Mid 90's Toons! (Tick, Rockos, Eek the Cat, Critic, Catdog, Family Dog)

beaker

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As much as I always am quick to declare my love of 80's cartoons(kid video, muppet babies, alf, cops, mighty orbots, transformers, etc) I have a particular love of a lot of the cartoons between 1992 and 1996 on tv.

Nacho And Dog circa 1995-1997
I finally tracked down all the videos of the Taco Bell cartoon "Nacho and Dog"
(videos 1-3: http://www.goodeatsllc.com/food-tacobell-deep.php )
video 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_BO-JxscM8 )

Eek the Cat:
man i loved this show, even the so-so SNES game
episode one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd_3KAovm6I

Rockos Modern Life: now on dvd, this is by far my absolute favorite show of all time, even above invader zim and muppet babies. joe murray has been a personal inspiration in my own animation, and cool to see him continuing with exclusive online content

Family Dog(1993) anyone remember this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGbXqbhDZyM

Catdog was 1998 and Bots Master was 1993, but I still want to throw them in here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIBELrVf15A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvsQhLiG2T0

The Critic: before family guy, there was this constant reference flashback show!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoXnR2k-ZoM

The Tick: one of my top 3 favorite cartoons!
SPPOOOOONNN!
debut episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afrPV4ONU28

The mid 90's, and really 93-97 period of cartoons was just magical to me.

What are some of your favorite series or one offs from that time? to me NOTHING beats 90's nick, ala Ahhh Real Monsters, Rockos, Pete and Pete, Cat Dog, etc
 

Drtooth

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I mean, mid-late 90's before Pokemon ruined everything and everyone had to copy them and they shoved everything off Kid's WB... that was a true Renaissance. And to think, it took Ren and Stimpy and Doug to get som e of these out there... Oh.. and the Disney Afternoon.

I love some of the stuff Fox kids had on, briefly. You know the NOT Power Rangers shows they barely gave the time of day to...
Anyone remember these?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9IOu0Kc4EU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iYVYEqetuk&feature=related
(that was before that Cats and Dogs movie.. and BETTER)

Then there was this cable gem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRQYB0G0K1c&feature=related
Has nothing to do with the original Belgian comic... but I don't care.

And to think, Disney owns all of that now and doesn't even know or care about their existence. Saban ONLY bought back the rights to the live action stuff (stupid TMNT with that girl turtle included).
 

robodog

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I remember Family Dog. It started out as an episode of Amazing Stories and was spun off into a series.
I think my favorite of the 90s cartoons was Road Rovers though there were a lot of gems in that era. Eek The Cat, Freakazoid, Stunt Dawgs, The Critic just to name a few.
 

Drtooth

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The 90's is a decade everyone takes for granted. You keep hearing about how "they don't make cartoons like they did in the 90's."

Yes and no. The key word is "trends." There's always a trend in entertainment, and it effects the output of animation. There was a terrible trend since half past last decade that started to fade away that was turning to live action kids shows dominating children's programming... the cartoons that flourished in that era were mostly adult programs. Now it seems to have swung back...

But the thing is, the 90's CHANGED television animation. The 80's was a mix of change and regulations... somethings were better done than others, creative cartoonists were being repressed. But that was a mammoth step ahead of the 70's... and much as I love Fat Albert and Hong Kong Phooey, that was a VERY dark decade. Bad trends, all copies of each other. I LOVE Hanna Barbera, but their worst output was that period (minus Phooey, of course). All the 90's trends we've seen that have changed the face of animation... more action and coherent deep plotlines in Super Hero based cartoons, wackier cartoony offerings created by someone, adult jokes in kid's programs... all came out of the 90's (though as if they didn't try in the 80's...).

