What series did the most for animation as a buisness in the past 30 years?

I

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So, since around 1978 what cartoon did the most for the buisness as a platform and helped cartoons in general become something special, and why?

My pick would be He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. It's in my top 10 faverite but thats not why I chose it. I chose it because at the time there was not a lot of action cartoons, a few here and there but not on this level. He-Man spawned a massive merchendising campaign with clothes, action figures, video games, spin off cartoons, party favors, party ware, inflatable boppy toys, records recorded for listening use, comics and other stuff. The success of this show brought ratings to other shows within it's station of which it aired and made future cartoons possible.

In an age of Scooby Do, smurfs and Alvin & the chipmunks, He-Man blew the doors off the hinges and sparked a generation.
 
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe didn't spawn most of that merchandise. Alot of the toys, comics, and other random stuff were based on the Action Figures, which were around in 1982, a year before the cartoon started.

Although it WAS one of the first cartoons based directly on a toyline, and I believe it WAS the first to go directly into syndication, skipping network runs entirely.
 
The Simpsons, Tiny Toons, and Ren and Stimpy had equal impact pretty much in terms of the trend in upward quality in modern animation.

Pokemon could be blamed singlehandedly for the trend in downward quality, at least as far as network television is concerned.
 
I always thought TMNT spawned more merchandise (and thus, was more successful and helped raise the popularity of cartoons) But whichever series it was, I would say that one.
 
TMNT's had more movies, a toon relaunch that's 5-years-and-counting, and it's still being produced for mass retail. But He-Man was the first big merchandise-driven show. The Filmation show highlighted the economic problems in producing tv animation in the US- the end result lookied far cheaper than it cost. And then there's He-Man's next adventure: Bypassing the mass market entirely and being sold exclusively online.
 
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