Rocky and Bullwinkle and More Cartoon Favorites
TV Guide Magazine made a list of its picks for “60 Greatest Cartoons of All Time” back in 2013. They only give a rank to the Top 10 and list the other 50 in alphabetical order. The list spans many generations so even if you don’t find one of your favorites in the Top 10, you’re bound to find several in the other 50.
One of my favorites, “Rocky & His Friends,” did make the Top 10, coming in at No. 6. “Fractured Fairy Tales” was the highlight of the series for me, although I did love Boris and Natasha in the adventures of Moose and Squirrel, as well as Peabody and Sherman. Here is the show’s version of “The 3 Little Pigs.”
Mighty Mouse didn’t make the Top 10, but I always got a big kick out of the Mighty Mouse/Oil Can Harry cartoons with Pearl Pureheart. In “Sunny Italy,” Mighty Mouse has to rescue Pearl Pureheart who is hanging from the Leaning Tower of Pisa by a single strand of spaghetti. Of course, he does but not before Oil Can Harry whisked her off to Venice where Pearl and some Italian mice sing a hilarious aria, featuring macaroni, mozzarella, antipasto, pizza pie and other Italian foods. I’ve wondered if this is where Disney got the idea for a song Goofy sings about Italian food in a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon.
The Flintstones came in No. 2, to my surprise, one spot ahead of Looney Tunes. Daffy Duck is my all-time favorite Looney Tune character.
One of my favorite Flintstones’ cartoons is “Cinderellastone” where Fred gets turned into Frederick J. “Mumbles” by a fairy godmother. The last name mumbling always made me laugh. It gave it a little “Emperor’s New Clothes” touch. “Dr. Sinister” was another with a Natasha Fatale-like Madame Yes who called Fred and Barney “handsome, good-lookings” and “stupid good-lookings.”
I was surprised as all get-out that Pokemon didn’t make TV Guide’s list. I remember the kids often singing the Jigglypuff song to me while I would pretend to fall asleep. Speed Racer didn’t make it on there either. They had a much earlier list in 2002 with 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters. Pikachu came in at No. 15 on there and Speed Racer was No. 49. Other favorite characters on there: Felix the Cat (No. 28), Mr. Magoo (No. 29), Woody Woodpecker (No. 46) and Tom and Jerry (No. 50). To tell you the truth, I didn’t like Woody when I was a child, and I didn’t like the Rugrats’ character Angelica Pickles (No. 15), when I was an adult, but they both grew on me.
Hi VJ –
Of course I loved cartoons. I’m not really crazy with the more recent ones, though.
Rocky and Bullwinkle were favorites for sure, and Huckleberry Hound. I think I watched Mighty Mouse, too. A bit later, there was a cartoon show in the evening I really liked, Top Cat. And The Beatles even were the basis of a Saturday cartoon show for a time. don’t think I saw either of those on the list, however. Nice trip down memory lane for sure.
Hi again – just revisited that article. Two others I definitely watched: Popeye and Underdog! Ah, things are so different now.
Hi Stella, I guess I am just a big kid. I still know all the words from all the theme songs. Underdog’s theme song was definitely great. “He’s the greatest. He’s fantastic. Wherever there is danger, he’ll be there.”
I’ve got 3 Popeye cartoons on a playlist for my little grandkids, Barnacle Bill, Popeye’s Musical Nephews and Who Am I? (the one where Wimpy disguises himself as Popeye to get Olive’s hamburgers). They like Barnacle Bill the best.
The Huckleberry Hound show sure had a great cast of characters. Snagglepuss, Quickdraw and Baba Looey… I didn’t even know they had a Beatles cartoon on Saturday. Must’ve been doing chores. My mom had 5 kids and I was the oldest girl.