Cartoons that made a big pop culture splash but are now disproportionately forgotten

[Pooky]

What about that Twisted Adventures of Felix the Cat cartoon in the 90s?

That wasn't really a hit at the time, and it has a bit of an online fanbase now. We're not talking a Simpsons level of memes, but it's decent. So I'd say that's something that's endure to a fairly minor extent, but more than I'd perhaps expect.

Honestly, it’s not very easy to answer this question because I find it hard to measure in some way a property at the height of its popularity and its current status as suggested to be a zenith.

Yeah, it can be difficult. Other threads along these lines have gotten a little contentious because it's hard to define how big something was in the past, and how forgotten it is now. For me films like Pocahontas, Anastasia and Bolt seem about as "remembered" as I'd expect; they weren't The Lion King or Shrek back then, and they aren't now.

I agree with A Bug's Life though, not that it's completely forgotten, or more forgotten than the films I mentioned, but more forgotten than you'd think if you can remember its release. For whatever reason Pixar and Disney quickly decided that was the black sheep of their family, and the public seemed to agree.

Also a lot of us here probably grew up or otherwise got used to a time when TV and especially films had a long life that we assumed was normal, but will probably turn out to be a relative blip. Between VHS, Cable, Satellite, Syndication, DVD and more, even a Critical/Box Office flop could retain a degree of cultural relevancy for a decade, maybe more. Before then, a choice few films were remembered and kept in circulation, in the streaming age works will likely be buried under the miasma of (mostly new) content. This is particularly the case for cartoons, which would often be rerun constantly to keep family audiences entertained, e.g. in 1997 George of the Jungle was familiar enough to be the basis for a big budget film, even though the cartoon had only lasted for 17 episodes 30 years previously.

 

[Silverstar]

What about that Twisted Adventures of Felix the Cat cartoon in the 90s?

It's The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, but yeah Pooky's right: that show's following is cult at best. My local CBS affiliate didn't even carry the show; it sort of caught on later, but it didn't exactly set the world on fire even when it was new.

 

[Waylan]

I think Hanna Barbera's Pac-Man(1982-1983) deserves a mention. According to its Wikipedia page, it was the highest-rated Saturday morning cartoon in late 1982. From what I can observe, most people don't remember it, much less know it exists.

 

[Silverstar]

I think Hanna Barbera's Pac-Man(1982-1983) deserves a mention. According to its Wikipedia page, it was the highest-rated Saturday morning cartoon in late 1982. From what I can observe, most people don't remember it, much less know it exists.

That Hanna-Barbera Pac-Man cartoon got high ratings because the game was one of the biggest pop-culture phenomena of that time, not because it was a great or groundbreaking show. ABC was just cashing in on the game's immense popularity. In 1982 any network or studio could've produced a show or something with Pac-Man on it and it would've been ratings gold.

I tried re-watching that cartoon a few years ago and it has not aged well. HB totally screwed up the ghost characters. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures did a better job in that regard.

 

[ShadowBlinky]

That Hanna-Barbera Pac-Man cartoon got high ratings because the game was one of the biggest pop-culture phenomena of that time, not because it was a great or groundbreaking show. ABC was just cashing in on the game's immense popularity. In 1982 any network or studio could've produced a show or something with Pac-Man on it and it would've been ratings gold.

I tried re-watching that cartoon a few years ago and it has not aged well. HB totally screwed up the ghost characters. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures did a better job in that regard.

I know, right? My namesake is supposed to be the leader, not CLYDE. I can't deny I still watched and liked it, though.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I think Hanna Barbera's Pac-Man(1982-1983) deserves a mention. According to its Wikipedia page, it was the highest-rated Saturday morning cartoon in late 1982. From what I can observe, most people don't remember it, much less know it exists.

Not to mention the Christmas special was aired every year on CN during the ‘90’s. I personally don’t remember it, but the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays Christmas party made a reference to it.

 

[JMTV]

Geez, that is a very tough question.

Does Jimmy Neutron count? While it's not completely forgotten, it's still fondly remembered, but it's not as hugely popular as it was back in the early to mid 2000's.

 

[[classic swim]]

Pooky touched on this a little earlier in the thread, but Ren & Stimpy’s legacy has taken so many rocky turns in the span of 30 years that it feels hardly salvageable at times.

