It's Pedro again, ready for another exciting article? Personally, I'm a fan of cartoons from the 80s and before (40s, 50s, 60s, 70s). I don't really like most of the 1990s cartoons, despite the fact that I was stuck watching a lot of them thanks to my brother. The way I hear a lot of people complain about today's cartoons is the same way as I feel about most of the 1990s cartoons. However, there were a few I actually liked. This is why I'm writing this article, people think I bash 90s cartoons all the time and I don't think that's 100 percent true. This article is similar to the ones Ojin and Potatobucket did on today's cartoons. And no cartoons that continued from the 80s do not count.

Widget the World Watcher (1990)
Some of you may be thinking this "This is a Captain Planet rip-off". Well that isn't 100 percent true. Both cartoons teach you about the enviroment, just in a different way. The differences is that Widget is a purple alien and CP is a superhero created by the five elements *well ummm...four since I don't think heart is an element* by five rings given by the spirit of the earth, Gaia. Widget has 3 human friends, Brian, Kevin and Kristine and they help Widget save the day in the Jungle and all other sorts of places. It's sad that this one didn't last long.



Pirates of the Dark Water (1991)
This is an underrated cartoon. It was created by Hanna-Barbera back in 1991. The first five episodes appeared on FOX back in early 1991 and was later re-broadcasted. Using a detailed, realistic form of animation, it followed a group of adventurers on a quest to collect the Thirteen Treasures of Rule, which possessed the combined power to stop an evil substance known as "Dark Water" from consuming the alien world of Mer. The show was canned because the form of animation used in the show was very expensive and time consuming and they failed to meet the deadlines. So the Pirates never caught all 13 treasures (only getting 8 out of 13). This show was the only reason why I woke up on Saturdays in 1991 just to see it. They need to put this on DVD already.



Gravedale High (1990)
Now this is a funny show! It was created by Rick Moranis (an underrated actor in my opinion) and Hanna-Barbera back in 1990. It's about a bunch of ghouls and monsters that go to high school. With the exception of Max Schenider, there are no humans in the school. My favorite character is Vinnie Stoker, he made me laugh out loud. The show revolved around the misadventures of human teacher Max Schneider, who had unwittingly taken a job at Gravedale High, a school for monsters built inside an old cemetery. Schneider, the only human in the school, presided over a group of ghoulish teenagers that were latest-generation versions of classic movie monsters. These included resident vampire and all-around cool dude Vinnie Stoker, mischievous Frankentyke (reminiscent of Frankenstein's monster), nerdy werewolf Reggie Moonshroud, zombie J.P. Ghastly the III, lagoon creature Gill Waterman, tubby mummy Cleofatra, invisible Sid, undead Southern belle Blanche, and the snake-headed Valley girl Duzer. The geeky, bespectacled Mr. Schneider had his hands full with his new students, but he had Gravedale’s spooky staff to help out, who initially did not trust Schneider due to his human status but developed a camaraderie with him as the overall story developed. These included headmistress Ms. Crone, Coach Cadaver, Mr. Tutner, and others. This show only lasted 13 episodes. They never re-ran this on Cartoon Network, a station that owns the rights to most of the Hanna-Barbera shows. I tend to like the shows that last just 13 episodes rather than lots of seasons.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs(1993)
When this show came out, I was 16 years old and my brother was 9 years old. I read the comic books as a pre-teenager and when I heard about the show, I thought it was going to be bad but I was wrong, it's very well written and has tons of great characters. This show is so underrated in my eyes. It's based off the 1986 comic book Xenozoic Tales and created by Mark Schultz, the brainchild of the comic book. Jack, leading his crew (a band of ecological freedom fighters known as the Mechanics), squares off against opposition in the form of the Council of Governors, the tyrannical Wilhelmina Scharnhorst and her nefarious henchmen among others. As well as the mechanics, there is also Hermes, a juvenile cutter(allosaur) Jack hand reared. Gentle with Jack and Hannah he can still be rather fierce when angered. The show dealt with many strong ecologicial and political issues that were central to the plot development (way better than Captain Planet could ever do.). One major focus was the question of how the dinosaurs managed to re-emerge after they were thought to be extinct. As a result of that, coupled with the placement amidst a programming schedule that consisted of shows mainly geared toward a younger demographic, it went virtually unnoticed. The show boasted superb animation and was surprisingly well-written. Many fans (including myself) who can remember viewing it note the superior quality as one of the reasons they first started to enjoy the short-lived series. In total, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs lasted for one full season (13 episodes) and was never considered for renewal. I was so mad that this happened! It could of lasted longer because it (like Exosquad) had potential.



Exosquad(1993)
This is one kick ass show. It's one of the best sci-fi cartoons ever. It was created by Will Meugniot and Universal Animation Studios. The show seems kind of similar to Robotech. The show takes place in the 22nd century (approximately 2119-2121 AD),humans (often referred to as "Terrans") have expanded their presence beyond Earth, terraforming and colonizing Venus and Mars (the three "Homeworlds"). At the beginning of the series, the Homeworlds are drawn into a conflict with the Pirate Clans, several groups of rebel humans occupying parts of the outer Solar System. After the Clans raid one too many unarmed Homeworld freighters, the Earth Congress dispatches the entire Exofleet, humanity's space-based military, against them. I don't want to give too much away so I'll stop. Exosquad had a very serious approach to the plot with several intertwined storylines and a number of memorable characters displaying a full spectrum of human relationships, such as friendship, love, hatred, personal tragedies, treachery, taking responsibility for others, etc. The same dramatic combination is credited with making Robotech a success in the US, and later made Disney's Gargoyles a fan favorite. It only lasted 2 seasons though. Why do they always cancel the good shows when they are just hitting their peak (Same for Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) and yet all of the shows I thought that was bad lasted longer. >:(

Narration
"It was a golden age for all mankind. Using the incredible exoskeletons called E-frames, we had successfully terraformed Venus and Mars, and were now poised to move on to the Outer Planets. Suddenly, it all ended. We were pressed into a nightmarish war on a scale previously unimagined. We were attacked by our own creations, the Neosapiens, a race of artificially created humans. Led by Phaeton, they had seized control of Venus, Earth and Mars. This is Lt. J.T. Marsh, member of the Exofleet, leader of a small band of E-frame pilots dedicated to freeing humanity from Neosapien rule. We are... the Exosquad."



Now those were the cartoons that I'd enjoyed back in the 1990s, I know, very limited selection, but hey, those were the only cartoons from my brother's childhood that I liked and the only ones that I would watched and paid attention to. Everything else he liked, I'd either watched a few minutes of it and got turned off or just cringed at it *cough* Hammerman *cough*. I'd be lucky if any of these were on DVD but I they are not. One day they will. But anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this article.