So again, this is my list of the top 100 (well really 105 of all time.) Only one guy's opinion, but I thought I'd put this out there. Again, the rules...must be TV and TV only. No Disney, sorry Mickey fans. and well, if you need the see the entire list of rules, check the original post in archives.
enjoy!
40 Speedy Gonzalez The fastest Mouse in all meh-he-co. This was a favorite of mine, even though looking back he was just a pointed poke at the Mexican culture, embodying EVERY stereotype that Americans own towards Mexicans. His speed was the key to him staying alive over Sly, when the cat would make a run to the border. The creators of this cartoon obviously saw their mistakes with Tom and Jerry and decided to give Speedy a realistic ticket for capture avoidance. I wonder what his 40 yard dash time would be?
39 The Peanuts Crew This excludes Snoopy and Charlie Brown, as they are separate. This crew including Linus, Woodstock, Lucy, Sally, the teacher, Pigpen, etc first starred as a comic strip, but really took off in the show. Whether it was Charlie Brown chasing the Little Redheaded girl, or playing/losing baseball or forgetting to feed Snoopy, this crew was a great support system for main characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown. I loved the Christmas Special and the search for the Great Pumpkin, these guys, in addition to Calvin and Hobbs, really helped me wake up every morning, because I was excited to read the comic strips. The Peanuts crew though successfully made the transition from strip to show. And these characters helped the cause.
38 The Smurfs Again, this excludes Papa Smurf. These guys are all very similar, except for Daisy Smurffet or whatever. The question I have is, was there only one female smurf? How did they populate? Did she get around all that much? That would also lead to inbreeding as well. Just scary. I just want to know if there were OTHER female smurfs? Was prom night lonely for 99.87% of the Smurfs? Here is a trivia question for you….how tall were the smurfs? Three apples high. They never went in to which kind of apples or if they WERE three high, why did they look so small? Was Gargamel a giant?
37 SpongeBob Squarepants This guy was a little after my time, BUT that said, he certainly took the cartoon world by storm, sort of carrying it from one dull time into a new age where cartoons are still being improved with CGI and whatnot. Maybe the last great cartoon character ever, since now, shows like Jimmy Neutron or being created with computers. Sponge Bob Squarepants may be the Will Ferrell of cartoons, the last great one, before a long dry spell (what SNL is going through right now) before we have another great cartoon. This guy lived under the sea and worked at a fastfood place. Nice. Is he gay? Who knows, but he certainly entertained a bunch of kids now didn’t he!
36 Care Bears They will protect you with their care bear stare. The only thing I didn’t like was that some care bears were Lions, I think. They really hit a goldmine with the plush toys they released with these guys. I think the commercials were better than the old shows. But I didn’t have a care bear, I had the Pound puppy, which also had a show, but it wasn’t as successful as the Care Bear show. And PS, I am throwing this on the list, ONLY so I don’t have to include My Little Pony and Rainbow Brite or whatever that chick was that wore a strawberry hat.
35 Might Mouse – A Superhero Mouse. He could fly and lift things that normal HUMANS couldn’t lift. Now the question is….was he on steroids or MGH? Mouse Growth Hormones? Don’t know. Maybe we NEVER will.
34 Transformers more than meets the eye! They were cars that could transform into robots to fight evil, or if they were evil, to make evil. I had the truck and how cool is the name Optimus Prime? Pretty sweet if you ask me. Now if only they hadn’t cast Shia LaBoof to be in the live action movie. Oh well. (What do I have against Shia or however you spell his name? Well he was forced on us after Holes and somehow he sneaked his way into the new Indiana Jones movies after appearing in Disturbia. Just not a fan of his. Sorry. And with a last name of LaBoof, or whatever, is that French for the butt plug?)
33 Thundercats- thunder. Thunder. THUNDERCATS! These guys rocked out. I had the thundercat action figures. I had the belt and the sword. I think I was even a thundercat for Halloween once. That is pretty big. ONE out of a realistic nine chances to go trick-or-treating (where you get to choose I mean. When you are one two and three, the parents are choosing the outfits. From 4-12 YOU Get to choose. If after 12 you are still going OUT trick or treating, the neighbors should give you apples with razorblades in them. COME ON!)
32 He-Man By the power of Grayskull! This guy was AWESOME. I had ALL of the action figures, even the “New He-Man” toys. And I had Grayskull castle. Epic Battles were waged on my shag carpet as a kid, with He-Man always winning. He-Man (and then of course She-ra had to come out) was just a bad-arse. He was ripped and fought with a sword, kind of a William Wallace, only he doesn’t get gutted at the end. Plus he was played by Ivan Drago in the movie! Gotta like that!
31 Simon The brains of the group, he was always dorky, but they a bassist usually is. He knows he will get none of the girls, and anyone who is ANYONE won’t play the bass, they will want the glory of the lead singer or the drummer for the drum solo. When was the last time a bass solo took place? Yeah, didn’t think so. The other two stuck the odd ball at bass and told him to be happy.
30 Theodore The real backbone of the band. He played the drums, and without this guy, the band would have been off. Ask The Wonders. You need a good drummer. He is the Lars of the group. You get your drummer locked in (kind of like a left tackle in football) and it doesn’t matter the lead singer or bassist. Those guys can be replaced. Try replacing a drummer on a regular basis. It is hard. Ask Spinal Tapp. You see Def Leopard stuck with its drummer EVEN THOUGH HE ONLY HAD ONE ARM. That is how key the drummer is. That is how key Theodore is. Even if he is a little fat.
