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

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by Cure

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]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by Jester

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

Wait....

What's with the "non-"?