Top Cartoon Spin-off list!

The 80's & 90's were an amazing time to grow up! The freedom of being a kid, the delicious candies, the unbelievable action figures and of course the unforgettable cartoons. The majority of the toons on TV during this time were created to sell toys, foods and other awesome merchandise, but what do you do when the popularity of a franchise is wearing off? You introduce new characters and give them their own shows to create more toys, foods and merchandise. The shows listed below are some of my favorite spin-offs from some of the most iconic shows of my childhood. Let me know in the comments which ones you liked when you were a kid! 

She-Ra: Princess of Power

The character She-Ra first appeared in the animated film "He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword in 1985". After this introduction to the world of the Masters of the Universe She-Ra was given her own cartoon series that lasted 2 seasons from 1985-1986 for a total of 93 episodes. She-Ra was created so the MOTU brand could reach the female toy buying demographic and it succeeded. Not only was the toy line and cartoon popular with girls, but boys also enjoyed the new troop of bad guys, The Horde led by the evil Hordak! 

Extreme Ghostbusters

The premise of this series is pretty basic, after years of busting ghosts the Ghostbusters have seen little to no activity in the area. They all decide to go their separate ways, but Egon stays behind to monitor the containment unit, take care of Slimer and continue his studies while teaching a college course on the paranormal. So, when ghost activity picks up and Egon has no one to call for help, he recruits a team from his students. I really liked the new team of busters compiled of Kylie, Roland, Eduardo and Garrett. I thought their personalities and backgrounds really could have led to some interesting turns in the series, but unfortunately it only lasted one year in 1997 and ran a total of 40 episodes.

Pink Panther and Sons

I really liked this cartoon as a kid! So much so that I had Pink Panther and Sons bed sheets! The series focuses on the two sons of the original Pink Panther, Pinky & Panky. Panky is a toddler who was always getting into trouble and his older brother Pinky was the leader of the Rainbow Panthers Crew. This show had a close resemblance to Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, but with talking animals! Each episode contained a few Pink Panther shorts that would run before each Sons cartoon. The series had a pretty short run of 26 episodes and was on air from 1984-1985 on NBC before it switched networks to ABC in 1986.

Pinky and the Brain

Following the success of Tiny Toon adventures the show Animaniacs was launched in 1993 and ran until 1999. It was in this run of 99 episodes of zaniness that we were introduced to the lab rats turned would-be world dominators, Pinky and the Brain.  As many of you know, the Brain is obsessed with taking over the world and each night he creates more and more elaborate plans to do so. When these plans almost reach their goal, somehow someway Pinky, the clumsy sidekick, finds a way to ruin it! During the 66 episode run from 1995-1998 this dynamic duo never completed their goal. I think maybe it's time to bring these guys back so they can finish what they started all those years ago.

Darkwing Duck

This one may be a little bit of a cheat, but technically this show did spin-off from the extremely popular DuckTales cartoon. It even shares a few characters including bumbling sidekick Launchpad McQuack and super hero Gizmoduck!  This was one of my favorite cartoons at the time and we would go over to a friend's house to watch the episodes he recorded before we had to head to soccer practice. This series ran from 1991-1993 for a total of 91 acion packed episodes as we saw our hero Drake Mallard aka Darkwing Duck fight off the likes of Megavolt, Liquidator, Bushroot and Negaduck! This is an amazing series that I really don't think gets it's due as the other Disney Afternoon shows get. We took the kids to DisneyWorld a few years back and I was stunned at the lack of Darkwing Duck merchandise. Maybe that will change with his recent appearances in the new DuckTales reboot?

Wax Pack Revolution: All Topps Edition

A recent obsession of mine has been collecting old wax packs of trading cards from the 80s & 90s. Sure, I have a ton of these non-sport cards from when I was a kid, but the artwork and design of the packaging is something I missed. When you would buy one of these packs you would tear it open and throw away the wrapper. Never giving it a second thought. Seeing these again brings back memories of feeling the slick paper in your hands, seeing the simple artwork and the smell of bubble gum. Let's dive into a few of these packs that I have on display...YET AGAIN!

