I was lucky enough to grow up in a magical time, a time full of equal parts creativity and ruthless merchandising, a time known as the 80's. Some people may look back on the 80's and think of goofy pop music full of synthesizers and soul-less drum machines, or even goofier clothing and fads (Jams, slap bracelets, roos, mullets, I could go on). Thank goodness I was too young for most of that, what I remember most from the 80's is the cartoons.

I feel bad for kids today when I try to watch modern cartoons, with their poor,lazy or heavily computerized animations, strange un-relatable characters and meandering, pointless plots.

So I've decided to do what any mid 30's cartoon watcher would do, run down my list of top 10 kids cartoons (not necessarily from the 80's). So without further ado, let's get to the list.

Here's a breakdown of the criteria to help you understand why that shitty cartoon you liked growing up isn't number one (or on the list at all). The four things i'm taking into consideration while assembling this beast is as follows:

1) Intro and Music. 1-10

I was going to split these up but that would make things too complicated. So I'll be rating how well the intro does at explaining what is going on with the story, combined with the quality of the music throughout the cartoon.

2) Animation. 1-10
They are cartoons after all, and while animation can't make a good cartoon great all by itself, it can certainly downgrade it quickly.

3) Plot and characters. 1-10
How good is the writing and how interesting are the characters? Because there is nothing more boring than watching the characters you love doing the same thing over and over again. 

4) Nostalgia. 1-5
I remember some cartoons more fondly then others, even when I go back and realize how shitty they are now. I'll be rating them on how personally attached I still am to them.

THE LIST

10) Thundarr the Barbarian 7-6-6-1
A post apocalyptic version of Conan, Thundarr wasn't the most popular cartoon of it's time but thanks to it's interesting setting (2000 years after the world is destroyed by a rogue planet in 1994), old school but lovable animation, and a cool cast of characters including Ookla the Mok (come on how can you not like Ookla?) and that sweet piece Princess Ariel, Thundarr slays his way into the competition with his "fabulous sun sword" at number 10.




9) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 8-7-6-2
I'm sure we all remember the Turtles craze that took place in the late 80's (I remember seeing the first movie in the theatre). Good animation and fun fight scenes land the Turtles at number 9, but the lack of an solid over-arching plot and questionable characters will keep them there. Here is the UK version of the intro where they are known as the "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles".




8) Muppet Babies 7-7-8-2
Yeah i said it, I watched the Muppet Babies. Jim Henson was one creative guy, and it only makes sense to translate his well established characters (in baby form) into cartoons. And though they rarely left the playroom, they taught us the very valuable lessons about using our imaginations and teamwork.




7) Thundercats 8-9-7-3
The Thundercats roar in at number 7 with a great intro and some of the best cartoon animation out there. Where it starts to go wrong is the plot, it starts off interestingly enough but ends up chasing it's tail (get it, chasing it's tail… because they're cats). I also have some issues with the characters, the cartoon concentrates a little too much on Lion-O and I can do without Snarf. I mean really, is he even a cat?




6) GI Joe 8-7-8-5
Now we're getting to the good stuff. GI Joe was one part of my cartoon trifecta. While it won't receive high marks for it's animation or story, it does provide a plethora of fun characters, good voice acting, and a perfect vehicle to sell a shit load of toys. Let's not forget the public service announcement at the end of each episode, because knowing is half the battle.




5) Voltron 9-8-8-4
Ah Voltron, you had a great intro and a creative main character (and a bitchin' transformation sequence), but your ancillary characters were weak and your plot was just RoBeast after RoBeast (you did get some credit for almost killing off your main character, but you replaced him with a princess, come on).




4) He-Man 9-8-7-5
Number two in my cartoon trifecta as a child, He-Man had strong animation a great intro (you'll be singing the intro for days I promise) and a bunch of notable characters like TrapJaw (still remember getting him for Christmas), Ram-Man, Skeletor, Man-E-Faces, Mekaneck, Fisto, Tri-Klops, the list goes on and on.




3) Tom and Jerry 10-10-7-4
Finally a true old school cartoon makes the list. The real magic in Tom and Jerry is the superb animations and music. Don't forget, neither Tom or Jerry spoke a word in the original cartoon, and though the plot never really went anywhere, all the story telling was done through gestures and music, pretty amazing looking back on it now.




2) Transformers 9-8-9-5
The most creative toys ever? You betcha, the Transformers had a roster of characters that were long and deep (TWSS) just think back, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starskream, Jazz, Ironhide, Hound, Grimlock, Soundwave, Rumble, Devestator, and on and on. The animation wasn't the greatest and the story ended up dragging on, but I still love the Transformers to this day. The third piece of my childhood trifecta.




1) Batman the animated series 10-9-10-4
We'll wrap up the list with Batman the animated series. Great stylized animations, a super soundtrack (thanks Danny Elfman) and some of the best writing in cartoon history. The latter is what really makes Batman TAS shine, and interestingly enough more for the villains than Batman himself. While the over arching theme is small we get to see the caped crusader fight some of the best bad guys out there, bad guys that have reasons to be bad (Mr. Freeze, Clayface, Two-Face) and bad guys who don't (Joker). It's sophisticated enough that I can still watch it now and be just as entertained as I was a child, but for totally different reasons.




So you can't believe My Little Pony, or the Care Bears didn't make the list? Leave a comment and tell us your cartoon favorites or honorable mentions, and give a reason other than "it was cool".