Eighties cartoons

[matt_zimmer]

I originally wrote this in response to Bleu Unicorn's journal but I had so many nagging questions that I decided to post it here too.


I watched an episode of Thundercats on CN a couple of years ago and I was unsurprised that like practically all eighties cartoons did not hold up well. Like you said all the villians in those days were two-dimensional and I'm kind of jealous that kids in the early nineties got all of the COOL superhero cartoons.

By the way, that day I watched Thundercats I also rewatched an episode of Silverhawks. While Thundercats is kind of dumb Silverhawks is actually bat-poopy insane. What was up with that alien mime kid? Or that toadie who was a cross between a snake and Smithers? (His name was actually Yesman) Or that weird alien cab driver with the crazy bird in the back seat? I am frankly surprised more kids from the eighties didn't grow up to be serial killers.


After I wrote that I realized that Silverhawks had a LOAD of insane crap in it when you come right down to it. It also had that monster that turned into a robot who rode a giant squid in outer space and that guy who was like a giant molecule. That show was MESSED UP. It seriously needs a DVD release so new generations of kids can have their heads explode.

Comments

[ex-bleuunico103.livejournal.com]

*giggles* As I said, 80's cartoons are like a really bad acid trip, they were so messed up. I never watched Silverhawks but remembering some of the other crazy shows I did, I'm not at all astonished at the crazy of it. Hehe.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

They really are. There is ONE good thing about them all being toy-driven. If some toys turned out to crazy the show did too. I think they purposely made the toys weird just so the shows would be easier to write.

Ironically Silverhawks toyline came out after the show was around for awhile so it was just insane from the get-go.

Sigh. I kind of wish whoever owns the rights to the LJN toyline would release the Thundercats, Silverhawks, and Tigersharks toy in anniversary editions like Transformers and He-Man did. The cartoons may have been worse in the eighties but as a rule the toylines (not counting the Macfarlane type adult toys of today) were far better.

[mtgat]

*sigh*

Do not ask me ever about the extensive Mary Sue-riddled plotlines I had in my head for Thundercats. And the fact that my eldest is named after the female lead on Silverhawks probably does not bode well, either.

But if you're ever bored, I can point you toward the T-cats fanfics I wrote a few years ago.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Please do. Unlike Transformers I still have fond memories for those shows.

[mtgat]

Three and And Last. I embraced my inner fan of lame cartoons, and thus I was set free. ;)

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I'm going to check these out.

[style92.livejournal.com]

"I love '80s toons, you love '80s toons, if we didn't watch '80s toons, we'd be lame!"

Yeah, for me, there's always this wild drug-trip esque quality to those toons that is unbeatable, making 90s toons seem almost staid in comparison. (or do I mean "good"? hmm...)

My '80s toon obsession is transformers. Yeah, there's a lot of crap in there, but at it's core I always thought there was a solid premise, and a few great eps/moments from the first season. However, anything after the first season of that show is by and large not worth considering. And Optimus Prime and Soundwave are awesome. And Megatron and Starscream are the greatest married couple ever on television!

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I can't dig the Transformers. Probably for the simple fact that after I rewatched it a few years ago, I realized if I ever had a kid I would NEVER let him watch it. There "morals" were so black and white (it SCREAMS Reagan era) that the show seemed to be written by a neocon with a very sick sensibilty.:P

Plus, I was greatly disturbed by the movie after I saw it for the first time a few years ago. In the beginning of it four Autobots were murdered to the Wah wah guitar licks of a heavy metals song. Their deaths were exaggerated to the point of actually being misogynistic and I actually got mad that a movie with a scene that would not feel out of place in an R-Rated Ralph Bakshi flick was targeted at children. I felt so dirty after watching it I had to take a shower. It was animated porn for kids.

[stinkingbishop.livejournal.com]

If you want weird 80s cartoons, check out Ghostbusters. Not The Real Ghostbusters, Filmation's Ghostbusters - Filmation had a live action serie by that title in the 70s, so they had the legal grounds to make a cartoon with the title after the movie was popular.

Weird moments:

One of the three main characters is a gorilla. and yes, this was carried over from the live action show.

In true anime tradition, they change into their hero clothes in a transformation sequence - which involves being transported to a ghost-filled otherworld, even though their "hero clothes" are just boiler suits. The creepeist thng about this is the oddly pleasured expression one of the characters has as he gets stripped down do his underwear and tossed about by skeletal arms.

Despite the fact that the ghosts are the bad guys, the Ghostbusters have a telephone and television made out of talking skulls.

The bad guy, Prime Evil, makes a weird constipated straining noise whenever he says the phrase "Ghostbusters" (I'll get you next time, you HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGHHHH Ghostbusters!)

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

I remember that show. They had a weird toyline too. And yes, there was a LOT of homo-eroticism going on in that show to the point where you almost felt perverted watching it.

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

I am deeply disturbed.

Obviously, my expertise is the cartoons of the 90's (like you said Matt, COOL SUPERHERO CARTOONS!), but I was born in 1982 and spent many years watching 80's cartoons.

Thundercats, Voltron, Transformers, and of course, He-Man. One of my earliest memories is carrying around a He-Man sword all the time. And then a bit later there was Ninja Turtles, my first geek obsession.

But yeah, disturbed I say! I don't remember a whole lot about specific episodes, but misogynistic animated porn? Constipated straining noises?

I watched 80's cartoons and I turned out TV (although I AM proud to have recognized Style's South Park reference).

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Sorry, it was the most realistic desription I could think of. Hey, kids! We're killing people! Isn't that cool? An animated snuff film would probably be more accurate.