The unadulterated fun of watching cartoons of the 80s and 90s, can never be replaced, no matter how many filters Snapchat comes up with. Kids today will never know the fun of fighting for the remote with siblings, over which cartoon channel to watch first.
From rooting for Jerry to win Tom and his bully cat pals, to thinking perhaps Tom was the better of the lot, we have all grown up — or have we? Join Abinaya Kalyanasundaram as she takes a fun trip down the nostalgia lane. She lists a few cartoons we miss watching the most, from the stone-age Flintstones to butt-kicking Powerpuff girls, plus some interesting behind-the-scenes trivia.
Lrblrrtory
What this orange-haired munchkin of a boy does in his secret laboratory all day, we’ll never know. It was fun to watch him do ‘scientific’ experiments while DeeDee ran amok destroying everything in sight! Interspersed with Mom and Dad-focussed episodes, and not to forget nemesis Mandark, Dexter’s Laboratory was fun to watch! Yet how a young lad managed to keep a cavernous lab hidden behind a bookshelf a secret from his parents is a mystery in itself.
What we learnt: NEVER underestimate your sister. And also, science is amazing!
BTS trivia: Dexter was voiced by women! Yes, voice actress Christine Cavanaugh, even won an Annie Award for her performance. When she retired she was replaced by Candi Milo, another voice actress.
Courage the cowardly dog
Now who doesn’t love a talking pink dog scared of everything, ironically named Courage, living in the middle of ‘Nowhere’ with a hopelessly clueless Muriel and her ever-bitter husband Eustace, trying to save them from ghouls, ghosts, witches and once, even a possessed tapestry! Watching Courage’s reactions of fear were a treat in itself.
Another character that made many an appearances, is that of the computer which Courage turns to for help. Armed with wit and a full hard drive of knowledge, it often refers to him as a ‘twit’ and always responds cynically and unperturbed to Courage’s pleas for help.
What we learnt: If you ever choose to live in the middle of ‘Nowhere’, when monsters come to visit, you’ll have nowhere to run.
BTS trivia: The names Muriel and Eustace are taken from the middle names of Chandler Bing and Ross Geller of Friends.
Tom and Jerry
No description needed. This was hands down the single most loved cartoon ever, enjoyed by kids and parents alike. Enough said.
What we learnt: Karma is real, Tom... it is oh-so-real!
BTS trivia: It was created by animation’s most successful partnership ever — William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The duo later formed the studio that gave us The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear, The Smurfs and countless other icons.
Looney tunes
This toon-programme had so many characters you simply couldn’t NOT have a good time watching them. Bugs Bunny getting away from his hunters with witty banter, dumb cat Sylvester trying to eat up cute bird Tweety, Porky Pig just being plain goofy — for some special reason most of us continue to love these comedy shorts even as adults. Each cartoon ends with a character going, ‘That’s all Folks’!
What we learnt: Quick-thinking and witty banter can always save you from being killed by your enemies.
BTS trivia: Almost all the characters were voiced by Mel Blanc — Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Wile E Coyote, Road Runner etc. He was called the ‘The Man of a Thousand Voices’.
The powerpuff girls
Admit it, at least once you and your pals have named yourself Buttercup, Blossom or Bubbles, tying towels on your backs and run around the house fighting ‘Evil’. These bad-ass kindergarteners knew how to save Townsville from a host of villains. Boy, aren’t we glad Professor Utonium accidentally added chemical X while making the girls. Sugar, spice and everything nice, indeed!
What we learnt: Every villain has a story behind why he became so. Remember Mojo Jojo’s story?
BTS trivia: Mojo Jojo created evil male counterparts of the Powerpuff Girls called the Rowdyruff Boys. They were made of snips, snails and puppy dogs’ tails (just like in the nursery rhyme ‘What are Little Boys Made Of?’)
The flintstones
Yabba dabba doo! The Flintstones is every bit fantastic with an innovative premise — placing typical 20th century societal culture to pre-history! The Flintstones and the Rubbles lived in the Stone Age, doing things that we do today, but with the help of animal-powered technology. Pet dinosaurs, a woolly baby elephant as a vacuum cleaner, and the coolest vehicles, need we say more! A favourite is the ‘bird carving on stone’ instant cameras.
What we learnt: Animals can do great things — and necessity is truly the mother of invention.
BTS trivia: Barbera, the maker, spent eight weeks pitching it to potential sponsors and networks. Finally, on his last day in the city, he presented the show to ABC, who took a chance.
The addams family
A show about a family of gargoyles, Frankenstein as butlers, and crazy scientists. The Addamses are a satirical inversion of the ideal American family; an eccentric, wealthy clan who delight in the macabre and are unaware, or do not care, that other people find them bizarre or frightening. As crazy as the premise sounds, the show made for some extremely fun times and morbid times.
What we learnt: Being different isn’t so bad.
BTS trivia: Though morbid and peculiar, the Addams family was considered a model family by critics of that time — a psychologist was quoted saying “There wasn’t any bickering. There wasn’t the making a fool of the father or the mother. There weren’t sides drawn between the children and the parents. There was all love, and they still managed to be funny.”
The jetsons
The opposite of the Flintstones, The Jetsons gave us a glimpse of what the future would look like. ‘The Jetsons’ was an epitome of very real future expectations — it was everything we could possibly imagine to desire for ourselves including flying cars, maid robots, cool jetpacks, moving sidewalks connecting across buildings and all meals made fresh at the push of a button!
What we learnt: The future can be a utopian place to live, perhaps.
BTS trivia: The artists and animators working on The Jetsons were inspired by the futurist architecture popping up around Los Angeles – a type of architecture called Googie -dramatic sloping roofs, plenty of glass, steel, and stilts.
Scooby-doo
Scooby-Doo was the first proper cartoon detective show we watched. It was brilliant spending afternoons solving mysteries with the talking Great Dane along with Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy AKA ‘those meddling kids’, thwarting the plans of criminal masterminds. Amped up toward the final reveal— and the shocking revelation of the bad guy (cue: gasp!) will be someone who we knew! Scooby Dood movies couldn’t match the colourful toon!
What we learnt: The only real monsters are those that exist inside people. Remove their mask, and you’ll know them.
BTS trivia: Velma’s classic line “My glasses... I can’t see without them!” was actually first said by Velma’s voice actor Nicole Jaffe at the first table read. She dropped her glasses and said the line. The writers thought her reaction was cute and threw it into the show.