The GOOD 'OL or 'why cartoons now blow'

[Ummon]

Recently, I went back and watched the suite of George of the Jungle/Tom Slick/Super Chicken suite and, especially with George of the Jungle, was kind of impressed, and certainly enjoyed the 'adult' humor. These seem to have a class that doesn't fade with the times. (Of course all the Bullwinkle Show cartoons are in the same class.)

[SavannahLion]

You mean like how G.I. Joe went to Hell?

Couldn't bring myself to watch any classic cartoons after that. I wanted to keep those rose colored glasses on as long as possible.

[shmokes]

Yeah, Transformers, Smurfs, Thundercats, etc . . .  Most of the cartoons we watched as kids were seriously horrible.  And cartoons today are still good.  You just have to watch the good ones.  Like Spongebob Squarepants, for example.

[shardian]

Spongebob can be quite hilarious. I wish I could see it more. Dexter's Labratory and Jimmy Neutron are 2 other 'good' newer cartoons. Occasionally I turn on the tube on Saturday mornings - sans cable. The network channels seem to have all but abandoned cartoons!

I remember watching Rugrats BITD, along with the other good Nick cartoons of the 90's. Somehow we ended up with the 2 Rugrats movies on VHS. My 2 year old LOVES them. "Yay! Baby movie!" 
Anyways, it is as good or better than I remember it being. The 90's was a very good era for cartoons with an adult spin.

[javeryh]

I don't know... Looney Tunes are classics that never get old but some of the stuff we grew up on are unwatchable now (even Transformers much to my disappointment since that was my favorite show).  There are some pretty good "modern" cartoons that are going to be classics (The Simpsons, Futurama, King of the Hill, etc.) and even some kids ones that are great - The Mighty B is brand new and it is awesome and like others have said, Spongebob Squarepants is hilarious.

[ChadTower]

The Rugrats N64 game is one of the worst... games... eeeeeeeeever.

[TOK]

I guess I just don't 'get' Sponge-Bob.  Seems like a lot of screeching and weird storylines to me.

I never started watching it until a couple years ago when my kid got old enough for it. The first couple seasons were the best. I think they've pretty much gotten progressively worse, and the last two seasons are totally crap.
 
The one thing I admire about more recent cartoons is that they've been cartoons first and were commercialized after their success. All the 80's cartoons were just toy commercials.

[ChadTower]

I never started watching it until a couple years ago when my kid got old enough for it. The first couple seasons were the best. I think they've pretty much gotten progressively worse, and the last two seasons are totally crap.

I agree here... SpongeBob was really funny the first couple of years.  Then they started to make money.  Lots and lots of money.  They have pumped out so much crap since then on the strength of the license that it hasn't been any good for quite a while.  Kids don't need good, though, they need repetition and recognition.  So it keeps making money.

[RayB]

Once again, Ummon is out of step. Must be floating in another dimension than us.  

While yes, Rocky and Bullwinkle, etc,  were good, it all went to shoot by the 80's (good old moral majority at work, cleaning up anything and everything that could even remotely be considered "offensive"). The result was really crappy writing, animation and production values.

It took John Kricfalusi and his passion for the old stuff, good "acting" and animation to revive animation with Ren & Stimpy. Or you could argue he started to do so with the New Mighty Mouse cartoon, but really Ren & Stimpy's success and style led to a whole generation of new cartoons that pushed the style and content envelope. Not all are great or even good. Personally I hate the Odd Parents. All it is is the kid yelling and screaming all the time, but whatever, for a kid it's still miles ahead of the dreck we tolerated in the 80's.

(Recently saw Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. OMG the art is terrible, the story is the SAME OLD CRAP we've seen a million times in Scooby Doo... just terrible. I felt sorry for Mel Blanc. Must have been a low point in his career.)

[ChadTower]

Man, I used to love Spike and Mike's Animation festivals around that time.  They would show 20-30 animators all doing roughly the same type of work.  Kricfalusi was the first one to get on TV with it but he was far from the only one doing Ren and Stimpy type animation.  A bunch of us would go to that festival every year when I was at Northeastern.

I just checked Kricfalusi's and it makes no mention of Ren and Stimpy being originally on MTV.  My friend and I used to stay up to watch it at like 4am.  I remember that very clearly.

[ChadTower]

I only remember watching the Nickelodeon airings a couple of times.  It wasn't even close to as funny there so we never kept up with it after that.

[shardian]

I'm a little hazy on Ren & Stimpy, mainly because I didn't particularly care for it at the time. Anyways, I remember it on Nickolodeon mainly, then later being on MTV.

[ChadTower]

When it was on MTV first it was definitely more adult.  I'm not sure kids would have even thought the Space Madness episode was any good but I remember almost wetting my pants laughing at it.

[ChadTower]

[RayB]

It definitely started on Nickelodeon first, as one part of a new group of cartoons. There was Rugrats, Doug, and Ren & Stimpy (maybe a 4th, I can't remember).

