The kids of today have no clue how much fun were the cartoons that we used to watch. We never had to use phones or have a Facebook account at the age of 8 in order to keep ourselves busy. We belonged to an era of The Roadrunner and Coyote, of laughing and crying with Tom and Jerry. Here are 24 of these precious ones.
1. The Flintstones
The Brown and Orange dresses, the wives and their beautiful makeup, the cars made up of stones, the way they had parties and all their cute little animals. Fred and Barney’s friendship and Wilma and Betty’s ability to spend money and the way they lived in the Stone Age, doing things that we do today, but without the help of technology! This has never failed to amaze me. I still catch myself singing the tune of its theme song, however, I can’t watch it on TV anymore.
2. Dexter’s Laboratory
Dexter’s height, his sister’s annoying habits, his awesome lab, his glasses, his age and his brilliance. The experiments never failed to bring out the experimenter in us, the kids. We never tried anything at home though; Dexter and his experiments always taught us the consequences beforehand. The passion with which we hated Mandark and how we still dial M for the Monkey shows the effect that his world had on us.
3. The Adventures of Scooby-Doo
The brown dog and Shaggy, Velma and Daphne and Fred hunting down ghosts and solving mysteries, the way they worked only and only for Scooby snacks and how they always solved the mystery in their attractive mystery van was the highlight of my childhood. I laughed and cried and bit my nails before the mystery was uncovered and got shouted at for doing so. No one shouts at me now and there are no mysteries that Scooby solves.
4. Swat Kats
Living the double life, common people by day and superheroes by night, the duo was always there to save the city from any given problem. Their cool car, their loyalty to each other and their hero-acts are unforgettable. The way they deal with The Dark Cat and The Enforcers left an impression. My brother and I sat in front of our TV sets every afternoon and watched the show, awestruck.
5. The Powerpuff Girls
It was a ritual for me to narrate along with the show every single word of the theme song. Right from how they were made – when their creator added a little ‘Chemical X’ and the girls were born. The most remarkable thing to me, back then, was how the colours of their eyes matched their dresses and I remember demanding something similar from my mom. She just laughed. The things they did to Mojo Jojo and the way they talked to the pickle-eating mayor and his headless (or so I believed) secretary was something I idealised.
6. Pokemon
Pikachu steals the show for me. Right from the concept of Ash capturing Pokemons and becoming the best trainer, the people he meets on his way, the friends he makes and the teachers he has, all the Pokemons that he trains and the Pokeballs he achieves, the teachers he meets on the way and his entire travel was like a dream world for me. Who can forget Team Rocket? I sure as hell can’t!
7. Thomas and Friends
The colours of the show, the cute face of Thomas, the other friends of his – Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and Emily – and their experiences on the island were the happiest memories of the 4 year old me. I was engulfed by the loyalty that Thomas has, all the other engines and their problems, which seemed so real that I had lost sleep on it and the sound of those whistles is still fresh in my mind, along with its theme song…
8. The Looney Tunes
Bugs Bunny has his quirks. His love for coffee and butter, along with his car and his TV and the way he did things spontaneously was the best part about him. Daffy is so loveable with his idiotic ideas and his quick ways of earning money. Daffy and Porky and Bugs Bunny made terrific friends. Other characters that we love are Sylvester, tweety, Lola Bunny, Marvin and Coyote and The Road Runner. I religiously watched all the reruns of this show.
9. Tom and Jerry
This was the ultimate cat and mouse fight. From being the cutest individuals, to eating cheese, or Tom trying to get into Jerry’s little house, the dog which lived outside, hitting each other on the head with a sauce pan or Jerry drinking the magical tonic and becoming huge, Tom trying every single means to catch Jerry, their dream world and the running around that they did still makes me laugh. The swimming pool episodes and the beach episodes were the best they had. The most frustrating moment was when I used to bend down and look at that fat woman on TV in order to catch a glimpse of her; I always thought that the TV was too small to show it. Tom and Jerry gave me the best time of my childhood.
10. Timon and Pumbaa
The only way to describe this is – HAKUNA MATATA!
11. Popeye – The Sailor Man
His white uniform, his chemistry with Olive, his rivalry and victory over Pluto – everything because of the small can of Spinach in his hand! This man made every kid eat Spinach and trust me, we felt those muscles flex after we had spinach. Popeye was one man who used to get out of all the trouble just by eating spinach and his storage was a lot. His little baby in blue is the cutest thing ever.
12. Bob the Builder
One of the first cartoons that made kids dream of becoming something, Bob the Builder was pure fun. The skilful builder of a town, with his mates who were all machines and could talk, along with a little scarecrow who kept doing random acts and made us all laugh. Bob the Builder and the title track never leaves my mind, even today.
13. Pingu
The adventures of Pingu, along with his sister, Pinga and his best friend Robby, the seal took me to the lives of these penguins in Antarctica, their lives in those igloos and the way they all worked around there. The best part about this show was its ‘Penguin Language’ and the loud honking noises. They had the best names – Pengy, Penge, Punki, Pingg, Pongi, Bajoo- and the best friends. The grandfather is cool and the mother is the best teacher, Pingu delivers mail with his father and the noise that they make while they are walking is adorable.
14. Duck Tales
McDuck and all his wealth, him inventing new ways of obtaining wealth, the way the kids join him in it and have fun always makes me smile. The rich duck and his nephews and their play with the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell are comic and entertaining. The show was “smarter than the smarties and tougher than the toughies.”
