show. Also, it had an amazing cast.

I was thinking about Pinky and the Brain the other day. I really liked Gargoyles also.

Pinky: Gee, Brain. What are we going to do tonight?
The Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world.

The Brain: This is the earth. And this is Pinky. You can tell the difference quite easily. One is a lump of inert matter hurtling blindly through the void. The other... is the earth.

 

[flyfishinzs]

Now
King of the Hill
Simpsons
Family Guy

Then
Beavis and Butthead
Pink Panther
Yogi
Top Cat
Scooby Doo
Looney Tunes
Doug-My favorite of all time.

 

[Phog Allen]

I love some of the "then" toons you guys listed. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Whippersnappers!

Okay, I'll start with then;

Jonny Quest(That's right, no h in Jonny) This was a prime time cartoon about the time I was born. I watched the reruns on Saturday mornings for years. What kid didn't want to be Jonny and Hadji? Flying saucers, machine guns, mummies, jeeps, deep sea diving. You name it, Jonny did it. I have to admit when the complete archive became available on DVD, I bought it in a minute.

Tom and Jerry. The REAL stuff from the 40's. None of that watered down PC crap they made a couple of decades ago. Who didn't laugh themselves silly listening to Mammy Two Shoes screaming "THOMASSSSSSSSSSS!" and then watching her kick his arse straight out the front door? Yankee Doodle Mouse was a classic. This was the one where Jerry made a plane from a cigar box(oh drat, more non-pc imagery)and bombed Tom with light bulbs.

All the old Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes.

Popeye-The really old stuff.

Scooby Doo, where are you?


Now? Uh, okay. Maybe one. Courage the Cowardly Dog and that one is ten years old. The wife says that our Jack Russell Terrier is Courage and that I am Eustace. She is probably right! I love it because like the old Loony Tunes, it was really meant for adults though kids loved it too.

Animated movies? Shrek, The Jungle Book, and...I may think of another.

Regards, Todd

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMDEbyDRK2Q[/YOUTUBE]

 

[rabelais99]

Ahh, the venerable cartoon. Back in my day (the 70's) these were reserved for Saturday mornings. No cartoon network back then.

My faves as a kid were (chronologically):

Rocky & Bullwinkle (watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat...)
Flintstones
Roger Ramjet
Johnny Quest
The Jetsons
Scooby Doo
Wait 'til Your Father Gets Home

As an adult:
The Simpsons (though I gave up about 8 seasons ago)
Ren & Stimpy (was clever at the time, but really shows its age today)
Family Guy

The cartoon that should have been given a second chance: Fish Police

_____________
alan

 

[Stubblefield]

Then:
Flinstones
Thunderbirds
Space Ghost (the original, not the crap on TV now)
Underdog!
The Jetsons
Huckleberry Hound
Adam Ant
Tom Slick
Yogi Bear
HR Puffinsnuff
Bananna Splits
Beany and Cecil
Dudley Do-Right

And of course . . . . .

Roadrunner, and . . .

Speed Racer.

Now? Simpsons.

 

[Chuckaluck]

Huckleberry Hound
Yogi Bear
Popeye
Top Cat
The Flintstones

Thanks to the Boomerrang Channel, I still watch these!

 

[dpm802]

Then:
The Flintstones
The Jetsons
Johnny Quest
Tobor the 8th Man
Popeye
TopCat
Felix the Cat
Caspar the Friendly Ghost
Mr. Peabody and Sherman (or was it Mr. Sherman and Peabody?)
Quickdraw McGraw
Yogi Bear
Looney Tunes

Now:
N/A ... I don't watch cartoons. Not even The Simpsons.

 

[MrGuy]

Then and Now, although some of them I can't find any more. There aren't a lot of new ones I follow.

Rocko's Modern Life
Ren and Stimpy
Superman (1940's)
Popeye
Pac-Man: The Animated Series
Merrie Melodies/ Looney Toons
Inch High Private Eye
Jabber Jaw
Speed Buggy
Scooby-Doo
Super Globe Trotters
Wonder Wheel
The Herculoids
Space Ghost (That's me with SG in my avatar)
I guess this list could go on for a while.

I guess a "new" one would be Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

 

[nikkuchan]

I’d put in the Simpsons, but I’d do it as a then rather than a now. I see the Simpons of the last 8 or so years to be completely different show.

