Nostalgia vs. Quality (The TV And Movies Of Yester-Year)
Turtle mania is sweeping the nation just like it's 1991 all over again. I was looking forward to the new movie, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I also enjoyed it thoroughly, so I'm not too surprised that it is as big of hit as it has become.
That being said, I'm extremely nostalgic. Much to the chagrin of my wife, I will seek out old shows or movies that I watched as a kid and see if they hold up. My biggest hope is to see if they give me the same feeling they did as a kid. (We all want to be a kid again right?) Usually the answer is "no," but every so often I'm reminded of why I did like it initially. And in an even more rare scenario, they are just as good as I remembered.
I hope I'm not a total lame-ass for doing this, but over the years I've checked out things from my youth, if nothing else for just a laugh. The following is some of the things I've checked out and whether or not it stands the test of time; or whether you can let your nostalgia blind you to its ridiculousness and still enjoy it. I must forewarn that this is strictly a "dude" list. I'm sure girls watched some of these shows, but for the most part I can't see girls getting too much from this list... but maybe I'm wrong?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the cartoon
The first thing that always pops into my head when I think of being a kid. I lived for Saturday morning to watch this. The problem is, it doesn't hold up at all. I was totally let down watching an episode of this. I couldn't even make it all the way through. It's definitely made for small children (duh), and not even nostalgia can make up for that. On the plus side, the theme song is still awesome and worth listening to. Just remember that part if nothing else.
TMNT Original 3 Movies
Sticking with the same theme here, we have the original three turtle movies. The second one, was actually one of the first movies I ever saw in the theater. I'm ashamed to say I slept through part of it. The first movie captures what the turtles were all about. It had attitude and wasn't neutered like the second one was. The third one had a plethora of things wrong with it, and I don't recommend viewing it at all. As for the first two, watch number one, and if you're digging it, check out number two as well. You're not guaranteed to enjoy it, but certainly won't enjoy two if you don't enjoy one. Two is definitely more kid-friendly (not that the first one wasn't), with almost no use of their weapons, no swearing (there was minimal in the first one) and has Vanilla Ice making a cameo. For some people (myself included) maybe the latter is a good thing. I enjoy number two, but I may be looking at through the proverbial rose-tinted glasses. Number one, while dated, I do think captures the spirit of the turtles. You can make the argument it doesn't hold up, but you can make the argument that it does.
Sonic the Hedgehog
I latched on to Sonic later in my elementary school years, and this was another one I remember having an awesome theme song. (Strange how you remember those little things.) I think I watched 2 episodes of this and couldn't take it anymore. It was really lame. The worst part of all was the theme song was nothing like I remembered, and now this show is ruined forever for me. If you liked this one, don't check it out, it won't be pretty.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
You're already rolling your eyes at this one. I know, I know. I saw it on Netflix and figured, "what the hell?" Is it lame? Absolutely! Did I enjoy it? Yeah I did. Don't get me wrong, some of it was terrible, and the Japanese portions of the show are painfully obvious now. As a kid though, I remember the 5-part Green Ranger origin episodes being epic. And with the company of my young daughter who enjoys the Pink Ranger, I got to relive those Green Ranger episodes. And I got to say, those five really were the pinnacle of the show. I genuinely enjoyed them. I do recommend those. The rest of the show can be really hit or miss. Enter at your own risk. And... GO GREEN RANGER!!!
Transformers cartoon
More than meets the eye. This cartoon was 10+ years ahead of its time. I was pretty stoked to watch it again. And unfortunately, I wished I hadn't. I actually received the first season as a gift. I may have watched it all, but I remember it being pretty painful by the end. Sadly, this doesn't hold up at all.
