If you're like me, you enjoy sitting down in front of your TV, favorite sugary cereal in one hand, remote in the other and laying around in your PJs. Today, we're going to celebrate what made childhood awesome. These are the cartoons that filled our weekends with wonder and enjoyment as we tried to forget the following week and the homework that would be put off until Sunday. This list will feature the shows of our childhood, so get ready to feel a whole lot of nostalgia!
1. "Dexter's Laboratory" (1996-2003)
This is by far my favorite show of all time. This show follows the life of a boy genius named Dexter who has to deal with his annoying sister, Deedee, his oblivious parents and, later on in the show, his rival Mandark who's laugh we have all tried to do even to this day. What makes this show so great is how practical and entertaining the animation is. We liked to see somewhat poor animation styles because it somehow made the show better. We embraced the imperfections because it made it all the better to laugh at. The title sequence perfectly explains the premise of the show. If you don't believe me, watch the opening sequence and see for yourself. Fun fact: the person who voices Mandark, is also the person who voices the nerdy kid in the Polar Express.
2. "Pinky and the Brain" (1995-1998) / "Animaniacs" (1993-1998)
What are you doing, Alex?! Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs are two separate series! Yes, but they existed within the same crazy universe so for the purpose of this list, I'll be putting them together. "Pinky and the Brain" and "Animaniacs'" plot was very well explained in their theme songs, so I don't need to go over it much. What makes this show so great is its sheer brilliance with how it communicates with its audience. These shows understand us because sometimes we feel like Pinky, while other days we feel like the Brain. "Animaniacs" actually taught us practical lessons from the 50 States and their capitals, to the presidents going up to Bill Clinton. Both of these shows gave us something to look forward to when waking up on a Saturday morning.
3. "Doug" (1991-1999)
Say what you want about this cartoon, it is still one of the most nostalgic cartoons to ever hit the small screen. "Doug" focused on the life of Doug Funny as he survives school and just life in general. Some may know him by his superhero Quailman. At times, we all would like to just tie a belt around our head, throw on the tidy whities over our cargo shorts and escape into the superhero world of Quailman as well. At times, Doug was us: awkward, shy, anti-social and extremely imaginative. We will also never forget his love interest Patti Mayonnaise and even if you hate the show, you cannot deny the fact that the theme song is quite catchy and worth adding to your playlist.
4. "Rugrats" (1990-2006)
How can we go through a list without mentioning these lovable little toddlers? The show "Rugrats" was one of those shows that we can all connect with on some level or another. Whether it's the original series or "All Grown Up," we have some connection with this series. It was one of those shows that we loved to watch simply because of what kind of crazy adventures Tommy and the gang would get into. Tommy, with his handy screwdriver and catch phrase, "A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do," is the leader of the group along with Dil, Phil and Lil and Chucky. Arguably, the antagonist was Angelica, but that's still up for debate depending on what you thought of her. This series was and still remains one of my favorites. This show followed the premise of the babies can actually talk but the parents can't understand them, except for Angelica. This brings up an interesting point. Can only children between toddlers and preteens understand them or is the fan theory true that the group is just part of Angelica's imagination? It's true. This theory exists. If you don't believe me, look it up!
5. "Johnny Bravo" (1997-2004)
Who can forget our favorite ladies man? "Johnny Bravo" is about a man who has a love of his hair, chili and women. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that despite his big hair, muscles and way with words, he never gets the woman. However, it was a laugh to see him try. After every advancement, instead of saying no, the woman would hit him with something such as a purse or whatever comical cartoon object the woman decides to hit him. Aside from Johnny getting hit by women, he also has to deal with his complete foil in the series, Carl. Second fun fact: Carl is voiced by the same person who voices SpongeBob and Patchy the Pirate, who is the president of the SpongeBob fan club. Wait...does that mean that he's a fan of himself? SpongeBob conspiracies aside, "Johnny Bravo" has much to offer audiences as it shows audiences that brains can be more important than brawn.
6. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (1999-Present)
Are ya ready kids?! Aye, Aye captain! I can't hear you! AYE, AYE CAPTAIN! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, who lives in a pineapple, under the sea? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! *clears throat*
Sorry. I couldn't help it, and I'm sure neither could you after reading who takes our number six spot: SpongeBob SquarePants . I'm sure this lovable undersea sponge doesn't need any more introduction. We cannot leave out the Millennials from this list and many of them grew up watching our beloved jelly fishing, karat-ay loving fry cook. The theme song alone is incredibly catchy and to just say the first line sends everyone into a sing-along.
7. "Cat Dog" (1998-2005)
"Cat Dog" was, and still is, one of my favorite cartoons. Even though this barely makes it into the '90s category, it still holds a near and dear place in my heart. For those of you who don't know about this cartoon, it featured a conjoined cat and dog as they go through multiple adventures. A lot of times these adventures would feature their blue mouse friend, Winslow, who always had a quick quip for the pair. To top it all off, the characters are quite close to what we think of cats and dogs. Cat being the smart, laid-back individual who isn't really up for much other than sitting around reading a good book and Dog being the fetch playing, mailman chasing dog we all know and love.
8. "Powerpuff Girls" (1998-2005)
The "Powerpuff Girls" is about a team of female superheroes named Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup who were made in a lab using, "Sugar, spice and everything nice" with the accidental addition of "Chemical X," From this show, we got our enjoyable and dull Mayor of Townsville, Mojojojo, and simply, Him. This cartoon recently got a much-hated reboot, much like "Teen Titans Go," however, this wasn't simply taking a great anime type animation style and changing it to a more cartoonish style. This was adding Cartoon Network's now famous bright colors and plot points that have little or nothing to do with the storyline. I'll stick to the original, thank you. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
9. "Hey Arnold!" (1996-2004)
"Move it, football head!" "Hey Arnold" is one of those cartoons that you watched to mainly see how Helga would obsess over Arnold just to completely bully him later. For those of you who don't know this cartoon, it's about a boy named Arnold who goes around with his friends and go on adventures along with his secret admirer, Helga. This was a cartoon that I also watched to figure out what happened to Arnold's parents. Also, I wanted Arnold's room. Like, I seriously thought about asking my parents to remake my room just so that I could have an epic skylight like Arnold. Seeing Arnold and his friends get into antics then find a way to get them out of said antics made our days a bit more enjoyable. This cartoon also spawned an OK movie.This show had its mistakes, sure, but it left behind a memory which many people still have to this day and who want to see the cartoon get reinstalled.
10. "Pokémon" (1998-2003)
This list would not be complete without the famous series "Pokemon." This series has left us completely speechless over the years and is still breathtaking to watch. Many people prefer the original series, as do I. It's quite easy to tell why that is. It had a great cast, great story and above all else, a great list of Pokemon. The original 150 have been greatly expanded to the massive list we see today, but this is where it all began. Joining Ash, Misty and Brock on their journey to become Pokemon masters was the premise of the story. This is one of the best of the best cartoons out there. That may just be my biased opinion since I grew up on this cartoon but I'm sure several other people can say the same thing. If you look back on your childhood, you can remember buying at least one Pokemon related item, just to say that you're part of the fandom.
So, did you all enjoy that trip down memory lane? I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting but I only have so much space to write and so much memory I can't put them all down. Comment your favorite cartoon growing up in the comments section and hope you all enjoyed this list!
