Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

A simple question, you might think...

I had a fairly long discussion today with a young whippersnapper at work and she was of the opinion that the 00's are the golden age of kids cartoons. I had to do a bit of research into the current crop of cartoons ( I'm 34..) and some are pretty damn good. 'Invader Zim', 'Samurai Jack', 'Grim and Evil' and 'Fairly Odd Parents' are all worth a watch. But they seem to be lacking something for me. Compared to 'Dangermouse', 'Count Duckula', 'Bravestarr' and 'He-Man' they are pale imitations of what kids cartoons should be. Not to mention 'MASK', 'Visionaries', and 'Ring Raiders'.

For me, the 80's was easily the golden age. Back in the day when whole cartoon series were based around incredibly popular toys and vice versa.

The 90's suffer the worst for me, with only a few watchable cartoons as far as I'm concerned. 'Dexters Lab', 'Spongebob Squarepants' and 'The Ren And Stimpy Show' are about the best offerings that decade had.

What does Dakka think? Obviously it'll be based on when you were a kid.

And bonus points for YouTube links to your favourite series/episode

I don't know about the decade, but Catch The Pigeon/Wacky Races, Scooby Doo and Tom and Jerry all entertained me a lot as a child, as did Looney Tunes.

The best cartoons are the ones you grew up with.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
The best cartoons are the ones you grew up with.

This. I will say that the old D&D cartoon had some mature themes in that the kids were debating murdering the bad guy to end their torment once and for all (The Dragon's Graveyard). Some of the writing in that held up surprisingly well for the years, unlike most other stuff from then (not that it was pure gold by any means).

Dangermouse wins

Nuff Said

Every decade, feth this "Golden Age" mentality.

“I believe that we, that this planet, hasn't seen its Golden Age. Everybody says its finished ... art's finished, rock and roll is dead, God is dead. feth that! This is my chance in the world. I didn't live back there in Mesopotamia, I wasn't there in the Garden of Eden, I wasn't there with Emperor Han, I'm right here right now and I want now to be the Golden Age ...if only each generation would realise that the time for greatness is right now when they're alive ... the time to flower is now.”
― Patti Smith

In terms of the quality of the shows?

I think the 90's takes it by a mile. Between Rocko's Modern Life, Dexter's Lab, Cow and Chicken, Rugrats, Spongebob, etc, there was some awesome stuff. Plus there were some quality smaller shows like Pirates of Dark Water and stuff like that. Much better voice acting, storylining than most earlier cartoons.

The 80's I feel had a better overall "experience", Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles extended into literally everything, I watched the cartoons, played with the toys, took a TMNT backpack to school, a slightly older neighbor did the same with He-Man and Thundercats, while a cousin had everything Jem, etc. You took those cartoons with you everywhere.

Late 80's to early 90's (let's call it 1985 to '95) would get my vote. TMNT, most of GI JOE and Transformers, Exo Squad, X-men, Centurions, Robocop, Biker Mice from Mars, Bucky O' Hare, Dinoriders, JEM, Adventures of Zelda, Inspector Gadget, Duck Tales, Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, Tiny Toons, Peter Pan and the Pirates... oh, I could keep going. Cartoon gold!

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
The best cartoons are the ones you grew up with.

We have a winner.

You'll always think what you grew up with was better than what kids these days did. That's nostalgia for you.

The 90's also had plenty of good cartoons that you're missing: Beast Wars(I'm not a fan, but the general consensus is that it was one of if the the best Transformers series), Reboot, Ninja Turtles(it may have debuted in '87, but it ran until '96), Tiny Toon Adventures, as well as many cable offerings(which hurt network TV cartoons along with increased FCC regulation). In addition, the 90's saw a big push for syndicated live action shows like Power Rangers, Beetleborgs, et al.

You did not had it in your foreign, far away countries, but the French dubbing of Hokuto No Ken/Fist of the Northern Star (and, to a lesser degree, City Hunter) was epic good!
But Kaeloo is awesomely cool too, so…
Hard to decide.

TMNT and Gargoyles.

Please.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:
Late 80's to early 90's (let's call it 1985 to '95) would get my vote. TMNT, most of GI JOE and Transformers, Exo Squad, X-men, Centurions, Robocop, Biker Mice from Mars, Bucky O' Hare, Dinoriders, JEM, Adventures of Zelda, Inspector Gadget, Duck Tales, Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, Tiny Toons, Peter Pan and the Pirates... oh, I could keep going. Cartoon gold!

Oh snap, forgot about Bucky O'hare!

That said, yeah, I'd agree with that timeline of mid 80's to early 90's, maybe push it out to 96 to include Dexters Lab, but that was a pretty genuinely amazing age of cartoons.

Tip of the hat for Pirates of Dark Water, Vaktathi. I completely forgot about that series but absolutely loved it as a kid!

Right?

That show was awesome, I just rewatched it last year, too bad they never finished it though :(

Robotech
Transformer
GI Joe
Dungeon and Dragons
Amazing Spider-man and Friends
Justice League
Go-Bots
George of the Jungle
Numerous Hanna Barbaraa toons
Old School Walt Disney toons

to many to name compare to the BS their showing today

This is a bit like asking when the best era was for music. 90% of people will say it was when they where youngsters.

That's just the way it is, people tend to have a nostalgia driven affinity to their formative years.

Hairbear bunch, rhoobarb and custard, mr Ben the wombles. King Arthur , the herbs. Hong Kong fuey, noggin the nog. Anyone know the decade?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-bKAYH3Sl8s

 Sigvatr wrote:
Gargoyles.

WORD.

And the original Tom and Jerry cartoons, the new versions are terrible in comparison.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
My last lot were the 70's which isn't on the poll, but I loved this in the 80's .

