Cartoons that were, in retrospect, absolute shite

[Final]

A few people have put the boot into Hanna Barbera on this thread. I grabbed a list of their stuff from wiki. I agree. There are a few good things they did in the 60s which I'd watch again (and again), but pretty much everything they've done since then is shit.

The list:


1950s
The Ruff & Reddy Show (1957–1960, NBC)
The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958–1962, Syndication)
The Quick Draw McGraw Show (1959–1962, Syndication)

1960s
The Flintstones (1960–1966, ABC)
Top Cat (1960–1961, ABC)
The Yogi Bear Show (1961–1962, syndicated)
The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series (1962–1963, syndicated)
The Jetsons (1962–1963, ABC; 1985–1988, syndicated)
The Magilla Gorilla Show (1964–1966, syndicated)
Peter Potamus (1964, ABC)
Jonny Quest (1964–1965, ABC; 1986–1987, syndicated)
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! (1964, theatrical feature film)
The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show (1965–1967, ABC)
Frankenstein, Jr. and The Impossibles (1966–1968, CBS)
Space Ghost and Dino Boy (1966–1968, CBS)
The Man Called Flintstone (1966, theatrical feature film)
Birdman and the Galaxy Trio (1967–1968, NBC)
The Herculoids (1967–1969, CBS)
Fantastic Four (1967–1969, ABC)
The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1967–1970, NBC)
Wacky Races (1968–1969, CBS)
Scooby-Doo, Where are You! (1969–1971, CBS)
Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (1969–1971, CBS)
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (1969–1971, CBS)


1970s
Josie and the Pussycats (1970–1974, CBS)
Harlem Globetrotters (1970–1972, CBS)
Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch! (1971–1974, CBS)
The Funky Phantom (1971–1972, ABC)
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971–1972, CBS)
The Roman Holidays (1972–1973, NBC)
Wait till Your Father Gets Home (1972–1974, syndicated)
Super Friends (1973–1986, ABC)
Charlotte's Web (1973, theatrical feature film)
Speed Buggy (1973–1974, ABC)
The Addams Family (1973–1974, NBC)
Hong Kong Phooey (1974–1975, ABC)
Valley of the Dinosaurs (1974–1975, CBS)
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch (1974–1975, NBC)
The Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show (1975–1976, ABC)
Jabberjaw (1976–1977, ABC)
The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976–1977, ABC)
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (1977–1980, ABC)
Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977–1979, ABC)
Yogi's Space Race (1978–1979, NBC)
Godzilla (1978–1980, NBC)
The All-New Popeye Hour (1978–1983, CBS)
The New Fred and Barney Show (1979–1980, NBC)

1980s
The Richie Rich/Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show (1980–1982, ABC)
The Smurfs (1981–1990, NBC)
Heidi's Song (1982, theatrical feature film)
The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show (1982–1984, ABC)
Shirt Tales (1982–1984, NBC)
Snorks (1984–1988, NBC)
Challenge of the GoBots (1984–1985, syndicated)
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (1985–1994, syndicated)
Foofur (1986–1988, NBC)
Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 (1987–1988, syndicated telefilms)
The Flintstone Kids (1986–1988, ABC)
The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible (1987–1990, video series)
The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley (1988–1989, NBC)
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988–1991, ABC)

1990s
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (1990, theatrical ride film)
Jetsons: The Movie (1990, theatrical feature film)
Tom and Jerry Kids (1990–1993, co-production with Turner Entertainment, FOX)
The Pirates of Dark Water (1991–1993, co-production with Turner Entertainment, ABC/syndication)
Felix the Cat: The Movie (1991 film)
The Addams Family (second animated version) (1992–1994, ABC)
Once Upon A Forest (1993, theatrical feature film)
2 Stupid Dogs (1993–1995, TBS)
SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron (1993–1995, TBS)
The New Adventures of Captain Planet (1993–1996, TBS)
The What-A-Cartoon! Show (1995–2008, Cartoon Network)
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996–1997, Cartoon Network/TBS/TNT)
Dexter's Laboratory (1996–1998, Cartoon Network)
Johnny Bravo (1997–1998, 1999–2002, Cartoon Network)
Cow and Chicken (1997–1999, Cartoon Network)
I Am Weasel (1997–1999, Cartoon Network)
The Powerpuff Girls (1998–2002, Cartoon Network)


there are a few from the 2000s as well but looking at all the crap above has made me loose the will to c&p.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna-Barbera#List_of_notable_Hanna-Barbera_productions

 

[Mungy]

heathcliffe and cats and company. i used to love em as a kid. when i watched em with my little un i was shocked at how crap it really was.

 

[Mungy]

i used to like jayce and the wheeled warriors as well. not sure if i could watch em again though in case it turned out to be crap

 

[N_igma]

But rugrats was shite

Not the early episodes. The new one's where they are like 4 years of age are shit though.

 

[Augie March]

I can't believe there was a Pac-man cartoon. You might as well have made a cartoon about the two paddles in Pong.

 

[vauxhallmum]

Valley of the dinosaurs was super shit. Even as a 7 year old really into dinasaurs, I felt cheated.

Mr VM says Devlin (the Evil Kenevil cartoon) was shit, but I think he's making that one up.

 

[Augie March]

Speaking of dinosaurs, Denver the Last Dinosaur was awful too, but it did have one of the most irritatingly catchy theme tunes of all time.

 

[DotCommunist]

Speaking of dinosaurs, Denver the Last Dinosaur was awful too, but it did have one of the most irritatingly catchy theme tunes of all time.

he's my friend and a whole lot more

 

[N_igma]

Hey I liked Denver the Last Dinosaur!

