Sat Morning Cartoon Ads!

The ads we saw in comic books, newspapers, and TV guides etc
On
March 03, 2011
Hello fellow Retrojunkies!

I've covered Toys R Us old vs. new, I've dug deep and produced 80's Christmas Wish Book Ads with the prices.
So what else could I possibly come up with that might be cool?

How's about 1980's Saturday Morning Cartoon Ads from Comic Books, Friday/Saturday/Sunday Newspapers, TV Guides, etc etc!?


Circa 1967 I think. This is an OLD school ad from the comic books showcasing the early Saturday Morning goodness!

I was a big Comic Book Collector in the 80's. And one thing I do fondly remember about them was on either the back cover OR Center Spread of the comic book were great ads showcasing the Saturday Morning Cartoon lineups. The newspapers here in NY also did this on the weekend editions of the paper.

This was another source to find out the new cartoons, when they were on, and what channel was gonna show them, and I think it is safe to say that most kids in my neighborhood tuned in once we got this new news. I know I did.

We had a pretty robust cartoon selection growing up. Everything from Bugs Bunny to Spiderman and His Amazing Friends. You name it, we pretty much had a cartoon of it.

Well folks it's time to take another stroll down memory lane with me to take a peek at some OLD classic printed ads showcasing Saturday Morning Cartoons.


1983 ABC full 2 page comic book spread. Showcase the cartoons, give the kiddies a trace by number activity and BOOM kids were hooked into tuning in. ABC 83 lineup however didn't have much I liked except the Littles really.


NBC the top dog of the big 3. NBC had MANY cartoons I loved and in 1980 I was hooked on NBC. Godzilla and Batman and the Super 7 I was addicted to lol. Anyone else remember when 2 cartoons you LOVED were on at the same time and we had to flip between the 2 because we couldn't just watch one? Oh god that was such a travesty back then, seems so trivial now a days.


Wonder Twin Powers ACTIVATE! 1981 was a good cartoon year for ABC. I had the Super Friends and I had Thundaar the Barbarian amongst others. Two great cartoons. The super hero action stuff ALWAYS got me revved up to go out and play after wards. My parents however had their hands full because I would bounce off the walls when certain cartoons were on lol.


Atari and ABC took full advantage of Saturday Mornings in the earl 1980's as shown here in a 1982 ABC Halloween Special Ad. I swear they milked EVERY holiday with specials and ya know what... IT WAS AWESOME!

82' was kind of a transition year to me. There were still a lot of 70's cartoons on and the newer trends were just starting to appear, like Pac Man for instance. This to me is the year we see the "modern" cartoon start to take shape.

1983 marks the "new age" of Saturday Mornings to me. Lots of Video game cartoons, more TV shows being made into cartoons like the Dukes of Hazzard and the arrival of one of my favorite Saturday Morning Classics... DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS!

I had no choice, I bought the complete 27 episode DVD box set when it came out. Such awesomeness I would NOT be refused lol.
1984 saw the rise of Saturday Mornings to I think it's beginning of it's absolute peak. I found more 84' ads then any other year, in fact I don't think I found an ad later then 84.

CBS was kicking it into full throttle at this time as was NBC with the highly successful Smurfs cartoon. 84 also culminates a massive surge in McDonald's commercials and the wide use of the best Mickie D's tag line/jingle ever...
"It's a good time, foe the great taste, of McDonald's!"


And another thing CBS capitalized on was the Video Game Market... Enter Saturday Supercade! We got Donkey Kong, Q-Bert, Space Ace, Dragon's Liar, Pole Position, and finally the graphics were good! lol. That to me was the best part about Video Game Cartoons... they didn't look like crap lol.


Hello SMURFS! About time I get to show a Smurfs ad lol. As stated earlier NBC was the top dog of the Big 3. And NBC marketed some really cool cartoons like the Smurfs. Smurfs took off like wildfire, it was an instant hit and I think is what put NBC on the cartoon map.


Now you know that Saturday Mornings are HUGE when even Richard Pryor, one of the dirtiest comedians of his time has a cartoon! LOL could you imagine that cartoon IF Pryor could be himself!? It'd be an HBO special lol.


Good ol' CBS gave me the Muppet Babies and Hulk Hogan's Rock and Wrestling! I was a big Muppets fan from the late 70's watching the Muppet Show and I loved Wrestling. How possibly could these not score HUGE brownie points with me. Admittedly Rock and Wrestling was kinda lame, it was NOTHING like the real thing BUT entertaining none the less.


There are SOOOOOO MANY Cartoons, how the hell do I showcase them all!? I remember Shazaam, I loved it, and I remember Fat Albert, well the Brown Hornet to be specific lol. Some obscure cartoons back then, but some were good. I believe this was a LATE 70's ad, possibly very early 80's.


Popeye, Fat Albert, DRAK PACK, Tom N Jerry, and good ol' Bugs and Road runner. CLASSIC Saturday Mornings! CBS had a decent handle on classics. I loved Drak Pack, I was always a comic book, Sci-Fi- Horror movie kinda kid what can I say lol. Halloween was and still is one of favorite holidays.


I think I found BLACKSTAR! I like this ad also because it shows the that cartoons ran past 12 noon. Fat Albert here was moved to 1pm. Kids viewing was a priority back then. We had Saturdays LOCKED UP!

Saturday Morning Cartoons lived on the marketing of those cartoons and their respective toy lines, comic books, and so on. I don't think there was a company out there not cashing in on it. All the more awesome for us!

As I sit here writing this I am watching Batman Under the Red Hood. Batman, Nightwing aka Dick Greyson the original Robin, the Joker... ALL originally introduced to me in the Super Friends Saturday Morning Cartoon. My love for Comic Books and Animated Movies I owe to Saturday Morning Cartoons. All these years later as an adult I find myself enjoying elements of life that were born in the 80's and evolved from my Saturday Morning Cartoons and those experiences in the 80's.

We all owe it to ourselves to take a minute out of the craziness that is adult life to reflect on our childhood. HOPEFULLY we have hit another one out of the park with this article. As always my RetroJunkie buds.. Kick back, grab some Oreos and milk, read on and have a ball.

TOYS R US KIDS FOREVER BABY!

From Bizarro's World this is JPDRAVEN signing off till next time!
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