List-Mania: Childhood Cartoons

Day 20

Reminiscing with my sister the other night made me think a lot about my childhood. Watching cartoons on Saturday morning while eating a big bowl of cereal is what made Saturday the best day of the week! So without further delay, here are my Top 5 favorite cartoons from when I was a kid. GI Joe and the Transformers would have placed on my list but these cartoons were not readily available in Canada. I had to watch Rocket Robin and that terrible Hercules cartoons instead.

5) Muppet Babies
I remember changing the channel quickly every time someone came into the room while I was watching this. I was so embarrassed that I actually liked this show during the seventh grade. I think the real reason I liked this was how they integrated real footage from other shows and made their imaginative world even more creative. I was not a huge fan of this new Muppet named Skeeter. Sadly there are no DVDs available or planned.

4) Gummi Bears
Aside from the cheesy title song, this show had some pretty good writing. I loved the concept of this family of Gummi Bears being the ones that stayed behind while the other Gummi's left to settle other lands. This story thread was visited multiple times and they even contacted their missing relatives. Surprisingly there was quite a bit of continuity used. The first couple seasons are available on DVD much to my (and my son Logan's) delight.

3) Real Ghostbusters
I don't think I was ever disappointed watching this series. It captured the fun concept from the movie and ran with it. It also kept continuity from the movies. I didn't care for what they did to Slimer (making him a friendly ghost) but aside from that I loved this series. I remember building a Lego ghost detector that Spengler used and building a Lego proton pack and gun. This is also available on DVD which I need to purchase.


2) Dungeons and Dragons
I think this is the first cartoon that I watched that had quite a few dark premises. The one episode I remember fondly was when Venger was kidnapping children from Earth. They would disappear under their beds. It was also quite violent and that combined with the dark feel made it a "must-watch" cartoon for me. It is also available in DVD and I really need to check it out.



1) Spider-Man/Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends
I lumped these two together since both Spider-Man shows made a huge impact on me. I remember fondly coming home from Sifton Elementary for lunch and watching Spider-Man while I was eating peanut butter sandwiches. I knew every episode by heart! A few years later, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends appeared and I loved that show even more. I didn't know it then but I would get to know all the guest stars of the Marvel Universe quite a bit when I later started to collect comics. The classic '67 series is all available on DVD and is on my wish list.