CBR's "Top Ten Cartoons That Aged Terribly/Or Are Timeless"

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by pferreira

Thank you. Just because it was targeting a young audience at the time doesn't mean it still isn't a good cartoon series today.

I give them credit for putting RGB as timeless but almost everything in that list is total nonsense. Transformers was a worse offender than TMNT of trying to sell toys. Hasbro literally gave the writers notes as to which Transformers to include in each episode which made the episodes not only formulaic (energon cubes again?) but totally cynical. Sure Transformers may be one of the most famous cartoons of the 80s but in terms of actual quality it's one of the worst. For all those people like neatoman that complain the FW series was a toy commercial it was nowhere near as bad the Transformers. The FW series at least had variety in it's plots and while it had a toyline you could make the same argument for pretty much 90% of every cartoon series made in the last four decades. At the very least the 80s cartoon was B tier in terms of quality.

I personally have no interest in toys at all but I still manage to enjoy many shows that were made for selling toys and aimed at a younger audience like Tmnt, He-Man, and My Little Pony.

Some people say I take the shows too seriously, but to me the opposite seems true. Like if you're being overly critical of a show for wanting to make a profit, aren't you the one taking it seriously instead of me for having fun with the show and wondering about the continuity of FW tmnt?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

for having fun with the show and wondering about the continuity of FW tmnt?

During the early-2000's, when TMNT was still a childhood memory for people in their early-20's, this was a great place, people would still discuss topics and be happy for what had been produced (Mirage-Image, MWS, Archie, three films and Next Mutations). There were no crossovers, and one of the most fascinating characters were Krang (his origin in Dimension X, his home-planet and species, how he first came to Earth).

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

Some people say I take the shows too seriously, but to me the opposite seems true. Like if you're being overly critical of a show for wanting to make a profit, aren't you the one taking it seriously instead of me for having fun with the show and wondering about the continuity of FW tmnt?

I have nothing against a cartoon trying to make money off toys but Transformers was such a cynical exercise in money making. I can't understand how anyone can have a go at the 80s TMNT cartoon series when stuff like Transformers, GI Joe and MASK were far more exploitative (although the later was actually a well written cartoon so that's at least something).

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by pferreira

I have nothing against a cartoon trying to make money off toys but Transformers was such a cynical exercise in money making. I can't understand how anyone can have a go at the 80s TMNT cartoon series when stuff like Transformers, GI Joe and MASK were far more exploitative (although the later was actually a well written cartoon so that's at least something).

Probably because TMNT sold everything from action figures to pizzas.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Probably because TMNT sold everything from action figures to pizzas.

Yeah, marketing cashcow. It's foolish to claim it was any less exploitative than Transformers or GI Joe.

[sdp]

Originally Posted by Ninjinister

...the f**k?

I tried watching a few episodes a few years ago and just couldn't do it. The voice acting is poor (Cullen actually improved with age/time/experience, for one), the animation is well... standard for the 80s, and all else I have to say is CARBOMBYA.

Actually I think the TMNT is the only 80s cartoon I can still stomach and that may be partially due to bias. 80s cartoons did not age well at all.

As a kid I could instantly recognize shows from the 80s and hated that "old" crap, if it wasn't new 90s stuff I knew the plot would suck and nothing ever happened.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by sdp

As a kid I could instantly recognize shows from the 80s and hated that "old" crap, if it wasn't new 90s stuff I knew the plot would suck and nothing ever happened.

Was that post-animated Batman?

[sdp]

Basically but I was lenient on those transitional 89-91 shows that were moving on from the 90s yet still reeked a bit from 80s style.

Funny how each decade has cartoons that define it in style just like music. As we grow older we forgive the flaws and tend to like cuz of nostalgia the decade specific things.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by sdp

Basically but I was lenient on those transitional 89-91 shows that were moving on from the 90s yet still reeked a bit from 80s style.

