Thoughts And Ideas About The 80s Cartoons

The cartoon world still consists today of youngsters on a Saturday morning, being glued to the television – mesmerized by all the color, action and cool heroes. It was the same with the 80s cartoons.

If you were a child watching cartoons in those days, you became a Smurf, you rooted for The Incredible Hulk as he fought off evil and sided with the Transformers. Your world consisted of cars flying, people soaring through the air, miraculous escapes and unimaginable strength. Your characters became your friends and your sword slew the villains. You wore their costumes and you got their toys. It helped spur on your imagination and gave you the power to overcome life’s little knocks.

Of course the 80s decade was a time of excess and extravagance. Many industries exploded with increased production worldwide, and much the same happened in the cartoon industry. It became more exportable and we were exposed to different styles, face shapes and better-animated features. The story lines improved as time marched through the eighties. One only needs to look at The Bionic Six to see this, and of course to an all time favorite for many viewers: Robotech.

The 80s was also a time when disputes broke out whether shows were to be aired in the morning compared with shows aimed at a slightly older audience, which would work better early afternoons. We can guess who won: they both did, because today you can find dedicated cartoon channels, which will entertain your child or teenager the whole day.

This brings us to our next point. Were the eighties cartoons too violent? This is obviously up for debate and will take volumes to reach some sort of consensus. The fact of the matter is, our 80s cartoons were entertaining and brilliant to say the least. Many people will say they had substance and were so popular that movies, series, toys, books, clothes and many other spin-offs were generated from that decade. Some people are also of the opinion that when it comes to violence, parents can regulate what their children see; after all, they are not adults yet and cannot make that decision for themselves.

On a lighter note though, there were funny cartoons that made children roll around with laughter. This in itself was a fantastic tool to uplift a sad kid or make someone feel better while they were in hospital. The eighties cartoons were special in that there story lines had quality content and a sense of realism which you have difficulty finding in today’s cartoons.

Take for instance Duck Tales. Here you had Donald Duck and his three nephews Hewey, Dewey and Louie. Throw in their billionaire Uncle Scrooge and see how the writers came up with fantastic adventures to give even adults a chuckle or two. Kids loved them and were thoroughly entertained, especially when new and interesting characters were added ever so often.

For the girls, apart from many others, Thundercat was extremely popular. This hybrid feline race who were living on the 3rd Earth because of some magical destruction of their home planet – Thundera, gave us lots of action and helped many a shy girl come out of her shell when she would watch this series.

There are so many 80s cartoons which were hits with children in those days, that it is not easy to name an all-time favorite. The gadget-action-transforming ones tend to be on many people’s list, so you need to watch a few of them and make your own decision. Enjoy.