Best Of 80's Saturday Morning Cartoons

The Smurfs

The Smurfs is a Belgian comic and television franchise centered on a fictional colony of small blue creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. The Smurfs was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo (pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958, where they were known as Les Schtroumpfs. There are more than one hundred Smurf characters, and their names are based on adjectives that emphasize their characteristics, such as "Jokey Smurf", who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow smurfs. "Smurfette" was the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series. The Smurfs wear Phrygian caps, which came to represent freedom during the modern era.

Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears

Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears is a Disney animated television series that first aired in the United States from 1985 to 1991. The series was the first animated production by Walt Disney Animation Television, and loosely inspired by the gummi bear candies; Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show when his son requested the candies one day. The series premiered on NBC on September 14, 1985, and aired there for four seasons. The series moved to ABC for one season from 1989 to 1990, and concluded on September 6, 1991 as part of the Disney Afternoon television syndication package. Of the series' 65 shows, 30 were double-features, consisting of two 11-minute cartoons, thereby bringing the series total to 94 distinct episodes overall. The show is well-remembered for its theme music, written by Michael and Patty Silversher and creation of "gummiberry juice" which was a type of magic potion, gaining abilities allow them to bounce away from their hunters.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line Masters of the Universe. The show, often referred to as simply He-Man, was one of the most popular animated children's shows of the 1980s, and has retained a heavy cult following to this day.

It made its television debut in 1983 and ran until 1985, consisting of two seasons of 65 episodes each. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988

Duck Tales

DuckTales is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It premiered on September 18, 1987 and ended on November 28, 1990 with a total of four seasons and 100 episodes.

The show follows the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his three grandnephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Important secondary characters, that often take part in the adventures, include Donald Duck, Scrooge's pilot Launchpad McQuack and butler Duckworth, the inventor Gyro Gearloose, and the nanny Mrs. Beakley and her granddaughter Webby. The most notable antagonists in the series are the Beagle Boys, the witch Magica De Spell, and the industrialist Flintheart Glomgold.

Inspector Gadget

Inspector Gadget is a French-Canadian-American animated television series that revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, dim-witted cyborg detective named Inspector Gadgeta human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget's nemesis is Dr. Claw, the leader of an evil organization known as "M.A.D."

This is the first syndicated cartoon show from DIC Entertainment (as well as the first from the company to be created specifically for US viewers, along with The Littles). lt originally ran from 1983 to 1986 and remained in syndication into the late 1990s. It continues to air successfully in reruns around the world.

Garfield and Friends

Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis and ran on CBS Saturday mornings from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994.

In addition to the cartoons featuring Garfield, the series also included cartoons featuring the characters from U.S. Acres, a comic strip Davis was drawing concurrently with Garfield when Garfield and Friends premiered on television. Although Davis stopped drawing U.S. Acres/Orson's Farm seven months after Garfield and Friends debuted, the characters continued to appear on the series until it ceased production.

Snorks

Snorks is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera which ran on NBC from September 15, 1984, to May 13, 1989. Although not as popular as its sister Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Smurfs, the program continued to be available in syndication from 1986 to 1989 as part of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera's 3rd season, on USA Network in the late 1980s and early 1990s, on the BBC in the late 1990s, and from 2009 to 2011 and again from time to time on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang.

Pound Puppies

Pound Puppies was a popular toy line sold by Tonka in the 1980s. It later inspired an animated TV special, two animated TV series, and a feature film.

After the TV special became successful, Hanna-Barbera gained the rights to create an animated TV series. The series was broadcast on ABC from September 1986 to February 1989. While the series was loosely based on the special, it made no mention of the character Violet. When it was renewed for a second season, there were major style differences and the series was retitled All New Pound Puppies.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (often shortened to TMNT or Ninja Turtles) are four fictional teenage anthropomorphic turtles who are named after four Renaissance Italian artists. They were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu. From their home in sewers of New York City, they battle petty criminals, evil overlords, mutated creatures, and alien invaders while attempting to remain hidden from society. They were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

On December 28, 1987, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' first cartoon series began, starting as a 5-part miniseries and becoming a regular Saturday morning syndicated series on October 1, 1988 with 13 more episodes. The show places a much stronger emphasis on humor than the comics do. Here, the Ninja Turtles are portrayed as four wise-cracking, pizza-obsessed superheroes who fight the forces of evil from their sewer hideout, and they make their first appearance in masks color-coded to each turtle, where previously they had all worn red.

