Worst Cartoons Ever - MSN Article

[OA]

Well, here's an interesting article I came across today: the so-called worst cartoons ever (fortunately TMNT is not on the list)...take a look and discuss!

http://tv.msn.com/new-on-dvd/feature...7913&GT1=10189

Here's the meat of it:

For nearly a century, America has loved cartoons. We love talking dogs and courageous mice. We fantasize about giant robots and rocket rides through space. Every Saturday, millions of kids pile in front of their basement TVs, chomping sugary cereals and delighting in animated adventures: Scrooge McDuck seeking troves of gold, Elmer Fudd hunting wascawy wabbits, Tom chasing Jerry, Ren conning Stimpy, Itchy murdering Scratchy ...
When you think about it, cartoons are the first pop culture a child sees. Before they've heard an entire Raffi CD, kids have already memorized the Disney pantheon, from Chip and Dale to Baloo the Bear. Kids are picky customers, but they get addicted fast. And sometimes the shows they love are less than perfect -- badly written, poorly animated and ultimately brain-rotting -- and years later, after a kid has grown up and become a successful video-game tester, he will discover that a favorite cartoon really wasn't up to par.
Here are some of our favorite shockers, cartoons that seemed so much better when we were young. We may have spent hours, even entire weekends, following these colorful stories (we were mere tots! Who could blame us?), but now that DVDs can allow for a second viewing, we wonder what we were thinking. Hindsight may be 20/20, but regret is forever.

"Transformers"
Yes, yes, we know: "'Transformers' was my childhood favorite! I owned all the action figures! I used to sing the theme song on my way to kindergarten!" Trust us, we've been there. What Generation X childhood was complete without a shelf full of Aerialbots? But have you seen "Transformers" recently? Or even in the past 10 years? Grown-up fans can find the series disappointing: nothing but slow car chases, bland explosions and the ear-piercing voice of Starscream. In this millennia-long war, characters never seemed to die, they just disappeared -- and the visual artistry that we once admired now looks a little jolty. Plus, the soundtrack: the constant guitar riffs squealing in the background, no matter what was happening. It was enough, in 1984, to root for the Autobots just because Optimus Prime sounded like John Wayne -- but why, exactly, were the Autobots good and the Decepticons evil? Today we expect more of our action heroes. Let's just hope that Michael Bay can transform "Transformers" and truly make them "more than meets the eye."
Buy it on DVD

"Silverhawks"
Everybody likes good science fiction, especially science fiction set in space. With cowboys. Cowboys covered in steel bodysuits. With hawks' wings built into them. So they can fly and fight an intergalactic crime syndicate in the Limbo star cluster, sometime around the 29th century. A crime syndicate led by Monstar, who can change into an armor-plated monster and rides a space-squid. OK, so nobody liked "Silverhawks," the cosmic spin-off of "Thundercats," but somehow they made 65 episodes, and if Warner Bros. gets its wish, they will one day make it available on DVD. Yee-haw!

"Pokémon"
"Pokémon" had no story, only a Darwinist premise: Ash Ketchum, a young man and aspiring "Pokémon master," travels around with his pet Pikachu, advancing levels as he goes. Ash has a bunch of young friends, and they wander aimlessly, looking for adventure. As a genre, anime cartoons are held in high regard -- for character development, mature themes, complex plots and either smooth animation or really scenic backgrounds. "Pokémon" had none of these qualities. And wasn't not alone: The "Super Mario Bros." and "Pac-Man" cartoons also fell flat, which is what happens when you base a saga on a two-dimensional video game. Now just imagine "Grand Theft Auto: The Animated Series" -- that would be something.
Buy it on DVD

"The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo"
People love their "Scooby-Doo." Something about the laid-back gumshoeing, the long chases through Victorian houses, the ghost-masks -- audiences just can't get enough. Every time Fred says, "This looks like a clue!" the kids go wild, and who can blame them? It's the perfect entertainment for a summering second-grader. Or a hungover college student. Or Great-Grandma. But did "Scooby-Doo" really merit so many movies and spin-offs? Especially one like "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo," featuring the voice of Vincent Price? Did the aging Shakespearean actor really need money so badly that he had to sign up as Vincent VanGhoul? This looks like one of Scooby's unsolved mysteries ...
Buy it on DVD

