80’s Cartoons Part 2 – H- M – Heathcliff – to – My Little Pony

Heathcliff – A terrific cartoon with a jazzy theme song – very toe tapping. It featured the lovable , irrespressable
tabby cat who loved to scheme food out of the local meat market owned by Mr.Schultz. The Cadillac Cats were a great
addition to the show – they mainly hung around a dump with a small husky leader – other than Heathcliff – called
RiffRaff – he had a squashy little cap on his head and a pretty sexy looking feline girlfriend who always wore
legwarmers – her name was Cleo. The other members of the gang were Wordsworth who I think talked in rhyme and Mungo.
Heathcliff was a scrappy little dude who was always getting into a tussle be it Spike the Bulldog or even his owner
Iggy over t.v. shows. But he did have a romantic side for the lovely Sonja. Cute cartoon. 1980-1982 & in 1984
was called Heathcliff and the Cadillac Cats.
HEATHCLIFF AWESOME INTRO

Herself the Elf – Special – Based on a collection of tiny dolls that were rather like Strawberry Shortcake. This cartoon special
probably hoped if it was successful enough to become part of the Saturday Morning Line up. It wasn’t bad just nothing new.
Herself is an Elf with the job of keeping flowers blooming and birds singing in her beautiful forest glen. However her foes
the evil King Thorn and his daughter Creeping Ivy vow to stop all nature by having Creeping Ivy surround Helfself the elf in a
garden prison created by dense tendrils that Creeping Ivy is able to cast. Meanwhile Thorn’s pet vulture Vendetta has flown
off with Herself’s magic wand. Meanwhile the other elves – Meadow-morn , Wood Pink , Willow Song and Snow Drop join forces
with Wilfie a wood sprite to launch an attack against King Thorn’s tree castle adn rescue Herself.
WATCH HERSELF THE ELF YOURSELF!

Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theater – 1987-1988 – with Muppet Babies spoofing a lot of pop culture and doing their own renditions
of certain movies Star Wars and Wizard of Oz – Hello Kitty follows suit with the same idea. In this cartoon Hello Kitty and her friends
– Tuxedo Sam , Chip and others are play actors in a theater, that she runs , based on fairytales , movies anything that would strike a child’s interest. Cute but it didn’t last long among so much competition.
HELLO KITTY FURRY TALE THEATER INTRO

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – 1983 – One of the biggest boy-cartoons of the 80’s launched by the popularity of sword
and sorcery and barbarian alike – Conan. He was a blonde helmet-haired muscle man from the mythical Eternian tribe. Successor
to the Castle Greyskull – he is Prince Adam and defends his castle and Eternia from the schemes of the evil Skeletor who
resides in the creepy Snake Mountain and who wants to learn all of Castle Greyskull’s secrets. He-Man is helped by his friend
Cringer a green and yellow tiger that until he transforms into Battlecat is a big pussycat. Teela a strong female who actually
teaches He-Man combat skills! , there was so many bad guys it’s hard to list them all – Evil-Lyn is a standout plus Two-Bad-
a remember him just from the toy figure that when you flicked a little lever in the back a new face would spin – the old
hidden behind his helmut. Prince Adam changed from his easy going princely form into He-Man by raising his sword and saying I
Have the Power! At the end of each episode He-Man would come on screen to discuss the episodes moral lesson. A nice touch despite what the hard-of-hearts think.
HE MAN OPENING THEME

Hey Vern, It’s Ernest – 1988- 1989 – Okay okay I’ll admit it I watched this show. To be honest I actually grew to like Ernest
but at first the commercials – I just didn’t get them , however this sketch show which featured Jim Varney in his yokel
character of enthusiastic Ernest P Worrell kinda grew on me. In the show he was doing the typical teaching kids a few
lessons amid the laughs. He also played different characters even a baby! He also went on to star in some movies – the first
two were pretty good – Ernest Goes to Camp and Ernest Saves Christmas , Even Ernest goes to Jail wasn’t too bad but the rest
that followed were low budget and half-baked.
HEY VERN IT’S ERNEST EPISODE!

