
With the whole Facebook movement where you change your profile pic to your favorite cartoons as a way to stand up against violence committed against children, it got me thinking about what my favortie cartoon was as a kid. It was easy, hands down it was the Herculoids. It was an obscure cartoon, but to me it was the ONE show that really brings me back to when I was a kid (this really dates me). I loved the “animals” more than the people . I loved Tundro, he was my favortie, a rhino/triceratops hybrid who shoots bullets from his horns, and Gloop and Gleep, the play doh characters I happen to identify with the most. It was the idea of the family with “pets” who had superpowers that really hooked me. Watching this really gets me melancholic…
The Herculoids
Here are some of the other favorites I religiously watched when I was a kid:
Wacky Races
I loved the way it’s a different set of winners for each episode. I loved guessing who was going to win each week. And I loved how Dick Dastardly never won. It cemented my belief in the idea that evil never triumphs over good.
Mighty Mightor
I liked the idea of the Superman/Clark Kent dual identities and the hero here is no different. Skinny Tor becomes buff gym rat Mightor with the wave of his club. And the fact that nobody knows that he’s the same guy. Very Hannah Montana…only on prehistoric steroids.
Moby Dick
Cartoons involving the sea, or creatures of the sea is always appealing to me. Even the cheesy Flipper was a hit to me, since it was the first time I’d see real dolphins on TV. The idea of having a whale as your bodyguard or resbak was big fantasy of mine, being a bullied kid. I always fantasized Moby crushing those bullies at my school with his massive flukes.
Superfriends
How could I not include this? Although there were subsequent versions, like the one with the Wonder Twins, this was the original. It was a bit bitin for me though, because being a comic fan, the show only had the 4 main heroes of the Justice League of America, and it skipped my favorites like Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman.
Sealab 2020
Omigosh, this would probably the only other show that would rival The Herculoids as my favorite cartoon as a kid. It had everything I loved: the sea, diving, sharks, dolphins, living underwater — what’s not to love? Each episode took me to a different world, much like the live action series Man From Atlantis, my other favorite. Watching this opening theme gives me goosebumps. I guess shows like these got me into scuba diving years before I even thought of getting certified.
These memories of an easier time make me smile.