Nintendo Game Pack (Topps, 1989)

I absolutely loved these cards as a kid! Any time we went shopping with my Mom for either clothes or groceries, we would get a pack of Nintendo scratch off cards. For 25 cents you got 3 scratch off cards to entertain you and 2 stickers to decorate your books, trapper keepers or even your Nintendo! But, the biggest draw was the secret tips on the sticker backs. How else would we have known to hit Bald Bull on his 3rd jump for a KO?

Superman: The Movie (Topps, 1978)

To many people Christopher Reeve will always be THE Superman. These cards came out before I was even born, so needless o say, I did not collect these as a kid. As a collector though I can really appreciate the simple design of the cards.

Tiny Toon Adventures (Topps, 1991)

Tiny Toon Adventures was a staple in my house. After we would get home from school we would turn on the local Fox5 station out of New York and watch it along with some other great 90s toons. Surprisingly I never did own any of these cards growing up, but had to add a pack to my growing collection.

Supergirl (Topps, 1984)

I have not seen the Supergirl movie in at least 25 years. The only memory I have of this movie was that it was on TV during a sleep over at my house with friends. One friend got homesick and had to go home. Totally a bummer!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 2nd Series (Topps, 1990)

If you have read this blog before, you know I love me some Ninja Turtles. Me and my brother collected these cards so we would have cardboard versions of the cartoons we loved so much! Of course it didn't hurt that Usagi Yojimbo was featured on some of the cards. We loved that guy!

Tiny Toons: My Top 5 Summer Vacation Moments

The feature length movie Tiny Toon Adventures: How I spent My Summer Vacation was released exclusively on VHS in 1992 by Warner Bros. The film was later released as a 4-part event during the regular airings of Tiny Toon Adventures on our local FOX station (FOX 5 NY) and became a summer tradition for a few years in my house. We knew summer was here once that special aired after school.

 Just last week my kids had their last day of the school year and we celebrated by popping in the "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" DVD. I hadn't seen this movie in years and I really loved watching how much my kids enjoyed it. A lot of the jokes were dated and over there heads but the overall stories of Babs & Buster on the river, Plucky & Hamton heading to Happy World Land and Fifi fawning over Johnny Pew really kept them entertained. If you asked them "What were your favorite parts of the movie?" my kids would more than likely say "EVERYTHING!", in my case here are my top 5 moments from Tiny Toons: How I Spent My Summer Vacation!

1. The opening musical montage

This is the very beginning of the film and it shows the students of Acme Looniversity counting down the seconds on the last day of school and discussing what they planned to do in the summer. This brings me back to those final days of grade school when all we did was watch movies, clean the classroom and goof off with our friends one last time before going off for vacation. The song is catchy too!

2. Superman Cameo

After falling off a waterfall while floating down a river created by Babs and Buster's reckless water fight the two bunnies are rescued by none other than Superman! He is promptly told by Buster & Babs that he is in the wrong movie and he should get his own video. This leads the man of steel to drop the bunnies back into the raging river.

I like how the depiction of Superman in this brief cameo resembles his appearance in the Max Fleischer animated Superman series from the 40s. Don't believe me, take a look at the video above and judge for yourself!

3. Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs

While Plucky and Hamton's family are on their way to the Happy World Land amusement park, Plucky tries to find a way to pass the time. He pulls out his mint condition, first printing of Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs #1! These homages to the TMNT made an appearance in another episode of Tiny Toons complete with AWESOME theme song!

I was a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the time, so I could sympathize with Plucky when Hamton threw up all over his prized comic.

4. Masked Maniac

As Plucky & Hamton went about their long road trip they encountered a ton of craziness including Uncle Stinky's sweat, rest stop bathroom clean-ups and playing the "There's A Car" game, but none was more dangerous than when the family picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be a pork loving, chainsaw wielding raving masked maniac!

5. HAPPY WORLD LAND

After overcoming all of the obstacles and family friendliness, Plucky finally made it to Happy World Land. I loved seeing the rides the park had to offer as a kid and always wondered what it would be like to ride the Happy Go-Pukey, The Gargle, Slap Happy and the Happy Centrifuge. Unfortunately for Plucky he was left wondering also. The Pig family rode the monorail and then it was time to go home and subdue Plucky to one more form of torture...a SLIDESHOW!!!

Now we end this post with a picture of Babs dressed up like Jessica Rabbit, just because!