Cartoons of the Yesteryears

I grew up in the days when there were no internet, no Wii, no PS, not even ASTRO. Back then the only source of entertainment was the tubebox (TV ler)... Plus back then our favourite past time was to play outside in the playgrounds or just going round the neighbourhood with our BMX bicycles. And when we're back at our grandparents' place will be playing pondok-pondok, ting-ting (a Malaysian version of hopscotch I guess), galah panjang or climbing the fruit trees. Okay, the climbing part I didn't do obviously because of my fear of heights but some of my relatives did do it. I know you did...

Wait, what was my point again? Oh okay, cartoons. Yup, the only thing that was watchable on TV for us kids back then were them cartoons. There were those that were shown during the week and some on weekends early in the mornings. I would watch these cartoons diligently, and more often than not wished that I was living their lives. Heheh, well you know how it is with kids and their imagination... *wink*

Below are some of my favourite cartoon shows:

1) JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS

If anything, this cartoon introduced me to the concept of dual personalities. The central "secret" of the series is that Jem is in fact the alter ego of Jerrica Benton, owner/manager of Starlight Music, who adopts this Jem persona with the help of Synergy, a holographic computer designed to be the ultimate visual entertainment synthesizer built by her father, who left it to her on his death.

The other Holograms are Kimber Benton, Jerrica's younger sister, keyboardist and main songwriter for the band; Aja Leith,guitarist; and Shana Elmsford, who plays the drums. Then Carmen "Raya" Alonso was introduced in the series and remains as the Holograms' drummer while Shana takes up the guitar.

The Holograms' rival band are the Misfits: petulant rich girl Pizzazz (Phyllis Gabor) and her cohorts: no-nonsense Roxy (Roxanne Pelligrini) and kind-hearted, sensitive keytar player Stormer (Mary Phillips), who are later joined by the manipulative British saxophone player, Jetta (Sheila Burns).

Why I loved Jem and her friends is because they would have all these adventures, sometimes music related but most of the time it was not. However, it was fun to watch and I absolutely love the songs that was played in the cartoon. Even the show's music intro was catchy and got stuck with me till now.

Jem...she's TRULY OUTRAGEOUS!!

2) TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

Say what? 4 turtles with ninja powers saving the world from an evil nunjitsu master under the guidance and tutelage of a master who's a rat??

Ermmm...yeah, that's what this cartoon is about. Nonetheless, I got hooked thanks to my brother who insisted on all things Ninja Turtles at the time. But come on, the turtles are cute, in a quirky kind of way. Their antics and personalities are enjoyable to watch. And the idea the creators came up with to identify each of them was ingenious; colour-coded masks? How cool is that!

Here's a low down on the main characters:

• Leonardo (Blue) — The courageous leader, decisive, and a devoted student of martial arts. He wears a blue mask and wields a pair of katanas. He is named after Leonardo da Vinci.

• Raphael (Red) — The team's bad boy, Raphael has an aggressive nature and seldom hesitates to throw the first punch. He is an intense fighter. His personality can be alternately fierce and sarcastic. Still, he is intensely loyal to his brothers and sensei. Raphael wears a red mask and wields a pair of sai. He is named after Raphael Sanzio.

• Michelangelo (Orange) — The easy-going and free-spirited Mikey provides much of the comic relief. While he loves to relax, this Turtle also has an adventurous and creative side. He wears an orange mask and wields a pair of nunchaku. He is named after Michelangelo Buonarroti.

• Donatello(Purple) — The brilliant scientist, inventor, engineer, and technological genius. He is perhaps the least violent Turtle, preferring to use his intellect to solve conflicts. He wears a purple mask and wields the bostaff. He is named after the sculptor Donatello.

• Master Splinter — The Turtles' sensei and adoptive father, Splinter is a mutant rat who learned the ways of ninjutsu from his own master.

• Shredder — A villainous ninjutsu master called Oroku Saki. In every incarnation of the TMNT franchise, he has been the archenemy of Splinter and the Turtles. He is also the leader of the Foot Clan.

3) THE SMURFS

"La la lalalala, la lala lala..."

Hehehe, anyone who haven't heard of that rhyme/song before obviously didn't grow up in the 80s. These adorable, three-apples tall creatures that lived in the smurf village, have their own smurf language, wear their own smurfinezed (is that a word??) costumes would go about their daily lives without a care of the outside normal world. Life in the Smurf world is an uncomplicated one, and they lived in their own world. Such bliss...

What amuses me about them is the fact that all of them are male except for one female smurf! There's Papa Smurf, Hefty Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Jokey Smurf, Grouchy Smurf, Dreamy Smurf, Chef Smurf, Clumsy Smurf, Baker Smurf, Greedy Smurf, Doctor Smurf, Baby Smurf and so on. And then there's Smurfette, the only female in the bunch. Well, it sure did made me wonder where all the other females were when I was younger, but now I realized that maybe Smurfette was like a queen bee who kept all the other smurfs in line and on their toes. Very intriguing idea...

Oh, and do you know that the Smurfs are Belgian? Apparently they appeared in a Belgian comic strip before they went and gone English in the Hanna-Barbara cartoon show. Well, wherever they may be from, they sure are a cute bunch in blue!


4) THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF GIGI

Again, another one of those split personalities cartoons. I think what girls like about this show is that the idea of how little girls could grow up and be a gorgeous young woman in a split second and have all these adventures. It's a little (little??) bit misleading I guess, but the idea was enchanting, well to me at least at the time when how I wish I could be a grown up.

This was a Japanese cartoon which was dubbed in english (or malay? I really can't recall). Apparently the title was only "Gigi" in other parts of the world and they also have it in French! The original title was "Minky Momo: the Magician Princess", but I do think that "The Wonderful World of Gigi" sounds way better, doesn't it?

Here's the transformation part:

More info can be found here.


And, last but not the least....

5) THUNDERCATS

As it is, I love cats. And a cartoon about cat superheroes? I'm hooked! Well, it did help that Lion-O is, uh, nice to look at, as is Cheetara, but the other characters were good too. Storyline was okay, but the part where I can't wait to watch every time is when Lion-O wields the Sword of Omens and unleashes the power of the Eye of Thundera. Sigh, it still gets to me, don't ask me why...

I know I know, me finding Lion-O cute is a bit of a stretch, but man, he really was IT for me back then. But do you know that he is actually just a boy in a man's body? Yup, when the Thundercats had to leave their dying planet Thundera and flee from their enemies who managed to destroy all of their kind save for them, they decided to head to the "Third Planet" and were suspended in suspension capsules to save energy and prevents ageing because the journey was very very long. However, Lion-O's suspension capsule failed to inhibit his ageing process and thus he reached Earth as a boy trapped in a man's body. That surely explains some of his immature actions, it's not that he refuses to grow up, but he still hasn't! Well, at least he has a valid explanation for his immaturity, couldn't say much about the actions of some of them from the opposite sex though...

Here's the intro of the show, just loved it and never fails to get my blood pumping:

Tapi kan, ada jugak bebudak kat sekolah dulu suka dok tukar2 ayat lagu ni. Pernah tak dengar...

"Cheetara lari laju,
tak pakai baju..."

Sabar je lah diorang ni, nasib baik takde Sword of Omen tu dulu, kalau idak, isk isk isk...

"Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats...Ho!!!"

Disclaimer: All the information above were taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and all the illustrations and videos are taken from the web and are not mine (obviously). They are used for entertainment and illustrative purposes only. Thank you.