Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1980s, Vol. 1

You can barely find a cartoon on Saturday mornings anymore and if you could you’d still gripe, “They were better when I was a kid.” Well, here’s a wakeup call. This selection of 1980s cartoons from Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears (a complete collection of which will probably never hit DVD) has a few gems, most notably Thundarr the Barbarian and Dragon’s Lair. Flintstone Kids cashed in on the popularity of pint-sized re-workings such as Muppet Babies and surprisingly withstood the test of time. Adversely, The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, a spinoff from Saturday Night Live, is trash that should have stayed forgotten. It’s nice to see the rise of strong female leads in Goldie Gold & Action Jack, and the The Monchichis are undeniably adorable, but each pales in comparison to other series from the time (that were not included here) such as She-Ra and The Smurfs. Two shows that shouldn’t be forgotten, if only for their unintentional hilarity, are the Mister T and Chuck Norris action cartoons bookended by live-action life lessons from the stars. It’s nice to have these reminders that prove that our palettes have become a little more refined.