Were the 90's the best decade for cartoons ever?

[CyberCubed]

I was just thinking about how some of the best cartoons of all time aired during the 90's:

- Original TMNT cartoon (hey it still had 7 more seasons from 1990-1996)

- Batman: TAS

- Superman: TAS

- Batman Beyond

- Spiderman: TAS

- X-men: TAS

- The Simpsons

- Gargoyles

- Animaniacs

- Tiny Toon Adventures

- Disney Animated Movies were at their peak

I could go on and on, I love how most of my childhood was actually spent watching QUALITY animation. The 90's were an incredible decade for animation.

[snake]

I need to watch : Batman : TAS and Spiderman ( TAS). I'll check those out, it'll keep me over until Turtles comes back.

[Cure]

No. Every era has their peaks and valleys.

[CyberCubed]

No. Every era has their peaks and valleys.

The 2000's had a number of great shows as well, but that's when the anime craze happened and we got cheap anime dubs on TV instead of more quality American animation.

Still the 2000's gave us Justice League, Teen Titans, TMNT 2k3, Futurama, X-men Evolution, Young Justice, Spectacular Spiderman, Avatar, etc.

[NinjaPug]

The 90s had some great cartoons. I'd add the original Disney Afternoon Block (DuckTales, Chip n Dale's Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck) to your list.

Also a big fan of Doug and Ren & Stimpy on Nick.

[Cure]

The 2000's had a number of great shows as well, but that's when the anime craze happened and we got cheap anime dubs on TV instead of more quality American animation.


Like I said, peaks and valleys. Think there aren't any sh*tty 90's cartoons?

[CyberCubed]

Like I said, peaks and valleys. Think there aren't any sh*tty 90's cartoons?

Of course there were, its just that there were so many stand out cartoons that it didn't matter. The 90's is where animation could actually be taken as a serious medium for the first time, outside the classic WB Bugs Bunny/Tom and Jerry/Popeye shorts and Flintstones/Jetsons, etc.

It opened peoples eyes that cartoons could be enjoyed by adults and not just kids.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Can't think of any off-hand. Maybe Bevis and Butthead (hate me if you will, but I can't STAND them!) or Ren and Stimpy IMO. For more great cartoons though, the 90's also had Reboot, Transformers Beast Wars, Pinky and the Brain, and Aeon Flux(on MTV back in the day), and still had classics like Bugs Bunny & co, and reruns of some of the better 80's toons.

[Peanut]

The 90's Marvel stuff is f*cking atrocious. Doesn't hold up well at all to someone without the blinders on. Don't use those as a basis for anything.

I'd personally go with the 00's for the Adult Swim line-up alone, but there's so much more that I love from that era. Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, Samurai Jack, Digimon Tamers, PRIME SpongeBob, AVATAR, Fullmetal Alchemist, the Genndy Clone Wars, Samurai Champloo, Brave and the Bold, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Spectacular Spider-Man, and X-Men Evolution off the top of my head.

The best part about the majority of the 00's stuff? It holds up! There's so much 80's/90's sh*t that I absolutely love and have a soft spot for that are straight up unwatchable trash.

And if anything, the new decade has begun with some straight club bangers with sh*t like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Legend of Korra, The Looney Tunes show and the new TMNT that'll give the 90's a run, even if I think they've already lost to the new millennium.

[BabyTurtles]

90's had some good cartoons :) but it only got better from there XD

I love recent cartoons just as much as I loved the 90's cartoons (maybe even more)

[STORMSHADOW__210]

I love the 90s but i think the 80s OWNED the 90s..thunder cats,heman,real ghostbusters,ducktales,smurfs,gi joe,g1 tfs,tmnt,...i could do this all day.

[LeoNerdo]

I know that I'm biased because I was a 90s kid who watched everything that was on, whereas I don't watch a lot of TV let alone current cartoons these days. There were a ton of great shows I love from the time being produced by WB, Disney, Nick, CN, etc. At the same time I can go back and watch some of the shows now as an adult that I liked, acknowledge that it's pretty crappy, and still enjoy it.

[Powder]

Best is pretty subjective, but I'd say it's no doubt my favorite. There are goodies across many decades, though. The old school Cartoon Network & Nick toons are my preferred series' but there's been some equally good stuff since.

[Wildcat]

I think everyone thinks that their era of TV/Movies was the best.

I was born in '84. Only cartoons I remember watching were TMNT, Real Ghostbusters and Woody Woodpecker. Obviously the 90s was the dominant era of my childhood.

I do think cartoons were better but sometimes I think its just because Ive already seen all the same concepts and ideas.

However alot of stuff seems really cliche and is just played up because kids will think its "cool". When really its as typical and predictable as ever....*cough-Transformers Prime-cough*. Some are just stupid for the sake of cheap laughs.

Then there are cartoons that actually make extra effort to be more creative like NickTMNT, MLP, Gravity Falls. Phineas and Ferb too but that became painfully cliche. Its like they ran out of material.

One thing I always remember when comparing...how many current cartoons are based on pre-existing franchises as opposed to original material?...there's your answer.

[ZariusTwo]

Each decade somewhat does things better than the previous one. Despite the commercalist nature of the shows, stuff from the 80s were better than output from the 70s, 90s were leuges better than the 80s, and 00s, as Peanut says, eclispes the 90s in terms of quality output, and now in our current decade we're getting stuff that is even better than that.

