Best Era for Animated Shows?
 

I did a poll about this at my forums originally, was wondering how it would fare here.

i voted for 80's lots of great cartoons came from the 80's ninja turtles, the real ghostbusters, transformers, g.i joe, thundercats, smurfs, etc. i was born in 1987 though, at the end of the 80's so i was more exposed to 90's cartoons that i think were just as good. besides the 80;s cartoons were still on cartoon express on usa back in the day, and cartoon network used to play all sorts of good cartoons, what happened?

Anybody who says 1980's is kidding themselves with nostalgia. 80's cartoons were all action figure commercials and Barbra Bush driven censorship. The early 1990's were the era of Fox Kids, Disney Saturdays, and when NBC still had cartoons that weren't public service announcements; a time of sexual innuendos, kick-ass video game cartoons, serious animation, political satire, Disney at their finest, and soulless ripping of celebrities.

The 90's on that poll should be split into the early 90's, and the late 90's. And there was no anime. That all came around 1996-7, a time I call the apocalypse of American animation.

you have a good point, but i still love them equaly, 80's early 90's and mid 90's. late 90's were ok

Seems to be a battle between the 80's and 90's. As a child of the 80's I of course chose well 80's. I mean come on... the 80's gave us:

The Wuzzles
Care Bears
Gummi Bears
He-Man/She-Ra
Transformers
TMNT
Popples
:evilgrin:

TMB's right. 90's all the way.

I also voted 90's.

The 80's definately set the groundwork for more dynamic and fluid storytelling in television animation, but it was largely a mess and a lot of trial and error. You've got Transformers which had continuity and tons of backstory, but an almost equal number of contradictions. Interviews with writer Donald F. Glut reveal that nearly all the scripts for the show were turned in at the first draft stage and went largely unchanged, with story editting being mostly an after thought. All the other Sunbow cartoons were done in pretty much the same fashion.

Still, haphazard as it was, the 80's did get the ball rolling on more intelligent and challenging cartoon shows.


The 90's, though, really refined the process. They no longer let channels run the episodes in any order they chose and wrote each episode to fit into an actual season-long story arc.

The 90's gave us shows like ReBoot and Beast Wars and Men in Black and Swat Kats and Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, shows that fine-tuned what television animation could be whilst firmly putting their 80's predecessors to shame.

I Voted 80's cause I like to kid myself.

Late 80's ~ Early 90's I guess. Generally not a fan of the later 90's stuff.

That's a good lad.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That mentality is typical of anyone who doesnt look closer, especially since He-Man, TMNT, GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Centurions, Bravestarr, Thundercats, and Transformers ALL rose above their intended purpose and told excellent storylines that set the course for your PRECIOUS 90s

And as for shows that werent "major" toylines, or even commercials at all..oooh lets see...Racoons, Galaxy Rangers Ralph Baski's Mighty Mouse, Defenders of the Earth...

You have NO argument

And I love how you used that WONDERFUL "If you think there great, its only memory" card like every other putz, which goes to show how insecure you are that you have to sink that low to insult anyone who can, and have, proven you wrong, and always will.

The 80s bashing bandwagon is a tired, useless fad that makes idiots out of anyone that thinks its "cool" to disrespect an innovative, and landmark, period of evolution in the buisness. Why dont some of you pick on animation periods that DESERVE it like the 1970s?

I voted 90s, but I have to agree that all the gems came in the early 90s. The Disney Afternoon and Nickelodeon especially were at the top of their game during those years.

Same here. Although I love a few new cartoons from the 2000 era, but they are few and far between ("They" being 2k3 TMNT, Justice League (Unlimited), Grim Adventures, Kids Next Door, and I'm starting to get a taste for Ben 10 now).

The Late 80's to Early 90's was where it was at for me. I find that I love quite a lot from that era, even though I never really grew up with any of them. Well, save for "The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat". That show was so high on acid I couldn't really forget it. Many a great 'toon was made in that era, in my opinion. After 1995/1996, it seems that cartoons started treading the road that they are well on today. Which is a shame, since some of the cartoons back then were great and had some sort of humor in it. Now we have crap like "Camp Lazlo" and "My Gym Partner is a Monkey" on our screens.

Sometimes I really wonder if you actually read your own posts, man.

