Cartoons were pretty much a staple of my childhood. I remember waking up early on Saturday mornings just to see EVERYTHING I could. One cartoon that will always stick in my mind is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But, I mean I had at least a couple handfuls of other cartoons I watched as a kid. More if you include the 80's cartoons I found as a teenager and an adult! But we won't get into those today!
Jem & The Holograms
I'm talking the 80's cartoon here, not the crappy movie that came out a year or two ago. Jem was an icon. She had charisma and flair. Not to mention Synergy. Jem came from an era of cartoons that liked to think of the future and how absolutely AWESOME it would be technology wise. Jem also was known as Jerrica Benton. A music company owner that uses Synergy an audio-visual entertainment synthesizer to project holographic images using the earrings Jem/Jerrica wore. A machine built by her father and sought after by her rivals, The Misfits, and The Stingers. Jem & The Holograms had everything we wanted in the 80's. High fashion, bad guy/good guy drama and solutions, and of course most importantly the FUTURE. Synergy was such a great addition and made everything make sense in the world they lived in. I could seriously go on and on about Jem & The Holograms because they were my first introduction to fashion. A deep-rooted love will always be there for them, no matter how Hollywood tries to ruin it with extreme amounts of cheese and teen angst.
Alvin & The Chipmunks
Honestly, this is a classic. It has been redone more times than I can count on one hand. Or even possibly two. However, you can't get any better than the original! Alvin, Theodore, & Simon Seville are three chipmunks in their "teens". They are a singing group managed by their father David. These 3 were absolutely perfect for my childhood. I loved all the trouble they got into, and the way they were able to get themselves out of it! Whether we saw it back then as kids or not, this show did one thing exceptionally well. All choices have consequences, good or bad. Simon was always the one who was absolute logic, while Theodore was the baby and really acted like it. Teddy and all. Then there was Alvin. The "star" of the show. Alvin was always getting into mischief, and that's what made the show so interesting. He would always drag his brothers into his plans, and they always knew full well, it would never work.
Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice became more of an obsession of mine when I got older, but watching the cartoon as a kid. That was epic and funny. I loved his antics and straight abhorrent humor. Did I mention he was funny? Yeah, I'm super obsessed with the Beetlejuice style of humor. It always gets me. He and Lydia were bomb together. The cartoon was loosely based on the movie of the same name, and I know you probably already knew about that, but I'm just going to say the cartoon was just as good if not better. Simply for the fact we get more shenanigans from Lydia and him.Since Lydia is absolutely OBSESSED with the afterlife and everything that goes bump in the night, he's really the only one that she can be 100% herself around.
Care Bears
This was such a sweet show to look back on. Full of moral lessons, and how to be a good person. Each bear has a special "power" and they use it when needed around the world to help good kids fix problems. All while dealing with the evil villains. This is honestly such a simple storyline, which I think is why it focused on teaching values and morals. It also helps that it stemmed off of a line of children's toys that became pretty popular.
Duck Tales
Duck Tales was the ULTIMATE adventure cartoon for kids of all ages. I loved watching it then, and I actually love the remake today. This show follows Scrooge McDuck and his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Luie on adventure after adventure. If you weren't excited and smiling during this cartoon, you were laughing. It was THAT entertaining. Still is to a certain extent. Even in the remake, which now includes Donald Duck, Launchpad and Mrs. Beakley with her granddaughter Webby. A lot of characters involved, but they are all well thought out.
The Real Ghostbusters
This was probably the first "paranormal" show I ever saw as a child. A spin-off of the movie from a few years earlier featuring Bill Murray ( Peter Venkman ), Ernie Hudson ( Winston Zeddemore ), Harold Ramis ( Egon Spengler ) and Dan Akroyd ( Ray Stantz ), along with many others. This cartoon, however, was a follow up in the sense they were still fighting ghosts, but they had one of their own tagging along too. Slimer was and still is the ultimate ghost.
He-Man & The Masters of The Universe
He-Man was an original player. A great cartoon featuring a world we had never seen nor heard of. He-Man is actually scrawny Prince Adam, and with his sword and the power of grayskull he transforms in He-Man and his "pet" into Thundercat. He battles many evils including/mainly Skeletor for the safety of Eternia. This honestly is probably a show you only want to remember. Watching as an adult I found it incredibly campy, however, it was one of the first of it's kind and is a great example of 80s cartoons.
She-Ra: Princess of Power
She-Ra is a spinoff of the very successful He-Man. It follows her journey of discovery, and who she really is. We find out what happened to her as a baby, and watch her grow into an amazing and powerful woman. This is one of the first cartoon shows to truly show a woman in a powerful role. She had class, as well as spunk and determination. Something really rare for women at the time!
My Pet Monster
This was one of the cutest if not THE CUTEST cartoons to reminisce over. I always wanted a My Pet Monster stufty growing up, but I never got one. This cute monster stufty comes to life when you unlock his shackles with a special key. Monsie gets himself and his friends into all sorts of adventures while simultaneously having to defend against Beaster the big bad of the show. Even until this day this show still makes me smile watching it. It's just so cute.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or TMNT) is an ultimate classic. This is one of the best of the best at staying relevant. These four crime-fighting turtles have been brought back and even reinvented many times over the years. Starting back in the 80's when Splinter a former martial arts teacher gets caught in a chemical goo and transformed into a rat, he finds a set of four turtles also touched by the same goo, and transformed into walking talking turtles. He essentially becomes their surrogate father and names them after famous Italian painters we all know. Donatello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael.He then teaches them everything he knows about fighting. Which in turn starts their crime-fighting journey.
These are just a FEW of the awesome cartoons I watched from the 80s growing up. There are definitely more though. Like Inspector gadget, Rainbow Brite, Smurfs, and so many others.