Of course, as with the 80s, the 90s are now coming under a period of reevaluation, and we're starting to notice all the terrible things about that decade from fashion to music to cartoon quality. For example, a lot of early season one/two Simpsons is attrotious to rewatch and feels more out of touch than the current crop of episodes, and Batman:TAS, as good as it is, does have some stinkers in it, mostly from the last season when they watered it down slightly. Superman:TAS is great, but does have a load of bad eggs in it as well, of course, the DCAU is "untouchable" on the internet and blasting it is like kneeing Abe Linchon in the balls

Of course shows from the 00s are going to hold up better than others...right now. It's not even been two decades for any of them so we'll see just how far they "age". I think a lot of shows from the 80s and 90s stand up because I view them as products of their time and in that context, they are fine. People rebel against things they cherish because of our predictable levels of pessimisum.

[Jester]

No. Every era has their peaks and valleys.
This. For ever great show of an era, there are dozens that time forgot.
The 2000's had a number of great shows as well, but that's when the anime craze happened and we got cheap anime dubs on TV instead of more quality American animation.
You do realize that "quality American animation" hasn't happened in America in decades?

[Guitar_Raph]

My favorites in the 90's; Captain Planet, NKOTB, Doug, Yo Yogi, Reboot, Schookems & Meat Funny Cartoon Show.

It was ashamed that in 1992, NBC threw in the towel & had Saturday Today (they had plans to start that in 1982, but the Smurfs threw a monkey wrench in their proposal) plus TNBC.

1993 had the Power Ranger boom, that live action shows cropped up.

[Plasticplayhouse]

The 90's Marvel stuff is f*cking atrocious. Doesn't hold up well at all to someone without the blinders on. Don't use those as a basis for anything.

I'd personally go with the 00's for the Adult Swim line-up alone, but there's so much more that I love from that era. Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, Samurai Jack, Digimon Tamers, PRIME SpongeBob, AVATAR, Fullmetal Alchemist, the Genndy Clone Wars, Samurai Champloo, Brave and the Bold, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Spectacular Spider-Man, and X-Men Evolution off the top of my head.

The best part about the majority of the 00's stuff? It holds up! There's so much 80's/90's sh*t that I absolutely love and have a soft spot for that are straight up unwatchable trash.

And if anything, the new decade has begun with some straight club bangers with sh*t like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Legend of Korra, The Looney Tunes show and the new TMNT that'll give the 90's a run, even if I think they've already lost to the new millennium.
dude, Adventure Time and the Regular Show are already earning major points for this era. i love those shows! TMNT is very good too. I also LOVE Legend of Korra and the Last Airbender. Hell, I'd rank those two shows alone as two of the best all time.

No. Every era has their peaks and valleys.

90's was good, but my personal favorite was the 80's:
Transformers
GI Joe
Smurfs
He-Man
ThunderCats
M.A.S.K.
Spiderman and his amazing friends
Fraggle Rock
the Real Ghost Busters
the Simpsons
Heathcliff
Garfield and Friends
Dennis the Menace
Dungeons and Dragons
Fat Albert
Star Blazers
Disney's Adventures of the Gummybears
Voltron
Snorks
the Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin
BraveStarr
Inspector Gadget
Duck Tales
Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers
Pac Man
Super Mario Bros. show
Legend of Zelda
Shirt Tales
Wuzzles
Getalong Gang
TMNT i believe came out in 87 or 88, so even though its primarily a 90's show, i'll include it :)


and some others that i loved to watch "in the closet" :goofygri:
Jem
Rainbow Bright
Care Bares
Beverly Hills Teens

[pannoni1]

The '90s was probably the most diversified decade for animation. The Warner Bros. Silver Age took place and arguably having the best product from that studio since the '50s. To me what sets the '90s apart more than any other decades is that it began the trend of CGI animation, with Toy Story of course ensuring that it was here to day. The term "cartoon" seems to be used less however when regarding 3D animation, and tends to identify with being hand-drawn. That's another reason why the '90s should be enjoyed since it was the last time that cel painting was popular. In between, you also had the Disney movies mix cel painting with some CG effects.

Finally, programming in the '90s was the best. You had still had the syndicated morning shows like you did in the '80s, afternoon syndicated blocks (in the early part of the '90s this is how I watched TMNT's reruns of the first three seasons and part of S4), The Disney Afternoon, and the rise of cable animation (Nicktoons, Cartoon Network, Disney) that continues to this day. Saturday Morning cartoons, especially early on still had some relevance. PBS had some E/I friendly shows before it became mainstream.

Now for those saying that the 00's hold up is because its a recent decade in which technology, slang, and plot trends would still make it relevant. I didn't watch much cartoons in the 00's since I viewed them as for kids as I went through high school, college, and my early years at work. Its something I'll have to look back (besides 4kids TMNT) to see which shows are the best. But I felt that the writing in the '90s was better, which was the transition from episodic cartoons to more story-based series.

Ironically NBC does air a short Saturday morning block geared towards preschoolers, and Saturday Today has shrunk in many areas from two hours back to one hour.

[CyberCubed]

What good 2000 shows were there if you exclude anime? I remember the 2000's being considered the "recession" after the 90's renassaince.

We got some gems like Justice League, Teen Titans, TMNT 2k3, Futurama, Avengers, Spectacular Spiderman, etc. What else?

I remember KidsWB going to hell around this time and the 4kids block was filled with anime hack dubs.

[Peanut]

I already mentioned several above. Even if you don't count the incredible stuff from the Adult Swim block, stuff like Samurai Jack and Avatar: TLA absolutely blow the doors off of any 90's cartoon you can bring to the table.

[sdp]

I think the 90s are definitely the best but I am indeed biased as well and seeing it through nostalgia glasses. I do think that 2000's are a close second if not indeed better as Peanut mentions. Maybe the 2000's had less shows I was interested in but then again I am not a kid and hence not their target audience, however the few shows that are amazing are indeed better than almost everything from the 90s. The main problem 2000's shows have is I wasn't a kid and they'll never be as magical.

Now I think we can all agree 90s cartoons are indeed better than any 80s show or even previous decades. It wasn't until the 90s when some cartoons started getting some respect. I know someone will bring up looney toon shorts but meh, I liked them but I don't consider them the epitome of classic.