I put the 1980s. Too many good ones to not vote for it. The early 90s were good as well due to Captain Planet. But things have gone downhill since the late 90s for the most part. 2k3 is an exception, of course.

I don't usually read the bible.

Looking back now...what? Whats the problem? Who the hell cares that they sold toys? He-Man, TF, Centurions, they all rose ABOVE their original intentions, or did'nt you read my last post over why this 80s bashing fad is so futile and hypocritical? Especially since the DCAU sold toys, and the NEW TMNT SELLS TOYS TOO!

I like how you take kids' cartoons so seriously.

I enjoyed 80's cartoons. What was wrong with them?

I voted 80's. Say what you want about them being toy commercials, but I still enjoyed them :) The 80's toons, and early 90's were the best.

Yeah the 80's are just so bad that's why almost every single new toy line and movie out is based on a show on property from the 80's because they can't think of anything new or better.:roll:
Dude the late 70's through early 90's rocked for cartoons. We wont ever get cartoons like that ever again and I'm happy to say I lived through that time period as a kid.:P

So do animators and animation writers. Historians are no different. Thanks for complimenting about how much I give a damn about this buisness, because these "modernist" assholes never will.

Virtually nothing, but listen to any "modernist" pot/kettle/black fan and they'll say "Toyz commercialz, badz animationz, continuity errorz" and refuse to see some of the 1990s series were flawed and toy commercials as well. The best fans are the ones who can find something great in all periods (Star Trek: TAS in the 1970s for instance), the instant some twat baits anyone with the "memory" card though? He/she is looking for a fight

I voted 1990s, that's what I grew up in. The cartoons that I have seen from the 80s like Transformers, GI Joe Thundercats("Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!"), etc are pretty good too.

I say 90s because of:

-Batman TAS, the king of modern action cartoons
-The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
-Batman Beyond
-The New Batman/Superman Adventures
-Men in Black (this one, to me, comes in a close second or third place to the DCAU as a whole, not just Batman)
-X-Men
-Spider-Man TAS and Spider-Man Unlimited
-Cartoon Cartoons like Dexter, Johnny Bravo, and the Powerpuff Girls



If I had to narrow it down to one, I'd say the 90s, but I like stuff from late 1980s too.

I voted for the 80s because that's when Transformers and TMNT began but I really believe the statement above. The 90s rocked for cartoons and the late 70s also covers my childhood as well, so it was a tough choice. There were so many good ones I'm not sure I can even remember them all! 95-96 has one of the best season EVER for cartoons.

80s
Transformers
TMNT
Jem
ThunderCats
SilverHawks
G.I. Joe
Tigersharks
Galaxy Rangers
Smurfs
Snorks
Hong Kong Phooey
New Flintstones
New Scooby-Doo
Muppet Babies
Wildfire
Shirt Tales
Wuzzles
Gummi Bears
Ducktales
Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers
Garfield and Friends
Heathcliff and the Cadilac Cats
He-Man
She-Ra
My Little Pony
Superfriends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Mr. T
Alvin & the Chipmunks
Defenders of the Earth

90s
Animaniacs
Darkwing Duck
Tale Spin
More TMNT
Goof Troop
Bonkers
Raw Toonage
Gargoyles
X-Men
Spider-Man
Batman TAS
Fantastic 4
Iron Man
The Tick
New Adv. of Batman/Superman
Superman TAS
Batman Beyond
Phantom 2040
Beast Wars
Sailor Moon
Escaflowne
Powerpuff Girls

And I'm sure there is more I've forgotten.

I voted for 90's, but 80's was a very close 2nd. I'm younger than all of you guys so I didn't see all of these 80's cartoons your'e talking about.

One great thing 90's cartoons was Nickelodeon. They had some great **** back then. Rocko's Modern Life, Hey Arnold!, Ren and Stimpy, Rug-rats, Doug (pretty ugly show, but enjoyable) among a few others... now look at it.

90's had some good anime too, mostly just Gundam Wing and Tenchi Muyo.

Perhaps a little small sampling would help courtesy of Cereal Geek.

Oh yes master, I apoligize for even daring to consider that I, a mere mortal, could ever comprehend the capacity of your limitlessness knowledge and power. :roll:

I didn't say they were bad. I said that the majority of the were action figure commercials. That doesn't change the fact that they set the tone for the brilliant 90's era. Still, just because something was the innovator doesn't make it the superior choice.