 

[LindaR]

What's the basis for judgment? I mean, an awful lot of cartoons in the 70s had really crap animation but good stories - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home has already been mentioned, but honestly, while it was standard HB, shortcuts wherever possible, save the budget, crap visually, the Simpsons could never have existed without it - the writing was way before its time. While stuff that I remember watching with my daughter in the late 80s was highly proficient technically, but totally lacking in heart or soul.
Oh, in addition to those already mentioned, she loved Mysterious Cities of Gold. I thought it was crap then, I see no reason to change my mind.
But we both loved Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds. A witty, literate, tribute.

 

[Azrael]

What's the basis for judgment?

I can forgive under-funded animation, but not lazy animation and especially not ropey, preachy stories.

I worship at the (bloodstained) temple of Mysterious Cites of Gold BTW. I got the DVD set knocked down, and feared it couldn't possibly live up to my Eighties memories. No worries, it exceeded them. Inventive arch-plot that's educational without being preachy, and features Mendoza, easily the all-time most ambiguous character in children's TV. Yes, the animation was cheap, but it was endlessly inventive, from trippy dream-sequences to the Solaris and Golden Condor.

Compare that to tosh like Valley of the Dinosaurs: a static borefest where Daddy spells out The Message at the end of each and every interminable episode.

I was a big Dogtanian fan as well. Reckon the Eighties/early Nineties was a good time for kid's TV.

 

[Jorum]

Does anyone remember Bravestar? A cartoon western in space.

Bravestar was great, if for no other reason than a robotic horse that carries a enormous gun called "mary jane". I have for nearly a year now been carrying around a fevered idea "Bravestar MMO" which would possibly be too awesome for Earth computers to contain.

Thundercats always annoyed me that they'd piss around for 25 minutes until Lion-O finally got round to doing his special sword trick which saved the day - why not just do it in the first place and stop arsing around. Exactly the same thing for He-Man.

Transformers often did the same thing. All run around for half hour until Wheeljack remembers he's got a insta-super-win gadget in his shed.
Later on to be replaced by the solve-every-problem "release the Dinobots!".

 

[FridgeMagnet]

see also Ghostbusters and "cross the streams!"

 

[Jorum]

i used to like jayce and the wheeled warriors as well. not sure if i could watch em again though in case it turned out to be crap

I used to love that. I caught the last 5 minutes of one when I was in Paris, and I'd forgotten how weird it was - giant flying fish, a tiny robotic jouster etc..
If you know where to get it on DVD let me know

 

[Azrael]

Bravestar was great ...

I loved that cartoon. Best Eighties credits after Mysterious Cities of Gold and Dangermouse.

 

[strung out]

me and my sister came up with some nominations for this thread earlier though i'm not sure how valid some of them are...

Dogtanion and the 3 Muskahounds
Around the World with Willy Fogg
The Trap Door

 

[Final]

Dogtanion and the 3 Muskahounds
Around the World with Willy Fogg
The Trap Door

All three are made of win. With extra win.

 

[rollinder]

Arround the World with Willy Fogg was full of total fucking fail - so it seemed at the time anyway.
at one point it seemed like every time I turned on it was that episode with the bloody elephant and the daughter or whatever of the villian pretending to be a mysterious love interest.

Trap Door = total win
The Real Ghostbusters=win if just for having the

Spoiler: a famous film

ghost of Citizen Cane come back for his sledge

 

[rollinder]

heathcliffe and cats and company. i used to love em as a kid. when i watched em with my little un i was shocked at how crap it really was.

really, really hated that as a child

 

[Stigmata]

Samurai Pizza Cats was a bit shit

 

[spacemonkey]

MASK. I used to love it watched a random couple of episodes a few years back and oh my good its bad.

dave

You beat me to it.

I found this on VHS at my Mums house and thought I'd watch it for a laugh. I couldn't believe how shit it was.

 

[selamlar]

That was Mum-Ra of Thundercats fame.

Does anyone remember Bravestar? A cartoon western in space.

No it wasn't Mum-Ra. Tuh

It/he was like a gold snake-mummy with a hologram chestplate that you took the outside off. And a glow in the dark staff. I don't know where the fuck it came from, but it was def. a cartoon baddy.

 

[strung out]

the simpsons

 

[scifisam]

I worship at the (bloodstained) temple of Mysterious Cites of Gold BTW. I got the DVD set knocked down, and feared it couldn't possibly live up to my Eighties memories. No worries, it exceeded them. Inventive arch-plot that's educational without being preachy, and features Mendoza, easily the all-time most ambiguous character in children's TV. Yes, the animation was cheap, but it was endlessly inventive, from trippy dream-sequences to the Solaris and Golden Condor.

I came on this thread specifically to say that the only cartoon I loved as a kid has turned out to be absolutely wonderful, in retrospect. I still have Estaban as my avatar elsewhere.

The other shows I quite liked as a kid - Scooby-Doo, Dogtanian, He-Man - aren't that great, but I realised that at the time. Scooby Doo's still fun even if the plot's almost the same every episode.

 

[DotCommunist]

special mention for Inspector Gadget- Evey episode was basically penny saving his bumbling twattery with her computer book

 

[strung out]

penny crayon? fraggle rock? jimbo? all bobbins

 

[DotCommunist]

penny crayon? fraggle rock? jimbo? all bobbins

fraggle rock wasn't a cartoon tbh, nor was it bobbins

 

[strung out]

that was the most borderline of my selections... i concur on the non cartoon criticism you make though it is animation. jimbo was shite though

 

[dweller]

hong kong phooey

the opening credits were great, the rest was shit.
go on admit it!

 

[dweller]

Mighty Mouse was pants,
Laurel and Hardy was shit
Touche Away was alright,
Batfink was pretty crap