I remember it being Nick’s hottest show as a kid. And then SpongeBob came along.

I don’t even have that strong of an admiration or interest with much Nicktoons compared to most people my age, mind you.

But it’s a safe bet that by, say 2002: SpongeBob in terms of popularity had already beaten R&S by a thousand miles.

Ren & Stimpy sorta became “that cartoon” afterwards, but still mighty praised. I remember videos and reviews from 10+ years back that still earnestly treated R&S as an animation milestone.

I was pretty good with Howard Stern & OnA into my adulthood, but I had never seen that John K & Billy West fight on the Stern show until like 2012 when it was on YouTube. And that’s when I really discovered the John K firing in the first place. I honestly credit the more retrospective attitude on cartoons that dawned in the 2010s for me to even look into it.

That 2012 “WHOAOHAAGHH LOOK AT DEEEZ THING” attitude was how Adult Party Cartoon from years back even received the type of fame it’s got now after being dead forever.

Before the news broke out about John K, it felt like he was getting heaps of work here and there just out of some legend status.

Can’t say I devoutly hated him before, but it was always annoying to no damn end when him and his ilk would pretend R&S was the sole god of animators everywhere, and that every cartoon was influenced by the sheer thought of Ren & Stimpy. Talk about ego stroking, there were better cartoons to watch when your show was a hit. You didn’t invent everyone else’s cartoons no matter how much you protest.

Then he was outed as a pedophile, and after these last few years... Ren & Stimpy never quite recovered from that.

Nick’s been putting the characters in new things just as a Nick brand nostalgia schtick.

And with the news regarding whatever Paramount/Comedy Central’s wanting to do, it felt like a lapse in judgement from day one about how many people actually care if it came back.

It doesn’t even matter that John K’s not involved. The damage is done.

There’s still some diehard fans in such that love cartoons, and I can’t blame them. But they feel like a minority at this point.

I can’t fault people for still liking the old stuff and I also can’t fault most that go “why even bother?”

 

[Leviathan]

At this point, pretty much every Hanna-Barbera franchise that's not Scooby Doo. Younger people would be shocked probably if you told them The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear and Jonny Quest were once big deals.

And while "forgotten" might be a bit much, Looney Tunes has definitely seen much better days in terms of pop-culture relevance.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

At this point, pretty much every Hanna-Barbera franchise that's not Scooby Doo. Younger people would be shocked probably if you told them The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear and Jonny Quest were once big deals.

And while "forgotten" might be a bit much, Looney Tunes has definitely seen much better days in terms of pop-culture relevance.

At The Flintstones have the vitamins and Pebbles cereal.

 

[Pooky]

I would say those HB characters (except maybe Johnny Quest) are still relatively well know, but certainly more obscure than we ever would have expected they'd become c.20 years ago.

As for Looney Tunes characters, they're still fairly high profile, and they've been less high profile in recent memory (I'd say the low point was c.2009), but yeah, not the titans they were for the last half of the 20th century.

Nothing lasts forever, even when you thought it already had.

 

[Waylan]

At this point, pretty much every Hanna-Barbera franchise that's not Scooby Doo. Younger people would be shocked probably if you told them The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear and Jonny Quest were once big deals.

And while "forgotten" might be a bit much, Looney Tunes has definitely seen much better days in terms of pop-culture relevance.

I have to agree with Pooky. The shows you mentioned, along with The Smurfs and Super Friends, still have some semblance of popularity.

But beyond those shows, I agree with you. Shows like Top Cat, Wacky Races, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, and Josie And The Pussycats are definitely all pretty much forgotten.

 

[Pooky]

Top Cat (or Boss Cat, as it was once known) always seemed to be a little more popular here in the UK than it was in the US, and the character was revived for a series of commercials for a high profile Bank, but even that was a few years ago now.

I know it was also popular enough in Latin America for two Top Cat films to be made and released in Mexico in the 2010s, and they did fairly well (especially the first), but I don't know if it's dropped off there since then.

 

[Zorak Masaki]

I have to agree with Pooky. The shows you mentioned, along with The Smurfs and Super Friends, still have some semblance of popularity.

But beyond those shows, I agree with you. Shows like Top Cat, Wacky Races, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, and Josie And The Pussycats are definitely all pretty much forgotten.

