I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I adore those lists they hand out to college professors telling them things they should know about the matriculating freshman class.
You know, the ones with bullet points like: They have never lived in a world where Madonna is not famous.
When I think about The Cartoon Network, it amazes me to think that it’s only been around since 1992 – but there are people in college who don’t know a world without a 24 hour cartoon channel. Hey kids, we used to have to walk to school, uphill, both ways, and wait for SATURDAY mornings to watch back to back cartoons! As far as I’m concerned, the show that put them on the map for cutting edge stuff was Space Ghost Coast to Coast. It’s been years, but I still think about that show. Sometimes I hear the voice of Zorak in my head saying “The life of a rodeo clown is a sad and lonely life. I know. For I am a rodeo clown.” (I’m not at liberty to say WHY that goes through my head, or what triggers it, so just leave it be.) And I don’t want to brag, but I have an autographed headshot of Brak. Okay, I totally couldn’t WAIT to tell you that.
And then in 1998, along came The Powerpuff Girls. Buttercup, Blossom and Bubbles. I loved them so hard. And apparently I wasn’t the only one. Creator Craig McCracken said, “I thought it would get on Cartoon Network and college kids would watch it and there would be a few random T-shirts out there in the rave scene or in record shops. But I had no idea that it would take off to this extent.”
Buttercup, Blossom & Bubbles are getting ready to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. (Good grief! I think I still have things on my to-do list from 10 years ago that I haven’t ticked off yet! Where does the time go?) and I recently found out that they’re featured in the new game Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL along with characters from other iconic series such as Samurai Jack, Dexter’s Laboratory, and Johnny Bravo. I even saw some artwork from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Children in the promotional video.
You’ll be able to play it on X-Box, PS3 and the Wii. I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on this game, but I love fighters – so when I do, I can guarantee you the following things:
1) If I can choose a Powerpuff girl, I am going to be Bubbles.
2) I will be REALLY GOOD at this game. I’ve always been really good at brawlers like this. My husband says it’s because I’ve got smaller fingers and can mash the buttons faster, but I’m going to go with it’s my mad skillz. I think someone is just a little tired of getting their ass handed to them in the Dead or Alive franchise.
While I wait for my review copy, I’ve been given the go-ahead by the PR agency to do an AMAZING giveaway here on GeekMom! All you have to do to qualify is leave a comment and tell us which cartoon characters you miss the most and would like to see back in action. We’ll do a drawing and the winner will receive:
- A Lithograph of the Powerpuff Girls
- A PS3 console
- A copy of Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL for the PS3
IMPORTANT: Make sure to put the email address you check the most often in the “mail” section of the comment form (it won’t be displayed publicly) so we can contact you, and you can tell us where to send your booty!
Um, can you say AMAZEBALLS? So get to it!
I have to say that I miss Sailor Moon. When I was in high school (way too long ago!) I was probably a bit too into them, but I’d still play a game with those girls.
There are actually several Sailor Moon games, they’re just all in Japanese, dating from when the show was airing there. This means that the games are mostly on Super Nintendo, with Playstation, Sega Saturn, Sega Game Gear, and Gameboy appearances as well. (Alas, the Playstation one plays very poorly, it’s not worth the trouble.) Genres include fighting, puzzle, educational, and one RPG. The fighting and puzzle games are fun, and the educational ones involve a lot of Japanese.
It’s easiest to find Super Nintendo (it was known as the Super Famicom in Japan) games, and they are mostly fighting, puzzle, or action/platforming. For the RPG, I definitely recommend the ROM translation for PC someone made a while back. The story is original, and rather good, though based on the manga.
eBay is your best bet for finding the games. Super Nintendo systems aren’t that expensive right now if you have a local game store and converting them to play Super Famicom games is a simple, if delicate, physical procedure. There are also generic systems coming out of Asia now that combine NES, SNES, and sometimes also the Sega Genesis (which blows many a geeky mind, mine included). Since they are from Asia, they are already set up to play Super Fam games as well as SNES. While this would be more expensive than a SNES system, it’s cheaper than a new system and you have a much larger catalog of (cheaper) games to choose from.
Ok, now, that was way too long. I apologize. I don’t even know if you’ll see this, Lesley. I post in the hope that it helps someone, especially you. 🙂
Wow! Thanks so much 🙂
I miss Dexter’s Labratory, and think an update could do well, especially in our geeky households. (One could argue, however, that it has already been updated into Phineas and Ferb or Johnny Test.)
There was a lot of great stuff on CN at about that time- Dexter, Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Codename Kids Next Door, and the Toonami block. Miss those days.
That reminds me, I need to look for a Samurai Jack ornament for our “all cartoon” tree…
I miss some odd ones: Jem! and Doug! and Eureka’s Castle (i dont know why I liked that one so much) lol!
Aaaah! Real Monsters. Miss that desperately. And Rocko’s Modern Life.
Samurai Jack. That show was about more than just violence or action. It had a real focus on artistry and sound design. Sometimes it would emphasize things I never thought a cartoon would care about. Just an incredible synesthetic experience. Genndy Tartakovsky needs to get to work on the movie asap.
Too many to name, but here are some that come to mind:
1) M.A.S.K.
2) Powerpuff Girls very own: Mojo Jojo (would love to see a Pinky-n-the-Brain-type-spin-off)
3) Star Blazers (now I’m old)
4) Samurai Jack
I really miss Ducktails. At least I was able to buy the DVD’s for my son.