X-Men the Animated Series
This cartoon is actually the basis for this blog entry. After watching the Days of Future Past movie, I've been on a quest to absorb all things X-Men again. I've watched the hell out of this show. With the exception of the next cartoon, this is the best case scenario for our old shows of our youth. I love the X-Men, so naturally I love this show. Yes, some of the jokes are really terrible. And you legitimately want to strangle annoying ass Jubilee with her stupid sparkles shooting out of her fingers, but she goes away for quite long stretches at a time, which eases the pain. But the character development is good. It's actually pretty deep for a kid's show; the premise of course being prejudice. Beast says some things that are so intelligent, that at 28, are still over my head. This is good one, bottom line. And most importantly of all, the theme is still ass-kickin'.
Batman the Animated Series
This is the one cartoon that's better than X-Men. The gold standard for super hero cartoons, even to this day. This along with X-Men both came out in 1992, which was clearly a hell of year for children's television. This show is dark, emotional, thought-provoking, and just plain incredible. The first two seasons in particular are recommended viewing for any Batman fan.
Animaniacs
This one I stumbled into on Amazon Prime. I had kind of forgotten about it, and I was leery at first, but found myself laughing at some pretty sophisticated jokes. There was definitely tons that was flying over my head as a kid, and obviously understood it now. Also finding out that Wacko's voice was based on John Lennon's only served to score it some brownie points. Check it out.
The Simpsons
Yes it's crap now, but watch some from the 90's. Man, they are hilarious. The earlier in the decade the better. You could start with the extraordinary season 6.
Batman
It's 1989, and it's the first major superhero movie without Superman. I loved this movie as a kid. Sure Jack Nicholson's Joker has been forever overshadowed by Heath Ledger's, but come on. We initially thought Jack was untouchable. Anyway, my first viewing of this after seeing Batman Begins I was thinking, "That doesn't seem as dark as I remember." Almost cartoony in some aspects. Keaton does seem like a ridiculous Batman compared to Bale, and was thought of as such (ridiculous I mean) until the movie came out and everyone's perception was changed. Still, I find it an enjoyable flick. I would be interested to see what others think after seeing the Nolan-era Batman movies. If nothing else, the Batmobile is pretty iconic.
Milo and Otis
Yes the movie about a cat and dog. I always had a soft spot for this, until I found out that numerous "Milos" were killed during the making of it. How did this happen? It was made in Japan, which apparently had different animal rights regulations at the time. I'm no PETA guy by any means, but it kind of ruins the movie knowing that multiple cats were killed making this movie.
The Sandlot
This movie is great. A good story about a bunch of boys being boys. The part with the dog at the end is kind of weak, but not detrimental to the film in any way. I don't know whatever happened to Ham, but that kid was funny.
Heavyweights
As a kid, I thought of this movie as the cousin of the Mighty Ducks. It had a lot of the same kids in it and obviously the same type of humor. Now, I feel that this movie is far superior than any of the three Ducks movies. (Check out D1 and maybe D2. D3 is a little out there for my tastes.) Much like Sandlot, its boys being boys, and somewhat made you think twice before teasing that fat kid in your class. OK maybe it didn't necessarily do that, but it's still a good movie to watch.
Cool Runnings
Yet another movie from roughly the same time frame as the previous two, and my personal favorite. It's based on a true story, so that never hurts from a rewatch-ability standpoint. It's loaded with comedy and one-liners that I still quote to this day. Hey Derice, ya dead? Or the immortal: No problem mon! I like this movie so much that it's probably in my top 20 all time favorites. I don't think it feels dated in any way, and any movie that is inspiring and makes you laugh your ass off, is a winner in my book.
That being said, I'm extremely nostalgic. Much to the chagrin of my wife, I will seek out old shows or movies that I watched as a kid and see if they hold up. My biggest hope is to see if they give me the same feeling they did as a kid. (We all want to be a kid again right?) Usually the answer is "no," but every so often I'm reminded of why I did like it initially. And in an even more rare scenario, they are just as good as I remembered.
