Generation to generation series recomendations

Wayco

New member
As a long time fan of animation, I have seen some great shows. I don't want to downgrade people, but is only natural that kids of today are not familar of shows of the past. Also natural that adult fans of animation that grow up in the 80's and 90's are stuck in their ways, and not give shows of recent years a chance and miss out on some great shows.

What I am doing is giving a recomendations of shows of the pasts that are not iconic or brand names (Bugs Bunny, the Flintstones, Scooby Doo, est., are world wide known that is no point on putting them on the list) that younger people should check out, as well as great animated shows in general of today that older people should check out. I think weather that is well known or not is not that important when it comes to the older generation. There are more great shows of recent years that everyone has heard about, but people still don't give it a chance, sorry if I sound harsh to people that are 18 or older. Shows of the late 90's / early 00's are in the boarderline, I might list them in both categories.

The age categories are 12 - 18, and 18 - older. I was born in the 80's, so there is a limit on far back I can go. So there are probably many shows from the 60's and 70's that I don't know about.

Current Generation Recommendations (12 - 18)

The Critic - for young adults, a underrated brillant show that mocks pop culture.
Digimon Adventures / Adventures 02 / Tamers - the three best Digimon in my opinion. Very deep stories, deep character arcs, and excellent villains.

Galaxy High - a fun little bizzarro world type show. The school empathises being smart and being kind, over being at sports for example.

Gargoyles (this one I went back and forth weather or not it is under the ratar enough. I think everyone knows how great it is, but maybe not) - if you never heard of, you messing out. A anime meets Shakesphere type show.

Jem - a show that looks like a girls show, but has also action, great music, and some deep characters.

Josie And The Pussycats - by far, the best so called Scooby clone show

Mobile Suit Gundam - the one that Gundam franchie. It has great fighting, and a deep political message

Mysterious Cities Of Gold - a tressure hunting journey show. Has a great story, that some would like.

Rocko's Modern Life - brillant hillarous. It is a great comedy show, that some might not know about.

Sailor Moon - a show that began a anime boom. It is a show with strong female characters, magical elements, great action, and strong stories.

Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - an animated All In The Family. I think it is based on the same British show that All In The Family is based on.

Older Generation Recommentaions (18 and older)

American Dragon: Jake Long - for a western Disney show, it has a great love story, and story arcs, similar to anime.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - it has deep messages about bring peace to the world, and how things are not easily sholved.

Bleach - spirital show, I just love the show.

Blue Dragon - underrated anime no one really knows about. It really states the point that so called villains are not necessary as evil as the seem, nor are heros are not necessary as heroic as they seem in the first series. The second series is uniting the world against a common enemy.

Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebellion - one of the most awsome animes ever. Not only is it about emperalism and a nation struggle under it, but inner family termoil.

Digimon Adventures / Adventures 02 / Tamers (they were in that boarderline era, so I recommend to all generations) - see above.

Gurren Lagann - a possitive story, of a kid that no one thought much of, growing up to be a great hero that everyone looks up to.

Johnny Bravo - a show about a young man, that has struggles in the world, in comedic fashion

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed / 00 - continues what the original series started.

Teen Titans - more comedic DC comics series, but still maintained enough seriousness, but was more fun than a typical DC series.

W.I.T.C.H. - western animation show, that mixes old school fairy tales with anime type story telling.

You are all welcome to provide your own recommendations.
 
My reccomendation to the current genearation of viewers ages 4-12

Stop Watching these Mindless Tweencoms! your Killing your BRAINS! You need some classic toons like MGM, Popeye, Looney tunes & the old disney shorts. and when it comes to Sitcoms well it would'nt hurt you to watch Andy Grifftith or MASH every now & then.

Also You should watch some of the cartoons & anime made between 1980-1999. to see the awsomeness you missed!

& then watch the few good toones to come out of this decade. Like Zim, Megas, Jack, JLU, TT, L&S the series, etc.

Thats what I DEMAND!:evil: LULZ!:p

-Rada!:radda:

As For my Generation I say, be patient good things come to those who wait!
OH & there's always DVDS!
 
Well every decade has its share of great shows, and crappy shows. It all evens out. I do think some people see things from their generation in rose colored glasses.

I hope to see some of you post lists of your own. If you can only think of a list for one generation, than that is okay. You don't have to do two lists, like I did.
 
Here is my list to show to kids (4-12 year olds)
  • Magic School Bus -although this show doesn't really hold up IMO, it is a good show to teach younger kids about science
  • Looney Tunes -they are a staple of cartoons
  • Classic Disney Shorts -see above
  • Rugrats -mainly because this show used to be mega popular so it might be nice to show them what was popular before they were born/were babies
 
I was born in 1991 and most of the cartoons i've seen are from the 90s or 2000s, as well as some on rerun from earlier times. If i was giving recommendations i'd probably be unbiased towards era... and go by what i preferred and so forth... But i'd agree with the above poster about tweencoms... i tell you Hannah Montana etc and reality tv ruined tv.
 