Hong Kong Phooey – 1974-1981 – a carry over from the 70’s this was a cute cartoon about a janitor dog who would change in his
filing cabinet before popping out in a black mask and karate robe as super secret crime fighter Hong Kong Phooey.
He was a little bit of a klutz but always had his loyal sidekick a striped cat named Spot to help him out. He rode around
in his Phooeymobile which looked a little like a pagoda , checked out karate moves in a manual he carried with him and
butted heads with Sgt. Flint. Great voices – Scatman Crothers did the voice of Hong Kong Phooey and Joe E. Ross ( Sgt. Rupert
Ritzik on The Phil Silvers Show & he’d also done voice work in several Hanna Barbara outtings usually using his trademark
Oooh! ooooh! sound of exclamation )
HONG KONG PHOOEY – PAN-RIF-FIC INTRO!

Hot Hero Sandwich – 1979 – 1980 – Not a cartoon but a teen themed show sort of like the junior Saturday Night Live with subjects
more concerned with teen issues than political jabs. On a stage lit with neon bars celebrities showed up to sing – sometimes
original songs , play in skits or be interviewed by the seven actors on the show. Surprised it didn’t last longer.
HOT HERO SANDWICH INTRO


Hulk Hogan’s Rock and Wrestling – 1985-1987 – WWF – the World Wide Wrestling Federation had become such a popular fad and made such a star of one of the ringleaders Hulk Hogan – with his nordic blonde hair and walrus mustach that it’s not a surprise that
like Mr. T he was given his own show featuring some of the other wrestling stars – what’s rather surprising is that it wasn’t that
bad. Even girls watched it!The show was hosted by the real Hulk Hogan and featured the animated Hulk with his friends – Jimmy
Superfly Snuka & Captain Lou Albano usually battling Rowdy Roddy and his band of unmerry men. It was a little like Jem but for
boys cause it featured a lot of rock with even music videos intercut within the animation. Definitly different but with the
similar themes of moral lessons nicely done. The terrific intro theme was based on a Bonnie Tyler song – Ravashing. Very Cool!
HULK HOGAN’S ROCK N’ WRESTLING INTRO
BONNIE TYLER’S RAVASHING

The Incredible Hulk & The Amazing Spider Man Hour – 1982-1985 – Interestingly Spiderman though teamed up with the Hulk was all reruns from 1967. The Hulk was slightly different from it’s live action papa – In it Dr. Banner fiddling with gamma ray research is accidently interrupted by a drifter named Rick Jones. Though Dr. Banner saves Rick from getting hurt another scientist sabotages the rays exposing Bruce to them. The other scientist turns out to be a robot working for an alien called NumberOne who opperates a huge space ship. Only Rick knows who the real hulk is and he helps him defeat crime and battle Number One. Being that it was a cartoon as well the Hulk was able to do some more comic book stuff like leap over buildings.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alTACK_lSJM"<THE INCREDIBLE HULK INTRO
THE INCREDIBLE HULK AND AMAZING SPIDERMAN INTRO

Inhumanoids – 1986 – Here’s a twist a cartoon named after the villains not the heros! The Inhumanoids – of the title were discovered trapped in an underground chunk of amber ( D’Compose – hows that for a villains name ) who is released by a second vine-like creature appropriately named tendril to wreck some havok before retreating to a lair underground made up of good and evil Mutores which is discovered by an Earth Corps member ( Liquidator ) when he ahem finds some talking trees. Pulled into the battle raging beneath the surface as the Earth Corps builds vehicles to travel far beneath the surface they learn the evil inhumanoid leader is being held in a magnetic prison by Mutores duo – Magnokor. Unfortunately another human the corrupt Blackthorne & his team winds up freeing Metlar. The Earth Corps then teamed up with the Granites – good Mutores to recapture Metlar.The cartoon unlike most series was a continuation of a story with beginning middle and end – not random mysteries or events possibly a little too hard for tykes to follow given the fact if they missed an episode would feel gypped.
THE INHUMANOIDS INTRO
INHUMANOIDS TOY COMMERCIAL




Inspector Gadget – 1983 – 1992 – this cartoon was about a tall geeky detective who as the title suggests relied on a number of gadgets attached to his shoes , trenchcoat and under his hat to help him solve crimes. Not to mention a fabulously decked out Gadgetmobile. Unfortunately all his reliance on mechanics often led to them to not work , breaking down at the last minute or somehow triggering the wrong gadget. He himself was a bit of a gadget able to stretch body parts & balloon up at a moments notice anything to help nab the bad guys. His most favorite gadget was often a propeller in his hat that had him fly off like a human helicopter. Often inadvertantly bumbling he was lucky to have his pigtailed super intelligent neice Penny around with her equally intelligent dog Brain. His worse foe was the unseen ( with the exception of it’s namesake- metal arm ) Dr. Claw & his henchcat the snickering Madcat. Great Cartoon.
INSPECTOR GADGET INTRO-GO GADGET GO!