Funny how each decade has cartoons that define it in style just like music. As we grow older we forgive the flaws and tend to like cuz of nostalgia the decade specific things.

Did you know TMNT debuted in 1987 back then?

[sdp]

I consider TMNT one of those decade transitional shows, it's a mix of the 80s and 90s style, but it's nothing like the average 80s show while basically jump starting the 90s style. Most of those very late 80s shows that continued into the 90s are like this.

I mean 90s shows might seem cheesy now but they evolved cartoons a lot from what was expected in the 80s and that's what lead to the cartoons we got in the early 00's.

I didn't watch much of the OT as a kid, only a few episodes here and there since it wasn't on the air as much If you notice TMNT fans on the internet who grew up with the OT is divided in age groups, you have the late 20s early 30s crowd and the late 30s early 40s crowd. Both 80s and 90s kids grew up with the turtles, only ones got into it as little kids and others as older kids. Not many franchises have such a big impact on such a wide range of kids ages only one I can think of is Pokemon. Normally cartoons have a smaller ranger of kids who get into it as it would just be too "kiddy" or "serious" for the other ranger.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Doesn't the homour in the MWS serie makes it a lot more 1990's than 1980's?

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Definitely. It changed tone a lot after the first season, and by season three it had gone more comedy than action, partly due to "soccer moms", But that change in focus also helped change the direction toward a more "hip and clever" tone that later defined 90's toons.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

Definitely. It changed tone a lot after the first season, and by season three it had gone more comedy than action, partly due to "soccer moms", But that change in focus also helped change the direction toward a more "hip and clever" tone that later defined 90's toons.

Season 3 still had more action with a little comedy. It wasn't until early/mid Season 4 they went more slapstick. Shredder also loses his competence completely in Season 4.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Season 3 still had more action with a little comedy. It wasn't until early/mid Season 4 they went more slapstick. Shredder also loses his competence completely in Season 4.

I think we can all say the series began to jump the shark during season 3.

Season 3 begins with "Beneath These Streets", which is actually dark and Shredder almost seemed to kill Splinter.

Then comes "Turtles on Trial", which is cool, with a real badass Krang in that robot-weapon at the end.

Third is "Attack of the 50 Foot Irma". Here comes a lot what would define seasons 3-7.

Finally comes the "Big Trilogy", but those great moving Technodrome-episodes wouldn't come often.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

I think we can all say the series began to jump the shark during season 3.

Season 3 begins with "Beneath These Streets", which is actually dark and Shredder almost seemed to kill Splinter.

Then comes "Turtles on Trial", which is cool, with a real badass Krang in that robot-weapon at the end.

Third is "Attack of the 50 Foot Irma". Here comes a lot what would define seasons 3-7.

Finally comes the "Big Trilogy", but those great moving Technodrome-episodes wouldn't come often.

Exactly. Three also had episodes like The Gangs All Here and Michelangelos Birthday, both of which began with the more serious premise from earlier seasons, and brcame increasingly comedic as they progressed.

[sdp]

Until it changed once more for a more serious theme in tone with the 90s superhero shows for the last 3 seasons.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by sdp

Until it changed once more for a more serious theme in tone with the 90s superhero shows for the last 3 seasons.

Except those mutations, I like seasons 8-10.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Season 3 still had more action with a little comedy. It wasn't until early/mid Season 4 they went more slapstick. Shredder also loses his competence completely in Season 4.

Have we been watching the same show? I remember season 3 being mostly comedic/slapstick and Shredder was always incompetent even early on despite being fairly threatening.

[CyberCubed]

The difference is Season 3 mixed some action with humor, and while there were some silly episodes, it didn't feel completely slapstick till around Season 4 bar some of the better episodes.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Hence why I said it STARTED with season three. By four we were into full-on comedy mode. But it started earlier, with episodes like the ones mentioned above. Keep up, man!

And yeah, the last three seasons were changed to compete more with shows like X-Men, Spider-Man, Gargoyles, and the like.