Here's some more great lost gems...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXHU6HW07-Q
(really Dreamworks, just release this to DVD already!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE6ltfaWGJg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD-RrBwZa_I
 

beaker

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Well to me the absolute most magical cartoon period was 84-89 with Alf animated(LOVVVE that show), Rude Dog, Mighty Orbots, Kid Video, Wuzzles, Tiger Sharks, Silverhawks, Ed Grimley, Muppet Babies, Fraggle Rock, COPS, Gummy Bears, Ducktales, and all those super hero cartoons like Centurions that you had to get up at 5am to see. etc. But early 90's was golden too, what with Where's Waldo and Tiny Toons. I also LOVED shows like Skysurfer Strikeforce, Dilbert, the USA network adult cartoons, and as you and I both LOVE: Goof Troop, House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Works. House of Mouse in particular was amazing as it was very Roger Rabbit-esque(as far as a lounge with all the Disneyana characters)

Did I mention Im a HUGE fan of the series Timon and Pumba and wish that was on dvd, along with Eek the Cat of course. Thankfully Tick is on dvd.

I love 90's animation tho. I mean Klasky Csupo=pure gold. I even have all the Mcdonalds animated series from 1998-2003 they did
 

Drtooth

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House of Mouse was early 2000's. I know because one episode had Kuzco in it. Yeah, I remember hearing about that one before it was in development (the old fashion way... a radio interview). I thought it sounded like nothing more than a commercial for Disney... but years later I watched some online. And only because are stubborn ABC affiliate HAD and always had cut out the kid's programming at 11:00 or so, only to put on DULL local programming or nature crap no one actually watched. They even passive aggressively used loud station music to censor references to those shows during the credits of other shows. I ALWAYS hated my ABC affiliate for that.

I gotta admit, much as I love old Donald and Goofy cartoons, the BEST Mickey's were made in the 80's and 90's. I actually love those House of Mouse/Mouseworks cartoons he's in... I really want to see one with the Phantom Blot. I just wish that the more comic book (US and international) bits of Disneyana were more respected over here. I'd KILL for some sort of animated Duck Avenger project... be it a DTV movie or a cartoon series.

Personally, I just wish Mickey DIDN'T have to retain popularity by being in that awful preschool show. Yeah, I'm glad that Pete and Ludwig VonDrake are in it... but it's still a terrible Dora clone.

A couple other great Fox Kids classics...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8m0Rqsn0vU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njd-ZRGjkZA

Too bad we never got the later seasons that came out a couple years back.
 

beaker

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Oh wow, I thought House of Mouse was late 90's. Well either way I LOVE that, all the 90's Goofy stuff, Timon and Pumba, Mouse Works, and that Goofy short film that aired in theaters. Thats the Disney I love. That Mickey cgi show IS the worst cgi I have ever seen...on par or worse than pirate pixar bootleg dtv dvd releases.

Wow, I never heard of Space Goofs or Oggy before. While I couldnt stand Bucky Ohare and a lot of the early early 90's stuff(was Moo Mesa any good?) I LOVE this style of stuff. I wish that Nacho and Dog cartoon from Taco Bell was a regular series, as thats the sort of stuff I live for. Rocko's, Cat Dog, The Tick, Eek the Cat etc. I also love the 1999 series Dilbert.

Dr Tooth, whats your take on Tick and Eek the Cat? And what do you think besides Rocko, was up there in terms of 90's shows? I also am a big Recess and Pepper Ann fan, good examples of late 90s and early 2000's kid programming. I also remember a morning cartoon like those that had a goth girl in it, took place in a school I think.

But sadly, most the merchandise for shows like mid 90's cartoons was fast food premiums from Hardees and Taco Bell
 

Drtooth

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Wow, I never heard of Space Goofs or Oggy before. While I couldnt stand Bucky Ohare and a lot of the early early 90's stuff(was Moo Mesa any good?) I LOVE this style of stuff. I wish that Nacho and Dog cartoon from Taco Bell was a regular series, as thats the sort of stuff I live for. Rocko's, Cat Dog, The Tick, Eek the Cat etc. I also love the 1999 series Dilbert.
Bucky's alright for a show, but I really wish I got that reprint of the original comics they were based on. It looked like it had a LOT of potential, and since the toy line didn't take off, they dumped it. I never got into Moo Mesa much... it was created by a close personal friend of the TMNT creators... I wish I got those cross over comic issues they had several years back. Moo Mesa clearly would have worked better as a B&W indie comic than a cartoon show... I hear network S&P neutered the show as much as they could.