15. Oswald
No kid can ever forget a blue octopus and his dog, in a beautiful town, with Madam Butterfly and Katrina, her daughter, with Henry and Daisy and all those meadows, those ice cream trucks and tomatoes growing on your windows. The songs that Oswald sang still come easily to my lips. Henry and his marshmallows, Daisy and her cycle, the two egg-brothers, Madam Butterfly and her food and that little Katrina in all her cuteness has given me innumerable smiles over the years. Oswald will always be my favourite.
16. Ed, Edd and Eddy
They never failed to make me laugh! With their waving faces and cool expressions, they made everything they did appear crazy and out-of-this-world funny. Their schemes to get money to buy Jawbreakers and their hilarious failure at it were unbelievable. I miss those three.
17. Noddy
Noddy and his cap, the bell which was music to my ears, Noddy’s car, the way the Skittles loved to get knocked over all the time, Mrs. Pink Cat, Tessie Bear and her helpful nature, Martha Monkey the prankster, the hilariously cute Mr. Tubby Bear, the most pleasant Dinah Doll, the intelligent Mr. Sparks, the hard yet soft Mr. Plod and finally, the villains – Sly and Gobbo – these people coloured my mornings. One of the main reasons for loving this show was the colours they used; it was attractive in every little way. I kind of had a liking for Big Ears and wanted to meet him one day. When Noddy drove his car around the town, I would do the same on my couch, thinking of it as a couch. Doesn’t happen anymore, sadly.
18. SpongeBob SquarePants
They live under water. The sponge, the starfish the crab, the snail, the squirrel – I was too young to remember the names. They were all so amazing in their adventures, taking driving lessons and doing their bit, working at the same time as they play, the SpongeBob and PatrickStar friendship, the arrogance of SquidWard, the little Sandy with all her experiments and astronaut suit, Mr. Krabs, the owner of Krusty Krabs and his constant rivalry over the recipe of Krabby Patty Burgers was better than my own life and as a child, I actually believed that I lived with these characters.
19. Dragon Ball Z
Initially resistant towards this one because it was a ‘boys cartoon’, I grew fond of it watching my brother go crazy about it. The muscular and monkey-tailed hero, Goku along with Bulma, together trying to collect all the seven Dragon Balls to summon the dragon named Shenlong who would grant them one wish, the journey of Goku was capturing and entertaining, to say the least. The way Goku meets Chi-Chi, the way he wins the tournament and defeats the Red Ribbon Army and the way he, after losing so much, receives a power boost. His son Gohan is adorable, and the way Goku fights with Vegeta was simply majestic. The fights continue and Goku does all he can, funny and heroic that he is, and the end is just amazing and sad. Sad because it is the end.
20. Winx Club
Special schools that teach fairies, witches, warriors and wizards, including Bloom, Stella, Musa, Tecna, Flora, Aisha/Layla. At Alfea, the college for fairies, they form the ‘Winx Club’. Brandon, Riven Timmy and Sky were probably my heroes too. I hated the three witches, Icy, Darcy and Stormy with all my heart. The way Bloom is trying to find her origin and the fights she has and the battles that she wins over the evil people moved me at that time. I adored all their dresses and thought that some day I’d also go to a college for Fairies.
21. Beyblade
The story of Tyson and his friends Ray and Kai, along with other boys who form a team and tour all over China to win the Beyblade Championship and on the tour defeating a lot of other teams, including Ray’s previous team, the White Tiger. The most amazing part is when they stay victorious throughout America and Europe and whenever trouble strikes, they come together as a team and ‘Start’.
22. Courage the Cowardly Dog
To tell you the truth, I totally thought of him as a human, what with him staring at his computer and seeing ghosts all over the place! Courage, living with this old couple, Muriel and Eustace in a very deserted and rugged house, with constant abuses from Eustace, comes in contact with all the wrong things – monsters, aliens, demons, mad scientists and zombies. The way these three deal with these people and phenomena was simply scary and unnerving yet funny as anything. The thing I miss most about the show, however, is Courage’s sarcastic computer.
23. Johnny Bravo
He was THE man, truly speaking, but not for any women. He loved himself, his style, his hair, his horrible pick-up lines, his walk – everything! Not only did it get him no where, he often got beaten up by the girl he was chasing and no one ever fell for him, poor Johnny! If only “She Wants Me!” was true for Johnny. I loved his Momma too! Johnny and his glares were cool but his attempts to get women and to impress them in one moment were hilarious. He taught me the phrase “Yeah whatever.” Sigh, how much I miss this man-blonde!
24. Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner
The crazy, never ending chase – that is how my mother described the show. The way in which the roadrunner keeps running and the way Coyote keeps looking for ways – getting dynamite or putting cactuses in the way – of catching hold of this roadrunner was something I loved as a child. The desert, the loud “Beep Beep” of the roadrunner, the way Coyote fell from high mountains and the way he could never jump over to the other side properly, the way he was just a bit slow for the roadrunner, the way that the roadrunner appears to tease Coyote as soon as he is in a position where he cannot catch the roadrunner was just magic and fun to me. No one says “Beep Beep!” anymore and I no longer see white smoke on long roads of a desert which were the result of the Roadrunner running.
