Anyone remember some obscure cartoons?

[Danj86]

I barely remember this one cartoon I loved, back when I was a small fry. I've been struggling to locate further information about it, to refresh my memory, but I did find the intro, which is one of the things I remember the most. Had a nice beat to it.

 

[KittyNakajima]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq2KXudEjkI

 

BananaMan I'm not sure which way around this is, BananaMan is based off a character from the Dandy comic/BananaMan is a cartoon who got put into the Dandy comics. He's still around to this day, only now he's in 'The Beano'

 

Banana man is basically a rip off of superman, only... when the kid eats a banana, he becomes bananaMan, BananaMan can fly, has super powers and saves the world from danger I guess?

 

 

Actually, I'd say he's more of a rip off of Billy Batson/Captain Marvel of Action Comics, who transforms after uttering a magic phrase.

 

Not that obscure anyway though. I remember Nickelodeon used to play the hell out of those shorts and Danger Mouse back in the day before they started making their own animated stuff. I miss those days. ;-;

Some awesome nostalgtastic shows in here!

I think the one that springs to my mind is the Mysterious Cities of Gold - I seem to remember it kinda looked anime-ish but I don't think it technically is one. Basically it's a bunch of kids running around escaping from bad guys, trying to find said cities of gold. They also have some cool stuff like a solar powered ship and a golden condor-plane hybrid type thing. I loved it as a kid but when I watch it now I feel it's kinda annoying.

I do remember the last episode scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. Someone's face melts off! *shudders*

Mysterious Cities of Gold has that anime feel/look to it because it was actually a joint venture in French/Japanese animation, headed by Jean Chapolin (a key figure at DIC Productions). It was actually called 太陽の子エステバン, Taiyō no ko Esuteban (Estaban, Child of the Sun) in Japanese.

Here's the Japanese opening and ending, as well as a few extra tidbits.

Also, this is one of those things that just seems to have gotten a revival after many years, as a second season is currently being aired in France:

This is the Japanese opening/ending

As for obscure, I can't really name anything that folks have already pointed out, but I can point out one or two things. For instance, did you guys know that David the Gnome's final episode revolves around him dying? Yes, dying. I guess this must have been something I never caught in its initial run on Nick Jr., but the whole series is basically David and his wife in the final year of their life, as gnome folklore dictates that gnomes don't live past the age of 400 yrs. Apparently they were the exception to the rule by one year, but yeah...

They turn into trees, but when I first discovered this a few years back, I was stunned to say the least. The subject of death as both the finale and a topic on a show geared for kids? Wow.

Sad, yes. But fear not! It had a sister series called the Wisdom of the Gnomes:

Apparently this series ended with the death of one of the main characters as well. Schnitzvite, or however it's spelled indeed.

Edited January 22, 2013 by KittyNakajima

[Old dead account]

I guess Sheep in the Big City counts as an obscure cartoon? I liked it but nobody else seems to remember it

There was also this Jumanji cartoon I watched, it was pretty fun.

Beetlejuice, nuff said.

There was a show on KidsWB called Da Boom Crew that lasted like 5 episodes as far as I'm aware. I saw like 5 episodes starting on its launch day and then it never aired again. Spooky.

Also, this isn't really a cartoon but Beetleborgs is pretty obscure. I liked that series so much back then, shame it never finished its run.

[Vec]

I've posted the following link on this very site many times already, but i never miss an opportunity to do it yet again. Why? Because the intro to the following cartoon embodifies everything about 1990's childrens entertainment, and that makes it a true gem in pop culture history, obscure as it may be

 

I love you for saving me the work of looking for the intro. I loved this cartoon back then

 

*ReeBoot*

This was an interesting cartoon

 

*Corneill et Bernie*

 This was a great cartoon. And it also was one that caught my father's attention and he liked it.

 

Now, this is as obscure as I can go:

 

Dinosaucers: Canadian-US origin cartoon. This was originally aired in 1986, but later I read it was reaired during the 90s. That's when I saw it. Seeing it today it's too kiddy and sometimes cheesy...but well, I liked it .