[CyberCubed]

I already mentioned several above. Even if you don't count the incredible stuff from the Adult Swim block, stuff like Samurai Jack and Avatar: TLA absolutely blow the doors off of any 90's cartoon you can bring to the table.

I saw all of Samurai Jack and found the majority of it to be rather dull. The action scenes were great, but that's really all it was. All style, no substance. Would have worked better simply as a show showing a bunch of fighting, the actual story stuff was horrendous.

I haven't seen Avatar yet, but the anime-ish designs they went with turn me off. I really hate it when American cartoons try to mimic anime style. It really just reeks of wanna-be anime.

[Cure]

I haven't seen Avatar yet, but the anime-ish designs they went with turn me off. I really hate it when American cartoons try to mimic anime style. It really just reeks of wanna-be anime.

Goes to show how dumb biases prevent people from giving something a proper chance.

[Bauer536]

I don't think there is truly a "great" decade for cartoons. There are great cartoons, but not great decades. I mean, when people say that 90s Nick was better than today's, they need to re-watch Rocko and Angry Beavers or CatDog. If you think about it, if it wasn't from your childhood, they are pretty ridiculous. Nothing really has changed. It just depends on the show itself.

[Cure]

Wow, f*cking CatDog. I had forgotten all about that. Terrible show.

[CyberCubed]

A lot of the shows I watched when I was a kid I probably wouldn't revisit as an adult. Especially a lot of the kids-comedy type cartoons, I feel the only ones that hold up are very few.

[Bauer536]

The only ones I liked were Hey Arnold!, a bit of Rugrats, and Blue's Clues (with Steve Burns). That was it. If you were to play them today, I can guarantee it wouldn't bother me as much.

[Peanut]

Maybe the 2000's had less shows I was interested in but then again I am not a kid and hence not their target audience, however the few shows that are amazing are indeed better than almost everything from the 90s. The main problem 2000's shows have is I wasn't a kid and they'll never be as magical.

More people need to realize this and have the mental capacity to admit it. Good on you, sdp.

I saw all of Samurai Jack and found the majority of it to be rather dull. The action scenes were great, but that's really all it was. All style, no substance. Would have worked better simply as a show showing a bunch of fighting, the actual story stuff was horrendous.

I haven't seen Avatar yet, but the anime-ish designs they went with turn me off. I really hate it when American cartoons try to mimic anime style. It really just reeks of wanna-be anime.

Ugh. OK. Clearly the exact opposite of someone I'd want to have a conversation with.

[Jester]

I saw all of Samurai Jack and found the majority of it to be rather dull. The action scenes were great, but that's really all it was. All style, no substance. Would have worked better simply as a show showing a bunch of fighting, the actual story stuff was horrendous.

I haven't seen Avatar yet, but the anime-ish designs they went with turn me off. I really hate it when American cartoons try to mimic anime style. It really just reeks of wanna-be anime.Ugh. OK. Clearly the exact opposite of someone I'd want to have a conversation with.
Cybercubed is basically our forums version of this SNL Weekend Update Character:
http://sharetv.org/images/screenshot/493443.jpg

[CyberCubed]

Ugh. OK. Clearly the exact opposite of someone I'd want to have a conversation with.

Simply because I thought Samurai Jack was boring? Its not exactly an unpopular opinion, I've seen many people who watched the entire show say its only worth watching for the action sequences.

As for Avatar I haven't watched it, but I wish they went with a traditional american style animation.

[Peanut]

No, it's because you're the kind of person who dismisses strong points to serve your opinion. You don't want a conversation, you only want people to agree with your statement. It's boring to talk to someone like that.

[TurtleTitan97]

I saw all of Samurai Jack and found the majority of it to be rather dull. The action scenes were great, but that's really all it was. All style, no substance. Would have worked better simply as a show showing a bunch of fighting, the actual story stuff was horrendous.

I haven't seen Avatar yet, but the anime-ish designs they went with turn me off. I really hate it when American cartoons try to mimic anime style. It really just reeks of wanna-be anime.

So the reason you haven't bothered to watch Avatar, a show that has gotten a bunch of critical praise, is just because you don't like the animation style? I'm sorry, but that makes no sense. Avatar is a beautifully animated series and is without a doubt the best action show from Nickelodeon. You don't need to be a fan of anime to enjoy it.

The same goes for Samurai Jack, that show was anything but boring. I've read a bunch of reviews for this show and none mention that it is boring.

[AT-Man]

Avatar is a beautifully animated series and is without a doubt the best action show from Nickelodeon. You don't need to be a fan of anime to enjoy it.

And vice versa, if you like anime, there's no reason why you couldn't like Avatar too.

Judging by my latest list I made in the favorite TV shows thread, 2000s has more great cartoon shows than before that. It's pretty much a tie between SpongeBob and Avatar TLA + Korra, about which one is my all time favorite. And I've said before that I like the 200X MOTU and TMNT more than the originals. I really appreciate how the story and continuity is much more relevant in the 2000s cartoons than in 90s. Based on what I have watched, of course.

[CyberCubed]

The same goes for Samurai Jack, that show was anything but boring. I've read a bunch of reviews for this show and none mention that it is boring.

I watched the entire span of Samurai Jack. Not just a few episodes, but every single episodes.

At the beginning of the series I was excited about it because Jack was lost in a new land, it seemed like it had a story going with Aku and everything, but as it progressed it just pretty much turned into "action scenes" where the story elements were an afterthought.

After a while it became obvious the show only existed to watch Jack slash a whole bunch of enemies up.