"Jem"
You have to give props to "Jem." For a show designed to sell dolls, this Saturday-morning cartoon went way beyond the call of duty: Featuring dozens of characters, complicated subplots and a vast genealogy of rock-star relationships, "Jem" suffers only because it's so dated (big hair, glittery stages and a bad-girl band called the Misfits -- what could be more unwatchable to a modern viewer?). Then again, compared with other all-girl series ("She-Ra," "My Little Pony"), "Jem" was fairly sophisticated. So let's not call "Jem" the worst; let's say that, like so many recording artists, she's just terribly, terribly misunderstood.
Buy it on DVD

"Goof Troop"
For a solid decade, the Disney afternoon was a staple of the American childhood: "DuckTales," "TaleSpin" and "Darkwing Duck" provided after-school adventure, clever one-liners and sly references to the Disney shorts of the 1940s. And then in hobbled "Goof Troop," the story of a single dad, his boring son, his son's boring best friend and the psychopathic neighbor next door. Unlike the slapstick fun of the old Goofy, the modern-day Goofy was pitifully stupid, dangerously incapable of rearing a child. His high school "friend" Pete was an overweight chauvinist who took advantage of Goofy at every turn and rarely faced consequences. The suburban plots were stultifying (Goofy decides to become a ninja, or Pete tries a recycling racket), but even worse was the watery animation. Sadly, "Goof Troop" wasn't a simple goof-up, it spelled the beginning of the end, as the Disney afternoon dissolved into the quagmire of "Quack Pack" and "Mighty Ducks" and finally vanished from the networks.
Buy it on DVD

"Captain Planet"
Yes, we should ponder global warming, and truly, we must save the belugas. But was Captain Planet really the man for the job? In the history of kids' TV, no series has ever been more politically correct: Five child-heroes represent five major ethnicities, and they spend their days selflessly protecting the environment. And who is responsible for pollution? Is it petroleum companies? Whaling ships? Corrupt waste-disposal programs? Of course not! Only super-villains cause pollution! And thanks to Captain Planet's limitless powers (flight, telepathy, super-strength), nobody really fears Duke Nukem and his cronies. Leave it to a sky-blue muscleman with green hair to save the world -- and teach kids, as an afterthought, to stop littering. Unfortunately, this title has not been released on DVD.

[ZariusTwo]

Why were the Autobots good and Decepticons evil? Errr...cival war perhaps? Let's ask why was Hitler evil and the allies good? Christ people, you're losing your heads in the first review.

Bay "transforfmed" TF alright, he turned it into a big sprawling Jackass humoured commercial for everything but the sophisitication you obviously missed out on regarding the best of G1.

Captain Planet was the farthest thing from PC, it was an extremist liberal show and didnt hold any punches, it told eight year olds to have less babies, and coverd subjects like AIDS. One has to only look at "If its Doomsday, it must be Belfast" to know how completly off-the-ball they were in matters beyond the states. PC my ass.

If youre going to bash older shows, watch them first.

[Sewer Bull]

I'm surprised no racing cartoons have made it to the list. The shows where a protagonist drives a technologically advanced car for the 50-80% of an episode, usually racing with the other guys. Something like "Wacky Races" (which I actually liked) but done in the 80s/90s and looking dead serious. They've always bored me to death.

And "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo" is a very good pick.

[Splinter's Iroonna]

Shoot. NOW I have that damn theme riff from "JEM" playing in my head!

*runs around room screaming*

[Anarky]

Originally Posted by Sewer Bull

I'm surprised no racing cartoons have made it to the list. The shows where a protagonist drives a technologically advanced car for the 50-80% of an episode, usually racing with the other guys. Something like "Wacky Races" (which I actually liked) but done in the 80s/90s and looking dead serious. They've always bored me to death.

MIIIIICHEL VAILLAAAAHAAANT!!! That show got a movie about two years ago, by the way. I hated it too, but I couldn't stop watching it.




But you know what's worse than every cheesy 80s cartoon? Children in said cartoons. I shudder at the thought.

[OA]

Originally Posted by Anarky

But you know what's worse than every cheesy 80s cartoon? Children in said cartoons. I shudder at the thought.

