Kate and I were talking about different cartoons that we watched as kids the other night. I admit that I have quite a few fond memories of a number of shows that were on. Some of them held up as the years went by but others make me cringe. So, I thought I’d share a little list of these with everyone. They’re not in any particular order.
Top 5 Best Cartoons From My Childhood
1. Dungeons and Dragons – This was one show that I waited for every Saturday and I was quite sad when it was canceled since a true final episode never aired. The D&D cartoon was one of my major early fantasy influences and I still think of it quite highly despite it being a little on the cheesy side. Then again, I really love cheesy things.
2. Battle of the Planets – Battle of the Planets was my introduction to anime when I was about four years old. I remember coming home from school, sitting in front of the TV with a giant box of Legos and watching this show. Looking back on it, the dubbing was quite bad but I don’t care. I still love it.
3. Scooby Doo – I can honestly say that I most likely watched this cartoon more than any other. Hell, it’s where my nickname ‘Shaggy’ comes from. I loved everything about this show and I still feel that I can enjoy watching it.
4. G.I. Joe – I had just about as many G.I. Joe stuff as I did Star Wars. I was part of the fan club. I even dressed up as Snake Eyes for Halloween one year. I mean, who else would you dress up as? He was the coolest character on the show and he never spoke a damn word. These days you can still be amused by G.I. Joe and rightfuly so!
5. Transformers – What kid didn’t love this show? Robots that change into vehicles and other stuff is about the coolest thing I can think of. Enough said.
Honorable Mentions – Here are a few shows that didn’t make the top five but I still rank them quite high: Pirates of Dark Water, TMNT, Voltron, M.A.S.K., The Real Ghostbusters, Jem (yes, I watched it), He-man and The Smurfs.
Top 5 Worst Cartoons From My Childhood
1. Rubik the Amazing Cube – Okay, who thought it was a good idea to design a cartoon after a puzzle toy? I mean really. This was a even stretch for my then childhood mind.
2. Thunder Cats – I admit that I watched this a lot as a kid but looking back on it now, I’m not sure what I was thinking. Yes, I thought Cheetara was hot. I think just about every boy going through puberty thought so. Thunder Cats did, though, manage to produce one of the most annoying characters in cartoon history. I hated Snarf then and I still hate him.
3. Silverhawks – The Silverhawks ranks up there with Thunder Cats. It’s just bad. The idea was kind of cool but the execution just didn’t cut the mustard.
4. Q*Bert – Just about every popular video game was made into a cartoon during the 80′s and this was probably one of the worst. I mean, what kind of plot could you pull from that game?
5. The Ghostbusters – What a rip off! I remember being quite angry when I originally thought this was a cartoon inspired by the popular movie. Not only was it a knock off but it was a horrible one.
Honorable Mentions – Here are a few more crappy shows that didn’t make my top five: Laser Tag Academy, Gobots, The Ewoks, Legend of Zelda (Excuse me, princess!) and The Snorks.