[Ecto Jedi]

I agree with Peanut. And virtually everyone else. Nostalgia will try to argue otherwise, but most cartoons from the '80s/'90s are absolutely atrocious when seen today. TMNT comes to mind, as does Transformers, the progenitors of two of the most successful and most popular animated franchises of all time.

Still, I think it deserves saying: The Simpsons absolutely f*cking ruled in the '90s. Stuff from '93 all the way up to '97/'98 is gold. Even the animation of the '90s-era Simpsons has more style and substance, and character, than its more modern incarnation has had in over a decade.

If we were to judge it from that alone, then yeah, you'd pretty much conclude that the '90s were amazing and the '00s were absolute garbage.

[CyberCubed]

I agree with Peanut. And virtually everyone else. Nostalgia will try to argue otherwise, but most cartoons from the '80s/'90s are absolutely atrocious when seen today. TMNT comes to mind, as does Transformers, the progenitors of two of the most successful and most popular animated franchises of all time.

Original TMNT is still great. The reason it hasn't aged badly is because it was always a self-aware comedy series to begin with. The entire show was one big joke.

[Ecto Jedi]

Original TMNT is still great. The reason it hasn't aged badly is because it was always a self-aware comedy series to begin with. The entire show was one big joke.

Uhuh. Humour either ages well or it doesn't. Sometimes it doesn't.

And it's just great how in the span of about a decade's worth of episodes the animators still couldn't keep track of which voice belonged to which turtle or indeed learn not to have two Leonardos (or Donatellos, or Raphaels) in a single shot.

[Cure]

Peanut's right, he has no intention of discussing it; just wants everyone to agree with him.

[The Sewer Lord]

Peanut's right, he has no intention of discussing it; just wants everyone to agree with him.

That's correct.

[CyberCubed]

Uhuh. Humour either ages well or it doesn't. Sometimes it doesn't.

And it's just great how in the span of about a decade's worth of episodes the animators still couldn't keep track of which voice belonged to which turtle or indeed learn not to have two Leonardos (or Donatellos, or Raphaels) in a single shot.

What does animation errors have to do with anything? All shows have those, they were just more noticeable with TMNT.

[Peanut]

Are you serious? Horrible, lazy and continuous animation errors don't have anything to do with the quality of a show, but you're sh*tting on Avatar for being influenced by Eastern animation styles?

You're full on clown shoes, dude.

[CyberCubed]

Are you serious? Horrible, lazy and continuous animation errors don't have anything to do with the quality of a show, but you're sh*tting on Avatar for being influenced by Eastern animation styles?

You're full on clown shoes, dude.

Different animation styles is for different tastes. I'm sure we've all been turned off from certain shows by their design. A lot of people for example hated the Spectacular Spiderman designs or that the Nick TMNT cartoon is CG, whereas I don't have any problems with that.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

I was in high school in the 90's, yet I STILL came home every afternoon or woke up early enough on Saturday mornings to watch all those "great" cartoons like OT TMNT, Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman TAS, and Gargoyles. None of the cartoons from the past decade have done that for me- until the Nick TMNT. Simpsons was pretty good in the beginning, but as time went on, that one has just soured for me. (I have two cousins who absolutely INSISTED on watching it EVERY TIME IT CAME ON- for nearly three years. At two episodes a night, I got tired of it REAL quick.)

But 2000's toons better? Not in my book. I have avoided most of the newer Nick stuff like the plague, since most of it seems trite, low-brow, and terribly uninspired. Spongebob, Phineas and Ferb, Cat-Dog, and others, and even a lot of the newer Disney and WB material just feels so childish, as in on the level of a five-year-old to me. There are a FEW gems- 2K3 TMNT (which I only recently rediscovered- I knew "of" it back then, but by the time I was ever able to watch any of the "original" run, I got- FF.... Yeeah.)

I DO love some of the older CN anime block on Adult Swim- mostly FMA and Inuyasha, as well as the first two&1/2 seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh, and SOME of the early Digimon stuff, but that's about it. Everything else just struck me as mostly trash that was only fun for the 7-under crowd. I like my cartoons to actually make me feel like I haven't just lowered my IQ by watching them, and unfortunately, most 2000's toons do just that. Plus, this past decade gave us both Dora and Diego. Need I say more?

[The Sewer Lord]

Out of the currently airing shows, I view Adventure Time, Regular Show (although that's becoming quite dull), Gravity Falls, the new TMNT, and that's pretty much it.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Out of current animated shows, the only one I'm watching is Nick's TMNT. Funny thing is, I only started watching that one for the sake of completion, since I've seen every episode of the two previous series (and even some of the NM) while I've been delving back into my first cartoon/comic/"superhero" love.

I've tried watching some of the new cartoons that air on Saturday mornings when I have it off, but for the life of me I just can't get into any of them.

[The Stryker]

I was in high school in the 90's, yet I STILL came home every afternoon or woke up early enough on Saturday mornings to watch all those "great" cartoons like OT TMNT, Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman TAS, and Gargoyles. None of the cartoons from the past decade have done that for me- until the Nick TMNT. Simpsons was pretty good in the beginning, but as time went on, that one has just soured for me. (I have two cousins who absolutely INSISTED on watching it EVERY TIME IT CAME ON- for nearly three years. At two episodes a night, I got tired of it REAL quick.)

But 2000's toons better? Not in my book. I have avoided most of the newer Nick stuff like the plague, since most of it seems trite, low-brow, and terribly uninspired. Spongebob, Phineas and Ferb, Cat-Dog, and others, and even a lot of the newer Disney and WB material just feels so childish, as in on the level of a five-year-old to me. There are a FEW gems- 2K3 TMNT (which I only recently rediscovered- I knew "of" it back then, but by the time I was ever able to watch any of the "original" run, I got- FF.... Yeeah.)

