Saturday Night Nostalgia: Remember the cartoons we watched?

Remember the days of good ol’ cartoon characters like Top Cat and Deputy Dawg?

Sure, kids these days would probably complain about the lack of special effects, but these were groundbreaking in our time. Who knows what half the kids are watching these days, but we know we were in for some wholesome laughs when we got the chance to watch these on a television screen, or even while at the movies.

Top Cat

Can you believe that Hanna-Barbera studios only ever made 30 episodes of this show? The cartoon with the yellow cat in the purple hat started in 1961. He sounded a bit like Sgt Bilko, and acted a bit like him too. This New York City cat had lots of mates; Benny the Ball, Choo-Choo- Spook, The Brain and Fancy-Fancy. And don’t forget poor Officer Dibble. 

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Deputy Dawg

This Southern deputy sheriff, part of Terrytoons, first appeared in 1960, both on television and in movies theatres. Did you ever notice how he moved around? When the show started he was in Florida, then he moved to Mississippi and then Tennessee. He had a few ‘varmints’ he was chasing, including Muskie Muskrat and Moley Mole.

Huckleberry Hound

While this blue dog first appeared in 1957 he eventually got his own show and even won an Emmy awards in 1961. He had a lot of different jobs in his ‘lifetime’. He was a policeman, dog catcher, a rocket scientist, a Medievel knight and even a Roman gladiator. 

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Yogi Bear

Yogi started as part of the Huckleberry House Show in the late 50s before getting his own gig in the 60s. He’s been in comic books, on cereal packets, National Park signs and is even now still a much loved character, with his own movie, or two, A feature film was made in 1964 and a live action (computer animated) version released in 2010. Yes, he’s smarter than the av-er-age bear.

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Quick Draw McGraw

This human-like horse, wearing a red cowboy hat and light blue bandana also won an Emmy Award. This sheriff set in the Old West had a deputy, a Mexican burro called Baba Looey. While western films were popular at the time, so was this cartoon.

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Snagglepuss

This theatrical pink mountain lion appeared first as part of the Quick Draw McGraw Show and then found himself a regular spot on The Yogi Bear Show. He also appeared on commercials for breakfast cereal. Heaven’s to Murgatroyd!

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The Flintstones

How could you not love the antics of Fred and Wilma, Barney and Betty, and the rest of the Bedrock gang. Based on a popular show already, The Honeymooners, it was always bound for success. It was the first aimed at adults, but of course kids loved it too! Yabba dabba doo!

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Tom and Jerry

When it comes to cat and mouse games, Tom and Jerry have it in the bag. They were first animated shorts in the 40s but turned up on TV screens in the 60s. 

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The Jetsons

How many of us thought this is what life would really look like now, in 2017. Sadly there are no robots like Rosie doing our housework, but it was fun watching this space-aged show and dreaming. There were only 24 episodes made of this one, can you believe that!

When it comes to cartoons, well, that’s all folks! Oh hang on, that was Porky Pig!

What was your favourite cartoon? Is there one you remember watching that we haven’t mentioned here?