Friday Favorite Childhood Cartoons

My supervisor has taken to announcing his lunch break with cartoons. Since we're roughly the same age, our tastes coincide. It's sad that the highlight of my work day is seeing what cartoon he's hyping next, but at work, you must take whatever nuggets of joy you can find.

He's reminded me of those halcyon days of childhood, when I used to drag my arse out of bed at five or six a.m. just so I wouldn't miss my favorite show. Take a trip down Memory Lane with me, why don't you.



Thundercats. Hands-down favorite cartoon evah. I wanted to be Cheetara when I grew up. Everything about this cartoon was awesome, from the characters to the stories to the theme music. Not to mention the logo - whoever designed it was a sheer genius.

There's been talk of a movie in the works. I generally despise live-action - I'm a purist that way - but a fan put together a trailer, and damn if it doesn't look spectacular. I hope the producers are paying attention. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure:




They should just hire this guy to do the film. Seriously.



He-Man. Okay, fine, yes, I'll admit it - She-Ra, too.

But I thought that He-Man had a much better transformation. There's no competition between "I have the power!" and "I am She-ra!" But She-Ra kicked He-Man's ass as far as stunts went. She almost inspired me to become a gymnast.

But Battlecat kicks Swift Wind's ass. Sorry to say. I like unicorns a lot, mind you, but that character was lame.

Almost as lame as He-Man's hairdo. Almost.







Transformers. Oh, yeah. Oh, hell yeah. One of the greatest shows of all time, that was. Although reality never quite matched up to the fantasy - I spent a good portion of my childhood lamenting that my Transformers action figures couldn't transform as fast as in the show, and they didn't make that awesome Transformer noise. I loved that sound!

Optimus Prime was my hero and role-model. He showed that kindness and compassion didn't make you a weak sister. I'm not ashamed to admit I cried like a baby when he died.

Never saw the movie. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Sometimes, you just have to keep the original enshrined in your mind, whole and complete, perfect in itself. Complete with cheesy 80s electronic music.

You're probably getting the idea that I was a total tomboy as a kid. Yepper. Oh, I had my girlie moments, but for the most part, I watched the boys' cartoons and played with boys' toys, and fuck that froufy shit. Didn't watch Care Bears or Rainbow Brite. Didn't sigh over the sparkly fairy fantasies. But there were a couple cartoons in my pantheon that weren't all about rivets and battle.


Scooby-Doo. You knew that was coming, right? I mean, is there anyone who doesn't love Scooby-Doo? This one ran every afternoon after school, and I'd get pissed if the bus was late. It didn't matter how many times I'd seen an episode - I never wanted to miss a minute. I of course wanted a dog just like Scooby. And I became known as the Scooby-Dooby-Doo girl at school because I'd sing the theme song on the swings.

The show may have inspired my brief flirtation with the idea of becoming a detective, too.

Shaggy is the official mascot of me and my best friend. We used to hang out with a guy who thought he was Fred - liked to get us into crazy situations in a spirit of investigative adventure. We were always pulling a Shaggy on him: "That's a great plan, Fred. There's just one problem - I ain't doing it." Shaggy taught me the value of just saying no. Ironic, eh?



And, of course, the Smurfs. I don't really want to talk about it. But I'll admit that this is the show that dragged my sorry arse out of bed so early on Saturday mornings.

Besides. Without the Smurfs, we wouldn't have had this awesomely wrong exchange in Twisted Toyfare Theatre #12 (paraphrasing from memory):

Mego Spidey: "Are you really the only girl?"

Smurfette: "Yeah. And for twenty bucks, I'll be your only girl, too."

So wrong it's right.

Weigh in, my darlings. What cartoons kept you glued to the tube as kiddies?