First, watch this video — any description of it won’t really be able to do it justice.
Don’t know about you, but in the words of my colleague Jeff Labrecque, "I think I’m high from just watching this." And yet, from all I can tell, it was at the least commissioned by the children’s cable network Nickelodeon, and probably did indeed air to millions of 12-and-youngers nationwide. Which, actually, is what I love so much about this clip: Somehow, it feels like so many of the animated series I used to watch as a kid — ice kings, rainacorns, iceclopses, doot-de-doo-doo-with-a-banjo music, "he’s not my dog, he’s my friend," Abe Lincoln on Mars — mixed in with all the rules-change-every-five-seconds imagination games I’d play with my friends at recess.
Which could explain a great deal about my psyche, but, I leave it to you, PopWatchers: Has kids TV always been as psychedelic as Adventure Time? Are there some beloved shows from your childhood that, in hindsight, perhaps evoked the sensation of, you know, being high as a kite? Like, maybe, a show with the initials H and R…?
Comments (1-29) of 29
The crazy voice they gave Abraham Lincoln was the best! “Your mind has been transported back in time… and to Mars!”
One word – Smurfs. They ate the magic mushrooms.
I think my constant viewing of Pinwheel as a child goes a long way towards explaining my warped mind. That show is like an acid trip.
Wow. Welcome to the city of Awesome. Population: Us.
While I find this deeply amusing, it’s just like something a child would write. It’s a step beyond junk-food TV; it’s a drill to the brain.
I LOVE.
This could not have been on TV. It’s my ’shroom hashbowl experiences from 1992 magically extracted from memory and placed on the internet by pixies.
How about the Bugaloos, lidsville or H.R. Punstuf. Those were all trippy shows.
Algera’s Castle was cool. It had Alegra a girl wizard and her pet dragon Magellian.
I used to watch Rocko’s Modern Life on Nick when I was a kid and that was a pretty trippy show from the Pierson/Schneider (B52’s) theme song to Rocko’s best friend Heffer Wolf, who is a steer raised by a pack of wolves. Man, totally classic!
Animaniacs was also super cool (own it on DVD now) but not as trippy.
In retrospect, the entire concept beyond “Rainbow Brite” is pretty much insane. Didn’t she come from another planet or something? And does anybody remember the movie where she finds a baby hidden in some caves, and the baby gives her rainbow powers, and…well, really, that right there is enough to make me say “WHAT?”
stephanie it was allegra’s window and eureka’s castle
Spiderman.
Did anyone else notice that the dog was voiced by John Di Maggio, aka Bender on Futurama?
Thanks for the attention, Adam. “Adventure Time” is the creation of Mr Pen Ward, whose hat is also awesome and totally math.
Two words: The Buggaloos
http://ronmwangaguhunga.blogspot.com
What about The Gummi Bears? They were clearly addicted to those Gummi berries and their bouncy goodness.
OMG! I loved Pinwheel, and what was that other one with the department store? Now I have the theme song tune in my head, but I can’t remember the actual words. Also, did anyone watch the USA CartoonExpress? No one I know remembers it, and I wonder if I just envisioned it all on a good trip. So many great kids shows…Great Space Coaster, PeeWee’s Playhouse, Laugh-Olympics. The list is endless. The shows out there now for my 3-year-old don’t hold a candle to those of my childhood!
Ok, Wikipedia has all kinds of info on USA Cartoon Express! It’s actually Laff-A-Lympics. Other faves on UCE were Clue Club, Jabberjaw, Monchichis and the Roman Holidays! Good Times!
Three words….GREAT SPACE COASTER! Anyone…?
Kids cartoons have always been weird, but this one seems to be specifically of the YouTube generation. It reminds me of all the weird cartoons people send you links to, and you watch 10,000 times and memorize, and then quote endlessly with your friends (just me?) . . . like the G.I. Joe cartoons with the different dialog, or the one about the unicorns going to candy mountain, or the one about the end of the world . . . but especially the one about the unicorns. Have I mentioned I think this is awesome? I mean, Algebraic!
Anyone red the Perry Bible Fellowship comic at http://www.pfbcomic.com? I swear this was a like a live animation rendering of it…don’t be fooled by the name of the comic, by the way…and some of it is NOT WORK SAFE.
“My hat is AWESOME!”
That is one of the greatest things I’ve seen in a long time.
I think that some of the best animated shows are a little trippy, whether or not it’s meant for children. Why do you think anime is so awesome? It’s got all the trippy stuff from our childhood: robots, magical girls, warriors, weird creatures…
Someone else mentioned Pinwheel. I watched that as a child, too. Didn’t know anyone else remembered it.
Oh…My…God…that was…weird. I’m a little creeped out that they specifically pointed out a 12 year old boy was hanging out with a 28 year old. Was it supposed to be in dog years? It just sounded…bad
Anyone ever watch the Spiderman cartoons from 1967? They were produced by the same studio that made Fritz the Cat. And Scoobie Doo’s an obvious choice too, but so much has been written on it already. While some of the older cartoons had plenty of innuendo and psycodelia to go around, modern shows on AS seem to have a lot more blatant drug humor (Sealab 2021 did a “Requiem for a Dream” parody, for example). So i’d wager that the cartoons are a little “dirtier” these days, but the innuendos were there even back in the day.
And what’s with the drugs theme on Popwatch lately? First the characterization of Adult Swim watchers as pot smokers, then an article on the pot ads on tv, now a celebration of cartoons that induced munchies (instead of inducing seizures as many do now)?
Star Blazers! The Wave Motion Gun! Argument begins and ends right there.
Wow, that was wonderful. It’s definitely a lot more imaginative and amusing than most kids’ shows.
gabulldog: That show in the departement store was called Daily Special, I think. W/ith the mannequinn that came to life, right?
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