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

[prpis]

For what it's worth, the character appeared in an episode of the 2017 Wacky Races reboot ("Hong Kong Screwy", aired May 31, 2018).

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Hooray someone else remembers the wacky races reboot!

 

[Zorak Masaki]

Terrytoons, outside of Mighty Mouse, and to a lesser extent, Heckle and Jeckle, have been forgotten for decades now. I was surprised when the movie The Waterboy made reference to Bobby wearing Deputy Dawg pajamas, that was an obscure reference in 1998, forget about now.

 

[Pooky]

There was a well known British comedian in the 80s (Eddie Large) whose best known "bit" was arguably his Deputy Dawg impression.

Don't ask me why and how, I don't know.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

I also have to give a mention to Camp Lazlo, which is more well-known than Dragon Tales but isn't as popular as their classic early 2000s shows like Codename KND, Samurai Jack and Courage The Cowardly Dog (this last one is from late 1999 but still mostly early 00s). Whereas Camp Lazlo came out in the mid-2000s, and tends to be forgotten among the more successful Foster's Home, which also came out in the mid-2000s (one year before Camp Lazlo did, in 2004) and seems to overshadow it.

 

[Light Lucario]

Star vs the Forces of Evil was Disney's new "it" show for awhile there after Gravity Falls. Then, as far as I can tell, the fanbase turned on the show and it just evaporated in favor of Owl House. Never see anything out of that show anymore.

Speaking of front loaded fanbases, Twelve Forever completely disappeared after it was cancelled.

I'm not sure if fanbase went in favor towards The Owl House. I feel like those are pretty different, if not distinct, communities. I think it had more to do with the finale itself. Fans didn't seem to like the last two seasons, but I think that the ending was a bigger issue. It felt more like a season finale or leading into a new series rather than a proper finale. Getting rid of all magic, but still making it so that Star and Marco could be together probably turned off a lot of fans. Personally, I liked what I saw of the series, especially its third season finale, but I'm not too surprised that interest in Star Vs. The Forces of Evil dried up after its finale. I might try watching the whole series one of these days to get a better understanding of its storyline. It would probably be relatively easy to binge watch given its length.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

The 2012 Littlest Pet Shop cartoon rarely gets brought up anymore, at least from what i've seen.

 

[Goldstar!]

I also have to give a mention to Camp Lazlo, which is more well-known than Dragon Tales but isn't as popular as their classic early 2000s shows like Codename KND, Samurai Jack and Courage The Cowardly Dog (this last one is from late 1999 but still mostly early 00s). Whereas Camp Lazlo came out in the mid-2000s, and tends to be forgotten among the more successful Foster's Home, which also came out in the mid-2000s (one year before Camp Lazlo did, in 2004) and seems to overshadow it.

As I recall, Camp Lazlo was never a monster hit, only a moderate hit. Personally, I thought that Lazlo was just OK. Not as good as Joe Murray's earlier series Rocko's Modern Life , but it was OK.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

As I recall, Camp Lazlo was never a monster hit, only a moderate hit. Personally, I thought that Lazlo was just OK. Not as good as Joe Murray's earlier series Rocko's Modern Life , but it was OK.

It did do pretty damn well. Not incredibly massive like Doug or Dragon Tales were though. Had like 5 million viewers the day it premiered. I think it had McDonald's toys too.