It’s Punky Brewster – 1985-1989 – The initial live action show wasn’t much of a hit – though kids loved it – putting it on at
night probably doomed it’s short life it should’ve been on – like Saved By the Bell Saturday mornings. Instead they decided to
do an animated version for the show. Most of the cast showed up in animated parts – Punky herself in her trademark pigtails ,
mismatched shoes jeans with a rag tied around one leg with the other pant leg rolled up to her knee , arrogant Margaux , Cherie
her best friend and Allen not quite as dumb as he was in the live version. But the most unusual adition was a Gremlin like
creature who looked like a beatnik gofer with a goatee who came from the land of Chaundoon through a rainbow and had magical
powers that often lead to trouble. Cute with a jazzy introduction song.
AWESOME PUNKY THEME SONG

Jayce and the wheeled warriors – 1985 – Toy-tie in show – the toys though were just Wheeled Warriors though. This was a sci-fi
action show featuring the team of the wheeled warriors called the lightening League – lead by 19 year old Jayce the skunk-haired hunk Gillian is the team’s 1000 year old sorcerer – and he doesn’t look a day over 60 , he is a technilogical genius who has built
the fabulous vehicles used by the team. Herc is the Hans Solo type of the group ( they use his ship for transport , he was only
supposed to do a job and then get paid ) but like Hans sticks around. Oon is like the cute mascot an eternal Squire loyal to
his master Jayce but often cowardly about anything else. Flora though looks all girl – red pigtails no-less is actually an
expirement created by Gillian and has extrasensory abilities especially concerning their enemies the Monster Minds lead by Sawboss.
The villains are slightly vegetable with telepathic abilities and or – the ability of turning into vehicles. Interesting to
say the least.
JAYCE AND THE WHEELED WARRIORS INTRO

Jem and the Holograms – 1985 – 1988 – one of the best if not the best ‘girl’ cartoons in the 80’s. It was about a girl named Jerrica
Benton who inherits Starlight music after the death of her father who left behind an even greater legacy a supercomputer called
Synergy capable of creating Jerrica’s alter ego Jem leader of the smash rock group the Holograms. The other band members include -Aja , Shana and Jerrica’s sister Kimber. Jerrica is a headstrong , kind , gentle girl who loves helping others and runs Starlight
Foundation and takes care of a group of foster girls dubbed the Starlight girls. Jerrica usually has a hard time keeping her
secret idenity especially with her often hot tempered boyfriend Rio who finds himself occationally falling for (gulp!) Jem.
The girls nemesis was the punk band – the Misfits lead by rich brat Pizazz , Roxy , and Stormer. Later on new characters joined
the show – new members for the bands Raya for Jem and the Holograms and Jetta for the Misfits. Other characters appeared frequently though not part of the band epecially the Starlight girls. Hot fluorescent colors , wild fashion and cool original songs
that appeared in the cartoons as mini music videos made this one stand out from the pack. I love how Jem and her girls didn’t
resort to catty name calling or physical fights with the misfits but remained true ladies.
JEM FAB INTRO 1
JEM GIRL FAB INTRO 2

The Jetsons – they sortof are beyond description like the Flinstones everyone knows the Jetson’s and though original episodes stopped in 1963 the same year they started with a mere 24 episodes they kept chugging on reruns for decades before an executive decided to create some new episodes for 1985 , 41 to be exact. A new character was added Orbity a green pet for Elroy.
JETSON’S 80’S INTRO
ROCKIN WITH JUDY JETSON MOVIE INTRO

Jonny Quest – 1967 – 1981 & 1987 – The first initial 26 episodes had such an appeal to children they survived for years on reruns. In 1987 they added only 13 more episodes to their stock but it’s got a huge fan base mainly because of it’s appealing high adventure premise. Dr. Benton Quest is a scientist who loves traveling to distant lands and discovering anything unusual which he
does! Along for the often dangerous and exciting adventures is his young son 12 year old Jonny his pet bulldog Bandit &
Jonny’s best friend Hadji a turban wearing east Indian. Their pilot and right hand man was Roger ‘Mace’ Bannon. They
ran across lots of fantastic creatures – invisible monsters , ‘tree people’ apes , and neanderthals. Exciting stuff for Staurday
mornings with cool action sequences & music. And Bandit was so cute! with markings over his eyes like a bandit mask.
JONNY QUEST EPISODE