I hope I'm not a total lame-ass for doing this, but over the years I've checked out things from my youth, if nothing else for just a laugh. The following is some of the things I've checked out and whether or not it stands the test of time; or whether you can let your nostalgia blind you to its ridiculousness and still enjoy it. I must forewarn that this is strictly a "dude" list. I'm sure girls watched some of these shows, but for the most part I can't see girls getting too much from this list... but maybe I'm wrong?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the cartoon
TMNT Original 3 Movies
Sticking with the same theme here, we have the original three turtle movies. The second one, was actually one of the first movies I ever saw in the theater. I'm ashamed to say I slept through part of it. The first movie captures what the turtles were all about. It had attitude and wasn't neutered like the second one was. The third one had a plethora of things wrong with it, and I don't recommend viewing it at all. As for the first two, watch number one, and if you're digging it, check out number two as well. You're not guaranteed to enjoy it, but certainly won't enjoy two if you don't enjoy one. Two is definitely more kid-friendly (not that the first one wasn't), with almost no use of their weapons, no swearing (there was minimal in the first one) and has Vanilla Ice making a cameo. For some people (myself included) maybe the latter is a good thing. I enjoy number two, but I may be looking at through the proverbial rose-tinted glasses. Number one, while dated, I do think captures the spirit of the turtles. You can make the argument it doesn't hold up, but you can make the argument that it does.
Sonic the Hedgehog
I latched on to Sonic later in my elementary school years, and this was another one I remember having an awesome theme song. (Strange how you remember those little things.) I think I watched 2 episodes of this and couldn't take it anymore. It was really lame. The worst part of all was the theme song was nothing like I remembered, and now this show is ruined forever for me. If you liked this one, don't check it out, it won't be pretty.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Transformers cartoon
More than meets the eye. This cartoon was 10+ years ahead of its time. I was pretty stoked to watch it again. And unfortunately, I wished I hadn't. I actually received the first season as a gift. I may have watched it all, but I remember it being pretty painful by the end. Sadly, this doesn't hold up at all.
X-Men the Animated Series
Batman the Animated Series
This is the one cartoon that's better than X-Men. The gold standard for super hero cartoons, even to this day. This along with X-Men both came out in 1992, which was clearly a hell of year for children's television. This show is dark, emotional, thought-provoking, and just plain incredible. The first two seasons in particular are recommended viewing for any Batman fan.
Animaniacs
This one I stumbled into on Amazon Prime. I had kind of forgotten about it, and I was leery at first, but found myself laughing at some pretty sophisticated jokes. There was definitely tons that was flying over my head as a kid, and obviously understood it now. Also finding out that Wacko's voice was based on John Lennon's only served to score it some brownie points. Check it out.
The Simpsons
Yes it's crap now, but watch some from the 90's. Man, they are hilarious. The earlier in the decade the better. You could start with the extraordinary season 6.
Batman
It's 1989, and it's the first major superhero movie without Superman. I loved this movie as a kid. Sure Jack Nicholson's Joker has been forever overshadowed by Heath Ledger's, but come on. We initially thought Jack was untouchable. Anyway, my first viewing of this after seeing Batman Begins I was thinking, "That doesn't seem as dark as I remember." Almost cartoony in some aspects. Keaton does seem like a ridiculous Batman compared to Bale, and was thought of as such (ridiculous I mean) until the movie came out and everyone's perception was changed. Still, I find it an enjoyable flick. I would be interested to see what others think after seeing the Nolan-era Batman movies. If nothing else, the Batmobile is pretty iconic.
Milo and Otis
Yes the movie about a cat and dog. I always had a soft spot for this, until I found out that numerous "Milos" were killed during the making of it. How did this happen? It was made in Japan, which apparently had different animal rights regulations at the time. I'm no PETA guy by any means, but it kind of ruins the movie knowing that multiple cats were killed making this movie.
The Sandlot
Heavyweights
As a kid, I thought of this movie as the cousin of the Mighty Ducks. It had a lot of the same kids in it and obviously the same type of humor. Now, I feel that this movie is far superior than any of the three Ducks movies. (Check out D1 and maybe D2. D3 is a little out there for my tastes.) Much like Sandlot, its boys being boys, and somewhat made you think twice before teasing that fat kid in your class. OK maybe it didn't necessarily do that, but it's still a good movie to watch.
Cool Runnings
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