80s Cartoons Primer: Remembering Saturday Morning
The 80s: a time when cartoons ruled Saturday morning, from 7:00 AM until well past 12:00 PM, with cartoons, 1-minute briefs, previews, imaginative station IDs & promos, and live-action narrations. Here, we'll take a look back at this great decade, and display a running list of all 80s cartoons that are available on DVD!
Need your 80s cartoon fix? Visit our constantly updated, heavily imitated 80s cartoon list! ...otherwise, check out this constantly updated list of 80s cartoon intros for old time's sake.
Remembering 80s Cartoons...
When TV was all about what kids wanted to see
Those old enough to remember it truly appreciate this great decade of television programming and the memories it gave us: from Alf Tales to the Legend of Zelda. We heard radio hits playing in the background of cartoons such as Kidd Video and Captain N: The Game Master. We were shown animated versions of popular children's books on CBS Storybreak. The kids from Dungeons and Dragons constantly tried to find their way home, while encountering the mysterious and enigmatic Dungeonmaster, and magician Presto's unpredictable hat of unlimited worthless items...Beyond Saturday Morning, we were treated to great after school programming as well: such as He-Man and its "moral of the story," Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, C.O.P.S, and more. While G.I. Joe battled the evil Cobra organization, the Silverhawks fought Mon-Starr, not to be confused with marshall Bravestarr - the man who had powers of a hawk, wolf, puma and bear...or, John Blackstar - astronaut who crash landed on a mysterious, magical planet, and uses his Star Sword to defeat the evil Overlord.
Although few, there were some rivalries amongst the series...such as Peter, Ray, Winston and Egon of the Real Ghostbusters, and Filmation's Ghostbusters, who featured two guys and...well, a butterfly net-wielding gorilla named Tracy.
Sundays were a little low-key in terms of animated programs, but we did have the unforgettable Super Sunday: featuring short segments of Robotix, Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines, Jem, and the violently fun Inhumanoids.
80s Cartoon Spin-offs and Toylines
...because cartoons and marketing go together
Robots were abound by the numbers, there were the heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons of The Transformers - the Guardians and the Renegades from the Go-Bots...then there were the Mighty Orbots - a team of 6 personable robots who combined to form one super robot...much like the super robot from Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, but none could compare with the mighty Voltron: Defender of the Universe, who protected planet Arus against the evil forces of King Zarkon and Prince Lotor. Haven't had enough robots yet? There was the rotation series Force Five - great Japanamation featuring Gaiking, Dangard Ace, Grandizer, Spaceketeers, and Starvengers...whew. Oh, and last but not least, Rick Hunter and Robotech.Back then, you couldn't have a cartoon without hocking some kind of toy line, now could you? Undoubtedly, you have owned a Transformer, GI Joe, My Little Pony, Sky Commander, Go-Bot or He-Man action figure. I guess it is true, the cartoons did a damn good job as a marketing tool!
So, hard-core fans and enlightened ones combined, these great toons have made their way into your life in some form or another. If only today's kids could be so fortunate.
Check out our other 80s cartoon-related pages:
Alf Tales on DVD
Alvin and the Chipmunks on DVD
Beetlejuice on DVD, VHS
Bionic Six on DVD
Blackstar on DVD
Bravestarr on DVD
C.O.P.S. on DVD
Captain N: The Game Master on DVD
Care Bears on DVD
Centurions on DVD, VHS
Chip N Dale's Rescue Rangers on DVD
Count Duckula on DVD
Danger Mouse on DVD
Defenders of the Earth on DVD
Dennis the Menace on DVD
Denver, the Last Dinosaur on VHS
Dino Riders on DVD
Dinosaucers on DVD
Droids: Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO on DVD
Duck Tales on DVD
Dungeons and Dragons on DVD
Ewoks on DVD
Fat Albert on DVD
Galaxy High on DVD
Galaxy Rangers on DVD
Garfield and Friends on DVD
Ghostbusters (Filmation) on DVD
Ghostbusters (The Real Ghostbusters) on DVD
G.I. Joe on DVD
Gummi Bears on DVD
Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats on DVD
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on DVD
Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling on VHS
Incredible Hulk on DVD
Inhumanoids on DVD
Inspector Gadget
Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors on DVD
Jem on DVD
Kid Super Power Hour/Hero High on DVD
Legend of Zelda on DVD
Littles on DVD
M.A.S.K. on DVD
Mighty Orbots on VHS
My Little Pony on DVD
My Pet Monster on VHS
Police Academy the Animated Series on VHS
Pound Puppies on DVD
Rainbow Brite on DVD
Rambo: Force of Freedom on DVD
Robotech on DVD
Robotix on DVD, VHS
Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs on DVD
She-Ra: Princess of Power on DVD
Silverhawks on DVD, VHS
Smurfs on DVD
Snorks on DVD
Spiral Zone on VHS
Starcom on DVD
Strawberry Shortcake on DVD
Super Mario Brothers Super Show on DVD
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on DVD
Teen Wolf on DVD
Thundercats on DVD
Transformers on DVD
Ulysses 31 on DVD
It is the 31st Century and Ulysses is a famous explorer and pilot in space but he desires to go home to Earth to his wife. He takes his son Telemachus and Telemachus's new robot gift Nono with him and takes the space-ship Odyssey with computer Shyrka and his crew. En route to Earth Telemachus is kidnapped and is taken to the Cyclops, a huge robot with one eye and is worshiped by a cult. Ulysses destroys the Cyclops and as well as rescuing Telemachus takes Numenor and Yumi, two children from the planet Zotra with them. However this enrages the ancient gods of Olympus, still existing after all this time, and in revenge, puts the crew and Numenor into a deep sleep, wipe the location of Earth from Shyrka's memory, and put the Odyssey in the universe of Olympus. The only way out is for Ulysses to find the "Kingdom Of Hades", but Ulysses, Telemachus, Yumi, Nono and Shyrka have to defend against the Trident - the forces of the gods and the dubious community of the Universe in a desperate search for finding a cure for the crew and to find the Kingdom Of Hades and find a way home to Earth. A version of the infamous Greek trials of Ulysses set in space...
Visionaries on DVD, VHS
Voltron on DVD
Vytor: The Starfire Champion on DVD
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80s Cartoons: Feedback
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SellClean
Apr 8, 2012 @ 12:20 am | delete
- Jemm was totally outrageous!
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agoofyidea
Mar 31, 2012 @ 9:16 am | delete
- This brought back some good memories.
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TriciaLymeMom
Mar 29, 2012 @ 10:45 pm | delete
- That was great...lots of fun memories. :) Linked on http://www.squidoo.com/cartoon-trivia-quizes
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themeaparty
Oct 15, 2011 @ 11:37 pm | delete
- We recently subscribed to a retro cartoon station, so I'm reliving The Smurfs, He-Man and Scooby Doo. My wife is reliving Jem! (So I wrote a lens in honor - http://www.squidoo.com/jem-and-the-holograms)
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JeanJohnson
Sep 23, 2011 @ 8:29 am | delete
- I remember watching a lot of these cartoons growing up, enjoyed your lens
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