Hey everyone, welcome back to my list of my top 100 favorite animated shows of all time. Wow, we’re almost finished with this list. Time goes by so fast when you’re taking a trip down memory lane…or Old School Lane. Am I right? Heh heh heh! Okay, that was bad! Moving on.
39. Hong Kong Phooey (1974)
When it comes to classic Hanna Barbera cartoons, this one doesn’t seem to be mentioned in a lot of people’s conversations as one of their favorites and I don’t know why. While it only lasted 16 episodes, each episode had our hero Penrod “Penry” Pooch working as a janitor who works at the police headquarters with Sargeant Flint and Rosemary, the phone operator who has a crush on Hong Kong Phooey. Whenever trouble comes about, he jumps into his filing cabinet and becomes Hong Kong Phooey. However, similar to Inspector Gadget, Hong Kong Phooey is a terrible martial artist who always screws up his chances of saving the city. But luckily, his faithful (and more qualified) sidekick Spot always assists Hong Kong Phooey without anyone else knowing and helps save the day.
Hong Kong Phooey had a great opening theme and each episode was packed with with action and humor. Check it out.
38. Toonsylvania (1998)
Pop Quiz: When someone brings up the topic of Steven Spielberg and cartoons, which ones in particular pop in your mind? If you said either The Land Before Time, An American Tale, Who Framed Roger Roger Rabbit, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, or Freakazoid, then you would be correct. But when mentioning about the cartoon Toonsylvania, many people either don’t remember it or have never seen it before. It’s such a shame because for people who love watching horror movies like me, both classic and B horror, then this cartoon is definitely for you.
It involves with Dr. Vic, his assistant Igor, and their Frankenstein monster Phil. One of my favorite characters was their next door neighbor Seth Tuber, who was an homage to Norman Bates from Psycho. Similar to Animaniacs, Toonsylvania had different cartoon series in each episode like “Night of the Living Fred”, “Igor’s Science Moment”, and “Melissa Screetch’s Morbid Morals”. Each one of them were funny and had interesting life lessons to learn. However, the show wasn’t popular and it was cancelled after 19 episodes. Toonsylvania was Steven Speilberg’s last cartoon series that he had any involvement in, however it wasn’t his best. But if you fancy yourself in watching an underrated cartoon that spoofs the horror genre, I cannot recommended it enough.
37. The Berenstain Bears (the 1985 and 2005 versions)
Before I say anything, I first want to give my condolences to Jan Berenstain, the co-writer of The Berenstain Bears book series. She had passed away on February 24th of this year after continuing the book series alongside her son Michael. What she left behind is a great book series that will be remember for many generations. Everyone at some point had read the books and had seen the cartoon series based on them. I couldn’t decide which one was better, so I chose both.
With the exception of minor differences, both of the cartoon adaptations are pretty much the same. It follows the lives of Papa, Mama, Brother, and Sister Bear living their everyday routines of school and family life while learning lessons along the way. All of the characters from the book series such as Cousin Freddy, Too-Tall and his gang, the grandparents, and Lizzie were there and were fleshed out really well. Even after being around for over 50 years, The Berenstain Bears are timeless classics that are great to both read and watch.
36. Life with Louie (1994)
Life with Louie was a great animated sitcom from the 90’s. It was based on the childhood of comedian Louie Anderson growing up in Wisconsin with his family and friends. Each of the characters were very funny, especially Louie and his angry father. The episodes dealt with Louie’s everyday life and it made me wonder how much of it if the majority of the scenarios actually happened in real life. If it did, then Louie had a very interesting childhood. Not much to say, but I say check it out sometime for crying out loud!
35. Toxic Crusaders (1991)
Based on the Toxic Avenger movies, mostly the sequel, Toxic Crusaders seemed to have combined the movies with Captain Planet and the Planeteers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to make a great cartoon. It had all the things that I love from a cartoon that came out in the 90’s. It has classic animation, nonstop action, lovable characters, and wonderful life lessons. But the cream of the crop for me are the jokes. For a kids’ show, it had a lot of adult jokes that I didn’t remember hearing when seeing it again. They also had a great toy line that I will consider purchasing real soon. However, some of the figures are rare and expensive, but if I can get the original 1983 He-Man action figure, then anything is possible.
Overall, although it only had 13 episodes, Toxic Crusaders was a blast to watch again. I highly recommend it.
34. Jonny Quest (1964)
By breaking the tradition of a typical Hanna Barbera cartoon at that time, Jonny Quest involved with action, adventure, and characters that were realistic and relatible. The story involved with a young boy named Jonny Quest traveling all over the world with his dad, Dr. Benton Quest, an intelligent scientist, Race Bannon, their bodyguard and pilot, Hadgi, an Indian orphan who’s Jonny’s best friend and an adopted son to Dr. Quest, and their dog Bandit. In their adventures, they confront zombies, monsters, robots, dinosaurs, and a slew of evil villains. It’s up to the Quest Team to save the day with their strength, intelligence, and even magic. It was a fantastic show that was groundbreaking for its time and is still praised today influencing shows like The Venture Bros.
However, do not watch The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. It’s not as good as the original. In fact, this show is terrible.
33. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1990)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was one of the first Saturday morning cartoons that premiered on the Fox Children’s Network. Similar to Toxic Crusaders, while the title says Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, it takes ideas from that movie, but it mostly ideas from the sequel Return of the Killer Tomatoes. All of the characters from the movies were there, including some new ones such as The Censor Lady, who was similar to Dana Carvey’s character “The Church Lady” from Saturday Night Live. Each episode has at least one joke where it pokes fun of the TV show or the movies, which is always a treat to listen to, especially if you know them. Again, similar to Toonsylvania, if you’re a fan of cartoons based on B horror movies, check this one out. It’s always fun to watch.
32. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969)
What can be said about this classic Hanna Barbera cartoon that hasn’t been said before? It involves with a team of 4 teenagers Fred, Shaggy, Velma, and Daphne, and their dog Scooby-Doo called Mystery Inc. solving mysteries in haunted houses, castles, amusement parks, and ships with creepy ghosts, monsters, zombies, mummies, and witch doctors. In the end, it always end up being a person with costumes and masks trying to accomplish an evil scheme. This show became one of Hanna Barbera’s best shows that is still as popular today with many movies, spinoff shows, guest appearances in other TV shows, toys, and more.
31. Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972)
One of the most influencial animated shows ever created, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids was created by Bill Cosby’s stand up stories. This show was one of the first shows that not only had a large cast of African American teenagers, but they were the main characters of the show. Each episode had Fat Albert and The Junkyard Gang learn wonderful life lessons that taught kids about stealing, racism, vandalism, smoking, and drug use, which was huge at the time. It’s always amazing to look back on this show and see how ahead of their time they were. I give major props to Bill Cosby for creating this groundbreaking cartoon.
30. Home Movies (1999)
This is a show that is very close to my heart. Home Movies involves with a boy named Brendon Small who makes movies with his friends Melissa and Jason. Although that most of the movies are really crappy, Brendon has a passion of doing them regardless of the struggles that occur. Similar to South Park and Rocky and Bullwinkle, although the animation doesn’t look appealing, it makes up for it with its clever and well written stories and amazing characters, especially Brendon, his crazy mom, and the drunken Coach McGuirk. I can relate to Brendon with having a love of making movies at a young age and not having a father figure around. This show has a cult following and it makes me proud to own the DVDs so I can watch it over and over.
Do you have any fond memories on any of these cartoons? Post it in the comments and let us know. Hope to see you around Old School Lane real soon. Thanks for reading.
-Kevin
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