Whatever Happened To The Mind-Opening Cartoons I Used To Watch As A Kid!??!!

Originally posted by Threadfall
I liked Exo Squad as a kid.
That was pretty complex for "kid" show.

Indeed. I didn't get a chance to see much of it - but ExoSquad was always one of my favorites. Pirates of Dark Water too, was a masterpiece from Hanna-Barbara - a company known for building an industry on recycled ideas, setpieces, and characters.



Also, I found this video on Poor Mojo Newswire and figured the members of ATS would... have a unique appreciation for it. Justice League is undeniably a kid's show, but is apparently written such that both children and adults can enjoy it.




I do still watch cartoons, but yeah... the ones that really make you think are typically decidedly not meant for children.


Love this series. If it seems somewhat reminiscent of the Matrix, a movie which opened many people's eyes to a very old philosophy, it's because the Matrix drew it's inspiration directly from the Ghost in the Shell series. Ghost in the Shell itself was inspired by Arthur Koestler essay on structuralism entitled "Ghost in the Machine" - a satirical debasing of Descartes dualism. GitS also deals heavily with the concept of emergence and complexity theory, which I am fascinated by.

Plus, Togusa is one of the rare few that can rock a mullet and make it look good. Gotta respect that.


[edit on 2-2-2009 by Lasheic]

Here's my generation. Wasn't so far back when they still had these good cartoons. It's sad what they did to the animation quality of today's cartoon.

Adventures of Batman and Robin


Superman: Animated Series


X-men


Spiderman


Recess



[edit on 2/2/2009 by Truth07]

reply to post by alyosha1981

If I could star your mask and dino saucers post a hundred times I would and than I'd do it again those two shows were AWSOME

Thank you for noticing that very important post. Much appreciated

If only more people had actually seen all those shows, because IMO they were a thousand times better than three quarters of all the crap on TV now.

Cheers

Originally posted by alyosha1981
reply to post by Majorion

 

If I could star your mask and dino saucers post a hundred times I would and than I'd do it again those two shows were AWSOME!!!!!! I'm going to go get my boglin's and my thungercat claw and sword of omens now!!


[edit on 2-2-2009 by alyosha1981]

[edit on 2-2-2009 by alyosha1981]

Haha boglins I had a bunch of those growing up. Did you ever have Spinjas, Monsters in my pocket or trash bag bunch. Great times!

reply to post by Majorion


My husband brought this up recently ( yes he loves cartoons) none of today's cartoons are 'epic' like those of the past, not even fun, they focus on the dumbest points. Fairly Godparents, lord that one turns my stomach, but my neice loves it and watches every time it's on. I don't get it. Give me some Buggs and Woody any day!

reply to post by space cadet


Woody and Bugs? Epic? Ok, I'll concede that Bugs Bunny had some fairly epic toons, especially those that referenced classic literature or used operas such as Rabbit of Seville or "What's Opera, Doc?". But overall those shows were still the same irreverent slapstick silliness that many of today's children's shows have at their cores.

My only problem is when they try to call such drivel "Informative".

The Mysterious Cities of Gold FTW!!

And also, the reason why older cartoons will always be better than the crap that has come out over the last ten years or so is because there wasn't much of that Politically Correct nonsense in them. Whether a black person was shown in a politically Incorrect way, Asians, whatever - It was normal and no-one made a big deal. I would go as far as saying that, based on my childhood memories (Born in 1980), the 80's and 90's were probably a golden age for us since there was so much good stuff everywhere, and a much better world than what we are currently living in. There was no "tip-toeing" around - People said what they felt, and others respected their opinions. It was great.

In the modern world, everyone is scared of pissing off someone else, and thus no-one says what's on their mind anymore, hence why there is so much fear, frustration and general anger among the population. Everyone lives in the illusion of a better world, like virtual reality, pretending nothing is wrong, each playing their part as part of the big problem. "Political Incorrectness" is the biggest BS ever created. Children's programmes only encourage sex amongst youngsters as if it is the only thing to do at that age, the music makes them angry, the films want them to blow # up and the programmes seem to make them get dumber and dumber with every passing decade. Oh, what a wonderful world! Thank God I only have 1 Television in my house, and no, it's not in the kids room. There is also a general understanding that TV is bad, and hence my kids are always studying. No way am I leaving them at the mercy of these corporations who only want to brainwash them.