The plot...well, I'll try...There were 2 factions of alien dinosaurs that landed on Earth: The Dinosaucers and the Tyrannos. The Dinosaucers had an especial ability called Dinovolve that allowed them to take they original dinosaur form without losing their intelligence, some episodes revolved around the bad guys trying to get the secret behind Dinovolving (The rest were all silly plots. Remember this was aimed for kids originally). Oh, also the Dinosaucers had 4 human allies that were called The Secret Scouts, who had special rings that gave them special abilities (Each one had a different ability). How they got them I think it was never explained . This cartoon has 65 episodes

 

 

T-Rex:This one was both a japanese-US origin cartoon according to wikipedia (Hence why in YT the 1st episode is aviable in JP). This was a cartoon about 5 brothers (Boxy, Bubba, Bock, Bernie and Bruno) that run a night club called Dragon Club, but they also are a group of heroes called T-Rex. Each one of them had a strengh in a specific part of their bodies (Mind, tail, jaws, legs and arms). This was one of my favorites too :3. This cartoon only had 52 episodes.

 

 

There's quite the dino cartoons in my childhood now that I notice

[Conando]

*Goes back a page* Oh yes, Freakazoid. Amazing show, and Soniko is right about it coming from the people who brought us Animaniacs but, also Bruce Timm and Paul Dini of Batman: The Animated series fame! It's a shame so many great shows fell into obscurity due to not finding an audience but, they were a fun ride while they lasted.

[Phos]

I don't know if this counts as obscure or not... but it's hard for me to find the full series on YouTube:

 

Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAaDupyl0t8

 

I absolutely loved this show, it suited me down to a T given I actually got most of the humour in it. Watching it back though, I'm noticing a ton more references (I recall seeing one episode which had "All Your Base are Belong to Us" written on one of the school lockers)

 

loads of people seem to bash this show too, but it seems to tick all of my boxes, especially the humour.

At first the robot's voices were all done by Macintalk, but for whatever reason Cartoon Network replaced it all with an actor who also didn't sound anything like the actual voice synthesizer.  Now there's only one episode with the original voice cast in the public's hands.  Funny thing about it, because Macintalk is something you could still use with an old Mac, it might be possible to recreate the original versions.

 

All of the marketing for Marlon Waynes' A Haunted House suddenly made me remember Waynehead out of the blue last night, as in, I got out of bed and looked it up online just to at least remember the aesthetics of the thing:

I never really watched this show, but I kinda enjoy the wild Warner Bros. televised animation style it's got going on.

I always wondered what the deal with his foot was, a quick Wikipedia search revealed it to be a prosthetic for a club foot.

 

Ok, now a bit even older, how about the Herculoids?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NdcNw4gOFU

I don't know if I should describe this as a cartoon or a fever dream, either way it's certainly quite the assault on your senses.  Basically it seems to be The Swiss Family Robinson in space.  

[Applejack1973]

I was six year old there back in 1979.

 

 

My Little Pony glass princess.

 

[JonoD]

At first the robot's voices were all done by Macintalk, but for whatever reason Cartoon Network replaced it all with an actor who also didn't sound anything like the actual voice synthesizer.  Now there's only one episode with the original voice cast in the public's hands.  Funny thing about it, because Macintalk is something you could still use with an old Mac, it might be possible to recreate the original versions.

 

Well, Cartoon Network looks to have done their routine cull of Youtube, so now the show is definitely more obscure =P

 

As for the original voice, I've heard a couple of episodes which have it and honestly, I prefer the new voice they gave robot. It made sense to me given that the robot family got progressively more advanced the 'newer' they got. So... Gramps, Mom and Dad using text-to-speech (and their designs getting gradually more advanced the 'younger' they were) and then Robot being the most advanced of the lot, thus it making sense that the voice would also become more advanced. Allowed for better characterisation as well. Was also nice to have Robot sound like an actual child too.