Through the first 8 seasons, the show was extremely clever, with original jokes that didn’t rely on pop culture, good characterization, and emotion and plot.

Then it just went downhill until the show became a depressing caricature of itself, and only the most shallow portions of the characters survived: Homer went from being a good-natured and loyal, yet stupid and pig-headed, father and husband, to just being a jackass. Bart went from a prankster to a wussy mamma’s boy. Lisa turned from genius to obnoxious activist for everything, and Marge went from doting mother with an occasional wild streak to being nearly schizophrenic.

The moment that stabbed me in the heart was this unbelievably lame joke: Homer is threatened to be pistol-whipped, to which he imagines himself scooping up whipped cream with a pistol. It wasn’t just the disappointment of seeing a bad joke; it was the horror of seeing a REALLY bad joke.

I watched the movie too, on opening night, out of morbid curiosity. My friend, who is also a fan of classic Simpsons, and I went to see it, and (this is not an exaggeration) there was not a single moment we laughed, or even chuckled. What made it worse was that everybody else in the theatre was LOVING it.

Watching the Simpsons now is like watching a once brilliant man who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease; he looks the same, but he’s missing so much on the inside, and every look at him is a reminder of all of the amazing things he once did and from here on he’s just going to get worse until he dies.

 

[pmast]

Then:
Hanna Barbara Cartoon Olympics
Pink Panther
Looney Toons
Scooby Doo
Captain Caveman!!!!!
Now:
The Backyardigans-My autistic son loves this cartoon and it is actually pretty well made.
Family Guy

 

[ogopogo]

Then then:

Looney Tunes
Scooby Doo
G.I.Joe
Robotech
Voltron
Thundarr
Black Star
Smurfs
Masters of the Universe
Duck Tales
Peter Pan and the Pirates (with Tim Curry as Hook)

90's Then:

Pinky and The Brain (dude, they rule!)
Animanics
Earthworm Jim
Freakazoid
Batman (WB)
Gargoyles

Now:
The Simpsons
Justice League
Justice League Unlimited
King of the Hill (wouldn't be surprised if Hank Hill is a B&B member)

Has anyone noticed that there are no more Saturday morning cartoons? Yeah, there are a couple. But they're not very good and it's not like in the old days when they started a 6:00AM and went on until 11:00AM in at least 3 channels including the major networks.

 

[nikkuchan]

Has anyone noticed that there are no more Saturday morning cartoons? Yeah, there are a couple. But they're not very good and it's not like in the old days when they started a 6:00AM and went on until 11:00AM in at least 3 channels including the major networks.

I remember those times. It’s like we had our own little world of cartoon snobbery, and we knew the categories: There were the obscure shows (mostly anime) that were on at like 6:00 AM and were fairly unknown because they were never advertised (Dragonball Z use to be some unknown show at 6AM once upon a time). At about 7 to 8 the new and moderately popular shows started airing, as well as re-runs of older shows (usually Hannah-Barbara ones), and between 9 and 11 were when the big shows came on (I guess they wanted to make sure the late sleepers could still watch).

I missed that. The great thing about Saturday morning cartoons was that it helped teach kids to wake up early. Any other day I just want to sleep, but on Saturday I made darn sure I was up and ready to watch my shows.

 

[ogopogo]

I remember those times. It’s like we had our own little world of cartoon snobbery, and we knew the categories: There were the obscure shows (mostly anime) that were on at like 6:00 AM and were fairly unknown because they were never advertised (Dragonball Z use to be some unknown show at 6AM once upon a time). At about 7 to 8 the new and moderately popular shows started airing, as well as re-runs of older shows (usually Hannah-Barbara ones), and between 9 and 11 were when the big shows came on (I guess they wanted to make sure the late sleepers could still watch).

I missed that. The great thing about Saturday morning cartoons was that it helped teach kids to wake up early. Any other day I just want to sleep, but on Saturday I made darn sure I was up and ready to watch my shows.

Yeah, some of the good but rare cartoons were on at 6:00. And I would be up by then. Then by 8:30 or 9 my mom would make us the best pancakes and scrambled eggs and let us eat in the living room (normally we weren't allowed)... good times.