Hello and Welcome Back to our Nineties Nostalgia! This week we look back at cartoon series that Cartoon Network once hosted. Today, the channel has lost the quality of the content of its shows, however, here are 9 cartoon network shows you should know about.
The Flintstones
Meet the Flintstones, the modern stone-age family. The show was originally created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for ABC and successfully aired on TV between 1960-66. Till the arrival of the Simpsons several decades later, the Flintstones remained the most successful and popular TV show in America. The premise of the show was set around the stone age but reflected on the quality of family life in America in the sixties. A short-tempered boss, a regular 9 to 5 job, the suburban stone-age life and a dinosaur that behaved like a dog. The show disrupted the television trend of the time and has been on air since. In the 90s Ted Turner purchased Hanna-Barbera and Flintstones, following this the show was aired on TNT, TBS and Cartoon Network from 1992-1999. In the year 2000, the show moved to Boomerang where it was played for no later than 2016. Today it has a dedicated YouTube Channel to itself.
The Jetsons
The Jetsons was Hanna-Barbera’s space-age counterpart of the Flintstones. The first season of the show was aired between 1962-63. However, new episodes were aired between 1985 to 1987. Unlike the Flintstone who lived in harmony with nature, the Jetsons lived in a highly automated electronic world. Mr Jetson had the modern day work life, one hour of work a day, twice a week. The city they lived in was high above the ground and the Jetson Family, like all of their middle-class counterparts had a robotic maid Rosie who took care of the household chores the smart house thought were too trivial, like dusting. They also had a dog who could speak his thoughts through a simulator. Cartoon Network started airing the re-runs of the show in 1992 and continued to do so till 2004.
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry is an American animated short movie series launched in the 1940s by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. In its original run, Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry shorts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1940 to 1958. During this time, they won seven Academy Awards for Animated Short Film, tying for first place with Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies with the most awards in the category. After the MGM cartoon studio closed in 1957, MGM revived the series with Gene Deitch directing an additional 13 Tom and Jerry shorts for Rembrandt Films from 1961 to 1962. Tom and Jerry then became the highest-grossing animated short film series of that time, overtaking Looney Tunes.
The show focuses on the slightly sadistic but funny, dialogue-less episodes between a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Cartoon Network started airing re-runs of the original show in the early 90s. There have been several spin-offs of the original series. Tom and Jerry were so popular at some point that several Indian Brands used them to sell their products.
Wile.E Coyote and the Roadrunner
Wile E. Coyote (also known simply as “The Coyote”) and the Road Runner are a duo of characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese. The characters star in a long-running series of theatrical cartoon shorts and occasional made-for-television cartoons. It was originally meant to parody chase cartoons like Tom and Jerry but became popular in its own right. The show ran successfully from 1949 to 2014, with some episodes being re-written or produced. Edited versions of the show aired on ABC in the 1980s. The unedited short films were later aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the 1990s and early 2000 respectively. The show has seen several spinoffs like the Looney Tunes Show, Acme Times and so on.
The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls show was originally named Whoopass Stew! The show was developed by animator Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network featured the pilots of the Powerpuff Girls in 1995-1996 in their What a Cartoon! section. The series made its official debut in 1998 and ended in 2005. A total of 78 episodes were aired along with Christmas special, a movie and a ten year anniversary episode. The show revolves around Blossom, Bubble and Buttercup three superheroines who were created by Professor Utonium in his laboratory. The girls live in Townsville and are often called upon by the mayor to protect the city from external and internal threats. Initially the show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and Cartoon Network together, however, later Cartoon Network Studios independently produced the show.
Powerpuff Girls was nominated for six Emmy Awards, nine Annie Awards, and a Kids’ Choice Award during its run. Spin-offs of the show include an anime, three CD soundtracks, a home video collection, and a series of video games, as well as various licensed merchandise. The series has received generally positive reception and won four awards.
