On Sunday, I happened to be flipping through channels and saw that Toon Disney — the all-cartoon channel (with Power Rangers), was running an old episode of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.
I was glad to see it. A while back, Fox ran the series over one summer, and I recorded a bunch of them. More recently I bought an all-region DVD player and purchased the series from Amazon’s UK branch. Seeing the show on cable TV reminded me of a letter I sent to the Sci Fi Channel recently, where I suggested they pick up some old cartoon series.
I’ve also noticed that Filmation’s Blackstar, Flash Gordon and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoons have finally made it to DVD.
Feel free to copy this letter and send it to Sci Fi, G4 or whatever cable channel you decide. I just want some old, non-Hanna-Barbera cartoons back on TV!
In particular, I compare what you have to what Cartoon Network runs and I can’t help but wonder why you can pick up some action-adventure cartoon shows.
While cartoon network specializes in fresh imports from Japan, you might want to consider picking up older programs that aren’t as time dated, and therefore less appealing to the younger demographic.
Being a child of the 1980s, I can’t help but think of some neat programs that you might want to look into. Please note, these aren’t in any particular order.
* Bionic Six (A family with bionic powers sounds lame, until you see this cartoon. It’s just sooooo good. It’s incredibly funny. It has unique and interesting characters and entertaining storylines.)
* Visionaries (I’ve got all but a few episodes of this cartoon on VHS, and I love to watch them. It mixes cool stories with a fantasy-tech setting. Of all these cartoons, I’d bet this would be the one to generate interest from young folks.)
* Inhumanoids (When I saw Fellowship of the Ring, the demon in it reminded me of the giant monsters in this cartoon. Give it a try!)
* Spiral Zone (A creepy series from the late 1990s. Zombies, big guns, no-man’s land. Cool stuff!)
* G.I. Joe (Another one of my favorites. THis cartoon has more than a hundred episodes. Just buying one run of the entire series would get a big response from fans!)
* Transformers (Generation 1 of course. Cartoon Network has the current version, so it might not be allowed.)
* The Real Ghostbusters (At twenty years old, the first film is still funny. The cartoon was a blast too!)
* C.O.P.S. (Not as good as G.I. Joe, but it had some great animation.)
* Pole Position (Based loosely on the video game, this anime series followed the story of a brother and sister in souped up car.s)
* Mighty Orbots (One of the best imports of the mid 1980s. It had giant robots and everything!)
* G-Force/Battle of the Planets
* Go-Bots (Not as good as transformers, but still fun!)
* Teen Wolf (I recently found an old tape of this and was shocked at how good it was. Normally I wouldn’t give this thing a chance, but I was able to get a 2-hour long tape for $2. Like I said, surprisingly good.)
* Plastic Man (A superhero who is plenty of fun. Plus, DC Comics would love you to help generate more interest in him.)
* Super Friends/Challenge of the Super Friends
* Gilligans Planet (I know what you’re thinking, but its actually a pretty good
* Kid Video (definitely dated, but I remember it being pretty cool!)
* Back to the Future (For the younger crowd, but it has a sci-fi spin to it!)
* Pirates of Darkwater (A short-lived tale of a far off world.)
* Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures (A surprisingly entertaining cartoon about the time traveling teens.)
* Dungeons & Dragons (One of my favorites, lots of action, cool monsters, anime-inspired designs. With D&D relatively hot again, it might be worth revisiting. Even Fox Kids tried running it for part of a season during the biggest part of the Harry Potter craze.)
* Godzilla (I don’t remember much about it, but I imagine all the g-fans out there would set their VCRs for it!)
* Tarzan (One of filmations’ best cartoons. Tarzan was pure fun.)
* Flash Gordon (Another good filmation production. Excellent animation.)
* Blackstar (Another cool, but short lived fantasy series. It was a lot like Flash Gordon.)
* Thundarr (This might be a featured product on Cartoon Network’s Boomerang, but maybe you can convince them to borrow it.)
So there you go. I hope you’ll consider trying out a one or two hour programming block dedicated to these shows. Once you get them, you might even try running them late at night as well. That way you maximize their viewership potential.
Thanks for listening to me.
Best,
Your Comics On The Brain Blogger
author, good work
Winter is over! Hooray!
Where can I read more about this?
ok! theme revealed… thanks