R&S caught on like wildfire with the college crowd, which was totally unexpected by Nick. So it later got licensed to MTV.

[ChadTower]

I remember very clearly watching it on MTV in 1992 - and there's no way that content would have made it onto Nickelodeon.  They must have been showing stuff on MTV that Nickelodeon refused to show.

[leapinlew]

I remember very clearly watching it on MTV in 1992 - and there's no way that content would have made it onto Nickelodeon.  They must have been showing stuff on MTV that Nickelodeon refused to show.

Negative. It was Nickelodeon (or some channel, it definitely wasn't MTV first). I think they were caught off guard by it. The artist couldn't keep up and eventually MTV got the original 6 episodes (I think it was 6) and the newer craptacular ones.

[leapinlew]

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ren_and_Stimpy_Show

The Ren and Stimpy Show premiered on Nickelodeon on Sunday, August 11, 1991 and aired new episodes on the channel from 1991 to 1996. The Ren and Stimpy Show had a reputation for indecent humor. The controversy was mainly a result of imagery and cartoon violence.[2] Episode names included “Stimpy’s First Fart.”[3] In 1992, Nickelodeon dismissed Kricfalusi and production moved from Kricfalusi's Spümcø studios to Games Animation,[4] where it stayed until its cancellation in 1997. Reruns are broadcast currently by Nicktoons Network and also, as of June 1, 2009, MTV2 [1].

[ChadTower]

Negative. It was Nickelodeon (or some channel, it definitely wasn't MTV first). I think they were caught off guard by it. The artist couldn't keep up and eventually MTV got the original 6 episodes (I think it was 6) and the newer craptacular ones.

...of course, Wikipedia does say it was on MTV in 1992.  

[Ginsu Victim]

I remember seeing a more adult version early on on MTV, before I ever saw it on Nick. I noticed the content was a bit watered down after that.

I'm not arguing with anyone on the facts, just saying I had the same experience as Chad.

[leapinlew]

so, it seems it was on Nickelodeon first (how weird is that?), and then they showed it on MTV. I remember the promo's of it being on MTV after it was already off the air and I recorded them for a while.

Who would've thought that show would ever be on Nick? It was on at like 9 or 10am too!

[LLUncoolJ]

The (my) saturday morning line up when I was a punk kid:

Justice League
Bugs Bunny Road Runner Show
Thundar the Barbarian
Fat Albert

I think I came too early to get into the Transformers and G.I. Joe always bothered me that they apparently fought their war with Cobra with laser tag guns.

I didn't watch them back in the day, but now that my kids do, we watch the later 90's versions of Spiderman, Ironman, and the Hulk. Pretty good stuff, although they seems to shoot with laser tag guns too.

I remember Ren & Stimpy on MTV when I was in college. But I had heard of them (never seen) before that and it was my understanding they were on Nick.

[Ginsu Victim]

I was just looking at a timeline at http://www.rugratonline.com/time9095.htm

Found this:

1991
August 11: Rugrats was among one of the first 3 Nicktoons to air on Nick, along with Doug and Ren &  Stimpy. Doug was the very first Nicktoon to be seen on Nick on this day -- it debuted at 10AM ET, followed by Rugrats at 10:30AM ET, then Ren & Stimpy at 11AM ET

1993
January 10: Ren & Stimpy is picked up by MTV, where it ran intermittently for about 3 years. MTV carried some episodes that were either banned or edited by Nick. Ren & Stimpy is the first Nicktoon to be seen in the US on both Nick and another channel.

[ChadTower]

Everyone please remember that Wikipedia is written by people that are no greater experts than ourselves on topics such as this.

 

Except when there is a marketing interest... in which case the marketing firm watches Wikipedia like a hawk and makes sure all of the info they want seen is proper.

[hypernova]

I remember watching Rugrats BITD, along with the other good Nick cartoons of the 90's. Somehow we ended up with the 2 Rugrats movies on VHS. My 2 year old LOVES them. "Yay! Baby movie!" 

I just loathed that show for the few minutes here and there that I caught.  Just loathed it.  I just kept hoping someone would take out the little girl.

Personally I hate the Odd Parents. All it is is the kid yelling and screaming all the time,

Correction.  EVERYONE is yelling/shouting/screaming on that show almost ALL the time. That show requires the remote holder to turn the volume down to accommodate the elevated decibel levels.

Classic SBSQ is where it's at nowadays.  I'll agree about the current seasons mostly blowing.  I do love the bits of humor they throw in there that only the parents understand.

[Ginsu Victim]

I have never watched an entire episode of Spongebob and have no plans of ever doing so. What I've seen hasn't appealed to me.

[Ed_McCarron]

Speaking of MTV cartoons, I still get a kick out of Daria.

[Mauzy]

The 90's was a very good era for cartoons with an adult spin.

