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.