Cartoons from the 80s

[Gingerbread Demon]

Also, I loved Jem.

I found that whole series on DVD as a set, haven't yet watched any of it and not sure what the picture quality is like. The set was put out by Shout Factory.

I always thought the misfits were kinda hot the show started here just as I had got out of high school in late 1985.

BTW what about the show Rupert The Bear? He even had a flying car.

 

[Char Kais]

The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers

Galaxy Rangers (intro) 1986

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GALAXY RANGERS - No Guts No Glory

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Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs

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Captain Future

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(released in Germany in 1980, so it counts)

Once upon a time... Space - Opening Theme

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[Char Kais]

The New Adventures of Flash Gordon

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Defenders of the Earth (Flash Gordon / Mandrake the Magician / The Phantom)

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Starcom: The U.S. Space Force

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[TheSeeker]

Man, I barely recognize any of these. Granted we only got a few channels growing up.

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[Gingerbread Demon]

I'm so glad someone else remembers The Galaxy Rangers. It's the one cartoon I had thought might make a good live movie

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Always surprised someone hasn't made a big dollar movie out of Thundarr.

Please do not give the studios that idea. I cannot imagine it would turn out as good as the TV series.

This was probably my favorite from that era:

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Okay adaptation/translation, but nothing beats the original Space Battleship Yamato from the 70s.

Was I the only one when TPM was showing who thought of the robot soldiers of Flash Gordon?

Flash Gordon--one of the best American animated TV series of the 20th century. I would have loved to see additional seasons of that great series.

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And, of course, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends…

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The syndicated Spider-Man (1981) was a far superior series than Amazing Friends. One, there was a healthy amount of guest heroes and villains, but Spider-Man operated alone most of the time (as one would expect with the character), and with the use of Doctor Doom, and frequent use of the Daily Bugle staff made this series feel like a lighter adaptation of the daily comic strip running at the time, and a bit like The Amazing Spider-Man TV series (CBS, 1977-79).

That said, Macross (or that season under the Robotech umbrella title) was a masterclass in serialized sci-fi drama, always re-watchable.

 

[BillJ]

Please do not give the studios that idea. I cannot imagine it would turn out as good as the TV series.

One never knows how it might turn out.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Please do not give the studios that idea. I cannot imagine it would turn out as good as the TV series.

It's almost impossible to imagine Thundarr as live action. The dialogue and violence was so OTT and cartoonish that it just wouldn't translate well. It was for young kids, through and through.

Now, a gamma-world style movie could be really good, if done properly by people who understand the genre.

 

[Set Harth]

Man, I barely recognize any of these. Granted we only got a few channels growing up.

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I loved this show at one point. But when I look up the episode writeups on wikipedia, nothing from season 2 or season 3 rings a bell at all. I can remember specifics from some season 1 episodes, mostly the Hall of Bones one.
I was also a huge fan of Thundarr.

 

[B.J.]

So were there any toys made in the '80s that didn't get a cartoon?

'80s cartoon were basically just long-format toy commercials. A lot (most?) of the time, the toy actually came first, and the cartoon was created to market it due to Reagan & the FCC removing some legal restrictions on the cartoon content shortly after he took office.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyetic
https://www.awn.com/animationworld/dr-toon-when-reagan-met-optimus-prime

 

[Set Harth]

This was probably my favorite from that era:

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I was about 12 when I saw Star Blazers the first time, after living on navy bases my whole life and starting to develop my interest in naval aviation, so this one was a big hit with me.

The scene where the ship comes up out of the ground was one of the most awesome things back in the day. The live action version wasn't as good but they tried. The equivalent scene in Star Wars IX was a complete waste of time.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Okay adaptation/translation, but nothing beats the original Space Battleship Yamato from the 70s.

Given the subject matter of the series, it was a very "adult" cartoon to be shown in the United States in syndication in the late 70s/early 80s. For many of us who grew up in that era, seeing an ongoing storyline where characters matured and even died throughout the course of the three series was very different from your typical Looney Tunes/Hanna Barbara. Even the Japanese have acknowledged that some of the edits made to accomodate the US market actually improved the story and incorporated them into the remake 2199/2202.

 

[Skipper]

Fun fact: in the 70s and 80s Italy was the biggest western importer of anime, so I spent my teen years watching almost exclusively Japanese cartoons. American's ones seemed to me very childish and tame in comparison. Usually in anime the writing was more mature and they actually acknowledged that if you shoot at someone, they usually die. Even as a kid I thought that G.I. Joe was incredibly stupid. Two armies shooting each other and no one gets hurt.

Yes, the final goal of American cartoons and anime was selling toys, but at least the latter tried to tell interesting stories

 

[Owain Taggart]

'80s cartoon were basically just long-format toy commercials. A lot (most?) of the time, the toy actually came first, and the cartoon was created to market it due to Reagan & the FCC removing some legal restrictions on the cartoon content shortly after he took office.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyetic
https://www.awn.com/animationworld/dr-toon-when-reagan-met-optimus-prime

While not a cartoon, Captain Power was an interesting example of this. Although it could easily be said they were created in synergy; You needed the show for the toys to work and give the toys a sense of purpose, and you needed the toys for the concept of the show to work. So, very much a model created to sell toys.

 

[Mage]

So many great memories in this topic.
Some of my absolute favorites from the 80's.....

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It's very difficult to find the English intro with animation on YouTube, but Bionic Six was also one a really loved as a kid!!

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Also liked The Bionic Six for its theme tune

 

[C.E. Evans]

It's very difficult to find the English intro with animation on YouTube, but Bionic Six was also one a really loved as a kid!!

Same here. Loved Bionic Six. That's one series I wish I had on home video. Yeah, there really aren't very good videos of it on YouTube.

Another of my favs:
Voltron

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As a kid in Saint Louis, I felt a kind of kinship with Voltron as I knew the U.S. company behind it (World Events Productions) was based there.

A more obscure one:
Spiral Zone

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A post-apocalyptic series about a devastating global pandemic that turned people zombie-like. It was kind of dark for a kid's cartoon if one thought too deeply into it.

Battle of the Planets

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This was required watching every afternoon when I was in elementary school.

Robotech

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This truly introduced me into the larger world of anime.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Same here. Loved Bionic Six. That's one series I wish I had on home video. Yeah, there really aren't very good videos of it on YouTube.

Another of my favs:
Voltron

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As a kid in Saint Louis, I felt a kind of kinship with Voltron as I knew the U.S. company behind it (World Events Productions) was based there.

Robotech

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This truly introduced me into the larger world of anime.

The introduction to Voltron voiced by Optimus Prime himself Peter Cullen, and that guy got shittons of voice acting work and voice over credits to his name.

You might like these, a little behind the scenes history and they have done other shows as well.

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Speaking of old shows who remembers "That's incredible" and "Ripley's believe it or not?"

 

[JD]

This is one show that it will never be released on home media

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It would just way to hard to get all the necessary rights because the whole show is filled with clips from other movies and thing like that.

 

[Mage]

Same here. Loved Bionic Six. That's one series I wish I had on home video. Yeah, there really aren't very good videos of it on YouTube.

Another of my favs:
Voltron

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As a kid in Saint Louis, I felt a kind of kinship with Voltron as I knew the U.S. company behind it (World Events Productions) was based there.

Oh man, yeah. The OG Voltron cartoon is the best!