You Are What You Were. Celebrate Retro Pop Culture At Retroland.
A pinch of Curly from The Three Stooges, a dash of Rodney Dangerfield throw in for good measure. Mix the ingredients and stuff them into a Great White shark and you have the makings for Jabberjaw - a fondly-remembered aquatic creature animated by Hanna-Barbera. Jabberjaw debuted on Saturday mornings in 1976, and although his stay [...]
Continue reading...
American Greeting Cards first introduced the scrumptious sweetheart known as Strawberry Shortcake on a line of cards called Those Characters (the same breeding ground for the Care Bears and Popples.) Her popularity led to line of even-more-popular yummy smelling toy dolls and accessories, each with a flavorful scent to match their name. But Strawberry was ready to move her career forward and follow in the footsteps of her fellow greeting card characters. The time for an animated representation had come. Rather than take the Saturday morning series route, however, Strawberry opted for an annual special - six of them, in fact, which are fondly remembered by many from the era.
Continue reading...
With rare exception, longevity isn't a word often associated with Saturday morning cartoons. Most only last a couple of years at best. Put comedian/educator Bill Cosby at the helm, however, and you have a recipe for success. Such was the case with Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, a beloved series and a staple of Saturday mornings for over a decade.
Continue reading...
Debuting in 1968, Wacky Races really consisted of only one race - one really, really long race. It covered the entire planet and never seemed to end. Was there a trophy? Who sponsored the race? When did they stop to fill up? These questions were never answered (but nobody seemed to mind) as the racers competed for first place and the title, "World's Wackiest Racer." Let's take a look back at this classic cartoon.
Continue reading...
Forget the British Invasion of the 60s; let’s talk about the lesser-known Flemish Invasion of the early 80s. For that is when America was introduced to a herd of little blue humanoids known as Schtroumphs in their native land. Not ringing a bell yet? Perhaps you know them by their American translation – Smurfs. Created back in 1957 by cartoonist Peyo Culliford, they first made their presence known in the form of toys, but once TV executive Fred Silverman wisely bought the rights to use their likeness on NBC, The Smurfs quickly won over the hearts of tykes from coast to coast and Smurfmania was on the rise.
Continue reading...
It is no secret that children live in an entirely different world than adults, with its own rules, dangers and thrills. The best way to understand the complexities of kiddie imagination is to see life through their eyes and at their own (short) level. Rugrats, Nickelodeon's excellent and long-running animated series, managed to give us a peek inside a toddler's (soft) head.
Continue reading...
A successful toy line inspired this feline saga of exploration, exile and betrayal, closely approximating daytime soap operas as much as Saturday morning cartoons. And the successful five-year run of ThunderCats on television endeared it to millions of fans, who remain fiercly loyal to this day.
Continue reading...
Who could forget The Flintstones, the modern stone-age family that first rocked prime time television on September 30, 1960, courtesy of Hanna-Barbera Productions. From their inception through the next 6 seasons, the cartoon endeared itself to millions of viewers with the prehistoric antics of Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their sidekick neighbors, Barney and Betty Rubble.
Continue reading..."Life is like a hurricane, here in Duckburg…" "Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes, it's a duck blur, You might solve a mystery, or rewrite history, DuckTales, woo-oo!" (Oh, come on, you know the words!) With its ‘tales of derring-do, bad and good luck tales’ (A-woo-ooh!), DuckTales made its foray into daily syndication in the fall of [...]
Continue reading...
When Ross Bagdasarian changed his name to David Seville, sped up his recorded voice, and released the single, “The Chipmunk Song,” he never could have fathomed the enormous popularity that would follow. Over a half-century later, his trio of Chipmunks – Alvin, Simon and Theodore – are still going strong, appearing in feature films and delighting young audiences with their squeaky voices and irrepressible charm. Let’s take a look back.
Continue reading...