Dr Tooth, whats your take on Tick and Eek the Cat? And what do you think besides Rocko, was up there in terms of 90's shows? I also am a big Recess and Pepper Ann fan, good examples of late 90s and early 2000's kid programming. I also remember a morning cartoon like those that had a goth girl in it, took place in a school I think.
I cannot say anything about the Tick or Eek that isn't high praise. Those were absolutely amazing shows, and I hate the heck out of fox for giving them the cold shoulder because they weren't Power Rangers. The Tick deserved a fourth season. I bet Bandai had a hand in it's cancellation because those toys didn't sell either (What the heck was up with the short packed Dinosaur Neil PVC? The Die Fledermaus and Man Eating Cow toys had excuses). Also REALLY loved Sam and Max, Freelance Police.

Those early Disney TV E/I shows were amazing. I loved the Recess movie, but sadly that DVD is impossible to find. Lloyd in Space was pretty good too, didn't last too long.

I think the other kid's in school show you're talking about is Detention. There's also one on CBS called Flying Rhino Jr. High where there was an angry former student in the basement who called himself the Phantom and screwed around with their reality. Those were pretty good, I guess... but Recess was the best of the bunch.

And at least you GOT a Hardees. I saw a Space Goofs premium at Taco Bell once and they didn't even get them in. Seriously, I want to see more of the '05 Space Goofs series the US never got... especially the episode where their house was taken over by an anime panda and they had to defeat it by turning into Franco Belgian comic book characters (both Oggy and Space Goofs were French shows, BTW). It's so sad the kid's meal premium is dying a slow painful death... that's how certain cartoons got their ONLY merchandise. I think I have the whole KFC Eek the Cat collection.
 

beaker

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Oh no, we don't have Hardees. We have the West coast version called Carls Jrs. I only know of Hardees, Whataburger, White Castle, Culvers, etc from research into kids meal toys on ebay and elsewhere. (Did I mention Im a huge kids meal toy fan?)
Yeah I read on peterlairds blog that there was a moo mesa crossover, pretty cool.
I love how Usagi pretty much stopped being a crossover and he just ended up being a regular mainstay in the turtle universe. Tho if I can confess something, as much as the revelation of Shredder being a utom, seeing 1988 TMNT universe again and the whole "metaverse" thing was kind of a shocker, I cant say i really was blown away or enjoyed the whole "movie". Maybe i was just fatigued at that point. Is there any indication theres anything to be excited about with the nick tmnt? If only it was on the hub instead. I dont like TF Prime which to me is yet another forgetable TF show(when will they learn? NOTHING has come close to G1, cept maybe elements of RIB circa 2000)

Rockos and Tick just really ran with imagination, same with the Dilbert cartoon later on and a number of other cartoons. Aeon Flux, the Max and The Head=awesome. Daria too. Funny Beavis and Butthead is back, looks like it never left.

The Hardees Eek the Cat toys were even cooler
http://www.kathysfastfoodtoys.com/images/HRDS_95_EekTheCat.jpg
 

Drtooth

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I tell yah, I love that 2k3 TMNT series JUST for the Insane in the Membrane episode. That's like one of the BEST cartoon episodes I've ever seen. That's why I love egotistical punching bag Stockman over White n' Nerdy fly Stockman. He was the REAL villain of the show. Utrom Shredder, Tengu Shredder, Karai... they were good... but anytime Stockman's involved, it's a PARTY! If they manage to keep that Stockman for the new show, that's something to be excited about right there. I have to admit, I haven't heard anything except a couple voice actors... Keven Michael Richardson as The Shredder? Count me in.

Yeah, the 2k3 series was great up until the freaking toy company screwed around with the concept to sell toys to the point where they had to make episodes about the inane character variants they thought kept the line going. Jeez... I never saw Feudal Shredder, Traximus, Karai, the actual variants based on the video game that had new face sculpts that looked like the cartoon... all I ever saw was the space suit/extreme gear/Prehistoric armor crap. Still, better than those unpainted, break off weapons that had those little jagged pieces of plastic hanging off them. Always hated that first of the first TMNT figures for that.

Really, I hate the fact they screwed up the live action series because they refused to put April in it until the unproduced season 2. That lame fifth wheel turtle ruined the franchise.

Still, I haven't seen any of the new Transformers cartoons. Not even Transformers Animated... I just wanna see the episode where Weird Al did the voice of one of the Transformers.
 
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