The Karate Kid – 1989-1990 – Had this come out around the same time as the inistial movie that inspired it the cartoon
might have done better. The movie had helped kick off ( pun intended ) a surging interest in karate. But by the time this came out
people lost interest in the whole franchise. Characters from the movie returned – Daniel & Mr. Miyagi his mentor. But gone was
the California setting with Mr. Miyagi’s beautiful garden & their nemesis the Kobra Ki’s. Instead they are off to Okinawa with
Miyagi’s new student a girl named Taki who is drawn rather like Daniel’s girlfriend Kumiko in the second Karate Kid. The series
was focused on the trio returning a pagoda like object back to it’s shrine in Okinawa where it had been stolen by bad guys hoping to use it’s powers. They never managed to get the object back throughout it’s short 12 episode run , it always just escaped their grasp sending them off to another foriegn place as it exchanged hands. Interesting premise but the fact that the third movie flopped , and Ralph Macchio kindof disappeared after that probably made the series evaporate as soon as it did.
THE KARATE KID INTRO

Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! – 1981 – A two segement cartoon featuring Hero High – a high school for superheros featuring
the usual good guys & gals – Captain California and Gorgeous Gal ( wouldn’t you just love to be called that on a regular basis
especially from the teachers! ) , Misty Magic and Weatherman – and the baddies – Rex Ruthless , Punk Rock and Dirty Trixie. The
other segment included the vintage superhero Captain Marvel- the hero form of orphan Billy , and his twin sister Mary could turn
herself into Mary Marvel while Freddie became Captain Marvel jr. a new addition to the update. There was also Tawky
Tawny a talking tiger and they all did battle with bad guys like Mr. Mind. There was also a live action incert that featured
rock videos and jokes sort of like Laugh-in , Hee-Haw. hmmm. Hold onto your hats for this intro KID SUPER POWER HOUR WITH SHAZAM INTRO

Kidd Video – 1984-1987 – unique mix of live action and animation capitalizing on the enormous popularity that MTv , rock stars and
videos had with kids. I always liked the live action & music videos best as I had had my fill of animated fantasy worlds. But
I didn’t turn the channel so they had me hooked no matter what – The characters were live action teens Kidd Video – played by the
hunky slender blonde boy Bryan Scott , Whiz – Robbie Rist a husky boy with large glasses , Ash – gangly comic relief keyboard player
, Carla the gorgeous drummer -and in the animated world Glitter the Pixie whose every sneeze managed to get the
gang out of the villains clutches. Master Blaster was the official bad guy – but the Copy Cats were arround to make mischief to.

Kissyfur – 1986-1990 – No longer able to perform after the death of Kissyfur’s mom and Gus’s mate both bears take advantage
of a train accident to escape the circus and are swept downstream to Paddlecab County. A breezy atmosphere thankfully
blows in as Kissyfur makes all kinds of friends while going to school in a carved out tree – There’s Toot the little beaver ,
Stucky the Porcupine , Duane the fussy pig , and Beehonie a rabbit who has bows tied to her ears. His other classmate Lennie a
pudgey warthog , is a bit of a bully ( he calls Kissyfur – Sissyface ) and a know-it-all. Kissyfur has to tolerate him just as
his dad Gus has to tolerate Charles Warthog , Lennie’s father who thinks too highly of himself. Most of his jealousy is directed
at Gus for having started a successful paddlecab business taxi-ing the recidents of the county up and down the river a good thing
because of their arch enemies. Jolene and Floyd were perhaps my favorite ‘funny’ animated villains in the 80’s they were a couple
of bumbling crocodiles who were always scheming to have cub-kabobs and when Jolene was particularly mad she would yank off her red wig and beat Floyd with it. Once when they managed to steal Gus’s paddlecad – Floyd paddled by Gus’s house flaunting their deed with Jolene waterskiing on back who hollared – Eat your heart out Bear Breath! Considered too sappy for some possibly because of Toot’s cutesy voice but great stuff! One of my favorites.
KISSYFUR’S THEME
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9hhuB1uluA&feature=PlayList&p=1F5F6E9102458F83&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=27"<KISSYFUR EPISODE BIRDS AND THE BEARS – GREAT VALLEY-GIRL BEAR!