Scooby-Doo
Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! for Hanna Barbera Productions in 1969. The show is probably the longest running show as it is still produced. The show revolves around 4 teenagers and their talking Great Dane called Scooby Doo. They move around in their mystery van and solve mysteries involving supernatural creatures. The finale of an episode is always logical, even when the entire episode has a lighter air to it. Following the success of the show, Hanna-Barbera and later Warner Brother Studios have produced several spin-offs of the series. In some episodes, Scooby’s cousin Scooby-Dum or nephew Scrappy-Doo are also featured. The show was broadcasted on CBS from 1969-1975, ABC aired the show till 1986 and then aired a spin-off- A Pup Named Scooby-Doo in from 1988-1991. The show then aired on WB Network and CW Network from 2002- 2008. Cartoon Network aired spin-offs of the show from 2010- 2015. TV Guide rated Scooby Doo as the fifth greatest cartoon of all times.
The Addams Family
The Addams Family is an animated series made out of Charles Addams cartoon, produced by Hanna- Barbera productions in 1973. The show revolves around a highly eccentric Addams family, which also included a hacked off, animated hand called “hand”. The intensity of several characters was brought down to make the show fit the Saturday Morning Cartoon slot on NBC, where it originally ran from 1973-1975. From mid-1980s to early 1990s reruns of the show aired on USA Network’s Cartoon Express Block. From 1992- 2000 the series aired in reruns on Cartoon Network and later on Boomerang. There have been several spin-offs of the series, with several movies being made as well as the launch of animated series of Addams Family for two seasons between 1992-1993.
Dexter’s Laboratory
Dexter’s Laboratory was created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network. The series follows Dexter, a boy-genius and inventor with a secret laboratory in the basement of his house, who constantly battles his sister Dee Dee in an attempt to keep her out of the lab. He also engages in a bitter rivalry with his neighbour and fellow-genius Mandark. Four pilots aired on Cartoon Network from 1995 to 1996; viewer approval ratings convinced the network to order a half-hour series, which ran for two initial seasons from 1996 to 1998. Later, Tartakovsky left to begin work on his new series, Samurai Jack. However, from 2001 to 2003, Cartoon Network revived the series for two more seasons, under Chris Savino and a different production team at Cartoon Network Studios.
Dexter’s Laboratory received widespread critical acclaim and high ratings and became one of Cartoon Network’s most popular and successful original series. During its run, the series won three Annie Awards, with nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Reel Awards, and nine additional Annie Awards. Spin-off media include comic books, DVD and VHS releases, music albums, collectable toys, and video games.
Captain Planet and the Planeteers
Captain Planet and the Planeteers is an American animated environmentalist television program created by Ted Turner, Robert Larkin III, and Barbara Pyle. The series was produced by Turner Program Services and DIC Entertainment and it was broadcast on TBS from September 15, 1990 to December 5, 1992. A sequel series, The New Adventures of Captain Planet, was produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Program Services and was broadcast from September 11, 1993 to May 11, 1996. Both series continue today in syndication. The program is a form of “edutainment” and advocates environmentalism.
The premise of the series revolves around 5 teenagers from different nationalists who were selected by the Earth Spirit Gaia to work together and protect the planet and in doing so, they become the Planeteers. When the Planeteers combine their powers of the four elements and the heart, a superhero is created called Captain Planet. The series previously aired in reruns on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. In February 2009, Mother Nature Network began airing episodes and unreleased footage of Captain Planet and the Planeteers on its website. In September 2010, the Planeteer Movement was launched with the assistance of Pyle as a means for fans of the show to connect and continue to integrate the show’s messages into their lives as real-life Planeteers. Cartoon Network announced on September 13, 2017 that Captain Planet would appear in a special crossover episode called OK K.O! Let’s be Heroes. The episode “The Power is Yours” was aired on October 9, 2017.
My brother has always been fond of watching cartoons since we were little. We specifically gather around the tv to watch Tom and Jerry; I love this cartoon but I never knew that it won seven academy awards for short films. This is very nostalgic, but right now my brother is looking for a new original comedy cartoon that he can binge-watch.