I DO love some of the older CN anime block on Adult Swim- mostly FMA and Inuyasha, as well as the first two&1/2 seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh, and SOME of the early Digimon stuff, but that's about it. Everything else just struck me as mostly trash that was only fun for the 7-under crowd. I like my cartoons to actually make me feel like I haven't just lowered my IQ by watching them, and unfortunately, most 2000's toons do just that. Plus, this past decade gave us both Dora and Diego. Need I say more?

Wow.

Dora and Diego is the example you go for? Pre-schooler programming? Are you joking? You know that shows for real little kids has always been around right?

Cartoons ARE mostly made for kids. Some bridge the gap and have story arcs with character development and some are just fun little shows. Don't act like EVERY cartoon in the 90s had adults in mind too. Nothing's changed or gotten worse. You've just gotten older.

[oldmanwinters]

The 90s had its moments, mostly due to Warner Bros. willing to spend a little more on their programming and the FOX network willing to take some bold risks early in their existence.

But, no. The 90s were not the best ever.

[CyberCubed]

What about niche shows like Jackie Chan Adventures or Skeleton Warriors?

[Cure]

I was in high school in the 90's, yet I STILL came home every afternoon or woke up early enough on Saturday mornings to watch all those "great" cartoons like OT TMNT, Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman TAS, and Gargoyles. None of the cartoons from the past decade have done that for me- until the Nick TMNT. Simpsons was pretty good in the beginning, but as time went on, that one has just soured for me. (I have two cousins who absolutely INSISTED on watching it EVERY TIME IT CAME ON- for nearly three years. At two episodes a night, I got tired of it REAL quick.)

But 2000's toons better? Not in my book. I have avoided most of the newer Nick stuff like the plague, since most of it seems trite, low-brow, and terribly uninspired. Spongebob, Phineas and Ferb, Cat-Dog, and others, and even a lot of the newer Disney and WB material just feels so childish, as in on the level of a five-year-old to me. There are a FEW gems- 2K3 TMNT (which I only recently rediscovered- I knew "of" it back then, but by the time I was ever able to watch any of the "original" run, I got- FF.... Yeeah.)

I DO love some of the older CN anime block on Adult Swim- mostly FMA and Inuyasha, as well as the first two&1/2 seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh, and SOME of the early Digimon stuff, but that's about it. Everything else just struck me as mostly trash that was only fun for the 7-under crowd. I like my cartoons to actually make me feel like I haven't just lowered my IQ by watching them, and unfortunately, most 2000's toons do just that. Plus, this past decade gave us both Dora and Diego. Need I say more?

Wow. I can't believe I'd ever think it, but you're probably worse than CyberCubed.

Also, Phineas and Ferb is a Disney joint. Shows how much you know.

[Peanut]

Shh, man. Let him be. We don't understand high-brow, intelligent, adult entertainment like X-Men: TAS or OT TMNT. That's on us.

[Cure]

You know a show is high-brow when half the episode is recapping previous episodes.

[Ecto Jedi]

Cartoons ARE mostly made for kids. Some bridge the gap and have story arcs with character development and some are just fun little shows. Don't act like EVERY cartoon in the 90s had adults in mind too. Nothing's changed or gotten worse. You've just gotten older.

Bam. Discussion = over.

[ZariusTwo]

See, this is why I avoid dens like Goon Zone...the level of snobbery and dismissiveness of 2000s-era animation nutsos just goes overboard at times, they always try to convince you you're somehow a fool for liking material that is somewhat "dated" by today's conventions and if you try to defend them, you're mocked and made fun of. It shows very high levels of insecurity on their part.

Some of us thankfully arent intimidated into following the pack. I can enjoy shows from all eras, and that is my victory over them. Don't feel stupid or silly for still preferring the older TMNT or Transformers over lousy CGI s*ite like Prime, it's all to do with what you get the most enjoyment out of. Nostalgia does not have to be a burden.

Again, the last laugh will be when these contradictory sheep all eventually turn on their precious 2000s era when they start to age badly compared to cartoons of the next era...'cause as Stryker says, an aging audience plays a factor in many of these shows standing up or falling down. Some shows are very sophisticated from those eras...but again, who cares if some shows from other eras ARENT? If they're still fun to you, that's that matters and no amount of elitist animation snobbery can deter you from thinking that.

Although...'Cubed, I'll back you up against the sheep in some places, but some of your reasons are a bit silly. Avatar's a good show.

[AT-Man]

What sheep?

[The Stryker]

What sheep?

It's Zarius-Talk for: 'People that don't agree with me'.

[Sword Slicin' Leo]

Absolutely!!! TMNT,Tale Spin,Ducktales,Chip N Dale,Darkwing Duck,X-Men,Spiderman,Doug even the bad cartoons like stone protectors better than todays

[CyberCubed]

I think the reason some people don't like 2000 era shows much isn't because they are bad, but simply because that's when they stopped watching many cartoons.

Back in the 2000's many of us were in High School and entering College, we didn't watch as much cartoons as we used to. So that could be a reason, simply because we didn't see "many quality" cartoons.

Whereas back in the 90's we were kids and just had the TV's on all day.

[Peanut]

Although...'Cubed, I'll back you up against the sheep in some places, but some of your reasons are a bit silly. Avatar's a good show.

I don't think ANYONE here is defending something blindly, putting down an entire era in favour of another, or acting like the "sheep" you're so above, so I don't know why you're even bringing that **** up. The only person here that's being straight up dismissive of anything is CyberClown.

[The Sewer Lord]

Okay, I need to clear something out first.
The nineties and the twenty-first century had very different kind of shows.

In the nineties, most of the cartoons were action series.
On the other hand, most of the TV shows today are satiric comedies with "kidonized", more appropriate variant of the humor present in series like the The Simpsons.

Thought I could state that before you guys continue with your discussions.