Rocko's Modern Life springs to mind when you say this. Half of the crap in that show would completely fly over the heads of anyone younger than 15. Looking back, I'm amazed at some of the things Nick let them get away with. I mean the super hero Really Really Big Man whose nipples were his main weapon ("Gaze into my nipples of the future!)? A restaurant named "Chokey Chicken" (though that was eventually changed to Chewy Chicken) in which a character "choked on his chicken"?? Episodes based around nudism? Good stuff. I watched every episode of that show I could as a kid. NONE of that would fly these days.


Also, wasn't there a few "unaired" (or at least one) episodes of Ren and Stimpy due to the sexual content? I heard gossip of such a thing a couple years ago, but never did hear anything past them existing.

[Ginsu Victim]

Also, wasn't there a few "unaired" (or at least one) episodes of Ren and Stimpy due to the sexual content? I heard gossip of such a thing a couple years ago, but never did hear anything past them existing.

I know Man's Best Friend was one of them. I believe it featured George Liqour.

[shmokes]

Yeah Daria is classic.  I like it way more than Beavis and Butthead.  Pick up the first (and only) two seasons of Frisky Dingo from Adult Swim.  One of the greatest cartoons ever made.  The first episode is hit or miss with people (I loved it), but it's necessary to set up the story.  Watch at least the first two.  At only about 12 minutes a piece they're pretty easy to get through.

[Mauzy]

Is Daria still on TV somewhere? Haven't seen that in years...

[Xiaou2]

I dunno... 
 
 Its rare to see anything alone the quality and originality of the old  Looney Tunes,
and Tom & Jerry.     From incredible character voices, to orchestrated music scores,
and great creativity.

 While I admit I have not really watched all the latest tunes... The only modern
tune that I really love to watch  (If I catch it)   is  "Chowder".


 Man, I remember Sat mornings were awesome.   Some good ones:

Thunderbirds 2086
Dungeons & Dragons
The Real Ghostbusters
Muppet Babies
Gummy Bears


 Im probably forgetting some of the other good ones.

===

StarCade!  (Not a cartoon.. but the best reason to wake sat morning)

[shardian]

I have never watched an entire episode of Spongebob and have no plans of ever doing so. What I've seen hasn't appealed to me.

Spongebob (along with most quirky and funny things) is an acquired taste. I thought it was retarded before I sat down and watched it. I really grew to like it when I got stuck in line at the Spongebob 3D attraction at King's Island a few years ago. They were playing clips from the show on a big screen while waiting in line.

[Malenko]

nobody mentioned He-Man? And not that gay future He-man where the prince Adam was a total toolbox with cheese but the original where adam gave it the old college try then "Hulked up"

[Fordman]

Give me good 'ole Tex Avery & Pre 1985 Hanna-Barberra cartoons anyday over most of the stuff on Nick. I do remember 'POWDERED TOAST MAN!' on Ren & Stempy.

Droopy is my favorite along with this one below:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVEBgESH4Ew[/youtube]

Classic!

Call me old, but I'll take the pre-movie cartoons anyday!

Fordman

[Ummon]

I didn't say anything about 80s cartoons. They were/are bad. The only thing they had going for them was, in many cases, great animators (often japanese houses), and cool space ship/robot ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. GI Joe was one of the worst, because everybody got shot and no one really even got injured. Robotech was the only great one in that respect, as there were unabashed adult themes, and people died by the truck load - which in a war they ---smurfing--- can and often do.

A lot of that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- in the 70s, like Captain Caveman, was definitely HB milking the Scooby-Doo franchise. As with many other 60s stuff, the original SD was best, story and animation-wise.

Ren and Stimpy was mostly funny, but any of the other similar ones I didn't dig. ---fudgesicle---, I was in my early 20s by that time, anyways.

Simpsons was good, yes - I was still a teen then - but got more and more mainstream as years went on.

A pretty decent Saturday morning cartoon from the 90s that comes to mind is The Tick.

[Ummon]

It bears mentioning that in many of these old tunes I mentioned above, there are girls with thin waists, large hips, and big 'ol asses. Man, where'd they all go?

[Mauzy]

It bears mentioning that in many of these old tunes I mentioned above, there are girls with thin waists, large hips, and big 'ol asses. Man, where'd they all go?

Good point. The "hour glass" has been shattered.

[Rusty Shackelford]

Speaking of MTV cartoons, I still get a kick out of Daria.

My fav was Aeon Flux (recently came out in a box set). Other QUALITY cartoons of mine include Cities of Gold and Uylesses 31 (again recently re-released)

[shardian]

Speaking old cartoons, I picked up a 4 DVD set of classic 'toons for $5 at Wally World last night. Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, Mighty Mouse, Betty Boop, etc. There is even a disclaimer at the beginning stating that "these cartoons were from a different time, and may show stereotypes not supported now. Parental discretion is advised" Or something like that.

Watched a Popeye cartoon first that had: Extreme violence, attempted rape, homosexual activity, and violence against women. SWEET!!!!! I laughed ---my bottom--- off.