Back when Saturday morning cartoons were good and before Cartoon Network became Anime Central, I was totally into cartoons. Some of my favorites included:
Pirates of Dark Water. I wanted to be an ecomancer like Tula sooooo bad. And don't even get me started on how much I wanted that pink outfit of hers! Ioz and Ran were also very hot and often shirtless. Looking back, though, the racial politics of the cartoon were a bit suspect. I mean, the hero (Ran) had blond hair and blue eyes, while everyone else was swarthy. Kinda makes you go, "Hmmmmmmmmmmm." Funny aside: to this day, I still occasionally exclaim "Noy jatot!" and "Noy jatotta!" the "curse words" of the show.
Thundarr the Barbarian. Thundarr kinda sucked and was boring, but Ariel kicked ass! And Oogla the Mok was so cute! I was always pretending I was one of the wizards (though a good one, not an evil one).
This one whose name I can't remember. It was about this (again, blond-haired, blue-eyed) guy with this lance kind of thing that was split into two parts and only became kick-ass when he put the two pieces together. His one sidekick was this princess looking to get back this magic shield from the villain, who had conquered her homeland. She had this really cool magical bracer with a red stone that shot fire, a white stone that shot ice, and a black stone that did something I don't remember. I soooooo wanted that bracer! And then there was her kid brother who was really annoying, but he had a cool boomerang thing that split up into three pieces. Anyone know what the hell I'm talking about?
And, then, of course, there's Thundercats. Hooooooooooooooooo! My favorite on that was Panthero, the mechanic/engineer. Even then I had a thing for nerdy muscle daddies in wrestling singlets! *hehehehe* I also liked Mum-Ra. The Thundercats were kinda boring, really; Mum-Ra was cool.
Update: Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I found the cartoon I couldn't remember the name of. It was called Galtar and the Golden Lance and apparently it only ran for a season in 1985. That would have made me about three years old watching it. I didn't think I was that young. Huh. Anyway, I'm just glad I figured it out. It was driving me crazy!
5 comments:
BEFORE it became anime central? Kid, I've got news for you but the first Japanese anime in America was Astro Boy on Sunday mornings and THAT was 1963! I was four years old and used to wet my hair so I could make it point in the front and back just like Astro Boy's but then, thats probably a bit too much information huh?
Scott, of all the things for you to say "but then, thats probably a bit too much information huh?" getting your hair pointy is not one of them! As you once told me, your life is "an open sewer" (and that's one of the many, many things I love about you). Anyway, I think it's a cute anecdote; I bet you did look just like Astro Boy.
Regarding anime, I was specifically talking about Cartoon Network. Back when it first started, it was basically old Hanna-Barbara cartoons and they kicked ass. Nowadays it's all anime or new cartoons that are ugly and look like they're produced by people who can't draw. Now, I have nothing against anime (I didn't mention in the post my love for Sailor Moon), but not all the frickin' time!
I loved Thundarr, too, but mostly for his skimpy little fur outfits. I remember the Pirates one, but not too well.
What about Blackstar? he had a sword that split in two, and a tree full of keebler-type elves for sidekicks...
Anywho, you should really give a few of the new series on Cartoon Network a chance -- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is hilarious, and the Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy is so subversive and dark that I can't believe they actually air it.
Great post!
You know, Thundarr didn't do it for me "that" way, skimpy fur or no skimpy fur. Not my "type" if that even means anything with regards to a cartoon character I watched well before puberty hit.
Never heard of Blackstar. I found the show I was talking about, though. Read the update at the end of the post.
If you were only about three in '85, it pretty much explains why you've never seen Blackstar.
Having some vague recollection of it, I'm going to see if I can find some old episodes of Galtar -- or at least a synopsis -- on the web.
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