Maybe not the H-B version, but what about the Archie comics versions of them? Were they ever in Riverdale (say what you will about that show, but it was a hit)?

 

[ShadowBlinky]

I have to agree with Pooky. The shows you mentioned, along with The Smurfs and Super Friends, still have some semblance of popularity.

But beyond those shows, I agree with you. Shows like Top Cat, Wacky Races, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, and Josie And The Pussycats are definitely all pretty much forgotten.

Like Leviathan said, "forgotten" is a bit much. As an HB fan, I could be biased, but still...

 

[Darklordavaitor]

You can still get Flintstones vitamins and cereal, while Yogi is still the mascot of a popular chain of campsites. That's not much, but they still have some cultural pull today.

 

[Ace]

This applies to almost anything before generations that grew up with computers and the internet that weren't given revivals or airtime in the new era.

I'd consider Flintstones and Yogi Bear culturally relevant but I would still call them disproportionately forgotten. A lot of people don't really know about them outside of their merchandise. In contrast to Scooby Doo, Peanuts or Garfield

Most TV animation doesn't make a big culture splash these days aside from the occasional thing from Disney or Netflix. Films are a different story (look at Pixar). Video games seem to have most of the biggest franchises these days.

 

[MeiMei2002]

Ben 10

It was HUGE back in 2006-2013. It had tons of toys and action figures (heck I still have a ton of them), multiple video games, was in a ton of CN crossovers, referenced in some other media, had a theme park, a few movies, etc.

The original series was popular, but when UAF debuted, that's when it got extremely popular. By the time Omniverse came out, it was starting to lose it's popularity, and in 2014, CN didn't care about it so they aired the episodes at like 5 AM. After that, the show wasn't popular anymore until 2016, when the reboot came out.

The reboot was rather popular, but it never reached the same popularity as UAF

 

[Darklordavaitor]

Geez, that is a very tough question.

Does Jimmy Neutron count? While it's not completely forgotten, it's still fondly remembered, but it's not as hugely popular as it was back in the early to mid 2000's.

I've thought about this, and it sounds right. Even other less popular Nicktoons from the 90's like Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and The Angry Beavers receive some merchandise and attention solely by being products of the 90's, but it seems like most anything from the 2000's on doesn't fair as well unless it does something to stand out. The Fairly Odd Parents ran for long enough to stand out by osmosis, while Invader Zim and Avatar continue to have cult followings to this day outside of their initial demographics.

Jimmy Neutron, while popular at the time, doesn't have as much to keep it around, give or take the occasional Hugh meme.

 

[Pooky]

I've thought about this, and it sounds right. Even other less popular Nicktoons from the 90's like Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and The Angry Beavers receive some merchandise and attention solely by being products of the 90's, but it seems like most anything from the 2000's on doesn't fair as well unless it does something to stand out. The Fairly Odd Parents ran for long enough to stand out by osmosis, while Invader Zim and Avatar continue to have cult followings to this day outside of their initial demographics.

Jimmy Neutron, while popular at the time, doesn't have as much to keep it around, give or take the occasional Hugh meme.

Can't prove it, and I could be wrong, but my gut instinct is it's better remembered at this point than Monsters or Beavers; a lot of Gen Z or Z borderline YouTubers who do Cartoon Retrospectives seem to bring it up pretty regularly. It doesn't seem to be merchandised any more, but I would say that's likely because Nickelodeon's "Retro" licencing has so far been limited to the 90s. I think the memes are a sign that it is remembered by the core audience that will be nostalgic for it. About 90% of the internet attention I've seen for Beavers in the last decade or so has been on the unmade final (well, believed to be final) episode, and for Monsters it's for the finale film which turned out to likely be a hoax.

Side-note, but I've always been surprised that most of Nickelodeon's retro merch ignores Angry Beavers but includes CatDog. Angry Beavers is my favourite Nicktoon, but I am aware that is a niche position, however I remember it getting a better reception than CatDog, which I recall being heavily maligned and widely disliked from the drop. But maybe I'm attributing too much weight to anecdotal memories, I don't know what the ratings were like; it was introduced as a bonus for the cinema and VHS releases of the Rugrats Movie, which must have helped its profile. And that Klasky-Cupo artstyle makes it more of a piece with more beloved shows like Thornberrys and Rugrats.