Unlike many children of the 1980s, I didn’t really watch cartoons.
And that’s just because I didn’t really watch TV at all.
My family did have a TV, but it was used only rarely; an occasional football game, the Olympics, or a VHS rental during a sleepover.
(I did watch the launch of the Challenger space shuttle, so we must have had it on for newsy events sometimes.)
I know I saw cartoons at some point, because I know I thought that Looney Tunes was hilarious (Daffy Duck in particular).
But maybe the only time I saw cartoons was when we were on vacation, because I never remember watching them at home.
I suppose that you could look at my mostly TV-less childhood with pity, but honestly, I think that would be unwarranted. I remember my childhood years fondly and I don’t ever remember sitting around bored, wishing for cartoon viewing.
And as an adult looking back, I definitely do not feel like my childhood years would have been richer with more TV.
Hmm. I digressed a bit from the actual prompt!
What was your favorite cartoon?
P.S. Just to be clear, I am not denigrating TV in general, or cartoons. I’m just saying that my low-TV-exposure childhood was not a tragedy. 🙂
It’s funny, as a kid, and now as well, I much prefer TV shows with real people but can think of several cartoons I liked! From what I immediately remember, I loved Rugrats, Arthur, The Raccoons, Recess and Madeline 🙂
I laughed when I started to read your answer just because I interpreted the question totally differently. I was thinking ‘print’ cartoons and immediately thought Garfield! I thought you’d say Peanuts since I’ve seen your decal on your laptop (and actually ordered one for a friend after seeing yours.) These are definitely interesting prompts.
Oh! You’re right…maybe I took it the wrong way.
(Is there a wrong way with prompts??)
If we are talking print cartoons (which I faithfully read in our daily local paper), then yes, I would say that the Peanuts was my favorite strip.
I THINK comics are printed and cartoons are animated. I guess my favorite cartoons may have been Loony Tunes, or maybe… I don’t know. There were so many I really liked!
Actually, a cartoon can be either and a comic can also be a stand-up comedian! 😉 These “prompts” are great just because of their ambiguity.
I’ve thought about how English teachers give their students all the same prompt or directions for writing an assignment, and they must get a wide variety of responses from their students. It’s so interesting to see how different people run with an identical prompt.
Print cartoon: Garfield. TV cartoon: Smurfs. I think. It’s the only one I remember, anyway.
I am a bit older than a child of the 80’s. I have children who were watching them in the 80’s and their favorites were He-Man, Master of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Smurfs, etc.
My favorites growing up were Top Cat, Yogi Bear, etc.
I’m like Nancy, a child of the late 60s early 70s in England so I had very little TV available to watch! The test card was on for most of the day and I occasionally got to watch Play School (a presenter led programme) if I was unwell and at home! No cartoon memories for me I’m afraid.
Interestingly I sent my two sons to a Steiner Waldorf School which discourages TV watching in the young so they have few TV memories as well!
Like you Kristen I don’t ever remember feeling the need for TV!
Comic Strip / Cartoon: Well that was easily Peanuts. Even as a kid I had a thing for the older books from the 50s and 60s. It’s not that Peanuts was stale in the 90s but Schulz was nowhere near as great as he once was.
For an animated cartoon it would have to either be old Disney cartoons (particularly the Silly Symphonies) or the Charlie Brown specials.
Once when my siblings and I were all sick, my mom got several Peanuts videos from the library, and I remember enjoying those so much!
I think maybe she checked out a Flintstones video as well.
I admit that as a child I lived for television. I’m not really proud of it but I watched a ton of TV after my parents ended up working several extra jobs and my sisters were all in afterschool activities (dance and the like) and it was just my older brother and I at home or left with my grandmother. It’s how I became such an avid movie watcher.
Woody Woodpeckervall the way!
Oops! I got so excited about Woody Woodpecker that I couldn’t even type! Loved him then and now! Also Foghorn Leghorn!