I loved the Superfriends series. I wish Boomerang would start showing them again.

Anyone remember Thundar the Barbarian?

Thundarr!!!! I forgot about that one until I watched the intro and knew what was going to happen in each sequence.... Yeah, I watched it as a new series as well.

A couple of oldies but goodies from MGM:

"Ohhhhh, Froggy went a courtin' he did riiiiiide....crambone..."



My favorite Droopy Dawg cartoon ever. I remember the first time I saw this as a kid, I laughed till my stomach hurt.


Anyone remember Screwy Squirrel? When MGM hired Tex Avery away from Warner Bros. they wanted him to come up with a cartoon "star" similar to Bugs Bunny. Screwy never achieved the height of fame that Bugs did, obviously, but his toons are still pretty funny stuff.



"Jerky Turkey" was Tex's take on the story of the First Thanksgiving. Love the bit where the Mayflower has its own anti-aircraft gun and a Destroyer escort.

the Pinky and the Brain metal theme http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Zn-qd-f_U

We've mentioned the vintage "Scooby Doo" shows a couple of times in this thread already, but has anyone seen the newest "Scooby" reboot, "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated?" It started airing on Cartoon Network about a month ago.



My kids are addicted to this show, they even want me to order the episodes that are available via Cartoon Network On Demand so I can record them to a DVD for them.

The animation's way nicer than the 70s versions, and the humor isn't just for kids either - every one I've seen so far has made a couple of self-aware jokes picking on the cliches' of the old series (i.e. the bad guy is always a guy in a costume, the "I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids" line, etc.), obviously aimed at the folks who grew up with the show and are now watching it with their kids.

In this version, the Mystery Machine gang have some issues to work out aside from solving mysteries. Daphne now has a long standing (but unrequited) crush on the clueless Fred, whilst Velma has a thing for Shaggy (though it doesn't always appear to be mutual).

Trivia note, Matthew Lillard, who played Shaggy in the two "Scooby" live action movies, also does Shag's voice in this version. Velma is voiced by Mindy Cohn (aka "Natalie," the fat chick from "The Facts of Life") who's apparently been doing her voice in the various direct-to-DVD Scooby 'toons for some time now. The mysterious "Mister E" (get it?), an as-yet-unseen character who sends the gang cryptic notes and clues to send them off on investigations, is voiced by comedian Lewis Black of "Daily Show" fame.

Funny stuff... and thankfully there's been no sign of Scrappy-Doo in any of the episodes I've seen thus far...

So they've updated the characters to bring them into the new millenium (laptops, electronic gadgets & gizmos) but they're still driving around in a 1960's psychadelic VW van, Daphne & Velma look like they just stepped off the set of Laff-In and Fred still dresses like a 1974 English dandy with a scarf? Shaggy's "dirty hippie" chic never goes outta style.

I guess you just can't mess with the classics.

Well, yea, but if they turned the Mystery Machine into a mini-van, put Shaggy and Fred in baggy raver pants and gave Velma and Daphne Emo Girl makeovers, it just wouldn't be the same, would it?

The kiddies just watched another "Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated" episode (I am soooo thankful for Cartoon Network On Demand on a rainy day!) that I hadn't seen yet. It involved some kind of vengeful Mexican spirit/ghost thingy turning the children of Crystal Cove (the Mystery Machine gang's home town) into zombie-like creatures. I laughed my ass off at a few scenes that were definitely intentional nods to "Night of the Living Dead," the original "Halloween," and even "Quarantine." I'm like "Damn, the guys who make this show are hip!"

Some of my favorites from Saturday morning when I was just a little kid.

Looks like Scooby and the gang aren't the only classic 'toon to get the "reboot" treatment from Cartoon Network... Bugs, Daffy and the Looney Tunes gang are coming back this fall in "The Looney Tunes Show." Haven't seen any clips yet (apparently there was a sneak peek shown at Comic-Con last month) but the character designs, while keeping some of the classic feel, look a little more "modern" than I would like....

Well, they certainaly look better than their "Extreme Make-over" counter parts they tried a few years ago. Remember these...



Did this ever get off the ground or did the fans kill it with the negative feedback?

EDIT: Loonatics Unleashed lasted 2 brief seasons and is available on dvd.

Just reading the story-line of the Loonatics Unleashed on Wikipedia has me saying "WTF?" Meteor strikes, Ace Bunny, martial arts and swordsman? Danger Duck? Super Powers? The whole thing makes no sense.

There was a whole "baby" phase that most of the cartoons of old seem to go through, starting with Muppet Babies. Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry and probably a few more I'm forgetting.

Just like music, when tv gets a hold of one hit-making format (baby versions, extreme sports), everyone jumps on the bandwagon and bombards us with their version until it's overkill. So now it looks like the "classics" are all going with the re-boot formula.

MORE "Cartoons that Time Forgot"

"Snorks" (aka "the Underwater Smurf Ripoffs")

My son came across this on Boomerang a couple of weeks ago and told me flat out "Dad, this show sucked."

"Q-Bert"

After "Pac-Man" became a hit Saturday morning show, a lot of other video games were adapted into 'toons.
"Q-Bert" was part of a package show called "Saturday Supercade" featuring a couple of other video-game based toons, including "Donkey Kong" and I think "Space Ace."
What I never understood was why Q-Bert took place in a "Happy Days" 1950s-styled setting.

"Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space"

In their second cartoon series, Josie and the gals were rocketed off into outer space for intergalactic hijinks .... weird, but they weren't the only beloved characters to get shot into outer space, we also had...

"Gilligan's Planet" - a retread of the classic TV show (most of the original cast did the voice overs) with a sci-fi twist!


"Fonz and the Happy Days Gang"

Another one of those "Cocaine is a helluva drug" ideas. "(*SNOOORRRRT!) I got it! Let's take the Fonz, give him a canine sidekick ("Mr. Cool") and send him on a series of time-travel adventures with a chick from the future!! The kids will LOVE it!"

The "Fonz" show was apparently part of something called the "Mork And Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/The Fonz Hour," featuring animated versions of all three popular sitcoms. I don't remember the cartoon "Mork & Mindy" at all, though I vaguely remember the "Laverne & Shirley" toon had to do with them joining the army, ala "Private Benjamin."


"The Dukes"

In this series, the Duke Boys were on a "race around the world" against Boss Hogg and Roscoe and would visit a different country in every episode, in some sort of misguided attempt at being educational as well as entertaining, I guess...
Interestingly, the premiere of the cartoon coincided with the brief period where Tom Wopat and John Schneider (aka "Bo" and "Luke") had temporarily left the "Dukes" TV series in a salary dispute, so both the prime time show and the cartoon starred the replacement cousins, "Coy" and "Vance." By the time season #2 of the toon rolled around, Bo and Luke were back on the regular show and thus they starred in the cartoon version as well.

The disco can be annoying, but after watching a few episodes, I think I prefer the original Japanese "GoLion" to the American "Voltron."

Here is another original Japanese cartoon that may look familiar.

My older son and his friend went to the anime convention here in Sacramento.... They hope to meet the voice of Minmay.

I really like Tom and Jerry stuff and thankfully my 5-year-old daughter enjoys it just as much as I do. She's always asking me "What's the cat doing now?"