The Kwicky Koala Show -1981-1982 As if trying to resurrect the bygone days of Yogi-bear which had cartoon segments this show was introduced with a character that probably should have debuted a decade earlier – nobody was quite ready to go backwards. The show featured Kwicky Koala who talked with a familiar lisp – the voice has been around for decades in other cartoons – and could zoom around which came in handy because Wilfred Wolfe was always working on a scheme to get Kwicky one way or another. Other segments included Dirty Dawg who cooked up schemes with his friend Ratso to get Bullhorn a cop. Both Dirty Dawg and Ratso hung out mainly at a dump. While in another segment – Crazy Claws was a wildcat who could shred things up which was a good thing considering he was always pursued by Rawhide Clyde and Bristletooth the dog. The last segment featured the Bungle Brothers – two dogs hoping to become instant stars.
THE KWICKY KOALA SHOW INTRO

Lady Lovelylocks and the Pixietails – 1987 – a toy-tie-in cartoon featuring a beautiful girl the Lady Lovelylocks of the title who is
the princess of Lovelylock land whose very presence keeps everything running smoothly , her friends are Maiden Fairhair , and Maiden Curly Crown , and the magical creature element ( every series had one ) are the Pixietails little magical creatures that can fly have bright colored tails are prone to mischief and talk with an ix attached to their words. Lady lovelylocks has two pets a loyal
horse named Silvermane and Silkypup an adorable dog. Lady Lovelylocks has an enemy the Duchess Raven waves from the creepy Tangleland ( sounds like a bad hair mecca ) who is always attempting to nab a lock of Lady Lovelylocks hair perhaps the sourse of her power. There is also a side story of Prince Strongheart who is cursed to live in the form of a dog named what else Prince he longs to lift the curse and declare his love to Lady Lovelylocks. My favorite evil sidekick name ( for keeping it in a theme ) is Duchess Raven Waves cat – Hairball! Hilarious.
LADY LOVELYLOCKS INTRO
LADY LOVELYLOCKS CRAZY LIVE ACTION INTRO

Laverne and Shirley – 1981-1983 – a combo of Laverne and Shirley , Fonz and the Gang and Mork and Mindy – virtual recreations of the night time shows only taking the characters and switching them up in a new trendy inviroment – considering Private Benjamin had done so well at the box office – Laverene and Shirley whose characters stayed in tack – Laverene the loud brassy one , Shirley the sweet one now had become privates in the U.S. army scrambling under the dictatorship of Sgt. Turnbuckle and later Sgt. Squealy who suspended some belief that you were seeing something I don’t know serious , on the level? by being an actual pig. The Fonz was later added to the mix and lead in the Mork and Mindy cartoon which had the kooky alien Mork off to high school with his six legged alien pet Doing. He befriended two boys Eugene and Hamilton and Mindy was still around as his gal-pal.
LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY AND MORK AND MINDY AND THE FONZ INTRO

Lasertag Academy – 1986-1987 – Part Back to The Future part Terminator mixed with arcade game laser tag which was
also becoming a popular toy. For once it was an action series that had a female hero , Jamie Jaren who was a laser tag champion in the future where Professor Olanga inadvertantly revives decades old criminal Draxl Drear ( great villain name! ) and his cronies the Skuggs who looked like wolves. Now that he is free he decides to go back in time and kill Jamie’s ancestors who created all the nifty equiptment Jamie uses namely the starlight gun. Jamie follows them back in time to protect her ancestors who are just kids – Beth the creative one , Tom and youngest Nicky. Smuggled into Beth’s home as a foreign exchange student battles ensue with Jamie scrambling to teach the others her powers and trying to keep snoopy neighbor Charlie from guessing who she is and where she came from. Filling out the cast were the typical pet – a sheepdog and a link to the future – Professor Olanga whom Jamie frequently contacted. Interesting but probably too overwhelming from most kids and the fact that it was like a boys show with a girl heading it was probably not a good idea. Too bad.
LAZER TAG ACADEMY INTRO