[iDEATH]

Aw that's wonderful, never seen that before, I love the Moomins, Snufkin's hands down one of my favourite characters of all time. I was first introduced to them through this  show,

 

 

Such a great series.

 

Anyone remember these?

The mighty Ducks

 

The Hurricanes

Edited January 22, 2013 by Jake Bird

[Lady Soniko]

 

Apparently Season 2 of Street Sharks had a completely different theme song, but had the same intro footage as season one from Episodes 1 & 2.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Black☆Rock Shooter

[Jango]

Oh wow, I was going to mention Oggy and the Cockroaches, but CN is airing it again every morning, I think are all new episodes.

[Rexeljet]

There used to be this show that aired on Cartoon Network during the early 2000's called ¡Mucha Lucha! I remember it being one of the first ever flash cartoon series and while I thought it wasn't that bad when I was younger, the show currently airs on Kix!, and after rewatching some episodes, I can safely say it's one of the most hilariously bad cartoons I've ever seen:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hs70S79pr4

 

 

There's also this old CBBC show called Frankenstein's Cat which I used to sometimes watch a few years back, but it never comes on anymore, despite the fact the far worse shows from around the same time (like Eliot Kid) are allowed to stay for some reason.

 

 

 

Though I'm a bit too young to remember it on TV, I also have a few tapes and DVDs of a show called Dogtanian and the three Muskehounds (Incredibly Lame Pun) that I always thought was pretty awesome. I've seen the DVD boxset of the whole series and I'm still wondering whether I should get it or not (Then again, I saw it in HMV, so I'm probably not going to have much luck outside of the internet)

[iDEATH]

 

 

also, it's not a cartoon but does anyone remember Terror Towers? I loved this show so much as a kid.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Jake Bird

[Vec]

Does these count as obscure cartoons? I ask since they were mostly shorts

 

The Trap Door

 

 

Mr. Go

 

 

EDIT: Why the heck they appear as links?

Edited January 24, 2013 by Polar Vec

[Guest]

 

My grandparents got me this on video as I loved older cartoons like Looney Toons, Tom and Jerry and Casper.

There used to be better quality videos of it on Youtube, unless they were removed.

 

Here's a random episode though:

 

 

 

Here's another one that was on a 'childrens favourites' video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqox6k7s65s

[abumalek]

Hi all, I've read this topic...hilarious!!! 

this is my mystery request. 

For five years now, me and my bro kept searching the net for this old cartoon we used to watch when we were kids. 
I believe the cartoon is of east European origin made in the late 80's probably, maybe Russian?, Romanian?, Polish ? I really don't know, but what I know is I wasted hours, days, weeks, months, years trying to find at least the name of this animated cartoon, but I failed. 

There were 2 main characters in the cartoon, a blue furry creature and an old long white bearded man who lived in the desert, in a cave like place. 
This cartoon didn't make much sense, the blue creature used to pull out stuff from inside his belly, and did some rude gestures to the viewer making noises like (balak balak balak), in one of the episodes the desert gets flooded, it was totally RANDOM and POINTLESS but it was funny as hell. There were no conversations in this cartoon. 

So yesterday I've finally decided to make a sketch of what I remember from it, with my friends' help. 
Please, if you recognize this cartoon or have any information about it or its creators, please let me know because I am reeeaaaally reeeaaally tired of searching for it.

I made a sketch , here it is !!!

Edited January 29, 2013 by abumalek

[Teoskaven]

Obscure? How about The New Adventures of Ocean Girl? It was a fantasy/sci-fi cartoon inspired by the Ocean Girl series. It was quite interesting, and i remember watching it after Digimon and Monster Rancher as a kid; good times.

[JonoD]

All this reminds me of another show which really deserves some attention, I like to think of it as Thomas the Tank Engine's younger, but much more mature brother. This is a little show called TUGS:

 

 

It was a brilliantly written show with some even better music (written by Thomas composers Mike 'O Donnel and Junior Campbell) and even better characters. Every character has their own distinct personality which is likeable in their own respect and recurring villains which are brilliant in their own right too.

