Were the 90s really better?

S

Spanky Doodle

New member
Just wondering what you guys think...we who grew up in the 90s are inclined to prefer it because we grew up with it, but for kids growing up in the 2000s, by the 2010s, will they look back at the 2000s as fondly as we look back at the 90s?

Basically what I mean is...was it because we grew up in the 90s, or because the 90s really were better?
 
90's Cartoonetwork rocked. Nickelodeon was better than it was today, but they still sucked dry marathons of the same shows: Fairly Oddparents, Rocket Power, Spongebob.

If I enjoy a show just as much as I did when I was a kid, then I think it's good. Such as Beetlejuice. I loved the cartoon as a kid, went back to watch it, and it was awful. There were a lot of good kids cartoons in the 90's, but it's not like they were the most hilarious things ever.

I mean, Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Lab, Two Stupid Dogs, etc all had their fair share of badly timed jokes and predictable plotlines.

Where am I even going with this point.

Ohrite, the 90's had it's share of ups and downs.
Rocket Power: No.
Spongebob: Yes

This era of cartoons has it's share of ups and downs too.
Spongebob: No.
Foster's Home: Yessssss.
 
The `90s was a great decade for diverse children's programming and great comedies. However, if you want action-adventure then the `80s WERE superior. Sure, we had great cartoons based on comics but, with few exceptions, there wasn't that many good original (meaning not based on something existing) action-adventure cartoons.
 
Okay, I must say. It's a little bit of both. The 90s was a mystic time...at least it feels like it. The 2000's will be a mystic time for me when I enter adulthood though.
 
Yes, exactly! There we go, that's what I was searching for!

As a kid, I loved all the shows in the 90's. Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls, Spongebob, etc.

But in the 20/21st century as I started to get accustomed to more "adult" shows, I found that this era had a great charm of it's own. Futurama, American Dad, Drawn Together, South Park, etc.
 
The `60s and `70s are remembered as the Hanna-Barbera era. The `80s are remembered as the action era. And I think the `90s will be remembered for diversity. Nowadays all you get is either weird cartoons or tween shows. Back in the `90s there was something for everybody. If you wanted cartoons with an old school flavor then you had Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and Pinky and the Brain. If you wanted something a bit down to Earth then you had Doug and Rugrats. If you wanted something weird and quirky then you had Ren & Stimpy and Rocko. If you wanted something darker and more serious you had Batman: TAS and X-Men: TAS. If you wanted something action-packed then you had Spider-Man on Fox Kids. OR...maybe you weren't into cartoons. Thats fine. On Fox Kids you could either watch Power Rangers or Eerie, Indiana. Or on Nick you could watch Clarissa, Pete & Pete, and Salute Your Shorts as an example. So...something for everybody.
 
90s had "Gargoyles" and "Batman". Hands down, the two best animated action-dramas ever produced.

They certainly kick the ass of any of the shallow cartoons of the 80s.
 
I've been meaning to ask this myself. We have a good deal of members that were outside of the demographic in the 90's as well as today's.

While I think the 90's was animation's equivalent to film's peak in the 70's, do those of you who grew up on Transformers, The Smurfs, and Superfriends tend to agree or disagree with this, or do they let nostalgia get the better of them and perfer your childhood favorites?
 
Those kids were the generation right before mine. So...I know what their opinion is. They tend to think the `80s were better. Why? Well...we had Batman which was edgy and ground-breaking but aside from that the decade was pretty safe. Studios, networks, and producers tried not to piss off parents. In the late `80s Ninja Turtles was pissing them off and then on the big screen you had the Tim Burton Batman movies which REALLY pissed them off. AND you had video games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter coming that were very controversial. So...shows usually tried not to piss parents off. Even shows like Power Rangers got less violent as it went along. So, `80s kids just don't like how safe the `90s were. Even though most `80s cartoons were toy commericals you could still see characters using real guns on G.I. Joe instead of the laser ones used on the Fox Kids Spider-Man cartoons.
 
Like any decades, the 90s had it's share of ups and down, but it has something this decade lacks. Diversity. Even if a particular cartoon was successful networks and blocks with said show, nor did they constantly try to copy it in setting or story (sitcom where the kid dwells on how much his/her life sucks).

This decade about 90-95 percent of cartoons are of the sitcom variety. I'm not against animated sitcoms, but the medium is at it's best when you use it to explore other stories and settings.
 
Every cartoon that's out now is about kids. Every single one. I don't count the ones in primetime or the adult ones, but every one is about a kid doing something with a pal, and the moronic adults that make their lives hell.
 
I don't think that it was any better it was just that live action tweencoms weren't the main focus on Nick and CN wasn't alful. It was all alright untl 2005/2006 ish.
 
People who grew up with the 60s and 70s claim Hannah Barbara's shows are the best shows ever.
People who grew up with the 80s claim TMNT, Thundercats, and Transformers are the best shows.
People who grew up with the 90s claim Gargoyles and Batman are the best shows ever.
People who are growing up now say Spongebob and Avatar are the best shows ever.
People who grow up in 2010s will say X and Y are the best shows ever.

So, the answer is, the 90s had good shows and the 90s had bad shows. Though I always get amused when people say Nick shows live-action "tween" shows then turn around and praise the 90s shows like Clarissa Explains it All and Secret World of Alex Mack... talk about ironic.
 
Ok, but do you agree or deny that the past decade had more diversity?

Going outside the cartoon route, Nick had sitcoms, sports shows and game shows. Today, all they have for their live action department are sitcoms. Oh, and I happen to enjoy both Clarissa Explains It All & Alex Mack as well as Ned's Declassified and to a certain degree Drake & Josh.

Oh and to derail your arguement, I grew up in the 80s, but I tend to find Batman The Animated Series, Gargoyles, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Avatar to be the best action cartoons ever made. I see your point, some people do cling to certain shows on the account of growing up with them.

But just the same, some cartoons are definitely better (Gargoyles gets a yearly convention and a comic for crying outloud). Heck, my mom hasn't viewed new cartoons in age and even she is looking forward to new episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man.
 
Well, I grew up in the 70's, but I have to say it: the 90's were a darn good decade for animation. Face it, animation had gotten a little staid and contrived by the tail end of the 80's, what with all of the 30-minute toy commercials thinly disguised as shows. (Not that all 80's cartoons were bad, but one has to admit that the 80's were a very commercially driven decade, animation-wise.) The toons of the 90's were sort of a re-awakening in animation; we returned to an era where quality mattered again and art and entertainment were just as much requirements as selling toys.

The 90's gave us the birth of Fox Kids, Tiny Toon Adventures, The Tick, X-Men, Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, the "What A Cartoon!" shorts, which would in turn lead to the creation of the Cartoon-Cartoons, The Disney Afternoon, the original Nicktoons and of course Rocko's Modern Life. Good times, good times....
 
Although I did grow up in the 90's, and I do still love those cartoons on the rare occasions that I watch them, I'd have to say I've moved on to more mature cartoons Like South Park, Drawn Together, ATHF, etc. So, I actually prefer the 2000 era of cartoons to that of the 90s.
 
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