Favorite Cartoons

Admit it: everyone has a favorite cartoon. Even the occasional anti-television fanatic I've met (the ones that don't allow TV in their house) stop by Sears every now and then to catch some Looney Tunes or Invader Zim (yeah, you see that a lot in Sears). So, what's your favorite (or most hated), and why? Drop me a line with your opinions, I'm about to inundate you with mine. :^D

It's really hard to compare cartoons across generations. I mean, how do you compare Steamboat Willie to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? This is the old "Michael Jordan vs. Oscar Robertson" debate that basketball fans with too much time on their hands used to argue. Other than the obvious technology differences, cartoons reflect, and in many cases push the envelope of, societal values and cultural norms. So, cut the Flintstones some slack; Bam Bam never stood a chance of being Bart Simpson. Fortunately, funny and entertaining never go out of style, so we'll just try to keep a little bit of historical perspective in mind here. (Yeah, I'm lying again -- I'm just going to blast away with biased opinions -- but humor me).

Scooby Doo  What are the odds on your kids watching the same cartoons you watched as a kid? (If, like mine, your parents didn't have TV when they were kids, the odds are very, very slim). On the other hand, my father-in-law and I had the same teacher for second grade, 25 years apart: "She was ancient then" he says (no, that's not relevant, why do you ask?). Anyway, I always liked Scooby Doo as a kid ("Like, hey Scoob, let's eat" - I do a mean Shaggy impersonation), but I have to take a long-term perspective on this one -- isn't it basically the same episode over and over and over again? The van breaks down near an amusement park/warehouse/farm and a kindly older man/woman asks their help because business is dying due to a ghost/demon/creature haunting the place and driving away all the business. Chase scene, scare scene, Scooby snacks, Shaggy eating several months food supply for a small country, chase scene, cornering and unmasking the ghost/demon/creature and discovering it is really the manager/neighbor/cousin who wanted to take over the amusement park/farm/warehouse; "And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you kids." What the hell, if it works, why screw with it? Any guesses as to how the upcoming Scooby Doo movie will play out?

Looney Tunes Bugs and Daffy are timeless creatures, AFAIC ("Shoot him now" "Shoot me now" "Shoot me now" BLAM). Porky pig? I don't think so. Elmer Fudd is OK, but people for some reason still insist on wearing his hat. I also do a good Elmer Fudd impersonation, but what scawes me is I can't do it on demand, he just sorta comes out evawy now and den. Kinda sucks when he escapes while I'm talking to an important client, y'know?  Now boy, I say, boy, Foghorn Leghorn is my kind of rooster. The Road Runner and Wylie Coyote are top shelf. Yosemite Sam and Taz were obviously at some point the behavioral models for us all.

Peanuts   With no disrespect intended for the late Mr. Shultz, was this ever funny? Read the comic strip lately (like, in the last 10 years). Did it ever make you laugh? When I was a kid it was a big deal for us to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, or the Great Pumpkin halloween special. What were we thinking? Were our lives that freakin' dull back then? If you pitched the idea today ("It's about a depressed, bald kid, whose friends diss him all the time") today, you would get laughed out of the place (unless, of course, you killed good old Chuck off every episode and then brought him back).

Speed Racer, Aqua Boy, Smurfs. Yeah, so what?

Batman, Spiderman Yawwn. Yeah, we all wanted to be superheroes.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  If for no other reason, I mention them here because they were the first of many multi-adjective action cartoons. You know, like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. They also spearheaded the "cartoon as commercial for plastic toys" craze that hasn't let up since.  Parents would line up to buy these things. That's sick. Hmm, that reminds me, I wonder how many of those Beanie Baby college funds are going to pay off?

The Simpsons  Just hilarious. Not for kids, though.

South Park   Aww, grow up already.

Sponge Bob Square Pants  "Are you ready, kids?/aye aye, captain/I can't heeaarr you/ AYE AYE, CAPTAIN/ Oh, who lives in a pineapple under the sea?/Sponge Bob Square Pants..."  This show is not only funny, it's not even offensive. Gotta love it.

Pinky and the Brain  "One's a genius, the other's insane."  I personally found this very funny the 2 or 3 times I've seen it. "What are we going to do tonight, Brain?" "Same thing we do every night. Plot to take over the world."

Space Invader Zim   Sick, twisted, very funny.

Butt-Ugly Martians  No, I haven't seen this one. But it is the actual title of a Nickelodeon cartoon. Picture the creative process that came up with this one: "Come on people, we've got a deadline here, doesn't anyone have any ideas? Frank, what's that you've drawn there. Looks like some kind of martian or something." "Whatever it is, it's butt-ugly." "Hey, Butt-Ugly Martians, now we're getting somewhere." Oh come on. What was the line from that  Bruce Springsteen song? Something like "57 Channels and nothing on?" No kidding.

Angry Beavers; Ed, Edd and Eddy;  Cat-Dog; Courage the Cowardly Dog  and basically most things on Nickelodeon: this is why I let my kids play video games, so they won't watch this fodder.