Five cartoons that must be included in any classic cartoon lineup. [Archive]

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Mr Flintstone

08-12-2009, 01:23 PM

88fingers

08-12-2009, 02:45 PM

Mr Flintstone

08-12-2009, 02:58 PM

Are you differentiating between made-for-TV animation and cartoons that were originally theatrical shorts and repackaged for TV (like Tom & Jerry and Looney Tunes)?

It seems to me there is classic TV animation and classic theatrical animation, but they occupy pretty different worlds.

No. Even though Looney Tunes and the early Tom and Jerry toons were theatrical, they're so far removed from that era that I consider them TV toons. My fondest memories of Looney Tunes is from Saturday mornings and my fondest memories of Tom and Jerry is from weekday afternoons. Besides, most of the people on this site probably wasn't even born when LT or T&J were in theaters.

Jack_6428

08-12-2009, 06:40 PM

Mr Flintstone

08-13-2009, 01:36 AM

5 is not enough, trust me...10 would be a better number considering how many cartoons there are...thousands...and tens of "the best"...

so, here are my ten cartoons that imo should be included in any classic cartoon lineup:

Transformers G1
Thundercats
Centurions
Looney Tunes
Scooby-Doo, Where are you?
The Flinstones
Smurfs
Jonny Quest
Space Ghost
Swat Kats

Other cartoons which i didn't include, but had them in mind:

He-Man and Masters of Universe
My Little Pony
Silverhawks
Count Duckula
Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Fantastic Max
Birdman
Herculoids
Gobots
Popeye
Tom and Jerry

So, to be fully objective and considering the word "classic", the list should generally be:

Looney Tunes
Tom and Jerry
Popeye
Scooby-Doo, Where are you?
The Flintstones
Transformers G1
Thundercats
Jonny Quest
Space Ghost
Smurfs

I know what you're saying, but I mean the staples of any classic cartoon network. I'm not talking about personal favorites, I'm talking about the few cartoons that should be included on every CCN. I'm not to sure that Transformer G1, Thundercats(and I'm a big fan), Johnny Quest and Space Ghost would make the list of top 5. I probably should have added the Smurfs though. Popeye would be on the 2nd tier IMO.

Looneytunes

08-13-2009, 02:47 AM

Of course, this is just my opinion, but here's mine.

1. Looney Tunes

2. The Flintstones

3. Scooby Doo (even though I was never really a fan, I know it's very
popular)

4. Tom and Jerry

5. The Jetsons.

Would you add or take away from my list? Lets debate.

I agree all but "Tom & Jerry", sorry never liked them, but if you replace it with "Rocky & Bullwinkle", it would be awesome. I would see the line-up everyday, everyday.

Looneytunes/Disneytoons

Jack_6428

08-13-2009, 05:59 AM

I know what you're saying, but I mean the staples of any classic cartoon network. I'm not talking about personal favorites, I'm talking about the few cartoons that should be included on every CCN. I'm not to sure that Transformer G1, Thundercats(and I'm a big fan), Johnny Quest and Space Ghost would make the list of top 5. I probably should have added the Smurfs though. Popeye would be on the 2nd tier IMO.

imo, Popeye/Transformers/Thundercats is more popular than Jetsons

Mr Flintstone

08-13-2009, 10:52 AM

imo, Popeye/Transformers/Thundercats is more popular than Jetsons

I'm more of a Thundercats fan than a Jetson fan myself, but the Jetsons are way more well known than Thundercats.

Fool's Gil

08-13-2009, 11:05 AM

Well, we're gonna need:

Yogi Bear
Top Cat
Huckleberry Hound
Snagglepuss
Flintstones

Silverstar

08-13-2009, 11:21 AM

I think a little clarification is needed here. Are we talking strictly Hanna-Barbera, or just any show that ran on CN/Boomerang? And does that include theatrical cartoons, or are we talking strictly made-for-TV releases?

I would wager a list would go something like this:

Looney Tunes
Tom & Jerry/Tex Avery/MGM shorts
The Flintstones
Scooby-Doo
The Yogi Bear/Huckleberry Hound Shows

Mind you, these aren't all personal choices. Some classic cartoons, whether I liked them or not, are especially significant, iconic or notable and thus simply can't be overlooked. Shows like Top Cat, Count Duckula or Thundercats, while they may be personal favorites of ours, don't really belong on a top 5 list of all-time classics, IMO.

Baltofan

08-13-2009, 02:05 PM

I would love to see:

1. The Wind in the Willows (1983)
2. Noah's Island
3. The Animals ol Farthing Wood
4. Yogi Bear
5. Cro

Silverstar

08-13-2009, 03:48 PM

I would love to see:

1. The Wind in the Willows (1983)
2. Noah's Island
3. The Animals ol Farthing Wood
4. Yogi Bear
5. Cro

Uh, what shows you'd like to see on Boom isn't the topic, friend. You want to go here (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=233813).