The Legend of Zelda – 1989 – arcade tie-in. With the rise of Ninetendo’s popularity a few games had to sneak out into cartoon form. The Legend of Zelda was a popular game and had enough of a fantasy idea behind it to capture an audience. It was only thirteen episodes long however bowing to the more popular Mario Brothers. It featured Link the hero whose powerful sword helps him defeat his foes and help him protect Zelda who was the Princess of the kingdom of Hyrule. Princess Zelda was no weak kneed princess , instead she was armed herself with bow and arrow , boomerang and magical powers called the Triforce of Wisdom. The villain is Ganon and like most all animals in cartoons were anthromorphic , this one was a pig. Though he has oodles of magic at his hocks , he still wants to get his hands on Zelda’s Triforce. The cartoon also featured some cute flirting with Link always asking for a reward kiss and Zelda always denying.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA INTRO
ESCUSE ME PRINCESS RANT

Little Clowns of Happytown – 1987 – little known cartoon and it’s easy to see why the intro is cloyingly sweet repeating We are the
clowns of Happy Town and little else. The characters appear to be childlike clowns in a traveling circus with a baby elephant
and an unnamed villain who looks as if the appearance of him might call in some gloomy clouds.
SOME COMMERCIALS WITH LITTLE CLOWNS FROM HAPPY TOWN SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDST

Little Misses and the Mr. Men – 1983 – based on the fabulous books by Roger Hargreaves which were published in the 70’s and 80’s
they featured fat geometric shaped characters usually painted a bold color and had a personality reflected in their name
hence – Little Miss Chatterbox was just that like Mr. Persnickity was persnickity. The cartoons were sweet natured featuring a
handful of the characters in some small adventure be it going to a carnival where various character reacted in various way
– for instance Mr. Persnickity insisted on sitting on a bench rather than going on any rides but accidently found himself
strapped into the seat on the roller coaster. Cute and definitely worth a peek if your a fan – you won’t be disapointed.
LITTLE MISS AND LITTLE MEN INTRO

Little Wizards – 1987 – 1988 – Short lived cartoon might have been hampered by the intro which was rather confusing and though had an exciting theme of a boy being chased rescued by a wizard really didn’t explain what the cartoon was about there was no lyrics to guide the viewer either leaving me wondering if all the show was about was a wizard’s apprentice. Which is sortof what it’s about from what I’ve been able to asertain. The boy is Prince Dexter who is trying to reclaim his kingdom having been overthrown by his Evil Uncle Renwick. Aided by wee creatures of various colors and creations – they all look a little like goblins named – Boo , Bump and Winkle. One of which carries a stuffed animal of a similar goblin.
LITTLE WIZARDS INTRO

The Littles – 1983-1986 – Sparked by a special Here come the littles , the cartoon evolved into a weekly series based on a successful series of books by John Peterson. The Little’s of the title were teeny weeny little elf like creatures with tails who used various people things to furnish their home which was behind the walls of the Briggs house. Plastic combs became cafe doors to their kitchen , spools were used as tables and stamps as what else pictures. The characters were Mr. & Mrs. Little , little Lucy and Tom Little who were about the same age – ten and Grampa Little a gruff sortof man who always let the goofy antics of teenage Dinky get under his skin. Dinky was the comic relief who had a passion for flying – his airplane was made out of cardboard with a rubber band engine , he often wore a leather pilots cap and was frequently fearful whenever danger lurked – be it human or animal. The Littles were good friends with Henry Briggs who lived in the house and they helped him just as much as he helped them. The stories were lightweight focusing on friendship with some good moral lessons amidst all the action – owl attacks , swimming pool sinks draining , ect.
THE LITTLES INTRO
LITTLES EPISODE

The Little Rascals – 1983 – 1984 – A short lived cartoon version based on a live action show from the thirties featuring a group of spunky kids. Of course with the update , and the fact that by then there were other cute kid cartoons or animals portraying cute kids there was nothing much special about this retry. They however kept all the classic characters – plump nice guy Spanky , mr. bigshot Alfalfa , cute Darla , adorable Buckwheat , and bad boy Butch – their was even their dog Spot along for the ride. I think kids would’ve perferred the real Little Rascals shorts over this attempt.
THE LITTLE RASCALS MONCHICHIS HOUR

Mask ( Mobile Armored Strike Kommand ) – 1985- toy tie-in – and a bit of a formula toon with a dab of Transformers and a soupson of G.I.Joe and a sprinkle of – Jayce and the Wheeled Warrior’s. The storyline was about a special task
force team the M.a.s.k. of the title who drove vehicles that could transform. This was headed by
Matt Trakker out to avenge the death of his brother and bring the men responsible for his death -V.E.N.O.M. ( Vicious evil network of Mayhem ) to justice. V.E.N.O.M was lead by evil mastermind Miles Mayhem. Did pretty well releasing loads of new characters with accompanying toys , comic books everything to make a small boy happy.
MASK INTRO

