After seeing the recent attempts at cartoon shows on TV I started to think about all the great shows I watched as a kid and how amazing they are compared against todays shows.
The cartoons on the air now seem to be there more to sell a product to a kid than to actually entertain or teach a lesson which generally the main point of all the shows I watched growing up.
Compiled is a list of shows I used to watch and they are in no particular order or preference but simply gathered to share my trip down memory lane.
Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers
Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers is an American animated series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Created by Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove, it featured the established Disney characters Chip ‘n Dale in a new setting. The series premiered on the Disney Channel on March 5, 1989[1]. It technically premiered with a two-hour movie, Rescue Rangers: To the Rescue, which was later broken up into a five-part pilot and aired as the opening of the second season. The final episode aired on November 19, 1990.
In the fall of 1989, the series was syndicated from September 18. In 1990, as a part of the Disney Afternoon line up, reruns of the show were aired until September 3, 1993[1].
TaleSpin
The series centered on the adventures of bush pilot Baloo the bear, whose air cargo freight business, “Baloo’s Air Service,” is purchased by Rebecca Cunningham upon his default on delinquent bills with the bank and renamed “Higher for Hire.” An orphan boy and former air pirate, the ambitious Kit Cloudkicker, attaches to Baloo and becomes his navigator. He sometimes calls him “Papa Bear”. Together, they are the crew of Higher for Hire’s only aircraft, a modified Conwing L-16 (a fictitious combination of a Fairchild C-119 transport and a Grumman HU-16 amphibian), named the Sea Duck. From there, the series follows the ups and downs of Higher for Hire and its staff, sometimes in the vein of old action-adventure film serials of the 1930s and ’40s and contemporary variations, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Darkwing Duck
Darkwing Duck is about the adventures of the titular superhero, aided by his sidekick and pilot Launchpad. In his secret identity of Drake Mallard, he lives in an unassuming suburban house with his adopted daughter Gosalyn, next door to the bafflingly dim-witted Muddlefoot family. Darkwing struggles to balance his egotistical craving for fame and attention against his desire to be a good father to Gosalyn and help do good in St. Canard. Most episodes put these two aspects of Darkwing’s character in direct conflict, though Darkwing’s better nature usually prevails.
Duck Tales
The show features the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his great-nephews. The nephews, who were originally living with their uncle Donald, are left in Scrooge’s care when the former joins the Navy.
Though Scrooge is the richest duck in the world, he constantly tries to find ways to increase his wealth. Many episodes involve protecting his wealth from villains who want to rob Scrooge of all his money. The prominent recurring antagonists in the show include the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell who are always finding ways to rob and swindle Scrooge and his nephews. Scrooge’s nemesis in the show is Flintheart Glomgold, who always tries to devise plans to dethrone Scrooge McDuck from his “Richest Duck in the World” title. A few of the stories also surround Scrooge’s, “Number One Dime” which is the source of Scrooge’s good luck and wealth. Scrooge keeps the dime in a glass jar in his money vault, and constantly protects it from the villains on the show.
Inspector Gadget
Gadget works as an inspector for the Metro City police department. His missions often take him to a different exotic locale, generally without giving any explanation as to how a crime on the other side of the earth would be of any interest to, or even within the jurisdiction of, a city police department like the Metro City police, which included in one episode solving a rash of disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle, which turned out to be another M.A.D. plot.
The Racoons
Note: A great show here in Canada – not sure if it ever made it to the USA stations
The series features the adventures in the Evergreen Forest, “quiet, peaceful, serene”, (which is depicted to be in Western Canada) of Bert Raccoon and his friends Ralph and Melissa, particularly in their attempts to thwart the industrialist actions of pink aardvark Cyril Sneer and his trio of pig henchmen. Another interesting character was the capitalist Mr. Knox—a crocodile with a New Orleans accent. Cyril’s son Cedric is Bert’s best friend.
Gummi Bears
The series focuses on the escapades of the eponymous “Gummi Bears,” anthropomorphic bears who are the last remnants of a once-great civilization of Gummis that fled the land centuries ago when humans, jealous of the advancements and magical skills of the Gummi Bears, forced the species into exile. Now regarded by most of humankind as fairytales, the show’s main cast of Gummi Bears (six in number at the outset of the series, increased to seven during the third season) live in the vast subterranean warren of Gummi Glen in the medieval kingdom of Dunwyn.
Thunder Cats
When the ThunderCats awake from their suspended animation on Third Earth, Lion-O discovers that his suspension capsule has only slowed his aging, and he is now a child in the body of a man. Together, the ThunderCats and the friendly natives of Third Earth construct the “Cat’s Lair,” their new home and headquarters, but before long, the Mutants have tracked them down to Third Earth. The intrusion of these two alien races upon the world does not go unnoticed, however – the demonic, mummified sorcerer, Mumm-Ra, recruits the Mutants to aid him in his campaign to acquire the Eye of Thundera and destroy the ThunderCats so that his evil might continue to hold sway over Third Earth.[6]
He-Man & The Masters of the Universe
The show takes place on the fictional planet of Eternia, a planet of magic, myth and fantasy. The show’s lead character is Prince Adam, the young son of Eternia’s rulers, King Randor and Queen Marlena. Whenever Prince Adam uses the Power Sword, and when he holds it aloft and says the magic words “By the Power of Grayskull”!” he is transformed into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. Together with his close allies, Battle Cat (who undergoes a similar transformation from being Adam’s cowardly pet tiger Cringer), Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko, He-Man uses his powers to defend Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor.
Captain Planet
Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, is awakened from a long sleep by human activity threatening ecosystems, taking place across the globe. Realizing that the damage is extensive, Gaia sends five magic rings, each with the power to control an element of nature and one controlling an extra element, heart, to five chosen youths across the globe: Kwame from Africa, Wheeler from North America, Linka from Soviet Union (changed to Eastern Europe after the Soviet Union’s collapse), Gi from Asia and Ma-Ti from South America.
Get Along Gang
Each of the characters had obvious faults, which they learned to overcome with the aid of their friends. For instance, Montgomery Moose, the group’s leader, was quite clumsy. Woolma Lamb was extremely vain and self-centered, and Dotty Dog could be careless. Bingo Beaver could be greedy, and tended to get himself and/or others into trouble though he was not mean-spirited like the Gang’s enemy, Catchum Crocodile.
Transformers
The Autobots and Decepticons, now stuck on Earth, continued their war more ferociously than ever. The Decepticons wished to drain Earth of all its resources, converting it into energon for their use, while the Autobots were committed to stopping them, and to protecting the human race. This era would later be referred to by Transformers as the “Great War.” The war was almost ended as soon as it began, as the Decepticons gained an early lead, and were even able to build a space cruiser to leave Earth, however Autobot intervention prevented them from escaping orbit.
Voltron
In this undefined future era, the Voltron Force was in charge of protecting the planet Arus (ruled by Princess Allura) from the evil King Zarkon (from planet Doom), his son Lotor, and the witch Haggar, who would create huge Robeasts to terrorize the people of Arus. Despite being the first of the two robots to appear on American television, the “GoLion” version of Voltron was regarded as “Voltron III” within the storyline because, within the original planned “three-Voltron” continuity, Arus was the furthest setting from Earth’s side of the universe (“Voltron I” being intended for the Near Universe, and “Voltron II” for the Middle Universe).
