Bucky's Favorite Cartoons

As I watched the 14th season premiere of South Park this week (I would've been surprised if they HADN'T spoofed Tiger Woods in that episode), I realized I've been watching animated cartoons for a long time. With that in mind, here's an alphabetical list of my all-time favorites:

Beavis and Butthead - this show was on MTV when I was in college. Although the drawing style seems kinda crude, the characters and their insults to each other stick in your head. I can still mimic Beavis and Butthead's voices! In my opinion, this is Mike Judge's best animated series.

Family Guy - it took me a while to warm up to this show, and their jokes are sometimes hit or miss, I still enjoy this show. Brian the dog and Stewie are perfect foils for each other, and I love the cut-away gags that are spoofs of science fiction or 80's shows. I have to admire them for coming back after being cancelled twice, too. (I also like the spinoff The Cleveland Show, but have never been a big American Dad fan.)

Futurama - a sometimes forgotten show from Simpsons creator Matt Groening. I love John DiMaggio's portrayal of Bender, the robot with an attitude. Glad to hear it's coming back.

Peanuts - I watched the specials all the time as a kid, and I think I even had some of the book club books that adapted these specials. I remember watching the one where Snoopy ran away from home on a Mother's Day evening, a day that I probably ruined for Mom by getting the stomach flu right before church!

Popeye - probably my favorite cartoon of all-time. I learned a lot about drawing from watching these cartoons. The color cartooons from the 1950's and 1960's were on the most when I was a kid, but seeing a black and white Popeye adventure from the 1930's would occasionally come on TV, which I thought was a rare treat. I used to draw all of the main characters as a kid, and I can still draw the spinach-eating sailor and some of the other characters from memory all these years later.

Rocky and Bullwinkle - this show was on all the time as a kid. I loved the serial stories that you could watch in the morning before school and again after you got home. I was kinda bummed out when I first learned that there is no actual town called Frostbite Falls in Minnesota, though! I also loved the Fractured Fairy Tales and the exploits of Sherman and Peabody and Dudley Do-Right.

The Simpsons - hard to believe this show's been on for over 20 years. While I like episodes from probably their first 10-15 years or so the best, the current episodes are still worth watching.

South Park - definitely my favorite cartoon as an adult. I love how they satirize current events and people, and often grossly exaggerate situations. Eric Cartman is the ultimate rotten kid. What other show would feature a talking piece of poo (Mr. Hankey) as a supporting character? I'd still like to see another episode that focuses on Timmy, though.

Underdog - another serial type cartoon that was on all the time as a kid. I think it was rare for Underdog not to say something that wasn't a rhyme. Loved hearing the late Don Adams (best known as Maxwell Smart in the sitcom Get Smart) as the scheming Tennessee Tuxedo during these shows too.