 

The style is identical to that seen in Thomas, the use of scaled down models and animatronics. The main difference that separates this series from Thomas is that it has a lot more drama, and IMO a lot more atmosphere. The whole series is on Youtube, go check it out! (The models have also recently been acquired by a new charity who is looking to restore the models for exhibition too)

[Spin Attaxx]

Say, I'm trying to find this cartoon I remember seeing on a compilation tape years back (if it helps, it had Funnybones, The Animals of Farthing Wood, William's Wish Wellingtons and I think Spider on it). It had this caveman in it and I believe that it was animated like Postman Pat and Fireman Sam. All I remember about the episode I saw was that it had a small dinosaur getting frozen alive.

 

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Edited February 4, 2013 by Spin Attaxx

[iDEATH]

Say, I'm trying to find this cartoon I remember seeing on a compilation tape years back (if it helps, it had Funnybones, The Animals of Farthing Wood, William's Wish Wellingtons and I think Spider on it). It had this caveman in it and I believe that it was animated like Postman Pat and Fireman Sam. All I remember about the episode I saw was that it had a small dinosaur getting frozen alive.

 

Any help on this would be appreciated.

 

Gogs?

[Spin Attaxx]

Gogs?

 

No, I don't think it was that. IIRC there was just one caveman, not several.

Edited February 5, 2013 by Spin Attaxx

[Kikison]

No, I don't think it was that. IIRC there was just one caveman, not several.

Would it have been Promethius and Bob? It was on the Kablam series as a sketch. No links but i watched it recently, easily found on google/youtube. Hope I nailed it on the head for you...

No, I don't think it was that. IIRC there was just one caveman, not several.

http://watchseries.cc/serie/prometheus_and_bob

 

http://www.ovguide.com/tv/prometheus_and_bob.htm

 

both links will bring you to all 4 seasons

[Chaos Warp]

All this reminds me of another show which really deserves some attention, I like to think of it as Thomas the Tank Engine's younger, but much more mature brother. This is a little show called TUGS:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMUyc7KZm8Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEpr6WBfSdY

 

It was a brilliantly written show with some even better music (written by Thomas composers Mike 'O Donnel and Junior Campbell) and even better characters. Every character has their own distinct personality which is likeable in their own respect and recurring villains which are brilliant in their own right too.

 

The style is identical to that seen in Thomas, the use of scaled down models and animatronics. The main difference that separates this series from Thomas is that it has a lot more drama, and IMO a lot more atmosphere. The whole series is on Youtube, go check it out! (The models have also recently been acquired by a new charity who is looking to restore the models for exhibition too)

Damn I never thought someone would bring this shit up. Damn...............

 

I never watched the show myself, but I had a book adaptation of that very episode. That was my only experience with the franchise, but I did love that book. Watching it now I can definitely see the Thomas style in the music, and some of the synth instruments sound exactly the same as well. 

 

I also think certain Thomas episodes were as dramatic and atmospheric as that but that's off topic so eh. 

[Spin Attaxx]

Would it have been Promethius and Bob? It was on the Kablam series as a sketch. No links but i watched it recently, easily found on google/youtube. Hope I nailed it on the head for you...

http://watchseries.cc/serie/prometheus_and_bob

 

http://www.ovguide.com/tv/prometheus_and_bob.htm

 

both links will bring you to all 4 seasons

Nope it's not that.

 

I've since found out (thanks to VEDJ-F) that it's actually Hairy Jeremy.

 

Here's the episode I was talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdo7vxs81Hk

[Vertekins]

"Oooh! A Fwaggle! Huhduh! Look ma! I caught a Fwaggle!"

 

Anyone remember animated Fraggle Rock?

 

 

I remember getting a whole load of VHS Fraggle Rock episodes back in the very early 90's as one of my christmas presents. Good memories