Older stuff (defined as pre-90s I guess) I'd recommend to younger people:

- Looney Tunes: one of the all-time classics...
- Older Disney shorts and features: also classic
- Popeye: ditto
- Woody Woodpecker: Yeah, not an obvious choice, but I think its one of the classic theatrical shorts series (and one of the longest-lasting ones)

Moving into television...
- Yogi Bear, Scooby Doo, and the Flintstones: Yes, the original poster said they're obvious choices, but these three are the best IMO of Hanna-Barbera's output.
- Rocky and Bullwinkle: Shame this isn't aired more often on TV (WGN America airing it at 11 PM on Saturday nights not cutting it), as it's also a classic... even if the Cold War jokes are a bit dated.
- George of the Jungle: The *other* Jay Ward series of note---the one with Super Chicken and Tom Slick (not Flash-animated), of course.
- The various "Peanuts" specials
- DuckTales: The series IMO that kicked off the modern era of TV animation.

-B.
 
I wasn't IMO cartoon made between 1980-1999 have been better then alot of the toons made this decade. given each deacade had its share of bad (& I mean there were some stinkers) It still had alot more Variety & Overall Entertainment Value then alot of Y2k toons have had.

Anime has always reamined at a constint though, although one could say the rise of Fansrvice & Niche shows has brought it down a Little bit. But still It would'nt hurt the current Generation to Have some fist of the north star or Gundam with there Naruto & Bleach. (Although all 4 are equally awsome! IMO):flapjack:
 
Depending on your definition of animation, I recommend Thunderbirds to the 12-18 crowd. (The series, not the recent movie. :shrug:)

Sure, it's not technically animation, but it's a good marionette show about a team of brothers helping the world out. My favorite is Virgil. :anime:
 
We could mention the other marionettes shows done by the same producer (Gerry Anderson) as well: Fireball XL5 (despite being filmed in black and white), Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90.

Also, I recommand Captain Harlock known in the French speaking communities as Albator.

There was also some good 1970s animated series who wasn't dubbed in English like Heidi and Candy Candy. Vic the Viking got an English dub but it wasn't broadcasted in North America although the French dub known as "Wickie" aired here in Canada. Goldorak (UFO Robot Grendizer), a good mecha series who got an English dub but unfortunately only 26 episodes was dubbed in English. Speaking of mechas, there also Mazinger Z known in the US as Tranzor Z and Voltron.

-Rocket Robin Hood: a classic and campy stample of Canadian animation until Ralph Bakshi was in charge. Some of the staff who worked on RRH also worked on the 1967-70 Spider-man.

-Belle and Sebastian: a nice adaptation of a French novel who tell the story of an orphan boy and his dog who travelled across Spain when he learned than his mother was still alive.

-Teen Wolf: this cartoon was more successeful then the live-action movie with Michael J. Fox which was derivated
 
I'll do recommendations for the older fans I guess.


Action Must See's:

Avatar- A great tale of bringing the world to balance, great characters, plot, and high quality

Code Geass- Full of action, romance, comedy, etc. One of the best anime recently made.

Fullmetal Alchemist- A powerful drama mixed with action and it's very creative.

Elfen Lied- A wonderful series. Very high quality. (Adult content)

Comedy Must See's:

Chowder- Very funny

Flapjack- Same as above

Haruhi Suzumiya- For fans of anime, this is a very hilarious series.

Other Must See's

Ouran Highschool Host Club- Romantic, funny, great animation.

Death Note- Very intelligent, and a great detective story..
 
Recommended for: 12 - 18

  • Sherlock Holmes and the 22nd Century: The series gets a lot of slack from the few people that I know that actually know about the show. It has the Sherlock Holmes name there but there aren't that many people that watched it and I think this is actually an alright series. With a blend of action and mystery, it's a nice time killer.
  • Tom and Jerry: This show took the rivalry of a cat and a mouse, occasionally with a dog, and added some slapstick humor. It can be compared with Looney Tunes but only with less of the recognition.
  • Winx Club: This one is for the girls mainly. It contains magic, demons, hunky men (If you're into that stuff), and the story of a girl trying to be a hero. It got me into the series when the last show that I liked, which could be compared to this series, was Sailor Moon.
 
Hey, I'm almost 21 and I watch it. :P I was just using the age groups the OP gave, and to prevent people from thinking TB was "adult", I put it in the younger.

Being older greatly increases understanding when you watch that show, but kids love it too.
 
Very interesting topic. As an 33 year old, avid animation collector with a 66 year old partner and a 6 year old grandson, I run into this issue a lot.

I've found Avatar, Justice Legue, Fairly Oddparents, Total Drama Island and 6teen to be very enjoyable to my partner.

On the other hand, shows I thought my grandson would like such as Transformers or GI Joe, he found boring.
 
Does anybody have any ideas of cartoons for some born in the fortys and Doesn't like gross humor(my grandma)?I tried Avatar(she called it witchcraft:confused:)Bleach,Winx and American Dragon(witchcraft again:confused:).So any Ideas??(She won't watch CG cartoons,she says its lazyness:confused:)So I really hope to get suggestions.
 
Back
Top