Maxie’s World – 1989 – Maxie dolls were a small hit in the late 80’s enough to give Barbie
a run for her money – the commercials were cool , the doll was super cute and unlike Barbie teenage – therefore
more relatable. It’s not a big surprise that they tried to pull off a cartoon to help boost her appeal. The cartoon
featured Maxie as an intelligent , likable teen who attends Surfside high in California and hosts her own t.v.
show. Like a few of the girl shows coming out in the late 80’s the themes focused more on teen themes and interests
boyfriends , fashion , slumber parties and babysitting – they also brought up issues that were the usual lessons – becareful about dieting etc. Not a bad show.
MAXIE’S WORLD INTRO
MAXIE’S WORLD EPISODE

Meatballs and Spaghetti – bombarded with bad reviews this cartoon didn’t last long as I suppose the kids agreed. It was about an overweight singer think Meatloaf read Meatball and his slim wife blonde vivacious Spaghetti , they sang original songs accompanied along as I suppose part of the band Woofer their dog , and an assistant named Clyde. They traveled from show to show in a trailer and most of the action when not about the rock star stuff centered on food. On an interesting note perhaps the only cartoon to feature married leads.
MEATBALLS AND SPAGHETTI INTRO

The Mickey Mouse Club – 1989-1994 – after years of being shut down Disney revived this show featuring more skits and series within a series – I remember one called Teen Angel that starred Jason Priestly who came back to earth to help out teens – it was very soda shop oriented as he had a James Dean look going on the whole leather jacket , slick Johnny Depp hair and laid back manor. Now on Imdb and other sites it is basically shown as a stand alone series but I was positive or maybe my memory is off that this started on The Mickey Mouse Club in fifteen minute segments with to be continued breaking up the action so that you would have to keep tuning in. Okay maybe I’ve got it wrong. Still. Other than the skits , there were rocking guests , and lots of singing some popular nowaday stars got their start right here.

The Mighty Orbots – 1984-1985 – 13 episodes- Might have done better but it bears ( at least in looks ) a close resemblance to Transformers and kids aren’t very kind to knock off shows unless their is some gimmick worthy of notice. The background of the series was a group of intergalaticpatrollers for the U.S. Rob and Dia who also had a bit of a thing going and five orbots perhaps just a jumble of the word robots , who could scramble together to make one big robot. The Orbots were Tor , Crunch , Bort and the gals Boo and Bo. They flew around in a giant hybrid Orbit captained by tiny Ohno all to squelch the tyranical efforts of Umbra who always wanted to distroy earth.
THE MIGHTY ORBOTS INTRO

Mister T – 1983-1986 – Their was nobody quite like Mr. T – he could play the bad guy in Rocky , the lovable but gruff
rough and tough vigilante in the A-Team softening to tell little tykes to do the right thing and always drink their milk ,
he was a grand hero for most kids in the 80’s so recognisable a cartoon was not a bad idea at all. Rather than going the
route of A-Team or boxing , Mr. T became the coach of a gymnastic team where teens Robin , Spike , Woody , Kim , and
Jeff keep in shape for tournaments that took them all over the world which enabled them to always stumble onto a mystery.
Kind of an update on Scooby Doo. They even had a dog named Dozer who had a matching mohawk! Mr. T always ended the show
offering up advice on good behavior – which a lot of the shows were doing at the time. A nice theme that always lighted
some of the violence and let you know it was all just a show.
MR.T INTRO

Monchichis – 1983 – 1984 – I don’t recall ever watching this but I checked out the intro on You Tube and it’s likely my brother
wouldn’t let me , we had to share the t.v. in the early 80’s until my parents got a second one – old black and white and rabbit
eared. It was another series based on toys – this was never a bad idea – only they usually rushed out the product before fleshing
out a descent theme – the Monchichis were no exception. The creatures are basically monkeys with childlike freckle faces and lived in a fantasy forest world called Monchia. As par they were lead by a wise old wizard named Wizzar – sheesh ( could they make it anymore easy to remember ) and fought bad guys the Grumplins of Grumplor with head Grump Horrg. Slightly goofy and cloyingly sweet.
MONCHICHIS INTRO SAME AS LITTLE RASCALS

