Some cartoons from the ’90s will never be forgotten, from SpongeBob SquarePants skyrocketing to fame in 1999 to Disney’s memorable One Saturday Morning block full of Recess and Doug, and no millennial can forget Cartoon Network hits like The Powerpuff Girls and Ed, Edd n Eddy.
However, some cartoons only lasted a few mere seasons, got overshadowed by their competitors, or slipped through the cracks entirely. From some questionable animal characters to not-so-typical teenage girls to a little boy in a big laboratory, some cartoons of the ’90s aren’t as memorable as others. Audiences who are in the mood for some nostalgia have no shortage of forgotten ’90s cartoons to choose from, which will transport viewers right back to their childhoods.
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‘The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show’ (1995)
One of the most defining cartoons of the 1990s was The Ren & Stimpy Show, which captivated audiences with its gross-out humor, unique art style, contrasting characters, and ability to balance comedy and madness in equal measure. Other networks were eager to try and duplicate its success, which eventually led to Disney greenlighting The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show. Each episode was divided into three segments: the adventures of the titular cat and dog duo, a superhero possum who defends Possom City with his raccoon sidekick, and a cowboy trying to bring the Wrong Riders to justice.
The show only lasted 13 episodes, and it’s not hard to see why. The titular duo are nowhere near as iconic as Ren and Stimpy, and due to the show’s more limited budget, it can’t go all-out with the disturbing visuals like Nickelodeon’s show. It also doesn’t help that Shnookums (Jason Marsden) and Meat (Frank Welker) were outclassed by the other cartoon segments, especially the cowboy Tex Tinstar (Jeff Bennett), whose adventures have a lot of nods to The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show.
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‘Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series’ (1996–1997)
The idea of creating animated shows based on popular movies has resulted in a wide array of products, some good, most bad. One of the weirdest examples has to be Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series, based on Disney’s hit movie franchise about an underdog hockey team. Only, in the show, the ducks are actually aliens from another dimension who have come to Earth to stop the evil Dragaunus (Tim Curry), and their culture just so happens to revolve around hockey.
The show can best be compared to the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, especially with the team composed of familiar archetypes like the serious leader, the wisecracking funny man, and the tech genius who can build and hack anything. And yet it’s hard not to fall in love with the show, namely because it plays things completely seriously despite its insane premise. Plus, you have powerhouse actors like Tim Curry, Tony Jay, and Clancy Brown as the villains, so that alone is worth checking out the show.
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‘Quack Pack’ (1996)
Two of the most popular Disney cartoons of the decade were DuckTales and Goof Troop, both of which received theatrical films that are underrated gems. Naturally, Disney got the idea to combine both ideas, resulting in Quack Pack, which sees Donald Duck’s (Tony Anselmo) three nephews, Huey (Jeannie Elias), Dewey (Pamela Adlon), and Louie (E. G. Daily), as teenagers. It didn’t take off with fans, namely because of its disconnection from the lore established by Carl Barks, and a greater emphasis on 1990s lingo and slapstick comedy.
Quack Pack isn’t the worst animated project to come out of the '90s, but it’s also far from the best. The stories are entertaining enough thanks to how wacky the comedy can get, and both Donald and Daisy (Kath Soucie) are well-characterized and as entertaining as ever. It’s really the boys’ new personalities and the lack of other anthropomorphic characters that weigh it down, both of which were, thankfully, fixed in the 2017 reboot of DuckTales, which even pokes fun at Quack Pack in one episode.
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‘Bonkers’ (1993–1994)
Following the success of‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’,Disney decided to capitalize onthe ideaof cartoon characters coexisting with humans.This ledto an original castof characters where Bonkers D.Bobcat(‘Jim Cummings’) shares Roger’s originsas a cartoon starin hard times.After he savesDonald Duck’s life,Bonkers becomesa police officerand partnerswithby-the-book Detective Lucky Piquel(‘Jim Cummings’).