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-9dbAQJIu1o

 Col wrote:
And the original Tom and Jerry cartoons, the new versions are terrible in comparison.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
My last lot were the 70's which isn't on the poll, but I loved this in the 80's .

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-9dbAQJIu1o

He also m the 60's.
This is where it truly started.
>Scooby Doo and Jose and the Pussy Cats were my start.
Then you got Kimba and Speed Racer [The death count was epic]

Jabber Jaws
Dune Buggy
Space Ghost

The 70 had best. Looney toons, Casper and friends, Popeyes, space ghost, Johnny quest, Hong Kong phooy, super friends, Disney cartoons, live shows like Sid and Marty croft stuff, banana splits, shazam, what else?

Freaking BATMAN!! Screw the rest of those pansy cartoons, the 90s wins the cartoon wars because of melon-fething batman!!

It also had X-men, Spider-Man, gargoyles, Pinky and the Brain, and the start of justice league (99, I believe). Yeah, every other decade can suck it.

I have difficulty separating all the cartoons I watched growing up. In the morning, I could wake up to Tom and Jerry, come home from school and watch Recess, and then catch Fairly Odd Parents in the evening. BBC, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel had reruns of every cartoon you could possibly imagine going all day here in the UK. X-Men, TMNT, Justice League, Superman, Batman, Spider Man, Justice League Unlimited, Dragonball Z, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ed, Edd n' Eddy, Dexter's Lab, Jonny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Transformers, Beast Wars, Duck Tales, Biker Mice From Mars, Top Cat, Nacho Libre, Spongebob, Gargoyles, Rugrats, Hey Arnold, CatDog, the freaking Wild Thornberrys, Scooby Doo, Xiaolin Showdown, the Flintstones, the Smurfs, Wacky Races, Dastardy Stop that Pigeon, and the Jackie Chan Adventures were cartoons I remember watching frequently. Jesus I watched a lot of them.

The best was definitely Samurai Jack. Seriously, it's one of the best tv shows I've ever watched, even to this day.

1720s. Man, that was a great decade for 'toons.

My favorite are all the Loony Toons. Especially Road Runner ones.

I offer the only counterpoint I can to Howard A Treesong's epic post.

The best era for cartoons- are the ones you are actively watching them.

There is an incredibly lasting impact from following a series for years, and watching the arcs emerge and fall while writing them into your memory- and it is even more seductive when you are an adult, watching your kid's choices of cartoons. I'm man enough to admit that some of the newer cartoons are every bit as good as or better than their predecessors.

Transformers Prime was amazing, dark, and featured a sadomasochistic villian who became a zombie vampire empress of one of Cybertron's moons. Characters didn't just have their special power and set in stone personality- they changed and evolved, broke and evolved.

I'm no Brony, but My Little Pony does the episodic morality cartoon better than any I can remember growing up.

Futurama spans the entirety of the period in question, and was canceled every decade without fail- though I suppose it isn't a kids cartoon.

X-men evolutions spear headed a slew of superhero teen shows, which may not have made much sense, but tended to hit more than they missed. Certainly better than James Bond Jr. And Captain Planet... I have very fond memories, but I am willing to bet it is totally unwatchable now.

Red Planet was a phenomenal miniseries, and Exosquad is really questionable as a kids cartoon- fantastic, but not exactly kid friendly.

I think to compare a decade in its totality you have to either choose its three best examples, call them by genre, or compare the hits and the misses.

 iproxtaco wrote:
I have difficulty separating all the cartoons I watched growing up. In the morning, I could wake up to Tom and Jerry, come home from school and watch Recess, and then catch Fairly Odd Parents in the evening. BBC, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel had reruns of every cartoon you could possibly imagine going all day here in the UK. X-Men, TMNT, Justice League, Superman, Batman, Spider Man, Justice League Unlimited, Dragonball Z, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ed, Edd n' Eddy, Dexter's Lab, Jonny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Transformers, Beast Wars, Duck Tales, Biker Mice From Mars, Top Cat, Nacho Libre, Spongebob, Gargoyles, Rugrats, Hey Arnold, CatDog, the freaking Wild Thornberrys, Scooby Doo, Xiaolin Showdown, the Flintstones, the Smurfs, Wacky Races, Dastardy Stop that Pigeon, and the Jackie Chan Adventures were cartoons I remember watching frequently. Jesus I watched a lot of them.

The best was definitely Samurai Jack. Seriously, it's one of the best tv shows I've ever watched, even to this day.

Yeah, that's the same for me I watched cartoons from all sorts of countries and eras as a kid so it's hard for me come up with a best decade (the truth is there is none they all have good stuff if you look hard enough).

I grew up in the 80's/90's, so I'd be inclined to go for those decades. Even though the quality isn't always the best, you kinda forget the crappiness due to childhood nostalgia.

However, the 00's had some pretty cool stuff as well, from Invader Zim to Avatar the Last Airbender.

The 1980s were the advent of the toy commercial masquerading as entertainment.

I'm not a child of the '60s, and the '60s and '70s weren't included in the poll (betraying the age of the OP, I imagine), but I don't see how the '60s can lose.

Scooby-Doo
The Flintstones
Jonny Quest
Yogi Bear
The Jetsons
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Underdog
Space Ghost
Herculoids
George of the Jungle
The Pink Panther
etc.

Those are freakin' *iconic* characters and shows. The '60s also had numerous superhero cartoons (Spider-Man probably the most memorable due to the theme song). And you also had other older cartoons that were still airing like Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, etc.

"Golden Age" can mean different things. But if we're talking about classic and iconic shows, it's the '60s, hands down.