Baltofan

08-13-2009, 03:59 PM

Sorry!

Well, I choose Yogi Bear and Huckelbery Hound too.

CelesteK

08-13-2009, 04:03 PM

Gobots
Centurions
Captain Power and the Soliders of the Future (Although it's widely disputed about whether or not that counts as animation)
Robotech: The Macross Saga
Kidd Video
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Transformers G1
Dragonball
Dragonball Z
Voltron: DOTU
X-Men
The Avengers
Silver Surfer
Spiderman and his Amazing Friends

Mr Flintstone

08-14-2009, 11:16 AM

I think a little clarification is needed here. Are we talking strictly Hanna-Barbera, or just any show that ran on CN/Boomerang? And does that include theatrical cartoons, or are we talking strictly made-for-TV releases?

I would wager a list would go something like this:

Looney Tunes
Tom & Jerry/Tex Avery/MGM shorts
The Flintstones
Scooby-Doo
The Yogi Bear/Huckleberry Hound Shows
Mind you, these aren't all personal choices. Some classic cartoons, whether I liked them or not, are especially significant, iconic or notable and thus simply can't be overlooked. Shows like Top Cat, Count Duckula or Thundercats, while they may be personal favorites of ours, don't really belong on a top 5 list of all-time classics, IMO.

I come at you like this. If another classic cartoon network was started, in your opinion, what would be the 5 cartoons almost guranteed to be in the lineup.

Silverstar

08-14-2009, 11:24 AM

I come at you like this. If another classic cartoon network was started, in your opinion, what would be the 5 cartoons almost guranteed to be in the lineup.

I'd say the listed I posted above, but if we're talking about a new classic cartoon channel, one that's not restricted to the Turner/WB library, then there are lots more:

I'd like to see some of the Sunbow Production shows, like G.I. Joe, Jem, My Little Pony & Friends and Transformers
Nelvanamation TV shows and specials, like Beetlejuice, The Care Bears Family, Nelvana's Get Along Gang special/pilot, The Devil and Daniel Mouse, A Cosmic Christmas
Some Filmation shows, like Blackstar, He-Man, The Brady Kids, Fat Albert, The Archies and The Groovie Ghoulies
Classic '80's TV specials like Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, Care Bears and Rose Petal Place
DiC cartoons like Kideo TV, Inspector Gadget, Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, Captain N: The Game Master and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.

To name but a few. Of course, ultimately which shows would be guaranteed to be on the channel's lineup would depend on which company/corporation would own said channel.

Blackstar

08-14-2009, 11:34 AM

I know that I've mentioned this a few times before, but I'd like to see 20th Century Fox buy back it's kid vid library from Disney and create a Fox Kids Channel, just so certain defunct programs such as Eek! the Cat, Bobby's World (although I wasn't a huge fan of that), Peter Pan and the Pirates, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Power Rangers and the like could be shown there.

Cartoon-Buffoon

08-20-2009, 03:34 PM

Johnny Bravo
Flintstones
Scooby Doo where are you
Batman TAS
Tex Avery (mgm cartoons)

SNES Chalmers

08-20-2009, 03:59 PM

What about the Terrytoons? Those guys haven't been seen on TV in almost 20 years, and thanks to that many kids have missed the opportunity to view them, me included, I had to rely on the internet to view them, and I still haven't seen hardly any of them. I think the Terrytoons need to be put back on TV, at least the Looney Tunes characters are still recognized by most kids. I'm not saying the LT's shouldn't be on TV, because they also should be, I'm just surprised someone hadn't mentioned the Terrytoons, especially the people who got to view them as kids.

Jeff Harris

08-20-2009, 04:16 PM

I don't really like list threads, and I think it'd be nice if people say WHY the five cartoons you chose should be included in any classic cartoon lineup.

Okay, I took my mod hat off. Let's play:

Five cartoons? No, it doesn't work like that. You're referring to five essential brands.

Here goes:

1. Looney Tunes/MGM Shorts/Popeye:
Now, you're probably looking at me and wondering why I put those three separate brands together. For starters, I don't believe they should be considered separate. They're all theatrical shorts, which means you should treat them all with respect. Plus, the collective shorts of the Warner Bros. and Turner Entertainment libraries is one of the largest collection of theatrical shorts on the planet, if not THE largest and represents the creative output of animation's greatest creative minds as well as some of the world's most recognizable characters (at least to the over 20 crowd). I don't see them as three separate brands but rather one collective brand that personifies classic cartoons.