The show was certainly oneofthe<wacky cartoons ofthe1990s.The ideaofacartoon cop teamingupwithahuman isahardconcepttoexecute whenallthecharactersareanimated,‘though theshow still triesitsbestwith slapstickandsurrealist humor.’
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‘Histeria!’ (1998–2000)
The early ’90s sawTiny Toon Adventures air on The Kids WB,and its breakout success ledto many other hilarious animated sketch comedies.Near endof decade,the FCC began enforcing aquotaof informativeandeducational children’s programming.This resultedinHisteria!,a sketch comedythat sawitscharacterstravel across timeand space topoke funat famousmomentsand peoplefrom history.
‘Histeria!’s run sadly endedearlyon accountof theshow somehowgoing$10 millionover budget,but itstillgave us over50 episodesof entertainment.The bestpartof theshow hastobethe songsby‘Richard Stone’,whichmanage to becatchyearworms that ensureyou’llremember their contents.Alongside caricatures offamous people,the showhad someentertaining originalcharacters,such as irritable Father Time(‘Frank Welker’)and aptly named tour guide Miss Information(‘Laraine Newman’)and diverse children’s choir.
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‘Mike,Luo&Og'(1999–2001)
The Cartoon Cartoons areamongthe mostbelovedandwell rememberedcartoonsfromthe1990sandearly2000s.With strongentrieslike‘CourageThe CowardlyDog’,and‘Dexter’sLaboratory’.Mostofthemwerecharacterizedthanks totheirinventiveconceptsandzanyhumor,butoneoftheearliest,‘Mike,Luo&Og’,brokethemoldbybeingcomparativelysimpler.ItfollowsayounggirlnamedMike whotravelstoaremoteislandaspartofa foreignexchangeprogramwhere shebefriends two siblings:‘Lu,a would-be princess’,and‘Og,a quiet genius.’
The showcarvedoutanidentityforitselfbytellingmoregroundedstoriesthatfocusedondifferentculturesandwhatcanbe learnedfromthemthoughadmittedlynotalltheislandstereotypeshaveagedwell.Italsohasaverybeautifulartstylewithrichlycoloredbackgroundsthathelpsellthetropicalisland aesthetic.Sadly,itcouldn’tcompete withmoresuccessfulshowsandhas sincebecomeoneof‘CartoonNetwork’smostforgottenprograms.’
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‘SWATKats:TheRadicalSquadron'(93–95)
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RazorandT-Bonefrom’SWATKats:TheRadicalSquadron’.ImageviaDisney.
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Whilethe’90shad amultitudeofactioncartoonsfeaturingawidevarietyofsuperheroteamsandpopcultureicons ,oneofthe fewactioncartoonsofthe erabasedonoriginalcharacterswas‘SWATKats:TheRadicalSquadron.’The‘action-packed90sseries’followedpartnersRazorandT-Bone,two viciousandcapablefelineswhousedtoworkfortheparamilitarylawenforcementagencyforMegakatCity,a cityfilledwithcatsofalltypesandsizes.However,theduostillhasabone topickwithallthevillainsterrorizingtheircity,sotheydonthe mantleofSWATKats todefendthecityaswellaskeeptheiridentitiessecret.
Whiletheshow’srunwasshort-livedbecauseproducersdisapprovedofexcessandcartoonactionandviolenceduringatumultoustimeinAmericanculture,‘itsahead-of-itstimeapproachtoactionandstorytellinghashelpedSWATKatsamassacultfollowingovertheyears.’Theflashyandcolorfulanimationstylehasstayedgraciouslyoverthe30years sinceitsinitialrelease ,withfewanimatedseries,’90s orotherwise ,beingabletocapturethesamehigh-adrenalineenergyofthe show.
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‘Freakazoid!’ (95–97)
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Freakazoid talkingonarecordingdevicewhileonasandybeachin’Freakazoid!’.ImageviaDisney.
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