[FlawedCoil82]

I am very thankful that I grew up in the 90's because I think everything from that era was pretty much perfect to my liking. The rock music, Heisei Godzilla/Gamera series, TMNT (which didnt last long because I gave up on that show when I discovered the incredibly perfect X-Men), Spider-Man, Dragonball Z (yea I know it was an older show but Funimation breathed new life into it just by changing the voices and adding in the infinitely better music) Ren & Stimpy, Spider-Man and I know I am missing a slew of others. Nothing will ever compare to X-Men though. Every single element of that show had me head over heels in love with it (I even skipped a family vacation one time just so I wouldn't have to miss the new episode that was going to air that weekend).

As I have stated before in many other threads: my blood boils with bitter hatred every single time I see how Marvel Comics has completely destroyed the X-Men in their comics by taking away their flaweless 90's uniforms (as well as ruining the team line ups. taking away powers, etc. etc.) and as such, every show they have tried to reboot with the X-Men have failed miserably to capture even a third of my interest that the 90's toon did. It's not just because I grew up with that show. If it was airing today I would still love it just as much now as I did then (provided they didn't change it to match the disgraced comics or take away their colorful superhero uniforms). I've tried to give the modern X-Men many chances to gain my attention but it simply can't be done. They are a completely different entity than they once were and I will never be able to forgive Marvel Comics for taking away that pure perfection I once felt from the 90's X-Men. The only cartoon series since that came within the same galaxy of capturing my interest after the X-Men were slaughtered by their own creators, was the 4kids Turtles series (which is why I am still here today....it rekindled what I once loved about the Turtles and helped me cope with the disgraceful death of the X-Men).

I really hate the look of modern non-action animation though. Everything looks so simplistic, angular and horribly distorted and ugly (perhaps the only exception would be Spongebob Squarepants but even he has his moments of ugliness). Cartoon Network has become one of the worst offenders. There is absolutely nothing "cute" or "funny" about their shows or the absurd looking designs for characters from shows like 'Adventure Time', 'Squidbillies', 'Regular Show', etc. All the characters look as if they were designed and drawn by 6 year olds and the "humor" was seemingly either written by their younger/dumber siblings or else their older/"high-on-weed" siblings. True, Ren & Stimpy could fit into that category sometimes but the show still had an extreme amount of charm to it that is totally lacking in today's shows. I just don't "get it".

[Peanut]

I am very thankful that I grew up in the 90's because I think everything from that era was pretty much perfect to my liking.

And you would be saying the same thing if you were born in a different decade.

[FlawedCoil82]

No that much I can guarantee is not true. Everything today seems so uninspired. Nothing is eyecatching. The X-Men first caught my attention for the colorful uniforms and the way they were designed. I had seen them in the 80's and didn't like how they looked so I had no interest in reading about them. It wasn't until I saw them in their 90's look that I said "Aha! perfection!" and then it made me start reading and eventually watching the tv show.

[The Stryker]

No that much I can guarantee is not true. Everything today seems so uninspired. Nothing is eyecatching. The X-Men first caught my attention for the colorful uniforms and the way they were designed. I had seen them in the 80's and didn't like how they looked so I had no interest in reading about them. It wasn't until I saw them in their 90's look that I said "Aha! perfection!" and then it made me start reading and eventually watching the tv show.

I don't think you can guarantee something like that at all. Unless you have some sort of access to a machine that let's you look at alternate universes.

I DO know that my niece hates the old X-men show. Describes it as 'Ugly and Stupid.' Most kids just aren't into watching old sh*t.

[CyberCubed]

So I'm rewatching X-men Evolution online and its actually pretty good. I have no idea why some people didn't like this show. Sure all the characters were scaled back to teenagers and go to a regular High School, but every other major elements of the franchise are present.

It has better animation than the 90's one, and didn't get canceled after only 26 episodes like Wolverine and the X-men.

I think X-men Evolution is the definitive X-men cartoon until they make a better one.

[NinjaPug]

Of the 3 X-Men series, I probably like Evolution the most. The high school angle is annoying at times but S2 and S3 are fantastic.

[CyberCubed]

I'm halfway into Season 2 of X-men Evolution now, man, there's a lot more high-school teen stuff in this show than I remember there being.

It reminds me a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which aired at the same time on the WB as this show did. I think that's why X-men Evo was even greenlit with teen X-men in normal High School, as WB wanted a teen X-men show because Buffy was at the height of its popularity on the network at the time.

Its hard to believe this show is nearly 13 years old too, X-men Evolution aired in 2000 and ended by 2003.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Wow. I can't believe I'd ever think it, but you're probably worse than CyberCubed.

Also, Phineas and Ferb is a Disney joint. Shows how much you know.


Actually, I don't ave any cable or satellite channels, so no, I didn't know that. But what little I've seen/heard of it is hardly anything I'd WANT to watch. Actually, hearing that makes me a little sad. I remember when Disney was known for GREAT cartoons like Gargoyles, Darkwing Duck, Rescue Rangers, Tale Spin, etc. Also, I don't appreciate being mocked for my taste in cartoons, since the point of this thread was to ask our OPINIONS on a particular era of cartoons.

And my point in using Dora and co as an example is that sadly, MOST cartoons I've seen lately- on the rare occasions when I am able to watch them at all- are at about the same level of maturity. They're meant mainly for VERY young audiences, and little else. most of what I've seen of Nick or CN seem very juvenile and crude. Disney might be a little better(or they USED to be), but they've always had a higher standard to begin with. I just don't see many cartoons from the last decade or so that I could ever consider entertaining. Then again, I haven't been a card-carrying cartoon freak since around 1998.