 

[Ed Nygma]

The thread has well moved on from it, but I agree the animated Addams Family, Beetlejuice, and Men in Black have had zero pop culture footprint for how heavily promoted they were at the time. While something like Batman has had an outsized influence perhaps beyond what the quality of the show actually deserved. I would also add Eek the Cat, Aah Real Monsters, and Mighty Max (remember that? Boy that takes me back to barely above infancy). I think a lot of them just haven't had easy streaming releases or accessibility; even Pokemon season 1, which was all the rage in 1999, is surprisingly hard to find. You're inundated with something one day, and I guess eventually time marches by until you're the only one left remembering it... yet remember it we do.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

The thread has well moved on from it, but I agree the animated Addams Family, Beetlejuice, and Men in Black have had zero pop culture footprint for how heavily promoted they were at the time. While something like Batman has had an outsized influence perhaps beyond what the quality of the show actually deserved. I would also add Eek the Cat, Aah Real Monsters, and Mighty Max (remember that? Boy that takes me back to barely above infancy). I think a lot of them just haven't had easy streaming releases or accessibility; even Pokemon season 1, which was all the rage in 1999, is surprisingly hard to find. You're inundated with something one day, and I guess eventually time marches by until you're the only one left remembering it... yet remember it we do.

Were Eek! The Cat and Mighty Max ever really that popular? There was a popular toyline for Mighty Max, but the show was based on the toyline. Even the Wikipedia page admits that the toyline was far more popular than the show itself. Eek! The Cat had a SNES game, but that was terrible and from what I could gather the show wasn't particularly popular even when it was airing.

The lack of availability for Dragon Tales also really contributed to that show being kinda forgotten.

Isn't Pokemon season 1 really easy to find? It definitely still has complete season releases and i'm pretty sure it can be found on plenty of streaming services.

 

[Fone Bone]

Eek the Cat was a cult favorite among kids at the time. It didn't make a huge splash in pop culture or have a ton of merch but plenty of kids loved it and laughed at it.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Eek the Cat was a cult favorite among kids at the time. It didn't make a huge splash in pop culture or have a ton of merch but plenty of kids loved it and laughed at it.

Probably the same as Camp Lazlo, now that I think about it.

 

[Fone Bone]

What I remember most about it is it wasn't trying to sell me something. It just wanted to make me laugh. Very unusual for the era, even taking into considering the Golden Age of the 1990's was just starting to take off.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

What I remember most about it is it wasn't trying to sell me something. It just wanted to make me laugh. Very unusual for the era, even taking into considering the Golden Age of the 1990's was just starting to take off.

Although it definitely doesn't fit the topic of this thread, at least I don't think so.

 

[Fone Bone]

It does and it doesn't. It WAS popular back then but I don't think it was forgotten.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

It does and it doesn't. It WAS popular back then but I don't think it was forgotten.

I NEVER hear it get brought up. Honestly i'm not sure i've ever heard of it myself, although the name and art style sort of seem vaguely familiar. The info I brought up is stuff I looked up. Definitely never watched it.

 

[Fone Bone]

You had to have been a certain age.

 

[Silverstar]

I used to watch Eek! back in the 90's when it premiered on Fox Kids; it was almost like a (then) modern-day Looney Tunes throwback. When the Fox Family channel launched, Eek! headlined their afternoon block, The Basement. I haven't heard much about the show since then. I saw Doug Walker (aka Nostalgia Critic) wearing an Eek! T-shirt during one of his non-NC videos. Probably got it from Hot Topic.

 

[Fone Bone]

We all watched it. We all remember it. We all loved it. It's just there is very little evidence of that because of the lack of merch. People not of that age will say "Eek the what?" But Eek was a very important part of Saturday mornings when it was airing.

Edit: Both Eek The Cat and Darkwing Duck aired in a weird era known as The Beforetimes where you could name a character Elmo and not get a funny look. You can't do that anymore.

 

[Silverstar]

^^Yeah, the early years of Fox Kids were very much of the mindset of "We're not here sell toys, we're here to make fun cartoons!" (They were also avowedly against superhero shows when the block first launched, but the rise and success of Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers changed that; ironic how Fox Kids initially vowed that they'd never air a superhero show then ended up becoming #1 because of them.) This was coming off the 80's where 90% of the Saturday morning shows were heavily toy and merch-driven. So Eek! and company were like a breath of fresh air. The downside was that there's not a ton of Eek! merch to show for it.