SELECTION CRITERIA:
- Must be from a series no longer being produced
- Must be an English-language series
- Must feature original animation (none of that Disney Afternoon clip-show crap!)
- Must be from a series intended for kids
10.Taz-Mania
HIGHLIGHTS:
1:00 - This opening shot of Tazmania is as awe-inspiring as any IMAX nature doc.
0:43 - Taz has more personality and life in these few frames than he did in any of the actual episodes.
0:28 - Falling Safe Alert. WB Animation really nails those classic gags!
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
This opening does a great job putting Taz-Mania's madcap cast of characters on display. Taz himself, however, was a pretty poor protagonist. It's as if they gave Ed from the Lion King his own show. Taz was only around for name recognition, and was by far the least interesting thing about the series. The opening sequence seems to acknowledge this up front ("Oh yeah, don't forget Taz") in the grand tradition of Warner Brothers Cartoon Self-Awareness.
9. Muppet Babies
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:29 - Words can't convey how bizarre this transition is; it seems that the dimension Scooter had been occupying is sucked into a black hole and replaced with a circus nightmare featuring his opposite-sex doppelganger.
0:18 - The appearance of a genuine Advanced Tie Fighter cements Muppet Babies as the coolest show on Nickelodeon, ever.
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
Does this opener remind you of anything? I'm now convinced that the very distinctive (read: ugly) Rugrats intro is in fact a direct homage to Muppet Babies. They both capture the sense of micro-chaos that makes up the world of a child, although Muppet Babies does it to a rockin' 1960s The-Beach-Boys-meets-The-Monkees-Meets-The-Chipmunks theme song.
8.Thundercats
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:40 - This switch from 1st to 3rd person perspective is a brilliant example of how sometimes breaking the rules yields amazing results. And that is one POWERFUL run cycle!
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
The animation in this intro is technically superb, and here's why - it was done by Pacific Animation Corporation, which in 1986 included a collective of animators who would go to found Studio Ghibli!
7. Count Duckula
HIGHLIGHTS:
1:23 - This stuffy British production company logo confused kids across the nation..."When did Nickelodeon become PBS?!"
1:15 - Great, scary image...wouldn't you love to own that animation cel?
0:50 - The narrator really sells this voice over. Gotta love the brits.
0:18 - Showing a mere carrot to be more vicious than Duckula is a nice surreal way of putting a point across.
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
There sure is a lot of satanic imagery on display here...good to know that while until recently Harry Potter books were still being burned, in the 80s you could slip a pentagram and blood rituals into a kids show and no one would bat an eye. Good times!
6. Doug
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:28 - Ah young love...don't you wish real crushes were as gentle and transcendent as this?
0:21 - The way Doug tenses his feet to convey surprise is a great bit of cartoon "acting".
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
Doug may be THE most innocent cartoon ever made - while many of these intros are heavy on flash and action, Doug's opening sequence is so charming and simple you might not notice what an ingenious bit of meta-animation it really is.
5. Jem
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:40 - Did you see that?! A guy drove his car drove up on stage and grabbed Jem! And look at how the frame shakes after they drive off screen - he totally drove into a wall and killed them both!
0:19 - Wow...The Misfits are not afraid to use slightly discordant harmonies, KISS-style make-up, and provocative stage presence. Good for them!
0:14 - Although I have to say, Jem really makes her one spin-move work for her.
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
No one on the Geekanerd Writing Staff ever watched Jem as a kid, but this intro is incredible. It captures the 80s MTV aesthetic almost better than MTV did! The rotoscoping is used to great effect, and I can't get over how awesome The Misfits are. I hope a reunion tour is in the works.
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:37 - "Get a grip!" And they're literally getting a grip on their weapons. Classic.
0:27 - Anyone who thinks Mikey is mere comic relief would do well to witness his pwning of ninja stars.
0:24 - Splinter's transformation is kind of terrifying...look at that smoke coming off his hands!
0:12 - Pizza toppings stick to the "camera lens"...nice touch, animators!
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
This intro's hyperactive energy is impossible to resist, and it somehow succeeds in making anthropomorphic turtles look like the coolest guys around. But take a look at 0:40 - This profile shot of the turtles is awesome, but why does it look familiar? Compare with Thundercats at 0:55...hmm.
3. The Real Ghostbusters
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:59 - This opening strut rivals Saturday Night Fever for sheer coolness.
0:42 - All the main characters are perfectly summarized...Egon does machines, Ray is the happy-go-lucky goof, Peter is lazy and hilarious, Slimer likes eating and Winston is the token black guy with no personality.
0:24 - Nightmare fodder for kids across America.
0:20 Nothing says "I'm going to trap you in a box" like rhythmic gun presentation.
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
Boy, the animation owes so much to anime! Jeanne's reaction at :30 to being kissed by Slimer is an facial expression straight out of the Tenchi playbook. And Jeanne is looking pretty sexy for a nerdy single secretary...but maybe that's just me.
2.Tiny Toons
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:48 - I love this gag. Babs and Buster defy expectations at every turn!
0:33 - Tiny Toons made a big deal about the art of wild takes, and Plucky, reacting to his own giant head, gives a great example here.
0:28 - Pay attention to their body language- Buster jumps in with a feminine flourish, and Babs barges in. A split second later, it's revealed that the two are disguised as the other. These animators really went the extra mile.
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
Tiny Toons began what would be a Renaissance in smart, edgy comedic cartoons from the WB (this trend would finally fly to close to the sun with the brilliant but alienating Freakazoid). The tone of this intro was used again and again in the WB cartoons that followed, but the quick-witted magic was never captured quite so well as on Tiny Toons. "We crack up all the censors" has to be one of the all-time greatest lyrics for a kid's cartoon. Irreverence defined.
1. Batman: The Animated Series
HIGHLIGHTS:
0:56 - As the cheery WB logo fades into the glaring headlights of a police blimp, you know you know this toon means business.
0:44 - Now that is a good looking explosion! And be sure to note the elegant animation on the falling debris.
0:33 - This is a perfect graphic-novel style composition - angular, bold colors - effortlessly effective.
0:26 - What are these crooks so scared of?
0:23 - Oh, right.
0:20 - If anyone had any questions as to how an unarmed vigilante could deal with gun-toting punks, here's your answer.
0:18 - Note the punk's horrified reaction to seeing this demon of the night take out his partner. This is what Batman is all about, people.
0:17 - Beautiful if physically improbable aerial move.
0:09 - Great dumbstruck body language on the cop, indicating that Bats works outside the system.
0:03 - Chilling. A single frame ingrained in the psyche's of kids across America.
MATURE PERSPECTIVE:
Many readers will have had occasion to watch this opening long since their childhood, as the complete Batman: The Animated Series DVD Collection is required viewing for all animation/comic book geeks. But no matter how many times you watch this sequence, it doesn't lose it's impact. It's simple, stark, and gorgeous. Watched from beginning to end, you can't help but be moved by that ever-vigilant pose in the final shot...never has a cartoon hero looked so dark and foreboding. This intro prepared kids across the nation for what was so often a thrilling, serious, and emotionally gripping half hour of toonage. Give it up for Bruce Timm, ladies and gentlemen.
EPILOGUE:
Some animation buffs may be ready to storm the Geekanerd Technodrome for making a "classic" list comprised entirely of cartoons from the 80s and 90s. In our defense, we did review toons from earlier eras, and even the best seemed flat and repetitive when compared to our cherished finalists. Also it seems the Z-axis was not discovered in popular American animation until 1980.
Oh, we also left out Animaniacs. Sorry.