I miss Ren and Stimpy so much, Kristen. I now have an oversize cat and a scrawny chihuahua, but he shows no signs of asthma.
Jem. Jem and the Holograms. Jem Jem Jem, the rock star role model of my youth. Women making their way in the music world! Duality and doppelgangers! High 80s fashion! I will be showing my son Jem. Oh yes, I will.
I’m going to have to go with the Go-Bots. All of them.
I have to say i miss all of these cartoons that they are making into terrible movies nowadays! I miss the smurfs, snorks, doug, scooby doo, yogi bear, teenage mutant ninja turtles, catdog, angry beavers, wren and stimpy and many many more!
“Ed, Edd n Eddy” was an eerily accurate reflection of my childhood friends. However, I would have to pick “Courage the Cowardly Dog”. Even though he was mostly terrified of everything he came across, he always managed to protect his oblivious/elderly owners from all sorts of danger. I’m not sure if identifying with him is a good thing or a bad thing, but I love him nonetheless.
Also, AMAZEBALLS.
Jem for sure. And Tom & Jerry. Old school but I get nostalgic for the cartoon I watched as a latch-key kid in the 70s.
Blue of Foster’s Home for Imaginary Children fame was always a favorite of mine. The silly selfish antics and memorable lines had me in giggles.
I sometimes miss Rainbow Bright (I know, I know!), but for later cartoons I was big into Samurai Jack! That show was amazing.
It wasn’t long lived, but I loved Sheep in Big City. It was by Mo Willems, author of the Pigeon series of kids books, Knufflebunny, and others.
In the same era was Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ed, Edd, and Eddy… so many great shows on that channel!
I’m with the Ducktails group. As a child of the 80’s I have seen so many of my favorite childhood shows reproduced and wrecked…Can you say Care bears, Pound Puppies and Strawberry Shortcake? But just a plain old re release of Ducktails would make my day.
I would like to see Cartoons Cartoons come back on air
I have to say I would love to see all the Cartoon Cartoons but Dexter Lab would be awesome to see again.
I really miss Camp Lazlo.(I also wanted Mandark and Finn & Jake as playable characters)
I miss Invader Zim, Samurai Jack, & Voltron: Defender of the Universe
“Buttercup, Blossom & Bubbles are getting ready to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. (Good greif! I think I still have things on my to-do list from 10 years ago that I haven’t ticked off yet! Where does the time go?) ”
It’s spelled GRIEF. This tells me that while you were watching Powerpuff Girls, I was still reading old skool Peanuts comics. So, yeah, Cartoon Network should bring back the Christmas Eve 24-hour marathon of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas!” They never did that, you say? HARUMPH
P.S. Ren and Stimpy and Invader Zim
I would love to see a reboot of Starblazers or Pirates of Dark Water.
I loved both of those. I tried to get my 7 year old into Starblazers & he asked what was wrong with the animation.
Kids these days. 🙂
he-man of course!!!!
I loved the old Superfriends cartoon, even before they had the wondertwins. But I think I liked the later ones because they’d have a lot more of the DC heroes involved in world-spanning adventures. Also, they frequently used their intelligence to save the day.
I also loved the Blue Falcon. (Not so much DynoMutt…)
Oh, and Danger Mouse.
And Angry Beavers.
And G-Force/Battle of the Planets.
and and and.
I watched a LOT of cartoons.
Oh, but mostly I want them to bring back the Simpsons.
The funny Simpsons.
I used to love Starblazers and Battle of the Planets, but I’m afraid if I were to watch them now they wouldn’t be as good as I remember them being.
More recent cartoons I wish they would have made more of are Mission Hill and The Oblongs. Also, Invader Zim. I really wish there was more Zim.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Add one for DuckTales for me (woo-ooo!)
I miss Bubbles the most. I wish she and her sisters would come back to CN, even if they just did commercials or announcements between shows. I miss her cute voice and beguiling charm! T_T
I really miss Space Ghost Coast to Coast as well as Cartoon Planet. There at bunch of clips on You Tube from that I showed to my wife, and she thought it was hillarious, confirming that I married the right woman. 🙂
But if I had to pick a show that should be back on it would have to be Samurai Jack – that show had everything from both a writing and artistic perspective. Still saddened that there was no real conclusion to that series, but at the same time no conclusion would be satisfactory.
I just have to laugh, reading comments of those who miss their beloved childhood cartoons, referencing: Sailor Moon, Dexter’s Laboratory, and Samurai Jack. At the same time, I am sure that there are those who grew up with Howdy Doody, the original Scooby Doo, and Hong Kong Fooey, who will be laughing at me. I grew up in the 80’s, just catching the tail end of Fat Albert and Great Space Coaster, and the beginning of Transformers, GI Joe, Eek the Cat, and Voltron.
I do think that people today who are re-creating the cartoons, just don’t get the essence of these cartoons, and have completely ruined Looney Tunes, Super Friends, and even Alvin and the Chipmunks. Remember when Dukes of Hazzards had nothing to do with with sex? Now, it’s all about soft porn.
This NEEDS to be brought back
THE PIRATES OF DARK WATER!
it had the most imaginative world for it’s time on Cartoon Network and wonderful characters. BUT, it didn’t get a proper ending and man does it need one.
I remember CN made a commercial saying they had the final episode but it got recorded over and it both made me laugh and ticked me off. Who else here needs Dark Water back in their life?