I grew up on TMNT(OT), Robotech, Star Blazers, Dungeons and Dragons, Transformers, GI Joe, X-Men, etc. Now I see stuff like Powerpuff Girls (I can't believe it's even still around) SpongeBob(which I LOATHE) and Adventure Time- all of which seem very simple and done for "potty humor" or other fairly uninspired or juvenile reasons. Even some of the recent "Adult Swim" fare, like Squidbillies (which is when I stopped watching THAT block), seems to follow the same trend. There's just no real meat to them, and the characters usually leave me wanting to bang my head on my desk for pure "village idiot" factor alone. Not that I've watched much of them, but the few bits I HAVE caught- usually sitting at Cici's over a dinner pizza buffet- have just left me shaking my head in disgust.

Oh, and Peanut? I'm a SHE! It even says so, right there in my screenname. Thanks for noticing!! (So observant of you to assume my gender is male, even when it's obviously NOT.)

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

Entertainment fifty years ago isn't necessarily better or worse than nowadays. I know plenty of people who like cartoons from long before they were around. One DeviantArt artist I know loves drawing Hanna-Barbera cartoons from decades ago, as well as his own cartoons which are obviously influenced by said company.

And look at the continued popularity of The Three Stooges!

[Jester]

Don't forget I Love Lucy. I could watch that show all day.

Some shows hit, some miss. It's not the era they are from; it's the quality of the show (or the mindset of the viewer when they were first exposed to it.)

[CyberCubed]

Some shows are timeless. I still enjoy watching classic Flintstones. Its easily the best Hanna-Barbera show ever made.

[The Stryker]

@ MrMarvelDuckie

So you've never actually watched a full episode of Phineas and Ferb but judge it as completely awful....okay.

You put a learning pre-school show like Dora in the same basket with a silly entertainment show that's NOTHING like it at all like Spongebob and such...alrighty. Guess Robotech is exactly like Reading Rainbow too. Here's a tip. Some shows are just simple entertainment and not 'deep' or 'meaty'.

I wouldn't describe any of the shows you listed as your favorites as deep or meaty either. BTW.

I usually watch a show before judging it. Actually watch it. Not catch bits with no sound at a restaurant while I stuff my face. That's just me though I guess.

[NinjaPug]

Some shows are timeless. I still enjoy watching classic Flintstones. Its easily the best Hanna-Barbera show ever made.

I have the same opinion regarding Scooby Doo.

[CyberCubed]

What impresses me most about X-men Evolution is how it had such a large cast of characters but everyone got good screentime and nobody was forgotten.

It handled the main cast better than Young Justice did, who had a similar large group of young heroes but wound up lacking screentime to divide it between all the heroes.

X-men Evolution was a great cartoon, there were a few bad episodes, but every cartoon in existence has its share of terrible episodes.

[Weirdo-Warrior]

The early 90s had some cool series, but I prefer the 80s hands down.

[ledahead]

The 90s was a pretty good decade for cartoons but I am not sure it was the best one. The decade did have a lot of good cartoons. Some that come to mind are X-Men, Batman:TAS, Spider-man, Captain Planet, Doug, Rocko's Modern Life, Rugrats, the Sonic cartoons, Tailspin, Darkwing Duck and of course the latter seasons of OT ninja turtles. I grew up in the 90s but I think the 80s was a pretty good decade to as it had Transformers, Voltron, Thundercats, the best seasons of TMNT OT, Mask, Super Mario Bros Super Show, Inspector Gadget, etc. Both decades have their share of bad cartoons. I think the 90s had more of a variety of cartoons.

[CyberCubed]

The great thing about the 90's is it was just before the anime boom. Once anime was popualrized by 1998 thanks to Pokemon and Dragonball Z....the networks started to just air crappy anime dubs of shows and stop producing their in-house stuff.

This continued well throughout the 2000's with poor anime dubs taking the place of cartoons. Thankfully the anime craze died and we no longer have to put up with it.

[The Sewer Lord]

The great thing about the 90's is it was just before the anime boom. Once anime was popualrized by 1998 thanks to Pokemon and Dragonball Z....the networks started to just air crappy anime dubs of shows and stop producing their in-house stuff.

This continued well throughout the 2000's with poor anime dubs taking the place of cartoons. Thankfully the anime craze died and we no longer have to put up with it.

Are you saying that anime sucks? 'Cause it doesn't.

[Jester]

Yeah...no new non-anime series came out after 1999....

Wait....

[The Sewer Lord]

Yeah...no new non-anime series came out after 1999....

Wait....

What's with the "non-"?

[Starman]

The early 90s had some cool series, but I prefer the 80s hands down.

