Like almost every kid, I loved Saturday morning cartoons. Times have changed now with cable and satellite. There are now literally hundreds of channels with cartoons playing 24 hours a day somewhere. There is even a network dedicated to cartoons. But they just aren’t the same anymore. We had very special cartoons 25 years ago, and earlier. You don’t have to get up early on Saturday to catch your favorite cartoon. And there are also cartoons that kids like to watch but are not meant for children. Cartoons like Family Guy, The Simpsons, and Ren and Stimpy are vulgar and have no business being watched by little ones with impressionable minds. I digress. It’s funny that when Trav or I show Kourtney and McKenna a cartoon that we watched when we were little, they love it. Yet those types of cartoons are considered useless today because they don’t have tolerance or environmental messages around them, or their comical violence is too much for kids. Well, here are my top 5 favorite cartoons from my childhood. Some of them came from even before my childhood, but were still running or rerunning when I was a youngin.
Honorable Mention:
The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, GI Joe, The Smurfs (I was just a little guy)
#5. Tom and Jerry – I was confused by this cartoon, because in some episodes they were friends and others they were always trying to kill each other. Still a great cartoon!
#4. Super Friends – Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, and the weirdo Aquaman made up the main characters, but the Wonder Twins and Gleek and many others were also part of the crew who fought against the Legend of Doom.
#3. Transformers – The transformers were so cool! I loved watching new episodes on Saturday’s, and even years after, I loved watching the reruns after school. After Optimus Prime died, it was still good, but it just wasn’t the same.
#2. Woody Woodpecker – This little smart mouthed bird was always giving someone a hard time, and his laugh is quite annoying. Droopy, Chilly the Penguin, and that mean walrus made guest appearances.
#1. Looney Tunes – Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Elmer Fudd, Tasmanian Devil, Pepe Le Pew, Wyle E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Speedy Gonzalez, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, and other characters made this the greatest cartoon ever. It isn’t even close! I especially liked Bugs’ sarcastic/confident personality. He never let anyone get the best of him. A lot of the humor was over my head as a kid, which was one reason I am sure this was such a great cartoon. It was funny for kids, but adults got a laugh too. And there has never been a better show to promote classical music. Playing in the background of most of the Looney Tune shows was a nice orchestral piece, many times it was actually a well known piece. I would love to own a set of Looney Tunes cartoons on DVD. I know it is something I can still watch and get a kick.
The Citizen Cane 