Imagine you could wipe your memory, flashback to childhood, and watch some of your favorite childhood cartoons again for the first time.

I'm not talking about your FAVORITE cartoons, just the ones you'd want to experience again as if you never had before so you could be blown away all over again. What would they be, and why don't your list include M.A.S.K.?

Pick five.

Recently got together with a buddy and we came up with our five, on video. Mine are the best, obviously:



I forgot one, though: Dungeons and Dragons! Oh man, I loved that show. In retrospect it was pretty lame, but as a kid I thought it was EPIC, even though I hated the kid named Eric in the show. And the little barbarian kid with the club. And the unicorn.

Now that I think about it, why did I like that show?

There was something special about that Friday night before the new fall cartoon fall season began when ABC would have a special and reveal the new cartoons. Super Friends was almost always, if not always, one of the early morning shows which made me happy because our moms usually kicked our asses out of the house right after breakfast.

Am I an adult with the mind I currently have now or am I myself as a four year old (or whatever)?

I've often thought about the memory wipe thing but usually think about it for movies and books I love -- to read Dark Knight Returns or watch Shawshank Redemption again for the first time.

Another good topic for your show, along the same lines -- what do you have now that you wish you could travel back in time with to give to your younger self? As an example, if you grew up a huge Spider-Man fan but then really cooled on the character as an adult, you couldn't appreciate the Raimi Spider-Man movies like you would as a kid. So you could go back and show yourself that movie.

Stuff like that.

I was thinking in terms of being a kid again, but however works for you.

I've often thought about the memory wipe thing but usually think about it for movies and books I love -- to read Dark Knight Returns or watch Shawshank Redemption again for the first time.


I like that! I do often think about how my mind would be blown to see all these Marvel movies, for instance. No one to imagine that in anything but daydreams as a kid, and not it's reality.

Thanks for the idea, we just may do that one.

That's probably a part of why I'm forgiving of a lot of superhero movies. I legitimately like Avengers: Age of Ultron, but part of that is the fact that if I were seeing it as a 12 year old it would be the most amazing thing ever.

Being a kid... hmm. I guess my favorites then would continue to be my favorites even after a mindwipe, so I'd pick Masters of the Universe, Astro Boy, Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends.



I was dying for live-action superhero movies back then, so I'd have to show my 8-year-old self (in order, since the shared universe ones would be hard to follow) --

Spider-Man 2 (Loved Spidey and I think this is the best one overall)
Iron Man (not an Iron Man fan as a kid, but I loved Robocop, so I know I'd have loved this)
Man of Steel (I loved loved loved Superman as a kid and this is sadly the best one since that time)
Pacific Rim (I was big into Voltron and other giant robots)
The Avengers (duh)

Thundarr
Blackstar
Planet Of The Dinosaurs
Tarzan
Johnny Quest

I still don't even understand why people are hating on Age of Ultron. It can't be the same mind-blowing experience as seeing an Avengers movie for the first time, but I thought it was still a really good superhero movie. It definitely had some very cool moments --

Opening fight against Baron Strucker
Cocktail party / trying to lift Mjolnir
Hulkbuster Armor fan service
Really cool fights
Ultron isn't as good as Loki, but still decent, better than the other lame Marvel villains like Ronan, Red Skull, Malekith, etc.

What did people complain about? Other than it being too similar to the first Avengers? I saw that people bitched about Thor going topless into some mysterious pool of water, but that wasn't even five minutes of screen time.

I picked this up on DVD. It's a bit cheesy and I don't like cutesy sidekicks, but as an adult I did pick up on some darker themes, especially towards the end. The apparent relationship between Dungeon Master and Venger. DM putting these kids at risk over and over, teasing them with the possibility of going home, etc.

There is a script for the final episode that they never made: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid= ... MyOWVmODJl

Here's the ABC and CBS lineups from when I was nine years old:

I don't really understand it, either. I know there were complaints about the Black Widow/Banner stuff, the Thanos teaser at the end, Ultron's personality, and the Avengers fighting a horde of similar looking things (which seems unavoidable when coming up with a credible threat for the whole team). I think it was mostly just the sameness of it in comparison to the first film, and the degree to which that does or doesn't bother you.

Tarzan (Filmation 70's)
Speed Racer
Jonny Quest
Star Trek (the original awesome one)
Thundarr the Barbarian

I decided to leave out the classic 10 minute shorts like Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry. Those would probably crowd out all the half hour adventure shows.

I was a Herculoids kid over Thundarr, but Thundarr was pretty cool, too. That whole little universe of cartoons was probably one of the first cool shared universe concepts I remember outside of comics.

I bet they are awful today.

Bugs and crew will always be a top 5 for me, but I didn't include them because they don't seem to fit the theme. I have no first memory of the WB cartoons. Nothing to experience again for the first time since I don't recall being exposed to them. They were just always there. They were always in my life.

They hold up fantastic. They're as good now as they ever were.

Can't really say the same for most childhood stuff.

I don't remember some of that stuff at all. Hmmm. Makes me curious to see a few episodes now.

As a kid you build up these mythologies bigger than they actually are, but I remember thinking that whole D&D world had a bunch of hidden history and complexity they only hinted at - I just don't remember what it was.

Loved that show, though. Had the toys, too. Venger, the knight (Strong something? Strongheart?) and his gold dragon, a bendy carrion crawler, the big hook-handed bear creature (Owlbear?), a few others.

Herculoids
Jonny Quest
GI Joe
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Batman the Animated Series

Thundercats
Transformers
GI Joe
Silverhawks
M.A.S.K.

Going from spotty memory, those are my top 5.

I remember the week that first GI Joe miniseries aired. Every day coming home from school and rushing home to see the next installment, then talking about it the next day. The idea of "heavy water" blew my mind (and the giant tube worms), then my mind was blown later in life when I found out heavy water was real.

GI Joe was epic. The comics were, too.

I've long felt that GI Joe would make a fantastic Xcom-style strategy video game, and would also make for good Dirty Dozen-style movies.

I have the Thundarr DVD set too. They're not horrible. As an adult I can appreciate the Kirby and Toth design work. This was created by Steve Gerber, and Thomas, Conway, and Dixon also contributed scripts.

The Bionic Six

Little kid me getting the animated GI Joe and Transformers movies was the equivalent of 30-something me getting the Raimi Spider-Man, Avengers, and Nolan Batman movies now. Just insane.

I missed out on that one but the AFRTS channel did broadcast the second one with the weather controlling device. It was also super-awesome.