So wh
at happened to the Saturday morning Cartoon? Saturday morning cartoons started back in the 1960’s when the networks realized they could sell time to companies that would target children. Sadly during the 80’s the decline had begun due to the new run of syndication for shows such as G.I Joe, Thundercats, He-Man and the Transformers. There were other factors of course such as the rise of Cable and Disney, Nickelodeon. There was also the beggining sales of VHS and DVD and the increase use of Video games. The Saturday Morning Cartoon DIED in 2000. There were many Saturday morning cartoons the delighted the world over. Many of the shows I watched were Superfriends, Scrappy and Scooby Doo, Spiderman and Friends, Pac-Man, Dungeons and Dragons and a whole lot more.
Now as an adult I know that the saturday morning cartoon was to sell toys, but what a great way to do it. Just look at Hasbro, Kenner and Mattel. These three companies dominated the toy shelves and also created some of the greatest cartoons.
Hasbro introduced us to G.I. Joe, Transformers, and My Little Pony.
Kenner sold us on a little known movie known as Star Wars along with M.A.S.K, Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears.
Mattel took us to a world called Eternia and introduced us to HE-MAN and the Masters of the Universe, Rainbow Brite and Marvel: Secret Wars.
Now many of us remember the shows we watched, but many I had forgotten. Super Globetrotters, Shirt Tales, Monchhichis, along with ones that you could never forget such as Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Smurfs, Snorkels, Gummy Bears and Dragon’s Lair to name a few. I found a great site that tells you which year, time slot and channel some of my favorite shows were on http://www.inthe80s.com/saturdays.shtml . Now we all had a preference to what we liked, but was your favorite?
Cheers
By: Simon J.
- Constant Collectible
