I loved Captain Planet. Even as a 4 year old, I pitied the kid with the useless Heart ring. Looking back, I'm not sure why my parents let me watch that hippie shit.
I was obsessed with the show that always came on right after DBZ.... Spoiler OH SHIT BELIEVE IT BITCH!!! I'm pretty sure I still have memorabilia and little to-scale models floating around my attic somewhere. And don't pretend you don't remember this theme song... Edit: Trying to get working links...
Edited for focus It's a tie between Rocko's Modern Life and Ren and Stimpy. I loved the animation and the crazy characters. They were never afraid to get as gross as possible while still being funny. I think a great cartoon has to be timeless, and as far as I'm concerned, both of them are still funny now. In fact, I'm youtubing both during my lunch break.
I'm going to date myself, but my favorite was Looney Toons, or Bugs Bunny and Friends. Back when it was full of violence and racial stereotypes (Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!). I came to memorize just about every episode. As I got older, I came to appreciate the adult humour of the cartoons as well. A favorite moment that comes to mind is Wile E Coyote somehow lighting his ass on fire during some bungled attempt to catch the Road Runner. Being in the desert, surface water is obviously lacking to extinguish said ass-fire. So Wile E quickly fashions himself a dowsing rod and starts dowsing for water. After a few moments, the rod starts to twitch down. He grabs a shovel and starts digging, striking water. He then plunges his ass into the hole, putting the fire out. I watched Bugs Bunny all thru university, until some moron(s) decided to start censoring the episodes and eliminating certain characters altogether. I can't stand to watch it, because I still remember and anticipate what's going to happen next, only to discover they cut the scene out. Nowadays, Southpark, Family Guy, American Dad, etc. I used to love Drawn Together, but its no longer on.
Pokemon was kind of my thing in elementary school. I may or may not still remember all the words to both of these songs. Also, I was all about Arthur, The Raccoons, What's With Andy?, Kids from Room 402, Recess, and Rugrats.
As a young lad, I'd dodge the truant officer on school days and sneak into the theater during the news-reels, so I could watch my favorite cartoon before the double feature started. Afterwards, we would use the nickel we had saved by sneaking in to buy licorice whips and rock candy.
Motherfuckin' Swat Katz biotch! That shit was full of action, jets, motorcycles, fighting, and explosions! There was even the sexy mayors secretary! (What, it's not like she wasn't cathuman or anything weird...)
I have to agree with you on the plot progressions but add to that the giant clouds of dust, waiting for the villain to emerge and the fight to resume. Goddamn. Just shoot me in the face. But the sagas were great. Frieza saga was amazing and so was the Cell saga.
Garfield and Friends onyl because it came on right when I got home from school. It wasn't very good, but it was on. So began my tv latchkey afternoons
I have a list: Scooby doo, Doug, Ahhhhh real monsters, rugrats, Rockos modern life (already mentioned), Beavis and Butthead.. probably lots more but I am having a brain fart.
See avatar. I was too young to watch its original run, but I caught it years later and fell in love. The spin-offs (i.e. Beast Wars) were also good, but not quite to the same level. I have the original movie from 1986 on DVD and will throw it on from time to time when I'm drunk and about to pass out. I have to second Rocko's Modern Life and Ren and Stimpy. Those were real cartoons, not the pansy-ass bullshit that kids watch today. I also have to second Pokemon, even though I was probably too old (11) to be watching it when it came out. I played the shit out of those games as well.
Teenage Motherfucking Mutant Ninja Turtles. My friends and I had epic battles over who was which turtle. Sorry, Timmy, there isn't a 5th, fat turtle with glasses...get fucked. Also, Batman and Darkwing Duck after school, X-men and Spider-Man Saturday mornings. I currently have the TMNT, Batman and X-men complete animated series...the dork in me is strong.
Thunnnnnder.....Thunnnnder......Thunnnnder....Thundercats....HO! The one and only Thundercats. What a cartoon. Not forgetting to mention Cheetara, she was HOT. That might have been the reason I watched it so intently come to think of it.....
I'm sorry reading the initial post I was so hoping I could get away with just posting archer quotes, but fine something from my childhood. I loved Inspector Gadget so much, but they came out with the movie too early in my life to not completely ruin it for me. Instead I got to fucking cry when Optimus Prime died in the movie, like seriously? What the fuck, I don't remember crying very much in my childhood. But I bawled my poor 8 year old eyes out as the big Prime was dying. Watching the first live action one. I so thought they were going to pull that shit again. Like seriously having a flashback to my 8 year old self under the covers. Thus, I love the corny movies, they get a pass for continuing my child hood hopes and dreams! Transformers, more than meets the eye!
I can't believe no one has mentioned the Animaniacs. I think it was a genius show back in the early to mid 90's. There were so many references to classic cinema and modern day events with extreme sarcasm. With pinky and the brain and the goodfeathers, chicken boo, buttons. I found the series on dvd but it was too expensive. I'm also a huge ren and stimpy fan. To this day I'm not sure how it stayed on the air as long as it did.