It's Sunday Night (I got cartoons on my mind)
It's been a while since your last cartoon night, time can only tell how long its been since those sweet eye sockets last glanced at a screen filled with mind melting images that only the art of animation can bring. But now you find yourself an opening to grab back those sweet memories that left a lasting impression on your character and as a human being, yet you forget to give thanks to the art as we sometimes do. Nonetheless it doesn't matter now, you've learned your reasons and are now ready to give it another swing.
If you had to pick a lineup to kick your soul back into the cartoon groove, WHAT WOULD IT BE!?
As for myself I'm going with these five favourites!
5. Transformers (1984)
Although I wasn't all that fond of this show growing up, I certainly appreciate it now as an adult. My earliest memories of the series comes from the toys I remember playing with an Optimus Prime radio player that transformed and actually functioned as a radio. The cartoon however never really played a role in my youth as the story was far to advanced for comprehension for my age at the time. In my opinion Transformers (1984) doesn't have the wow factor that modern Transformers do today in terms of animation flashiness. However all that can be forgiven on a night such as this, after all we just need a spark to set ourselves up for the rest of the lineup.
4. The Tick
A perfect show for any late night viewer, even if this show did play during the Fox Kids Saturday morning cartoon block back in 1995. My memories of this show come from laying on the sofa late at night (10pm) and letting Teletoon take over the scheduling from my hand as I was way too tired or lazy to change the channel. My fondest memory of the show came in December of 2000 or 2001 I believe, it was the Christmas episode airing on Teletoon. I remember the Tick fighting an army of robot Santas and just like that I suddenly became intrigued by the world of Ben Edlund. The Tick and Samurai Paul being my favourite characters of his. Around this same time (2000-2001) I remember yearning for more Tick merchandise and media content to explore. To much my surprise I recall walking into a random dollar store one day and finding in the most random of circumstances, a sticker from the Tick TV series, with a depiction of a scene from an episode. In fact, as I took a closer look I found several more of these Tick stickers with different variations of scenes from the show. I remember grabbing as many of these stickers as I could find, and just stare at them in marvel and awe at what I had just discovered. I learned years later that these stickers were part of a much larger set and were meant to be collected. Anyways after all these years The Tick still makes it on this list for being a pioneer in my cartoon viewing experience.
3. South Park
One of the funniest shows ever created, South Park would be next on my lineup being at number 3 or number 1 it really doesn't matter which order, what does matter is the effectiveness this show has in changing a generation and shifting a culture. We are currently living in a post South Park age in my opinion as the show has changed so drastically and gone in such a different direction you would hardly recognize it from its earlier and more naive character role days. Times are a different now and South Park has done its part in adjusting its content to relate to the current and modern social dilemmas that our world has bestowed upon us. Still would be nice to relive the golden days, but for now I am thankful that South Park is alive or at the least on life support as we hope you make a full recovery.
2. Dragon Ball Z
It's hard to watch just one episode of this show or any anime for that matter, however picking Dragon Ball Z to be a part of this lineup just felt right. An after school evening special from Monday to Thursday on YTV left this kid hooked and craving for more episode day in and day out. Vagetta is my favourite character, his fighting spirit and lack of words has always left me wondering what his true potential was I always hoped we would be stronger than Goku. The Captain Ginyu and Frezza sagas were among my first memories of the show, however I do recall seeing an episode or two of the original Dragon Ball back in 1998. I vaguely remember a Pig character in uniform (Oolong) walking around on screen, Hello Kitty and Power Stone also played during the same block at that time on YTV Saturday afternoons. When the show was in full swing back in 2001 my school used to print pictures of the DBZ for colouring. Those were some fun days, It led a few of us to try and master the art of anime drawing. As the months went on the Cell and Boo Sagas came to pass and a few video games were enjoyed (Budokai 1&2) as well as a sense of wonder as to what was to come next from the series. As I remember they aired Dragon Ball GT this left me confused as the reduced quality in animation and the out of date feel looking older than the DBZ series itself. This show is perfect to get your adrenaline flowing for a cartoon booster.
1. Batman The Animated Series
Batman The Animated Series has a way of setting a nice calm story telling mood, perfect for taming the soul back into the cartoon universe world and slowing down the pace a bit. If you need a mediating show or cartoon to watch BTAS is the one. From the soft cool tone of Batman's (Kevin Conroy) voice to the chilling and psychotic tone of the Joker's (Mark Hamil) laugh. I guarantee you that this rendition of the Batman will never need replacing as a true masterpiece for the caped crusader. Be it movie or TV The animated series is the best there is. If you have never watched it then I strongly recommend you find the time to watch it before consuming any other batman material. And why is it on my number one list to kick start your cartoon soul, well you see this show was there for me during tough times in my life. When I felt lonely or homesick, it kept me calm and made me happy and the best part was that the stories were written and told in such a unique and mature way that I felt as though my mind could understand deeper meanings for my age after watching it. After all those years of watching the series I still get chills from the Joker's voice and a sense of calamity when Bruce is in the Bat Cave talking to Alfred. Hopefully this show can inspire you the way it did for me.
PJ Toon