How does The Real Ghostbusters hold up against todays similar toons?

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When The Real Ghosbusters first came on in the late 80's, it was a one of a kind television cartoon at the time. It was an comedy-action cartoon with inventive, sometimes relatively dramatic plots, clever jokes and witty dialogue, enough so to holds many adult viewers interest for the length of an episode. It was a complete change of pace from the average 80's kids action-toon, which tended to very obviously pander to the 7-years old main demographic with extremly simplistic storylines and jokes, and that kind of overtly explanatory dialogue that tends be in entertainment meant for very young audiences (He-man: "Oh no, Skeletor is shooting a laser beam at me, i guess i will have to jump out of its way". Skeletor shoots, He-man jumps. Skeletor: "It apperas He-man avoided my laser beam by jumping out of its way. Oh well, i guess i will try to shoot him again!").

Because of these qualities, real Ghostbusters has over the years became known as a true cartoon classic, sometimes even considered one of the best american TV cartoons of all time.

As i have been re-watching it lately, i cant help but compare it to modern comedy-action cartoons. I think shows like Kim Possible, Danny Phantom and Teen Titans can be said to be of the same type, since they all mix action, drama and humor in a similar way. And to be honest, i wonder if RGB (as the show is known among fans) actually is better than these toons, or even as good. Some of the storylines in the show seem very predictable by todays standards, and when comparing the dialogue in it with that in say, Kim Possible, it honestly feels like you can spot traces of that dreaded typicall 80's "explain it to the children"-style.

Especially when comparing RGB with its 1997 spin-off, Extreme Ghostbusters (EGB), it becomes evident that RGB have indeed aged. The storylines in EGB feels much more exciting and unpredictable than those in the RGB.

In the end, althought RGB certainly IS great entertainment, its reputation as one of the best TV toons ever probably mostly stems from the fact that it was so much better that almost all other cartoons at the time. However, by 90's and 00's standards, it is actually pretty mediocre.

Agree?
 
In terms of animation, I would agree that the show has indeed aged, but it isn't a relic, it's leaps and bounds better than a lot of the animated shows of the 80's and it still looks pretty good to this day. In terms of creativity and story, it's still as good as it was in the 80's and it's premise still hold up against a good ammount of current day shows, or at least that's how I feel on "The Real" Ghostbusters. I didn't like the Extreme Ghostbusters at all and felt it was a cheap way for someone to cash on on a classic, but as far as todays shows go, I can only think of a handfull of shows within the past 10 years that can hang with the Ghostbusters, and thats a stretch.
 
Nope, I don't agree. Maybe the episodes you saw were from the last couple of seasons of the show (post-GB2) when the show was a pale shadow of its former self, but whatever. I think the writers and voice actors did a great job of recapturing the chemistry between the characters from the movie. Not to mention the varied storylines and sometimes dark themes, and some excellent animation (granted there was some poor animation in there as well). I'd put it alongside - or above - the best of today's toons any time.

Oh, yeah, and it actually gave Winston a decent part. Which neither of the movies did.
 
It may be less well-written than some of the very good stuff from today, such as the better episodes of JLU, but at least the early episodes are very well-written, exciting and funny. Slimer can get a little annoying, I guess. I see what you are saying, that it appeared even better in the 1980s because it was standing out from a mostly mediocre pack. But I still think the quality was still pretty high on its own.
 
I felt it was great animation too, and it's still good today, but with shows like Chaotic: M'Arillion Invasion, Huntik, Winx Club and other well animated shows it does not hold up compared to whats going on in this age. But in essense it shouldn't have to, it's a 20+ year old series.
 
Well, of course it's not going to look as good compared to the slick stuff that comes out now. Better technology allows for better animation, joke timing, and facial expressions, not to mention original music in every episode (whereas RGB repeated the same tunes every day). The only 80's show I've seen that visually competes with anything modern is Gummi Bears.

But there was indeed nothing like RGB when it first aired. It was popular for a reason.


*slaps forehead*
OH COME ON, IT'S WAY BETTER THAN WINX CLUB. GEEZ.
 
While I may not be a fan of the Winx Club, I have to admit the show had really nice animation, so I hope you are being sarcastic with that statement. I love the Ghostbusters cartoons from the 80's, but I never let my personal preference get in the way of what "is" and "isn't".
 
Ghostbusters has no doubt aged EXTREMELY well. I watch old episodes myself a few times a year. I'd watch it more if I had more episodes availible.

I'd argue that its probably superior to many current series in terms of story telling. The animation is good enough that it still holds up today.

The only thing that even makes the series feel the least bit dated is the any references to TV Technology (which isn't dated yet but its not like you can buy a new CRT TV anymore) and the references to the internet. There weren't many episodes that made these references but the ones that did built a lot around them.

Without the technology stuff, everything tends to feel like it could be happening today which is great for Peanuts time lines.
 
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