Sitting up on a Saturday morning to watch cartoons is one of life’s purest memories. It’s one we return to when we want to think of joy, of peace, of life before it got too hard.
So why don’t we all take a trip down memory lane, visit the cartoons people answered with when asked what they would be watching on Saturday morning as a kid . Maybe you’ll find your old favorite in here!
Personal impact.
” The Transformers .”
No joke, to this day I’m a massive Transformers fan. While I did start with the far more recent Transformers: Prime , I did go back and watch the entirety of the original series. It sure is a lot, but it as corny enough to be enjoyable, and I had loads of fun!
In a pickle.
” Rugrats .”
This one was still running when I had my Saturday morning cartoons phase, and I loved it. It’s still a great show, with some amazing jokes for all audiences watching!
Forever the best.
” Looney Tunes .”
Of course, the eternal classic. One user reminisced on their enthusiasm for the show, “Mom had to drag me out of bed to get to school on time, but I had no problem whatsoever getting up at 6:00 a.m. to watch the Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Show .”
A change of heart.
“My dad used to yell at me to turn off Animaniacs . Now he watches reruns of it and swears it was a show before its time…his go to phrase when Mom says ‘what are we doing…’ is ‘same thing we do every night, Brain…’ just glad he finally gets it.”
Let’s not revisit.
” Silverhawks , anyone??”
“Glad I’m not the only one to remember it!” exclaimed one user. “Saw an episode as an adult and will gladly leave that series in the ‘happy memories of childhood’ box.”
An irreplaceable relic.
” Tom & Jerry .”
” Tom & Jerry …kids today have no idea how incredible that cartoon is,” replied one comment. “Tex Avery is a genius.”
Early lessons.
” Care Bears .”
This is one of the first shows I remember having that ‘be kind’ type lesson to it, which I suppose means it made a real impact.
I also think the Care Bear designs on their own are pretty iconic. Simple, memorable, and cute!
The devil’s in the soundtrack.
” Ed Edd N Eddy .”
“The soundtrack is the oft unsung hero of this series. The whole thing is set to jazz. Every scene is orchestrated to a jazz soundtrack just like Tom and Jerry is set to a classical style arrangement.”
Gaining new fans!
“Not a cartoon but Thomas the Tank Engine (model era Thomas) on cd on the tv.”
“I didn’t discover Thomas the Tank Engine until I had kids of my own, but I enjoyed watching it almost as much as they did.”
Not a cartoon, but…
” Pee-wee’s Playhouse .”
” Pee-wee’s Playhouse was must-watch TV and we were in college at the time. It was very clever and full of stars before they were famous.”
” Pee-wee’s Playhouse was brilliant. Probably my favorite show as a kid and loved rewatching it with my kids.”
Quality writing.
” Ben 10 , most likely. Rewatched the series on HBO Max and it still holds up pretty well, even with a bit of cringe comedy that I’m not particularly fond of. It’s just so wildly creative and I’d argue Ben is one of the most realistically written child characters. Of course a kid who gets superpowers would do a lot of stupid [expletive] with it, but as the show goes on he does start to mature a bit more and learn how to actually think instead of simply brute forcing everything.”
Saturday spooks.
” The Real Ghostbusters .”
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One of the few on this list that got an animated series after the first movie was released! The first movie was iconic, but people seem to love the cartoon too, so it’s nice that it held up in that regard.
Still holding up.
” X-Men: The Animated Series .”
“That show rocks. Watched it with my gf last year. Expected it to have aged horribly, which it has… in all the right ways that make it incredibly entertaining to watch. Also it has just enough cool character moments to be unironically good as well.”
Polarizing opinions.
” Courage the Cowardly Dog .”
There were two parties when discussing this show, those who loved it immensely, and those who were frightened by it. I’m of the second camp. I can’t explain it, it just freaked me out, and to this day I still can’t watch it!
Childhood crushes.
” Gargoyles was the [expletive]. I’m also pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who had a crush on Elisa.” Plenty of people assured this user that they, in fact, were not the only one/
Another wrote, “Gargoyles was way ahead of its time. That was some [ Avatar: The Last Airbender ] level ‘we’re not gonna dumb this story down for the kids’ storytelling and the world was just not ready for it.”
What seems to stick.
” Garfield and Friends .”
” Garfield and Friends was amazing. At least I think it was, but all I really remember was how much of a jam that second theme song was.”
Tons of people were quoting said theme song in the replies, so many seem to agree.
Familial influence.
” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles .”
This one I only know so well because my brother was a huge fan of the series. So, while they stopped airing it live, I did get to watch copies he had of it, and I’m glad I did!
Speaking of animated series.
” Batman: The Animated Series .”
“I would say most of the dc animated tv shows like [ Justice League ] were great, which makes [ Batman: The Animated Series ] godlike.”
Universal experiences.
“I grew up in India and we had school on Saturdays back in the day. That said, my brother and I looked forward to an hour of Duck Tales and TaleSpin every Sunday morning.”
Amazing how the culture of early morning cartoons spreads across the globe, regardless of schedule.
Simply iconic!
SpongeBob SquarePants .”
Another eternal classic, but one that’s considered more modern. There’s no denying the pop culture influence this little yellow man has had on the world, and the great show he was backed up by!
