When you watch old cartoons, do you feel like you travel back to that era they aired?

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timaa

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When you watch old cartoons from the 80's, 90's or earlier, do you feel like you travel back in time to the time period they were airing in, especially if you were a kid when you watched them?

When I watch old cartoons I always have flashbacks to when I was a kid watching them, and as a result I feel like I'm back in the 80's or 90's when I watch cartoons from that era.

For example when I watch the original TMNT cartoon, I feel like I'm back in the late 80's or early 90's. When I watch B:TAS, I feel like I'm back in 1992. When I watch Pokemon, the early seasons, I feel like I'm back in 1998.

Does anyone else feel this way? Do you feel like you "travel back in time" so to speak, when you watch older cartoons from decades ago and does it make you feel like a kid again?

I always feel like I'm back in the decade they air in, and it brings back great memories especially if you saw these shows back in their original run.
 
Mostly with the theme songs of the show, though of course it really does feel almost like that time again. Especially if you haven't watched it in years.

I read yesterday how they just found the part of the brain that links music with memories, which is basically the same thing. Its mostly with music with me. A word of warning though if you "use" them up too much they no longer have the effect as strong anymore... :(
 
Yeah, theme songs can send me back in time as well. However, in order for the actuall show to do so, it cant be to crappy. When i watch really bad cartoons that i loved as a child (like the original Transformers), it seems that i just cant get into my brain that what i am watching is actually the very same thing i have so many fond memories of. Its like "hey, this isnt the Transformers i watched as a child. That show was GOOD!".
 
During the 90's I would watch a lot of the cartoons that I watched in the 80's. I was watching them on the old vhs tapes that we recorded ourselves. So watching the old commercials reminded me of that time period. But when I watch those same cartoons now on dvd without the old commercials, I would say no. I don't feel that way. So I would say that it was the commericals, not necessarily the show that reminded me of that period in time.
 
If the show has a noticable clear sign of age (lingo, grainy footage, hand-drawn/cells), then I'll probably feel some sort of nostalgia. It brings me back to carefree days of playing, make-believing, and not spending too much time on the computer.

However, I think I feel more nostalgia playing Video Games than watching old shows though, since some shows can withstand the test of time, while video games are dated as soon as a new generation of systems is released.
 
Back when Pokemon was cool? Back when DBZ was kicking? Back then Toonami was alive? Back when there were networks "Fox kids" and "Kids WB"? Back when arcade games was the king of wasting money? Back when B:TAS, S:TAS, Spider-man, Tiny Toons, Freakazoid, and many others?!

Well, my childhood back then in the 90's wasn't so.....Good. (Lets say that). But every time I watch those shows, I remember the good old times.
 
This is me. I used to own a VHS copy of G.I. Joe: The Movie that I recorded off the USA Network when it originally aired back in, I think, 1987. I watched it again a few years ago and was blown away by the commercials. Beautifully animated toy ads for Transformers, Visionaries, Battle Beasts, and the shameless bevy of Fruit Roll-Ups and cereal ads - even the old USA bumps they used to put during commercial breaks made me nostalgic.

In fact, I've STILL got a bunch of episodes of Dungeons & Dragons on VHS with the 1984 commercials still intact, and those are like watching the History Channel! Did you know Richard Pryor used to have a Saturday morning CHILDREN'S show? A CHILDREN'S show?! A show, you know, FOR YOUR CHILDREN! That's like letting Andrew Dice Clay host Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood!

Anyway, man, do I ever miss the 80's. Not so much the clothes and the hair... or a lot of the music, really, but... hmmm. Yeah, mostly I just miss the movies and the cartoons.
 
I always feel 10 again when I watch my Tiny Toon Adventures DVDs. It's a time when I actually remember being a fan of something (I'm told I loved Rainbow Brite as a toddler but don't remember a minute of it), to the point where I think, "Geez, was it really almost 20 years ago?!"

Really, any series I watched when I was a kid (1980s), can give me that feeling if I actively watched them, even if it was only a few random episodes. Even some that I never did (like Legend of Zelda and Dungeons & Dragons) can have a similar effect, but it's more of a nostalgia for that era than anything else.
 
I'm not sure if I feel like I'm traveling back in time when I watch the early seasons of Pokemon. I at least wouldn't put it that way. I do feel some nostalgia when I watch those early episodes since I can remember watching some of them back on the Kids' WB days. Same when I would rewatch some of episodes of B:TAS and Batman Beyond, but it's more like I just remember watching those episodes then as I watch them in the present moment. It usually doesn't last through the whole episode. Mostly during the theme song and the the beginning of the episode since I try to just focus on the moment when I'm watching TV or any of my DVDs.



I can definitely understand that. I was looking through a special edition of Nintendo Power where they cover the history of their main systems last weekend and I was having a big nostalgia trip just seeing the pictures for the systems, like the Super Nintendo, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and all of the different games I have for those systems. Man, that was so much fun to do.
 
There is nothing like growing up with great cartoons, but I must admit, I am the opposite. I actually feel better when I am watching my old favorites. Perhaps, it is because how much has changed in my life, perhaps it is something else, but even though I will always cherish my memories of growing up with great cartoons, I feel much more happy when I watch them on DVD, if I own a copy of the DVD that is, whenever I get the chance. Either way, I feel great.

Looneytunes/Disneytoons
 
I don't actually feel the way many people here do. I actually point out all of the shows flaws whenever I rewatch episodes. So no, I don't feel as though I travel back in time. I feel like the shows are out of place 10-20 years from where they should be.
 
Kind of. Recently I watched several episodes of Duck Tales and it reminded me of several random memories from when I was preschool/kindergarten age and I was obcessed with that show.
 
Absolutely. Most 1990s cartoons have a certain je ne sais quoi. I even feel fuzzy watching The Brothers Flub just because it takes me back to 1999, back when I still liked almost all of Nick's lineup.
 
When I check the 1967-70 Spider-man cartoon, I fell like I was in some groovy times, specially seasons 2-3 done by Ralph Bakshi and season 1 give me the felling of being so campy like the live-action Batman at that same era.

Also, when you checked Gerry Anderson's puppet-animated series filmed in "Supermarionation" like Fireball XL5, Captain Scarlett, Stingray and Thunderbirds. You wish sometimes to see producers having a more positive/optimistic view of the future with today's series
 
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