You know, that is soooo true...

[Mr. Snackpants]

Are these the "worst cartoons kids of the 80s and 90s liked"? Because almost every new cartoon on Nick, Cartoon Network, Fox, ect. are worse than all the ones on that list.

[Dinny]

The article says "Here are some of our favourite shockers, cartoons that seemed so much better when we were young", so unless the article was written by an 8-year-old looking back on how "Fairly Odd Parents" seemed so fresh and new when he was 5, all of the cartoons are going to be of the 80s and 90s.

[Mr. Snackpants]

Originally Posted by Dinny

The article says "Here are some of our favourite shockers, cartoons that seemed so much better when we were young", so unless the article was written by an 8-year-old looking back on how "Fairly Odd Parents" seemed so fresh and new when he was 5, all of the cartoons are going to be of the 80s and 90s.

Oh my bad, I didn't feel like reading the whole thing. I saw the title "Worst cartoons ever"...a ****** title that doesn't actually explain what their list is.

[Drtooth]

This list is moronic and pointless.

Firstly, lumping PAC-Man with the Super Mario cartoons is rediculous. Granted... Mario ISN'T Looney Tunes or John Hubley shorts... but what is? They were delightful fun, with a hint of Camp to them, and I still say DIC's version of King Koopa looks a crapload better than Nintendo's own version. Of course a moron "gamer" would think a show like GTA is interresting. hey pal... check out the horrid kiddyfied Mortal Kombat show.

Secondly, saying Goof Troop was the worst thing Disney produced? Excuse me? While definately the shark jumper of Disney animation, it was still the last thing of decent quality they produced until the Timon and Pumbaa show.

And they totally just crapped together a 80-90's list. There were horrible cartoons BEFORE the 80's... look at Hanna Barbera's output in the 70's. I love Hong Kong Phooey, but the others were a total embarassment.

Here are some terrible cartoons before you poser youngsters' time...

Bucky and pepito. I've never seen this, but in cartoon circles, this is reguarded as the worst cartoon of all time. Racist and poorly written are some of its attributes.

Sydney the Elephant. Terrytoon's WORST cartoon by far... even worse than the Heckle and Jeckle cartoons of the 1970's by filmation. A boring moronic elephant acting like a child and screwing up whenever he could. I watched one on Youtube last night, and I was MORTIFIED. The Tiny Toons saturization of this character is apt. His Oscar nomination was undeserved, and it's a great thing he lost to Knighty Knight Bugs.

Wacky and Packy. Filmation's deservedly forgotten caveman and wooly mammoth duo, going on routine forgettable misadventures in the future... and they based another caveman off of Jackie Gleason... yeah... that's originality.

Speaking of Filmation- Filmation's Tom and Jerry... whe you have a cartoon that relies on action, get an animation company that can ANIMATE action sequences.

And there are 2 cartoons from this era I wanna add, and Warner Brothers crapped both of them out...

Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island.... Nick... baby... why didn't you file an injection to prevent this blatant copywrite infringement from airing?

Loonatics Unleashed- you know what's cool? Get a bunch of overpaid out of touch 50 year olds and have them rape the Looney Tunes to what their idea of "anime" is like (I.e. the five seconds of DBZ you saw at your nephew's house).

[ZariusTwo]

What is with the hatred for Goof Troop? The character of Goofy was NOTHING before he got a son and a backstory but some gormless fall guy stooge made famous by those parodies of 1950s theatrical infomercials.

The most abysmal Disney cartoons began with Timon and Pubma, as Tooth noted, but GT was'nt a shark-jumper by any means

[gobo]

Originally Posted by Drtooth

Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island

Huh? O_o Did you just make that up?

[Drtooth]

Originally Posted by gobo

Huh? O_o Did you just make that up?

No... unfortunately Warners thought that it would be great if they made an EXACT copy of Spongebob because they wanted Spongebob's audience. Fortunately WB canned it 2/3s into the season.

And to specify... I meant they made crummy shows after Goof Troop.. Bonkers had it's moments... but Mighty Ducks? At least it was more entertaining than the film... But I think Timon and Pumbaa was one of the best ones they made in that time period... just before they made Disney's 1 Saturday morning and stuff like Recess..