In video game terms, its like saying Super Mario Bros. 3 is better than Super Mario World. SMB3 may have been the innovator, but that doesn't mean SMW didn't kick its ass in every conceivable way.

STFU all of you. I can't decide between 60s and 70s in all this gibbering.

And your point is?

The plots were great, that's all that matters. If you want to suddenly "care" about what you were roped into watching, and feel duped, then you're making a fuss out of nothing.

Everything solid almost came 100% from Warner Bros or Disney in the last stages of their taking any risks. Fox Kids had many subversive comedies, but their biggest successes beyond Power Rangers were X-Men and Spiderman.

WB dominated the animation medium in the 90s stateside. In the 80s, the competitive toy companies created vast amounts of compeitive shows from various companies, sometimes leading to animation that was unprecidently superior to anything in the 90s given the money being paid to the animators.

The only exception was the unmatched Batman TAS, which was a goldmine for merchandising anyway.

And Mario World and Mario Bros 3 are both awesome and replayable titles. In short, you just said both the 1980s and 1990s were equals

Honestly, if you had'nt dropped that stupid "you only like it because of your memories" flamebait of a post, we wouldnt have had this problem,

90s all the way

Batman TAS
Superman TAS
Spider-man
Freakazoid
X-men
later seasons of TMNT
Animaniacs
and no anime
'nuf said

... *looks at all the posts before hand*

Can anyone explain to me why we are fighting over cartoons? :ohwell:

90's also had...

Pinky and the Brain
Hysteria
Mighty Max
Rocko's Modern Life
Dexter
Johnny Bravo
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Real Monsters
Ren & Stimpy
Doug
Hey Arnold!
Spongebob (back when it was good)

wow, shocking that the 80s and 90s got basically all the votes... not. obviously people will vote for their childhood. me too. 90s all the way

Why not? people fight over everything else why not cartoons?;)

Its about respect for the industry and the fans of the 1980s, both of which some jackass went out of his way to try and degrade

I can't decide...I enjoy toons from all of the Eras! All thanks to Boomerang too, otherwise I probably wouldn't have seen any of the cool older cartoons.

Cartoons - SERIOUS BUSINESS.

I have to admit... I can't vote. I just can't pick any of those. Each era had it's ups and downs....

I would say the entire list except 70's. the 70's had some of the worst cartoons known to man kind. thousands of self-knockoff stuff from Hanna Barbera, and animated versions of sitcoms.... no thank you. Hong Kong Phooey and Fat Albert, however were great.

I'd choose if it were an option the 40's. Lame WW 2 propaganda pieces aside, they moved out of the 1930's "Hey! Look what I can do" type cartoons (Flowers and Trees, for example) and into the "Look how I can Apply it". The best animated cartoons came out of Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Tex Avery, and all them. They are the masters.

1950's and 60's? Well, that was the television cartoon age. A new way to make and market cartoons just dawned. And thought the Animation wasn't perfect, we got great shows like Bullwinkle, Yogi Bear, etc.

Then there was the late 60's with 2 distinct movements, the superhero movement with shows like Space Ghost and Mighty Heroes, and the comedy movement, with George of the Jungle and Wacky races.

70's revolved around how many Archie/Scooby Do ripoffs we can created (it was more an era of live action kid's shows... Sesame Street, Sid and Morty Krofft stuff).

80's was toy-etci to an extent. I can't bash them, but I can't praise them. Each show was different. We had Transformers on one hand, and Ducktales on the other.

90's we saw a break through with shows like Ren and Stimpy and Batman. not to mention a short lived comedy Superhero movement brought on by the Tick.

2000.... the start of the decade had promise, but Looking at the horrible line up this fall... yeah.... we got another 1970's coming up! Yuck!

I voted for the 90's. I'd make a list of cartoons I enjoyed during that time, but it'd be a repeat of a list already listed with maybe a few minor differences.

I wouldn't say the 2000's were totally devoid of good cartoons, just severely lacking, and anything that was truly good was canceled as quick as it came. If there was one cartoon I watched in the last seven years (2004-2005 to be more precise) that I honestly wish was on DVD, it would be Megas XLR. I'd make a list of cartoons I enjoyed aside from Megas XLR, but they're already available on DVD.