The Wayback Machine!

I know animation is huge today and it has always had a big following. Computer generated animation is simply amazing!  But I would like to make the case for the cartoons of my day. I’m not talking Walt Disney nor Walter Lantz. They were both wonderful, but theirs were not the cartoons that I and most of my friends were addicted to.

I was born in 1952 and started high school in 1966. During that time we watched a lot of cartoons. It was a staple of our television diet! After school and Saturday mornings were invented just for watching cartoons on TV.

We had wonderful hosts to entertain us and to show us cartoons. Who, of my age, doesn’t remember Our Gal Sal, Sally Starr? How about Officer Joe Bolton? Officer Joe also introduced us to the Three Stooges.  Gene London, a quiet and respectful host. He also drew!  Chuck McCann, funny and silly. The Bertie the Bunyip Show! Gloria from that show taught me how to draw a house. I still use that today. Thank you Gloria and Bertie!

I got a little carried away with TV hosts. Let me bring it back to the topic at hand, cartoons of the ’50s and early ’60s. The Patron Saints of back then cartoons were Hanna-Barberra. Those names go together like Lennon-McCartney. They were just as creative, but in a different genre. William Hanna and Joseph Barberra brought joy into our young lives and made us laugh until milk came out of our nose.  (Noses? Grammar Police help me here!)

Look at this list of Hanna-Barberra cartoons. Many of them are still shown today and many of their characters and phrases have made it into our everyday culture. Are you ready for a nostalgia blast? Here goes! Huckleberry Hound, Magilla Gorilla, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Quick Draw McGraw, Ruff and Reddy, Secret Squirrel, Top Cat, and everyone’s favorite Yogi Bear!   I am sure I missed a few. They were prolific!

I loved them all, but Hanna-Barberra did not make my absolute favorite ’60s cartoon. That honor goes to Bill Scott and Jay Ward. The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show! Who can see a moose today and not automatically want to call him Bullwinkle? Sherman and Peabody! Boris and Natasha!  Ahead of their time for sure!

It’s funny that today if I have the opportunity to see a popular movie, and I find out it is animated, I will likely pass. But back when I was twelve…

If I missed any cartoons, that were favorites of yours, let me know in a message. I’d really like to hear.  And like Porky Pig (not one of my favorites) said “That’s All Folks!”.