29 Alvin The lead singer was WAY too self-absorbed. With the A on his shirt, sometimes you need to play for the group and not for yourself. I think Theodore was the real backbone of the group, but Alvin was the sexy eye candy, and a lot of groups need some one to take the attention away so they can work. Alvin most of the time seemed capable of absorbing most of the press, so the other two could work. I am just surprised, after seeing the results of Oasis how the three chipmunks were able to stick together as family. I am just surprised we never saw them on a THS. I also think the 3 chipmunks were the inspiration for Hanson. That said, I am just surprised that Alvin never gave more credit to his brothers. Throw them a bone. Because after all, the brothers could have mutinied and David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagared him, but they never did. Good for them. They took the high road. But Alvin WAS talented I will give him that. For a cartoon chipmunk.
28 Pepe La Pew While I loved this skunk, HOW MANY TIMES is he going to fall for the cat that SOMEHOW again got a white stripe painted down her back? But he is a hopeless romantic, like me. He just wants to believe in love and he wants his love to reciprocate his feelings. (The only thing I wonder is, don’t skunks know other skunks? Don’t they smell them or something? Maybe go and check the stink shooter, just to make sure?)
27 Yogi the Bear From his hat to his tie to his unquenchable appetite for pic-a-nic baskets, this bear was one of the best ever. Always clever in acquiring the baskets you always knew he would win. The only thing I was ever scared of was if he accidentally sneaked up on the wrong tent and they shot him. Also, how come no one ever used the bear-proof traps at Jellystone Park? His voice was great to imitate and I would like to think he was based of Yogi Berra, the great baseball player. But one negative against him…his “cave” at Paramounts’ King’s Dominion in Richmond was a little disappointing. I needed more voice, instead of just a walk through. Maybe give me a ride or something, not just a cave. Oh well.
26 Tigger! The bouncing tiger. You couldn’t HELP by be in a good mood when this guy came around. This tiger wasn’t scary at all, but I bet if you put him in a zoo with a low wall and had a bunch of stone kids mock him, I bet he’d bounce over the wall and chew those kids’ faces off. THEY DESERVED IT! Respect the animals! Did the Sigfreid and Roy incident teach us NOTHING?
25 Doug Funnie I loved the theme song, the sweater vest, the khaki shorts, the hairdo, pretty much everything about this show. I though that sometimes it was a little too reliant on other shows-doogie howser for the journal entries, Inspector Gadget for Brain-spinoff-but overall a VERY entertaining show. Doug was about the same age as me when he came out, so I feel like I sort of grew up WITH Doug. We went through the same things. Kind of faux brothers if you will. I did NOT like it though when it went from Nick to NBC and they added a little brother. Just not the same.
24 Shaggy The dope who wasn’t interested in solving crimes just eating. A question I had was, how did he get hooked up with the rest of the crew? I am assuming it was his van, and the rest of the gang just needed a mode of transportation, but then are you telling me Fred, in his sailor outfit didn’t come from a wealthy backround? Was Fred off at college while Shaggy was a dropout-townie sort that just had a van, a dog, and a serious drug problem? Was the rest of the rest of the gang just using Shaggy? I get the feeling that Shaggy, who was petrified of ghosts and bad guys was roped into doing this because he was stoned and maybe signed some sort of contract, or perhaps Fred was his white collar dealer and just made him repay him by working it off. Regardless, his lope is world famous and his voice was done by Casey Casum. I always wondered who would win in an eat off among Kobayashi, Shaggy Dagwood, and Joey Chestnut. If the contestants are allowed to be stoned, I saw Shaggy, but mary jane MAY be consider performance enhancing in this situation.
23 Rocky aka Rocket J Squirrel. This flying squirrel had two different voices, which I always had a problem with, but what are you going to do. I also didn’t like Rocky’s attitude towards the end, when I think he thought he was better than Bullwinkle, which ISN’T TRUE. Rocky Needed Bullwinkle, whereas I don’t think the Moose necessarily needed the Squirrel. And can we clear up this whole “Flying Squirrel” misnomer. He could glide, not so much fly. I never show Rocky take off from the ground, more glide from a high place. So he gets docked points/spots for LYING.
22 Foghorn Leghorn and chickenhawk. Whatinthe, I say Whatinthe.? This big chicken was pretty sweet. He was a true “Cock of the Walk” if you ask me. His attitude was not a turnoff in this situation. Normally I have a problem with people thinking they are bigger than they are, but not in this case. He was a rooster, and he owned the place. AND HE KNEW IT. BECAUSE HE DID OWN IT. I call this confidence, not arrogance.
21 Porky Pig- In my opinion THE most overrated cartoon character of ALL TIME. This guy’s only deal was he said “THAT’S ALL FOLKS!” Ask SNL folks about whether that is a good gig. If you only show up for the “good nights” then your career isn’t so hot. And he stuttered. I am not a huge fan of making fun of mocking those with speech impediments. That was his thing. Stuttering and the closing of the show. VERY OVERRATED!
So there we have Nos. 40-21. Coming up Friday, the conclusion and then you can rip my list to shreds. Thanks!
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