Moondreamers- 1986 – another toy-tie-in cartoon which aired in the My Little Pony and Friends segmented cartoon series. It was
about a group of celestial tykes the moondreamers also called Starry Up who try to ensure the happy dreams of children on earth. Crystal Starr is also the leader and main character , she also replaces stars when they get damaged. Whimzee is the dream Machine opperator and look up cause sometimes she goofs up. Sparky Dreamer is the inventor , the smart one ( it’s easy to spot her she wears glasses like most smarties did in cartoons ). There is even a sorceress , the token boy , and of course villains whose job it is to keep kids awake with nasty nightmare. Looks quite a bit like Rainbow Brite.
MOONDREAMERS THEME

Muppet Babies – 1984 – 1992 – Okay I’m going to gush a bit this was one of my favorite cartoons! It was created by Jim Hansen who did the Muppets and desided to create this Emmy award winning cartoon. All the main characters were back only in pint size –
Miss Piggy usually just called Piggy who wore a pink dress with ruffled panties and a hair bow sprouting a little top ponytail. Gonzo
was back cuter then ever in a red overall romper with a chick print on the front pocket. Kermit was dressed in a sailer style outfit ,
while Ralph wandered around in a diaper and bib. Fozzie wore yellow romper with back-flap and polka dotted tie not to mention
a beanie hat with propeller. Scooter was also around with a new added character his twin sister Skeeter and both wore shirts that
were too short for their pudgey tummies and shorts – Skeeters emphasised with ruffles at the edges. Animal was the cutest
recreation – the youngest for he still crawled – wore a bonnet tied with a floppy bow under his chin, a too small tshirt and red shorts. Certain character traits remained – Piggy was still hot tempered particularly towards Gonzo whom she always called Weirdo or Bazooka beak among other hilarous nose slurs but Gonzo was blindly in love with Piggy and didn’t care. Kermit was still their
paitent leader of sorts , Ralph still played the piano and was interested in music and Fozzie was always making bad jokes. Scooter
was the computer genius and Skeeter was a tomboy and into gymnastics often getting teased by Piggy for her unlady-like manners. Animal was exuberant and loved making noise he was an essential part to recreating some of their most imaginitive moments. The action took place in the nursery – a large room filled with toys and a sitting area and a big half circle window complete with a window seat. Though they were playing ‘babies’ they were actually more like six or seven year olds full of imagination. The cartoon was actually a hodgepodge of carefully pieced together clips from movies & t.v. – some old silent films – some recent , for instance when their imagination went into high gear Fozzie could open a closet door and see a black and white film clip of a train speeding at him. Sometimes they even pieced the cartoons into the action – I remember one episode they’d taken a clip from Pretty in Pink with Andrew McCarthy out in the schoolyard asking Molly Ringwald out only they cropped out Molly. and pieced in Piggy – hilarious! The cartoon was fresh original full of pop culture spoofs and original songs. The only grown up in the show was Nanny and she was only seen from the skirt down with legs clasped in. green and white striped socks. Later on they added Statler and Waldorf ( the hecklers ) and the muppet band – Janice and Dr.Teeth. Beeker and Bunsen also stopped by from time to time and even Robin Kermit’s cousin who was only a tadpole in a fishbowl. A great show that probably inspired a lot of kids to get more creative and use their imagination.
MUPPET 1ST EPISODE ON YOUTUBE

My Little Pony and Friends – 1986 – A segemented cartoon series that featured other characters from Hasbro’s line one could
say it was possibly the most commercial of the toy-tie-in shows though it must have been something of a hit for 65 episodes
were produced. The most belonged of course to My Little Pony with Glo Friends coming in second , Potato Head Kids third and
last the Moondreamers a kind of night version of Rainbow Brite. The My Little Pony cartoon featured the magical land of Ponyland
where all the little pastel ponies lived in funloving harmony until of course the villains made an appearance an assortment of
goblins , witches and Arabus and Zeb – a duo that was a punkish zebra who wore blue sunglasses and Arabus was a gloomy and doom cloud I guess. Most of the episodes related to magical happenings and the ponies tied in with their toy ponies with personalities to match their names – Firefly a pegasus pony , Spike a baby dragon. Some children even entered the magical land via a rainbow siblings, Megan , Molly and Danny. See also Moondreamers , Glo Friends and Potato Head Kids.
MY LITTLE PONY INTRO
MY LITTLE PONY EPISODE