The good ol' toons

I have always been of the irrefutable opinion that to be born in the ‘90s is to have grown up with quality cartoons. Any ‘90s kid who did not become an ardent fan of Cartoon Network during its glory days has missed out – and I’m sure the rest of my fellow die-hards will agree with me – on the chance to have made a huge chunk of common nostalgia with the rest of their peer world. For some unfathomable reason, cartoons today have mostly become all about the good guy – bad guy battles. There’s almost always a hero and a villain and a fight of some sort. I wonder if this is what “kids these days” are really into (sorry guys, I know that makes you feel old, but let’s face it we are in our TWENTIES), or whether they have no choice but to make do with this for a childhood. It seems rather unfair that they are denied the luxury of variety, while we took it for granted.

                One thing that I’m quite indignant about is the way they have narrowed down the notion of a happy ending. A victory in a fight is the only thing that seems to qualify as a happy ending these days. Back in the good ol’ ‘90s, any of the following could make us kids beam in joy – the birth of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm to the Flintstone and Rubble families, little Elroy Jetson’s confession that Astro, his canine sidekick, was his best friend in the world or even the high spirited albeit predictable dash past the finish line by Scooby’s team in the All Star Laff-A-Lympics! Even when it did involve the good guy – bad guy tale, like Popeye making mincemeat of Bluto to rescue Olive Oyl, it still had a certain charm to it, simply because it was not so commonplace back then. Why, we even had our own vigilante back then, good old Stanley Ipkiss a.k.a The Mask, who was the despair of all authority and yet their saviour in times of need.

                Granted, no one ever watched cartoons for educational reasons. Nevertheless, I like to believe that Cartoon Network did teach us a few things. No fan of Captain Planet can possibly deny that they do not even feel the slightest tinge of indignation when they witness somebody littering the streets, or when they watch pollution spread freely like pollen in our industry dominated cities, or when they hear news about global warming or endangered species of wildlife.  On the other hand, the Addams Family taught us that a family that plays together, stays together. A most jolly bunch of weirdos, and a huge, happy household were they, despite the fact that they had a witch-like grandmother, an uncle who kept exploding, a disjointed human hand for a pet, a huge intimidating troll-like butler, and not to mention, a walking bale of hay for a cousin! And of course, Johnny Bravo taught us what happens when you flirt with girls way beyond your league! ;)

                Despite all these humorous yet unnatural shows, we sure did have our share of programs that we could relate to as well. Every sibling will probably have had a Dexter – DeeDee moment in their lives, fighting like it was the end of the world and yet always having each other’s back. And every single female child in this world is a powerpuff girl! Every little girl is either a confident and authoritative Blossom, fiercely protective of her sisters, or a shy and innocent Bubbles, sunny and positive and helpful towards everybody, or a stubborn and short tempered Buttercup, fond of bullying and always on the lookout for fun and mischief. Every girl out there who has watched The Powerpuff Girls has certainly found themselves in one of these large-eyed and fingerless kindergarten superheroes.

                As far as Scooby Doo goes, it seems to be a universal favourite. And why wouldn’t it be, what with it being most people’s first ever introduction to tales of mystery and detectives. Scooby Doo has definitely got to be one of the most mentally stimulating shows that I have watched as a child! It was a most thrilling experience to watch a group of friends and their gullible yet lovable dog, hot on the trail of some dangerous villain in disguise, and piecing clues together to solve the mystery behind it all. And the more you watched, the more you loved it, as you started to get to know all of them better – Fred, the leader figure, always dependable and turned to for help; Daphne, the pretty girl of the group, with her occasional brainwave that helped save the day; geeky Velma with her freckled face and big glasses, wearing an excited grin on her face every time she said the words, “Jinkies! I found a clue!”; Shaggy, with his shabby attire and his shudder of fear at every little thing, finding courage in nothing but his dog pal; and finally Scooby-Doo, the funny and frightened dog, who adores Shaggy, and could be coaxed into anything as long you gave him a Scooby snack!

                The Looney Tunes (my personal favourite!), merits an entire post for itself, in my opinion. The unbelievable multitude of characters and catchphrases are the work of pure genius. So much humour and wit, in a form that reaches little children so effectively is extremely hard to achieve and these guys have done a top notch job of it! And the great thing about them is that the other related shows like Baby Looney Tunes, Merry Melodies, and The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries suffered no dip in standards! The Looney Tunes, is what I would call a classic in the cartoon world.

                Some other shows worth watching were Swat Kats - with a couple of feline brothers saving the world together; Richie Rich - the son of a millionaire, and his funny adventures with his friend, Gloria, his dog, Dollar, and his butler, Cadbury; Top Cat - and his bunch of cat-buddies who live in a few dustbins on the road and are the despair of the local police constable; Foster’s home for imaginary friends - with the cylindrical Bloo, imaginary friend of the little boy called Mac; Wacky Races - and its damsel in distress, Penelope Pitstop.

                All these cartoons were such a huge part of my childhood, that I find it shocking that no kid has even heard of them these days. I have never watched “Ben 10” or “DragonballZ” myself, but I think I have seen enough to guess that they are no match for the ‘90s cartoons. I used to enjoy long and intense discussions with my cousin about all these shows, and it felt good to relive them all once more in this post! And I hope it was a pleasant blast from the past for you guys as well :)