90s Toons

By Christopher Poon [Media Editor]

For anyone that grew up as a child in the 1990’s, or just plain liked cartoons, you no doubt remember the amazing shows that accompanied the decade.
The sheer amount of quality shows far outweighs anything from decades prior, and nothing since has come close to matching those shows.
So without further ado, I present to you five of the greatest cartoons that the nineties had to offer:

Batman the Animated Series (1992-1995):
Up until this point, anything Batman-related on TV was pretty campy and 100 per cent cheddar (that’s cheesy).  BTAS changed all that. This show was a Batman realized in a fantastic noir-esque vision. Here’s a fun fact, the show was so dark that rather than start by animating on a white background, animators used a black one and added in lighter colours. This show was anything but campy, had a killer voice cast (Mark Hamill rocked the Joker), and introduced a badass Batman to a whole new generation.

Animaniacs (1993-1998):

This show was one of the few cartoon variety shows, and had a pretty big cast ranging from the three main characters – sibling dogs who were locked up in the Warner Bro’s tower – to a depressingly simple girl who’s dog ended up saving her life while making himself look foolish. Clean animation and smart, funny writing led this show to being one enjoyed by both children and adults alike.

X-Men (1992-1997):

You can’t expect DC Comics to hog all of the fun. Marvel Comics’ team of mutant misfits also shared a spot on the Saturday morning line up, and a place in my heart. Along with BTAS, X-Men introduced an entire generation to what comic books were all about. The series was revered for its faithfulness to its comic book origins, and was also the longest running Marvel show on television.

Doug (1991-1999):

This is the guy that invented emo. When he wasn’t pining over that blonde bombshell, Patty Mayonnaise, he was pondering life’s larger issues, like whether or not his peers will accept him. On top of that, there was a greaser-styled asshole named Roger who was always picking on him. I guess at this point, the show’s writers realized how brooding their show seemed, and they whipped up a zany best friend for Doug. What came of this was Skeeter, a blue-skinned, ADHD case constantly strung out and suffering from mild tourettes.

Rugrats (1991-1994):

Look, it’s a show about babies. What made Rugrats fun to watch was that their outlook on things were pretty awesome and creative. It was like being on LSD without the LSD. I would imagine that a lot of them will most likely end up strung out on acid and listening to vinyls of the Bay City Rollers in their adult years, but as kids, they had a good thing going for them.