Ten 1990s Cartoons You Probably Don't Remember
I recently did a list of 1980s cartoons that I thought a lot of people had forgot about. Our readers really seemed to like it, and I know a lot of our readers grew up in the 1990s, so I thought I'd put together a list of animated series from that decade that you might not remember. We all have our favorites, like Batman: The Animated Series, Animanicas, X-Men, Spawn, and Gargoyles, but there are some cartoons that may have just slipped through the cracks of our minds. Just because these series are on the list doesn't mean they were bad shows. Although some of them definitely were.
Sonic Underground
Not only was this series poorly made, but it had a pretty awful theme song. The story is set in a completely different canon than any of the other Sonic the Hedgehog media. The ruler of Mobius, Queen Aleena, is overthrown by Dr. Robotnik and his robotic armies. Her kids, Sonic, Sonia, and Manic, are hidden for their protection, but they rise up against Robotnik and become the rightful rulers of Mobius once more. The series only lasted one season, and only 40 out of 65 episodes originally aired. I only watched one episode, and it was so bad I never watched it again. This was an embarrassing moment for Sonic the Hedgehog.
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
This series was released shortly after the first movie and the video game Mortal Kombat 3 came out. This was a show that I kind of enjoyed watching. It featured six of the game's characters, including Liu Kang, Kitana, Sub-Zero, Jax, Sonya, and Stryker. Together they made up an interdimensional task force trying to maintain balance between the realms. Raiden serves as the team's mentor, and Nightwolf as a computer techie. I think it's funny that they took an insanely violent and bloody game, and turned it into a kids series. That may have hurt the show as well, because all the kids that played Mortal Kombat wanted to see the same level of violence in the show.
The Wacky World of Tex Avery
The Animaniacs wasn't the only crazy and wacky series to come out of the '90s. There was another show called The Wacky World of Tex Avery that was extremely goofy. It had a lot of slapstick style comedy that was a throwback to the "Golden Age" of the Looney Tunes cartoons from the 1930s-1950s, and it was inspired by the style of Looney Tunes director Tex Avery. The only thing was… it wasn't funny at all. It's like they tried way too hard, and it didn't work.
Extreme Ghostbusters
Even back in 1997 Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were trying to make Ghostbusters 3, and this Extreme Ghostbusters series was suppose to be a tie-in to that third movie that still hasn't happened. The series was doomed before it even began, though, as the only characters that returned from the movie were Egon Spengler, Janine Melnitz, and Slimer. Then there were a few younger additions to the team. The show didn't include Peter Venkman, Ray Stanz, Winston Zeddmore, Dana Barrett, or Louis Tully with the exception of a couple episodes. Egon furthered his studies and taught a class on the paranormal at a local college. When ghosts start to reappear, Egon is forced to recruit four students as the new Ghostbusters. This show could have been better than it was. I really dug the animation.
Men in Black: The Series
This show was awesome, and it ran for four seasons, but it's a show that doesn't really pop up in conversations about favorite animated series from the '90s. So just in case you have forgotten about this little gem, I added it to the list. The continuity was different from the films, but it followed the adventures of the main characters, Agent K and Agent J. The animation was fantastic and the stories were very fun and engaging.
Dumb and Dumber: The Animated Series
Yep, the classic Farrelly brothers comedy got its own animated series, which followed the crazy adventures of Harry and Lloyd as they drove around doing anything for money. This was seriously one of the worst things to come out of the '90s. It was utterly pointless, terribly animated, and there was no real plot. The series only had 13 episodes before it was pulled off the air.
Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain
This was an Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures spin-off series that featured Pinky and the Brain as pets of the Tiny Toons character Elmyra, who I thought was one of the most annoying characters on the show. The show was awful, unfunny, and a wasteful use of the two great characters, Pinky and the Brain. I don't know what producer Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Animation were thinking when they thought up this piece of crap. It was cancelled after only 13 episodes.
Mighty Ducks
This series was very loosely based on the live action films and NHL team of the same name. The story revolved around a team of humanoid alien ducks from a planet called "Puckworld" that was conveniently icy so they could play hockey all the time. Not only did they play hockey, they also protected their home planet from invaders. This is a series that I never really got into. It just didn't interest me.
Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire
The show was based on comedian Bob Einstein’s character Super Dave Osborne, and it followed Dave, who, along with his assistant Fuji, must save the world from the villainous Slash Hazard. The series was cancelled only after one season, but it actually had some fun and entertaining elements to it and some good humor. Halfway through the show's initial run, voice actor Art Irizawa was asked to modify his voice for Fuji, because of all the complaints that Fox received from Asian-American groups that the character was an offensive stereotype.
Gravedale High
The series was developed as a starring vehicle for Rick Moranis (Ghostbusters, Honey I Shrunk the Kids). He lent his voice to the main character of the series which followed the misadventures of human teacher Max Schneider, who took a job at Gravedale High, which is a school for monsters near the city of Midtown. He presides over a group of ghoulish teenagers that are 1990s teenage versions of classic movie monsters. The series also included the voices of Ricki Lake, Jackie Earle Haley, and Tim Curry. It only had one 13 episode season.