[DrSpengler]

I wouldn't say Goof Troop was a "jump the shark" moment for Disney television animation, but everything after it would definately qualify, especially that pathetic wannabe, Quack Pack.

Goof Troop wasn't my favorite but it did have some strong points. It took Max and PJ, two relatively obscure characters from the old Goofy cartoons and Disney comics (they had different names and personalities way back then) and turned them into "classic" Disney characters that should remain as timeless as their fathers. Goof Troop also gave us Jim Cummings as Pegleg Pete, which so far as I'm concerned is the DEFINITIVE version of Pete. Cummings' voice for him is just fantastic.

Goof Troop really didn't strike a major chord with me until A Goofy Movie where they were allowed deeper and more complex storytelling. I definately prefer Max as a teenager over an elementary school "Bart Simpson" wannabe. Jason Marsden also did a great job picking up Max and really began to stand out as one of my my favorite voice actors with that role.

As for Timon & Pumbaa the Series...that's one I'm afraid I never really liked at all. Timon and Pumbaa were best as back-up characters, in my eyes, and just couldn't hold a story on their own (Lion King 1 1/2 being the weakest of the 3 Lion King films for that very reason). The best episodes of the series were the ones which featured other characters from the movie, like the Hyenas, Rafiki and, oh so rarely, Simba (with Cam Clarke doing a surprisingly good Matthew Broderick impression).


The majority of the list I think is way-off, but these sorts of "Top Ten" lists are a matter of the personal opinion so I've tempered myself to take them with a grain of salt.

[Drtooth]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

I

Goof Troop really didn't strike a major chord with me until A Goofy Movie where they were allowed deeper and more complex storytelling. I definately prefer Max as a teenager over an elementary school "Bart Simpson" wannabe. Jason Marsden also did a great job picking up Max and really began to stand out as one of my my favorite voice actors with that role..

Funny you should say Bart Simpson....

In the first episode (that is the premire 2 part fused together pilot) there is a scene in which Goofy opens a medicine cabenet, and you can see a small Bart Simpson head fall out of it. Not kidding (I had this on tape, and I damn near broke it finding that out in Freeze frame.

[kerfootw]

This thing is a f&#@ing joke! Where's "The Buzz on Maggie", "Spongebob", "My Gym Partner's a Monkey", all that REAL crap?!

Pokemon? Goof Troop? Captain Planet? What a joke!

[Jon]

As DrSpengler said, it's all 'matter of opinion'.

As I like a large amount of the shows noted (both in the 'MSN Top 10' thing, and the posts here); that others don't.

[Anarky]

Originally Posted by kerfootw

This thing is a f&#@ing joke! Where's "The Buzz on Maggie", "Spongebob", "My Gym Partner's a Monkey", all that REAL crap?!

Pokemon? Goof Troop? Captain Planet? What a joke!

Oh, come on, Spongebob is an excellent show. Where else do you get to see someone living under a rock or in a pineapple under water, making burgers for a living? In terms of creativity and new, funny ideas, Spongebob is definitely one of the best things that have happened to cartoons lately.

Sure, it appears to be amazingly silly at first, but I've found that the show appeals to grownups just as much as it appeals to small kids. While kids enjoy things like Patrick getting hit on the head repeatedly, I can laugh at Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy or the "AAAAAH! MY LEG!!!" that you hear at least once every episode.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by Anarky

In terms of creativity and new, funny ideas, Spongebob is definitely one of the best things that have happened to cartoons lately.

Rocko's Modern Life was ten years ago Anark.

[VaughnMichael]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Rocko's Modern Life was ten years ago Anark.

You know that show was only just ok to me much better than it's modern day wannabe though which is camp lazlo.
I never much cared for Rocko because it was made to replace Ren & Stimpy at the time it's shows creator John K. was heavily being screwed by Nick.
But in retrospect of the show I can it's a pretty funny show I wouldn't say the best to come in years though.
Oh and yeah that list above is moronic.
Goof Troop was a great show.
You know what show dissapoints me looking back on it that would have to be Thundercats I loved that show sooooo much as a child had every action figure and everything. I still think the characters are cool as well as still seeing the animation as beautiful. But the show it's self now being an adult just comes off to me as very boring or moronic at times. But I guess allot of those shows where at the time.