2. The Flintstones
I'd put The Flintstones over The Jetsons any day because the former has more prestige, more shows, and is more of a cultural institution than the latter. You still see Pebbles cereal and Flintstones vitamins on the marketplace despite the fact that there hasn't been a new Flintstones production since the highly praised/rarely seen Flintstones on the Rocks, which reflected the pre-Pebbles era of the series. I know that Scooby-Doo is Hanna-Barbera's marquee character to this generation, but The Flintstones put the studio in the public eye, not to mention being one of the two animated series ever nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Yeah, it got soft after the birth of the kids and downright silly near the end of its run, but you can't deny that The Flintstones is a quintessential classic animated series.

3. Rocky and Bullwinkle
Rocky and Bullwinkle are probably the most underrated animated franchise in the history of animation. Not because it's a terrible series, because it's not. The animation may be questionable, but the comedy still stands up today. You have some of the best-written comedy skits ever heard in animation. It was one of the first series to skewer pop culture on a fairly new medium called television. Plus, it's a fun series, even more than Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and the like from Hanna-Barbera.

4. Speed Racer
Ah, a little deviation from the norm. I'm an action-cartoon guy, and I happen to like cartoons from all over the world. Speed Racer is one of those rare shows that combines both from a more classical era in animation. It wasn't the first Japanese series to air nor the first to make an impact to a generation, but I feel it's the best example of classic Japanese animation just for the sake that it's different than everything out there back when everybody was copying everybody else. That's why more people know Speed Racer than, say, Tobor the 8-Man or Gigantor. And not just because of last year's live-action movie.

5. Batman: The Animated Series:
Back in the day, TNT used to promote more recent fare as "The New Classics," and the late Mitch Hedberg once lamented that he wanted to hear "some new classics on the classic radio channel." I think that Batman: The Animated Series qualifies as a new classic. Combining the same stylistic notes of the Dave Fleischer-produced Superman shorts and ignoring the campy versions of superheroes of the '60s to the '80s, Timm, Dini, Burnett, and company created the definite version of the Dark Knight Detective, setting a standard many action cartoon producers are still following to this day. Nearly 20 years after its creation, Batman: The Animated Series is still considered one of the biggest milestones of Warner Bros. Animation and the series that made the entertainment industry realize they're more than just a comedy house.

That's my list.

Taco Wiz

08-20-2009, 04:27 PM

Can we consider the fact that there are several "Looney Tunes" series?

Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote
Tom and Jerry
Daffy Duck
Bugs Bunny
Merrie Melodies/the one-shot Warner Bros. series

Yeah...all of its theatrical.

SNES Chalmers

08-20-2009, 04:43 PM

Taco Wiz

08-20-2009, 05:02 PM

I know. It's the only thing on my list that's NOT part of the LT series.

Tweety is over-rated...

Toonatic

08-23-2009, 12:56 PM

1. Snorks
2. Looney Tunes
3. Disney
4. MGM (including Pink Panther)
5. Popeye

Blackstar

08-23-2009, 12:59 PM

1. Snorks
2. Looney Tunes
3. Disney
4. MGM (including Pink Panther)
5. Popeye

Pink Panther isn't MGM. It's Depatie/Freleng. Also, you should probably mention why you chose the shows/shorts that you chose.

SF4Ever

08-23-2009, 03:06 PM

Pink Panther isn't MGM. It's Depatie/Freleng. Also, you should probably mention why you chose the shows/shorts that you chose.

I happen to own a DVD of Pink Panther shorts from the late 1970's, and I've got to tell you something, MGM owns the property, DePatie-Freleng merely produced the cartoons, so Toonatic is correct about the property ownership of the Pink Panther.

Jeff Harris

08-23-2009, 08:14 PM

I happen to own a DVD of Pink Panther shorts from the late 1970's, and I've got to tell you something, MGM owns the property, DePatie-Freleng merely produced the cartoons, so Toonatic is correct about the property ownership of the Pink Panther.A little clarification about that.

It is true that MGM, owner of the United Artists name and much of its library, owns the DePatie-Freleng shorts United Artists distributed theatrically and on television, including the Pink Panther. However, they aren't MGM shorts in the traditional sense and not connected to the actual shorts distributed by MGM.

Those shorts commonly referred as MGM shorts, namely Tom and Jerry, the Tex Avery fare, and everything inbetween, are owned lock, stock, and barrel by Turner Entertainment (Time Warner). In short, Pink Panther shorts are MGM shorts now, but they're not connected to the traditional MGM shorts owned by Turner Entertainment at all.

In shorter terms:

Pink Panther = "modern" MGM-owned titles = owned by MGM
MGM theatrical shorts = "classic" MGM titles = owned by Turner Entertainment

Thanks for reading!

Blackstar

08-23-2009, 09:00 PM

I happen to own a DVD of Pink Panther shorts from the late 1970's, and I've got to tell you something, MGM owns the property, DePatie-Freleng merely produced the cartoons, so Toonatic is correct about the property ownership of the Pink Panther.

