Now we watched a fair load of cartoons growing up. Getting back from school at around 1.30 and wolfing down lunch, we would then proceed to glue our eyes to the television screen and sit glued till about 4 or 5 PM. We didn’t have cable TV so the cartoons weren’t always in English. But we didn’t mind. We were cool like that.
So I thought I would do some childhood revisiting. Now the 10 that I have here are the ones that came to mind first and aren’t necessarily my favourites in this order but let’s get to it!
#10. DIGIMON
The next best thing for Pokemon lovers. This was something we started watching to compensate for the Pokemon less days (you know, the gap between one series ending and the other starting). And I think I must have watched just the first season. And I remember being in awe of this Digimon.
#9. RASCAL THE RACCOON
Oh my, I just adored this anime series. Only on googling this series for this blog post did I realise that this show was based on an autobiographical novel by Sterling North. I did NOT know that. Thank you Wikipedia. This series was all about a boy and his raccoon and the theme song in which there is a shot of him running with Rascal behind still tugs at my heart strings.
Incidentally, this cartoon made me decide to start calling my brother Rascal (which by the way, was not very well received by my mum because apparently ‘rascal’ meant this too – a mean, unprincipled, or dishonest person –www.merriam-webster.com but how was 7 year old me supposed to know that?!)
#8. TRAGIC GINGER GIRL’S LIFE STORY ANIME
Now I don’t remember the name of this one but it was a series that took us through the life of this cute red headed English girl right from her birth to her spoilt childhood to her parents’ tragic death to becoming an orphan to the trials and poverty that follow to reuniting with her childhood sweetheart to finally finding her place in the world. Phew. It was a long show. Some pretty deep episodes for a 10 and a 7 year old but we loved it anyway. I really do wish somebody would tell me the name because typing in ‘Ginger haired girl’s tragic life story anime’ on Google does NOT help.
#7. BATMAN AND ROBIN
We had a few Superman cartoons on VHS but Batman over him ANYDAY.
#6. ANIMANIACS
Warner Bros’ Animaniacs was one crazy cartoon. The main show was about three Warners, Yakko, Wakko and Dot, three cartoon stars that were locked away in the Warner Bros. water towe-… sigh, just watch the Theme song, you’ll get the story.
.. “Baloney in our slacks”… – hmm, I miss being innocent.
There were SO many characters in this zany cartoon that had their own mini-stories within the show but my favourites were Pinky and the Brain.
Pinky: “Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?”
The Brain: “The same thing we do every night, Pinky – try to take over the world!”
Did I mention that they were lab mice by the way?
Do yourself a favour and watch the theme song – only one of the most epic theme songs in the history of cartoon.
#5. My LITTLE PONY ‘N FRIENDS *blushes*
Well..umm.. yeah, I enjoyed this cartoon, for way longer than I would care to reveal! SO?
There were ponies, glo worms, potato heads – what’s not to like?!
#4. TELETUBBIES
Now this one we were forced to watch because sometimes my sister would get cranky about eating her lunch and so we would put this on for her. So yes, I know Tinkie Winkie, Dipsy, Lala and Po, and I’m not the least bit ashamed.
#3. DETECTIVE CONAN
This was one heck of an anime alright! So the story goes like this – meet Jimmy Kudo, the genius teenager who apart from
doing well in high school, doubles as a detective helping incompetent police solve their cases. So during one such investigation, he’s attacked and forced to ingest a poison to kill him without leaving any evidence. Now the rare-side effect of this poison? It transforms him into a child. There starts the series with Conan (the pseudonym Jimmy adopts) and his sidekicks solving mysteries and saving the day. Now I always wanted it to reach the point where he would transform back (if at all) into the ridiculously good looking teenager he once was but by then our local channel had stopped airing the show.
Turns out this series is still running. I might have a li’l catching up with my childhood to do after this post.
#2. POKEMON
Do I even need to talk about Pokémon? Who doesn’t know Pokémon?! I was always Ash ‘cause I was older and I had my way. My brother just had to contend with being Brock (or Tracey in the later series). I learnt many of life’s great lessons through Pokémon let me tell you, like sticking up for your friends, chasing your dreams without fear.. or how to be careful while dealing with electricity.
And NO, don’t wonder why Ash and the gang would always wait for Team Rocket to finish their epic monologue before blowing them away into the sky – it would take an entire speech by Jessy and James (and “That’s right!” Meowth) for Ash or Misty to FINALLY go “Team Rocket!”. Imagine that happened in real life?
#1. SLAM DUNK
I can’t even.. This will hands down, be my most favourite thing when it comes to childhood shows/cartoons/anime. This anime had everything for me at the time – high school, basketball, over- sized high school boys, crushes & heartbreak, friendship, rivalry – the whole package. Was just perfect for a tomboyish 5th grader. Taught me a whole lot more about basketball than my gym teacher (if we had one) ever could.
Watch the awesome theme song here and feel nostalgic. Go on!
So that’s that! Let me know if there were any other awesome shows that JUST HAVE TO BE mentioned!
Psst! Honourable mention: Bob the Builder! CAN WE FIX IT?! Bob the Builder! YES WE CAN!
Teehee.
Screams & Muses 