Jim Henson's Muppet Babies

Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, commonly known by the shortened title Muppet Babies, is an American animated television series that aired from September 15, 1984 to November 2, 1991 on CBS. The show portrays childhood versions of the Muppets living together in a nursery under the care of a human woman called Nanny (the whereabouts of their parents are never addressed). Nanny appears in almost every episode, but her face is never shown, only the babies' view of her pink skirt and purple sweater as well as her distinctive green and white striped socks. The idea of presenting the Muppets as children first appeared in a dream sequence in The Muppets Take Manhattan, released two months before Muppet Babies debuted, in which Miss Piggy imagined what it would be like if she and Kermit the Frog had grown up together.

Pac-Man

Pac-Man (also known as Pac-Man: The Animated Series) is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions based on the video game Pac-Man, made by Namco (now known as Bandai Namco Entertainment) and published by Bally-Midway, which premiered on ABC and ran for 44 episodes over two seasons from 1982 to 1983. It was also the first cartoon based on a video game.

She-Ra: Princess of Power

She-Ra: Princess of Power is an American animated television series produced in 1985 by Filmation. A spin-off of Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, She-Ra was aimed primarily at a young female audience to counterbalance He-Man's popularity with young males. Unlike the He-Man cartoon, which was based on the Masters of the Universe toy line by Mattel, the creation of She-Ra was a collaboration between Filmation and Mattel. The initial group of characters and premise were created by Filmation, while the characters introduced later were designed by Mattel. Mattel provided financial backing for the show, as well as an accompanying toyline. The series premiered in 1985 and was cancelled in 1986, after 2 seasons and 93 episodes.

ThunderCats

ThunderCats is an American animated series based on a group of cat-like humanoid aliens. The show was created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf and animated by Japanese animation studio Pacific Animation Corporation. The characters were originally featured in an animated TV series named ThunderCats, running from 1985 to 1989.

Disney's The Wuzzles

Disney's The Wuzzles is an animated television series created for Saturday morning television, and was first broadcast on September 14, 1985 on CBS. An idea of Michael Eisner for his new Disney television animation studio, the premise is that the main characters are hybrids of two different animals. The original thirteen episodes ran on CBS for their first run

Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling

Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling is an American animated television series that originally aired on CBS Saturday mornings from September 14, 1985 to December 6, 1986, with reruns airing until June 27, 1987

Hulk Hogan was the leader of the faces, or good guys; consisting of Junkyard Dog, Captain Lou Albano, André the Giant, Wendi Richter, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Hillbilly Jim, and Tito Santana. Roddy Piper was the leader of the heels, or bad guys; consisting of The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, The Fabulous Moolah, Big John Studd, and Mr. Fuji. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and "Mean" Gene Okerlund appeared animated in a few episodes as well.

The Transformers

The Transformers is the first animated television series in the Transformers franchise. The series depicts a war among giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea. The series was based upon Hasbro's Transformers toy line, itself based upon the Diaclone and Microman toy lines originally created by Japanese toy manufacturer Takara.

Heathcliff

Heathcliff is an American comic strip created by George Gately in 1973, featuring the title character, a wisecracking cat.

Two animated TV series based on the strip, both simply named Heathcliff, were created. Although Heathcliff did not speak in the comic strip, both animated versions of him were voiced by Mel Blanc. Heathcliff was the last of Blanc's original characters. Both Heathcliff cartoons together ran from 1980-1988.

Rainbow Brite

Rainbow Brite, is a media franchise by Hallmark Cards, introduced in 1983. The animated television series of the same name first aired in 1984, the same year Hallmark licensed Rainbow Brite to Mattel for a range of dolls and other merchandise. A theatrical feature-length film, "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer" was released by Warner Bros. in 1985.

The Real Ghostbusters

The Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series, a spinoff of the 1984 movie Ghostbusters. The series ran from September 13, 1986 to October 5, 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises, and Coca-Cola Telecommunications. J. Michael Straczynski was story editor, and wrote episodes for every season except four and seven. "The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with Filmation and its Ghost Busters properties.The series continues the adventures of paranormal investigators Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore, their secretary Janine Melnitz and their mascot ghost Slimer