Saturday Morning Cartoons

As a kid growing up, I idolized Saturday Morning Cartoons. It was the groggy hangover wakeup of commercialism that happened after TGIF on ABC.

I was a kid in the country who had to PLAN his trips into the local "town*" of civilization. It was a forty five minute drive filled with hopes, dreams, and aspirations for what I would gather as new toys and pop culture. Saturday Morning Cartoons were my way of finding out what was new in the world of toys and would help me plan accordingly.




So to me, the commericals meant more than the actual shows did for the most part. Being out in a rural part of the world, it also meant that my choices were very limited for programming. This means that I could only gather in ABC as a channel so without regard, these shows are all pretty much ABC aired programming. (8 year old me would have built the Parthenon for FOX KIDS! with Power Rangers and Batman TAS on afternoons.)

So my ideal Saturday Morning lineup includes the following:



SONIC THE HEDGEHOG



Jaleel White (aka Urkel) did the voice of the Sonic and THAT theme song. Oh boy... sad story about the theme song is that I used to record things on cassette tape and that is clearly one of the songs that younger me had to rock out to.

Bonus points for the clip having the old ABC bumper scenes that rocked.

 Here is another bumper that I fondly remember:










THE MIGHTY DUCKS


For anyone who knows me, I am a huge hockey fan and a Minnesota based Anaheim Ducks fan. I hvae liked this team since the North Stars left due to being younger and really enjoying the Disney movies that the team is based on. Needless to say, when a cartoon came out, the sugar cereal eating ball of lightning that resembled me enjoyed it. Plus, the toys were solid.






REBOOT



Reboot was a great show that was an original idea. It is a bit dated now due to the CGI but the stories were pretty unique. A city inside of a computer that was threatened with destruction as a game was loaded. The townsfolk would be the AI and would try to win the game to defend their lives. Explains why some AI cheats...







BUMP IN THE NIGHT


Bump in the NIGHT! Mr. Bumpy and all his friends were claymation at its finest! Oh man another original idea that was great. Seriously, if you have nver seen this show about the dudes under your bed, please check it out.






THE ADDAMS FAMILY



The Addams Family was getting a lot of love in the early 90s with the movies and this cartoon. It was wacky and bizarre but the animation style is something to behold. It rivals that of unique style that Bruce Timm gave to Batman in my opinion. This style of characters had personality and was instantly recognizable.





THE ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH



Now for the softer side of younger Adam, I enjoyed Winnie the Pooh in this format. THe theme song was catchy, it wasn't an "adventure" to beat bad guys. It was just some good characters going about their daily lives and gave you a little comedic relief at times too.

This show just gave you a good feeling especially as it was usually timed with the sun starting to peek out fully. It just felt like joy.




THE BUGS AND TWEETY SHOW



Who cares if this show was a rehash of Looney Tunes shorts? This was my first real conscious introduction to the Looney Tunes universe adn it rocked. Simply put.



THE LAND OF THE LOST (1991)



Not really a cartoon but something kinda cool in live action format, the Land of the Lost was a typical 90s show with bizarre adventure, weird CGI, and a catchy theme song. It was a family show that got your attention and also gave some kind of family value during each episdoe.


And now for some commercial AWESOMENESS!!!!!



What were some of your favorite Saturday Morning Cartoons? Also, thank you to the awesome folks at the Eclectic Mayhem Podcast for this idea!




*Town as in a population of 8,000 people. Seriously.