1990
**Captain Planet
*Gravedale High
*Little Rosey
***TaleSpin
****Tiny Toon Adventures
*Tom and Jerry Kids
1991
***Adventures of Tintin
****Aeon Flux
****Darkwing Duck
****Doug
*Hammerman
**James Bond Jr.
**Pirates of Dark Water
**ProStars
****Ren and Stimpy
****Rugrats
****Rupert
*Space Cats
****Taz-Mania
*Toxic Crusaders
**Wish Kid
*Yo Yogi!
1992
*Addams Family
*****Batman: The Animated Series
*Conan the Adventurer
*Dog City
**Eek! The Cat
***Goof Troop
*Raw Toonage
*Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire
***X-Men
1993
**2 Stupid Dogs
**Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
****Animaniacs
****Beavis and Butthead
*Biker Mice from Mars
**Bonkers
*Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
**Droopy, Master Detective
***Exosquad
***Madeline
*Marsupilami
***Mighty Max
**Papa Beaver's Story Time
****Rocko's Modern Life
****SatAm
***SWAT Kats
**Tales from the Cryptkeeper
1994
***Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
***Aladdin
***Bump in the Night
***Busy World of Richard Scarry
***Critic
**Duckman
***Gargoyles
***Magic School Bus
***Mega Man
****Reboot
***Space Ghost Coast to Coast
****Spiderman
*Street Sharks
****Tick
**Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?
1995
**Action Man
***Cartoon Planet
*Darkstalkers
**Earthworm Jim
****Freakazoid
**Little Bear
**Little Lulu Show
*Littlest Pet Shop
*Mask: The Animated Series
****Maxx
***Pinky and the Brain
*Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show
**Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
**Timon and Pumbaa
**Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
*Ultraforce
****What a Cartoon!
1996
***Adventures from the Book of Virtues
**Arthur
**Beast Wars
*C Bear and Jamal
****Dexter's Laboratory
**Flash Gordon
****Hey Arnold!
***Incredible Hulk
*Jumanji
*Jungle Cubs
****KaBlam!
*Mighty Ducks
*Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
*Pocket Dragon Adventures
*Quack Pack
***Real Adventures of Johnny Quest
**Road Rovers
**Robin
*Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper
***Superman: The Animated Series
*Waynehead
1997
*101 Dalmatians: The Series
***Angry Beavers
**Cartoon Sushi
***Cow and Chicken
***Daria
**Donkey Kong Country
*Extreme Dinosaurs
*Extreme Ghostbusters
**Franklin
***I Am Weasel
***Johnny Bravo
****King of the Hill
**Men in Black: The Series
*Mummies Alive!
**New Adventures of Batman
**New Adventures of Zorro
**O Canada
***Pepper Ann
***Recess
***South Park
*Wacky World of Tex Avery
1998
**Adventures of Sam and Max: Freelance Police
***Anatole
*Birdz
**Catdog
***Celebrity Deathmatch
**Flying Rhino Junior High
*Godzilla: The Series
**Hercules
**Histeria
***Oh Yeah! Cartoons
**Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain
****Powerpuff Girls
***Rolie Polie Olie
***Wild Thornberries
1999
**Angela Anaconda
****Ed, Edd n Eddy
***Home Movies
**PB&J Otter
***PJs
**Sabrina: The Animated Series

How could you possibly prefer '80s when even an incomplete list of '90s cartoons
like this one is substantially longer than an exhaustive compilation of '80s cartoons could ever be?

[Wesley]

I think the 90s was the best decade for cartoons, though there was some good animation in the 2000s as well. I enjoyed watching Batman TAS, Superman, Animinacs, Pinky and the Brain, TMNT 1987, Darkwing Duck, etc. in the 1990s. I liked watching Transformers: Armanda, Justice League, Spectacular Spider-Man, Jackie Chan Adventures (the first two seasons only), Samurai Jack, Huntik and TMNT 2003 in the 2000s. There aren't any cartoons on tv at the moment that I'm interested in watching.

[ssjup81]

This is all pretty subjective, but I do feel that the 90s had some of the best action cartoons. Best cartoons in general overall...who knows...

[DarkFell]

A good 90's cartoon was also Mutant League if anyone even remembers that show.
Reboot was good and so was Beast Wars.
The Addams Family, Beetlejuice, and Rocko's Modern Life were just a riot.
Both the Batman and Spiderman TAS were good.
TMNT was still holding strong.
Loved me some Gargoyles as well and SatAM too.

Best part of it all? The FCC was a hell of a lot more lenient back then.

I also see quite a few other shows that I didn't list that were also really awesome in this thread.

[blindturtle02]

A good 90's cartoon was also Mutant League if anyone even remembers that show.
Reboot was good and so was Beast Wars.
The Addams Family, Beetlejuice, and Rocko's Modern Life were just a riot.
Both the Batman and Spiderman TAS were good.
TMNT was still holding strong.
Loved me some Gargoyles as well and SatAM too.

Best part of it all? The FCC was a hell of a lot more lenient back then.

I also see quite a few other shows that I didn't list that were also really awesome in this thread.

Mutant League! I watched that every Saturday when it aired. Loved that one. Beast Wars was also an amazing show. And don't get me started on my love for Gargoyles. haha

[shuriken]

Best is pretty subjective, but I'd say it's no doubt my favorite. There are goodies across many decades, though. The old school Cartoon Network & Nick toons are my preferred series' but there's been some equally good stuff since.

Pretty much. Nostalgia and a fondness to our childhood makes it more memorable/ liked. I think it was, but as my sister (5 years older) she'll tell you the 80's were. Ask my nephew he'll tell you what's on now is the best. It's really subjective. But there were some truly awful cartoons in the 90's that I watched as well, mainly Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat. I knew they were terrible, but I watched because they came one before shows I liked.

[Wesley]

Pretty much. Nostalgia and a fondness to our childhood makes it more memorable/ liked. I think it was, but as my sister (5 years older) she'll tell you the 80's were. Ask my nephew he'll tell you what's on now is the best. It's really subjective. But there were some truly awful cartoons in the 90's that I watched as well, mainly Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat. I knew they were terrible, but I watched because they came one before shows I liked.

I agree with shuriken. There were some awful cartoons in the 1990s that I liked back then like James Bond JR and The Adventures of Jonny Quest. Shows like Sonic SatAM and Spiderman TAS are still okay to watch, but they haven't aged well. Cartoons like Gargoyles, Batman TAS, Superman TAS and The Incredible Hulk (first season anyway) still hold up well.

[shuriken]

^^ A lot of the 90's Marvel shows were pretty bad. X-men and Spider-man were the only ones I could really get into. I was a fan of the Fantastic four theme though.

[Wesley]

I watched a lot of Marvel cartoons in the 90s, but only Spiderman TAS and Xmen stood out for me. I was more of a fan of DCAU shows like Batman, Superman and Batman Beyond. I liked watching a few underrated shows such as Xyber 9 and Extreme Ghostbusters. There were some tmnt rip offs, but only Cowboys of Moo Measa, Biker Mice from Mars and Extreme Dinosaurs caught my attention.