Modern shows with that 80s essence

[GRUNT]

Hey guys, I'm just wondering if you guys know of any 'modern' shows (2000-2009) which are 80s-ish in their nature .

What I mean by '80s-ish' is the way that 80s cartoons usually had a lot of cool ideas - ideas which are cool by merit of being based on cool toys . Take Centurions, for example - exoframe-clad guys who can suit up in a variety of different weapons systems. Or M.A.S.K. - dudes and dudettes with special-powered helmets and transforming vehicles.

A lot of these 80s cartoons had a very intriguing 'technological' slant to them, including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, with its fusion of fantasy and sci-fi.

During the 90s, we start to see a shift away from all that, although I feel that a good deal of the 90s still has that 'essence' (for want of a better word) whereby the shows really feel like they are just 20-minute long toy advertisements . Like Mummies Alive, with the cute little stock animation bits for transformation sequences, and the funky vehicles.

Nowadays, cartoons have gotten incredibly stylised and are becoming very post-modern. They're usually illustrated in that really slick style we see in shows like Total Drama Island. Or have that pseudo Bruce Timm-ish look, like Ben10. Not that I don't appreciate the style, I'm just looking for something else at the moment.

I hope that that's given you guys some idea of what I'm looking for. Something like the 2002 version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe might fit the bill, except that it's already a remake of an 80s series, as opposed to being something completely new.

If you guys know something I don't, please let me know - thanks!

[eddievalient]

How about Yu-Gi-Oh? That was basically a 200 episode long commercial for the card game (and not half bad either). Digimon was a bit like that too. Star Wars: The Clone Wars also has a very 80s/early 90s feel to it. Does that help?

[estefan]

If you don't count the CGI intro, maybe Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, perhaps?

It's a little difficult for something to mind, since practically all animated series today are done on Flash (one reason I dislike modern cartoon series so much). Never mind their lack of creativity.

[eddievalient]

I know exactly what you mean, estefan. I feel very strongly that the 80s and 90s were the golden age of TV animation and while there are some good cartoons on now (Wolverine And The X-Men comes to mind), most of them are crap (like Chowder). I miss the good old days of Ducktales, Sonic The Hedgehog, Bump In The Night and Doug (the original Nick episodes) to name just a few. Where did all those good writers go?

[droosan]

You should be aware that -- 10 years from now -- some 'twenty-something' is gonna post a thread on this forum which states that "All of today's cartoons are crap. I miss the good old days of Chowder, Flapjack, and Johnny Test. Now those were some quality cartoons".

And they will be totally dead-serious. :idea:

[GRUNT]

I'm actually quite aware of this, and I consciously chose my words to make sure that I didn't come across that way. :S

I'm not trying to slam today's cartoons, and I love many of them. :]

@ Eddievalient - I actually am watching Clone Wars at the moment. :] It is indeed a cute show, and now that you mention it, I do get some of that early 90s vibe you talk about, but I have a hard time looking at it the way I would an 80s cartoon (at least the ones I mentioned) simply because it's Star Wars, and it's got all this baggage with it. Thanks for the other suggestions, but I should also have stated that I'm not looking for anime, either. I'm looking specifically for Western-produced shows, which does make it more difficult :[.

@ estefan - I hear you on the Flash animation bit. I know that it's not a very nice thing for me to say - it's not like I have the skill to even animate as well in Flash as the stuff on TV - but I just far prefer 2d hand-drawn animation.

Thanks for the recommendations guys, but I don't think that what I'm looking for exists :S. It's probably an overly-specific concept (even down to a particular visual style I'm expecting), but I thought I'd put this out there just in case :[.

[droosan]

well .. perhaps I should have quoted eddievalient to make it clear that the 'you' in my post was not referring to you, GRUNT. But since my post immediately follows his, I didn't think it necessary.

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Even so, having been in my teens & twenties during the 1980's and 90's .. the evaluation of the cartoons cited at the beginning of the thread happens to be very different from my own.

Which is not to say that I think the 'essence' of those toons was a bad one. Only that 'funky 20-minute long toy advertisements' are perhaps better left in that era.

[eddievalient]

You should be aware that -- 10 years from now -- some 'twenty-something' is gonna post a thread on this forum which states that "All of today's cartoons are crap. I miss the good old days of Chowder, Flapjack, and Johnny Test. Now those were some quality cartoons".

And they will be totally dead-serious. :idea:

Only because they were raised on crap and don't know any better.

[droosan]

I loved The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Show, Hong Kong Phooey, and Grape Ape when I was a little kid. I can still get a bit of a 'kick' out of them, as an adult (mostly just for nostalgia's sake) .. but I can acknowledge that they really weren't all that great, overall.

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Now, I'll be honest: I did (and do) enjoy Duck Tales, Doug, and Sonic the Hedgehog. But the truth is they were the 'disposable kids entertainment' of their time.

I certainly wouldn't characterize a contemporary cartoon with the visual charm of Chowder apart from them with the term 'crap'.

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I've worked on a few cartoon shows. I didn't honestly consider any of them to be that good. But I have constantly been surprised to meet kids who enjoy(ed) them.

They don't 'know any better'. But neither did we. :idea:

[droosan]

Sorta back on topic ..

It's not a TV show (yet ), and it is CGI .. but this trailer for the DTV Bionicle: The Legend Reborn definitely reminds me of a 1980's-style 'toy-based' show:

[eddievalient]

Yeah, I was going to mention that one. This makes four Bionicle movies. I saw the first one and it wasn't great, but not terrible either.

[EricJ]

Nowadays, cartoons have gotten incredibly stylised and are becoming very post-modern. They're usually illustrated in that really slick style we see in shows like Total Drama Island. Or have that pseudo Bruce Timm-ish look, like Ben10. Not that I don't appreciate the style, I'm just looking for something else at the moment.

Two things marked Toytoons in the mid-80's:
1) Commercialism came first--Hasbro used to advertise to licensees that "every single toy was represented on the show!" and mean it as a good thing...
They literally didn't have time to be cutesy, or postmodern, or stoner retro-kitschy about what they thought cartoons "looked like" in the 60's/70's--The rule was, tell the story, deliver the goods, plug the characters, and get out with a bang.

2) Outsourced Japanese animation studios, back when we didn't know they existed--While Filmation was still making He-man look like the Archies and Star Trek, Thundercats and the TransJoes were using Japanese animation houses more used to the dynamic action and comic-book style that other fans were getting with the first Robotech reruns.

(Except in the 90's, when 80's-throwback shows like "Mythic Warriors" and "NASCAR Racers" discovered the cheap lure of computer animation--
When Fox's "X-Men" became Fox's "Avengers", a little piece of Saturday-morning fans died...)

...So what happened to 80's toytoons (apart from Peggy Charren turning every Saturday morning cartoon into "Doug"?)
In a historical nutshell, the US got too smug, cutesy and cheap, and drove any respectable toon fan to watching anime.
So, um, might as well watch that.

[droosan]

I guess I deserve a tiny part of the blame for NASCAR Racers.

I didn't realize I was killing Saturday Morning fans ..

[droosan]

Not a show (unfortunately..? ), but this is definitely bursting at the seams with that 80s essence:



.. it starts a bit slow, but I haven't yet been able to reach the end of this without laughing myself silly..!

[estefan]

Since this show was brought back, I was thinking that they should do a Howard the Duck animated series, but done in the style of a 1980s animated series ala Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

To be honest, with the live-action film was a hit, I would not be surprised if a Saturday morning cartoon would have been produced in the '80s.