Heady days they were growing up as a kid back in the 1970’s.
Back then one of my weekly rituals took place every Saturday morning.
Clad in my flannelette pyjamas if it was winter or my cottons if it was summer, I’d be at the ready by 6am for another multi-channel Saturday morning cartoon marathon.
Going off like a purpose-built fragmentation grenade and sending fun-fuelled whackiness, hilarity and imagination growth hormone flying in every direction, this eyeball-pickling television bender would last right up until midday. A single bowl of sugary cereal would see me through the entire distance. It was quite the rollercoaster ride.
Looking back, I was raised on this flipped-out, electrifying kookiness long before children’s programming went all educational and the animal nature shows took over. This explains at least a few things. Maybe a lot of things.
So to the list.
If right now you’re thinking all I did was write down every single cartoon from back in that era I could think of, let me take a moment to correct that false notion. This list could easily have topped 100 if that was the object. Cartoons such as Charlie Brown, The Archies, Secret Squirrel, The Porky Pig Show, Loop De Loop and Atom Ant would all have made the cut, which they didn’t.
Yes sireee, getting into this top 50 was no easy task.
Before turning back the hands of time and pulling back the curtain on this collection, mention must be made of the name Hanna Barbera. A sizeable number of the entries on this list bear their name.
Hanna Barbera (named after two MGM studio animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera – both now deceased) was the pre-Pixar American animation studio that dominated television animation for three decades, beginning in 1957. These animators produced a veritable slew of hit cartoons during this time, including The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo and Whacky Races (all on the list). They deservedly won seven Academy Awards during this time and have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
This is my archive of the 50 best, most memorable cartoons from my wonder years. The list also serves as a dedication to that time and those wonderful memories.
Ready?
Let the winged camels, talking alligators, magical genies, wise-cracking woodpeckers, gun-slinging hounds and forever out-smarted park rangers fly forth.
This is gonna be fun!
40 Episodes 1966 – 1968
230 episodes 1931 – 1969 (Original series)
36 episodes 1967 – 1969
18 episodes 1967 – 1969
52 episodes 1967 – 1970
20 episodes 1967 – 1968
68 episodes 1958 – 1961
75 episodes 1962 – 1963
34 episodes 1968 – 1969
25 episodes 1969-1970 (Original series)
30 episodes 1961 – 1962
36 episodes 1967 – 1968
166 episodes 1960 – 1965
52 episodes 1962 – 1963
100 episodes 1966 – 1967
13 episodes 1973
16 episodes 1970
26 episodes 1960
13 episodes 1966
26 episodes (without bridge animation) 1970 – 1972
45 episodes 1959 – 1962
34 episodes 1969 – 1970
124 animated shorts 1964 – 1980
33 episodes 1961 – 1962
36 episodes 1967 – 1968
156 episodes 1965
34 episodes 1962 – 1963
16 episodes 1974
13 episodes 1966 (original series)
31 episodes 1964 – 1967
17 episodes 1970
52 episodes 1963 – 1966
220 episodes 1960 -1962
16 episodes 1973
16 episodes 1971
26 episodes 1960
72 episodes 1956 – 1971
13 episodes 1966
16 episodes 1972
130 episodes 1961 – 1962
40 episodes 1967 – 1969
26 episodes 1965 – 1967
60 episodes 1963 – 1965
44 colour episodes (Voiced by Hal Smith) 1967 – 1983
38 episodes 1961 – 1970
32 episodes 1961
52 episodes 1962 – 1963
163 episodes 1959 – 1964
46 episodes 1967- 1968
193 episodes 1963 – 1966
Scenic Writer's Shack 