[edit on 2-2-2009 by JasonT]

[edit on 2-2-2009 by JasonT]

reply to post by Lasheic

It might not be informative but bugs bunny sure is funny.
That clip was hilarious.
I loved those cartoons.

reply to post by semperfortis


this isn't a conspiracy of liberal agendas... what gives you the impression that liberals don't want to win?

It's a conspiracy of overly conservative parents if anything.

We all knew those parents who wouldn't allow their kids to play with guns.

When I was 10, my mother got me a job. I've been working ever since.

Any work around the house which had to be done... my mother made me do it.

No, it's not a grand conspiracy, simply collective laziness on the parts of parents everywhere. Shame on them. Shame on YOU.

And while we are talking about cartoons, Let me say that when I was watching Saturday morning Cartoons and after school cartoons, my Father (born in 31) would always say how horrible the 80's cartoons were compared to old Bugs Bunny and Road Runner.

So even though you are trying to lump the 80's cartoons with Bugs Bunny, remember that Bugs was from a much earlier era, to which the 80's cartoons looked like drivel .

reply to post by HunkaHunka

Yes you're right, pre-80's cartoons WERE really good.

But I don't think that anything even came close to how masterful and imaginative 80's cartoons were.

BTW, when semperfortis said 'liberal', I'm sure he didn't mean it in the political sense. Please try to keep the politics in another board

Thank you



[edit on 2/2/09 by Majorion]

reply to post by Majorion

BTW, when semper said "liberal", I'm sure he didn't mean it in the political sense.

Exactly

Thank you

Semper

I can' let this thread go on any longer without mentioning...













www.bcdb.com... for all of the Hanna-Barbera classics.

nothing ever came close to Captain Future

Story depth at this time already beyond everything else......

MSM from the cradle to the grave! There's no telling how much subliminal stuff is put into todays cartoons. I honestly believe the creators of the old 80's genre cartoons were produced more for entertainment value with far less subversive alterior motives. Most (80-90%) of the animation done today is from Korea and there are definetly things which are lost in translation. I remmember listening to Seth McFarland's commentary on one of the family guy dvd's about how many things the Koreans would screw up. Certain things just do not translate. It's very disturbing to think about what kind of subliminal messages the Koreans could be putting into todays cartoons. Not to mention the MSM and corporate conglomerants.

The Moomins

Has anyone seen Wolf's Rain? It came out in 2003. It's anime but probably the best cartoon I have ever watched in my humble opinion.

Gotta say I dont remember a lot of the ones you guys posted. I watched X-MEN, Spiderman, and Dragonball RELIGIOUSLY! I love the series that made no sense to adults but kids never had to question how they made sense.

Also gotta give props to Transformers. Any show where you just know that thing is going to turn into something even cooler is marketing and a half.

I've always been a fan of the villains in series too! To me they're just so much more intriguing and cool!!




Also wanted to add: anyone remember Biker Mice from Mars, or those shows where giant Sharks with arms beat the tar out of each other? I remember having a toy of it that was all mouth! Also, Power Rangers was probably the most influential thing on my life. I got to see a line-up of all 50 or so red rangers when I went to Japan, it was like sex, except that it's too wholesome for that! (except for violence)

[edit on 2-2-2009 by Ridhya]

Its just a sign of the times.

Kids also spend hours a day playing a guitar (guitar hero or rock band) that wont ever teach them how to "play" a guitar.

We've become a society obsessed with the moment or the now. Forget about putting some effort into learning an instrument or putting some brain power into a stimulating cartoon.. NOOO.. We want it now.

We worship the particle and ride the wave that comes along with it. What will that wave be? A generation of boring identical kids with the same haircut and the same crappy taste in music. Not to mention how easy it will be to mold those minds to whatever nefarious agenda TPB may be hiding up there sleeves. A mind that only lives in the now is a mind that can only react in the now. Through fear.

Peace

"Worship the wave, ride the particle"

Thread Announcement


We need to keep the discussion focused on conspiratorial aspects of the topic if this is to remain on ATS.

Thanks....

reply to post by kinglizard


Looks like I beat you to it.

Peace