Ahem.

The original Pink Panther theatrical shorts were produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng's studio, United Artists, which is currently owned by MGM. However, DePatie-Freleng is the studio which produced the original PP shorts, which are all currently owned by Turner.

Thank you. ;)

Jeff Harris

08-23-2009, 10:44 PM

Ahem.

The original Pink Panther theatrical shorts were produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng's studio, United Artists, which is currently owned by MGM. However, DePatie-Freleng is the studio which produced the original PP shorts, which are all currently owned by Turner.Actually, DePatie-Freleng was a separate studio owned by the duo and made numerous series for two decades before they got outright bought by (and became the animation division of) Marvel Entertainment before getting bought by Saban Entertainment and Disney, where the non-Pink Panther and the non-80s Marvel productions sit to rot. MGM/UA, producers of the Pink Panther family of shorts, kept those Pink Panther/Inspector/Ant and the Aardvark/Tijuana Toads/Roland and Ratfink/Hoot Kloot/Misterjaws shorts under the United Artists aegis. It's because of that little loophole that Ted Turner didn't get the Pink Panther shorts when he bought the MGM library. The United Artists films/shorts weren't included, which is why they're still owned by MGM/UA.

Until the turn of the century, Turner networks had exclusive rights to show them, but as with all things in this decade, the airings decreased. Long story short, the Pink Panther shorts are owned by MGM.

Fibber Fox

08-25-2009, 02:50 AM

No. Even though Looney Tunes and the early Tom and Jerry toons were theatrical, they're so far removed from that era that I consider them TV toons.

You can invent your own definition and "consider" all you want, but the fact is those were never made for TV, any more than The Wizard of Oz is a TV show because no one on a forum was around in 1939 to see it in a theatre.

Regardless, in a straw poll like this, it probably doesn't make any difference where the cartoon was originally seen.

Can we consider the fact that there are several "Looney Tunes" series?

Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote
Tom and Jerry
Daffy Duck
Bugs Bunny
Merrie Melodies/the one-shot Warner Bros. series

I'm really at a loss where people get their information.

Neither the cat and mouse Tom and Jerry nor the human Tom and Jerry were Looney Tunes. One was made by MGM, the other by Van Beuren. Looney Tunes were made by the Leon Schlesinger Studio, which was later bought by Warner Bros.

As for the rest, perhaps you mean "Warner Bros". That company had four series it offered to exhibitors by the mid 1940s:
* Looney Tunes
* Merrie Melodies
* Bugs Bunny Specials
* Blue Ribbon Hit Parade

But you raise a good point about whether a poll should set its definition by studio, series, character(s) or individual cartoons.

"Classic" generally refers to something old in a genre, though it is also applied these days to the original version of something that is new. I'm afraid 1990s cartoons are not "classic." In fact, there's so much legitimate .. and good .. classic animation before the television age, it'd be tough to really put anything prior to 1960 on a top-five list.

I'd probably list Mickey, Bugs, Daffy, Popeye and the Flintstones as the five. They're not my five favourites, but they all fit the definition of "classic" and maintained popularity for many years. Someone mentioned Speed Racer, which isn't my cup of tea, either (I could never figure out, when I was a kid, why the characters didn't move), but it qualifies as classic anime and arguably popularised it (more so than Astro Boy) in North America.

F. Fox
http://yowpyowp.blogspot.com

KJ Styles

08-29-2009, 02:58 PM

I think a little clarification is needed here. Are we talking strictly Hanna-Barbera, or just any show that ran on CN/Boomerang? And does that include theatrical cartoons, or are we talking strictly made-for-TV releases?

I would wager a list would go something like this:

Looney Tunes
Tom & Jerry/Tex Avery/MGM shorts
The Flintstones
Scooby-Doo
The Yogi Bear/Huckleberry Hound Shows

That's a PERFECT list!!! I love all of those toons. They should show all (or at least most) of the Scooby incarnerations. Scooby-Doo is my all time favorite cartoon.

Some more that I'd add (provided that Boomerang is able to air them) are:

Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids
Superfriends
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the ORIGINAL series, not the lame rehashed one)
Laff-A-Lympics
Woody Woodpecker
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
Transformers
Mighty Mouse
The Jackson 5
Muppet Babies
Alvin & The Chipmunks
Thundercats
Herculoids

Ducktales Fan

09-01-2009, 09:31 PM

Looney Tunes
The Flintstones
Disney Cartoon Shorts (Mickey, Donald, Goofy, ect.)
Ren & Stimpy
DuckTales

Honorable Mentions:
Garfield & Friends, Rugrats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (80s version), The Smurfs, and Alvin and the Chipmunks.