KILDARE OPINION: The long lost cartoons of the 1990's and 2000's

Recess, Rugrats and the Powerpuff Girls — just some of the classic cartoons of the 1990’s and early 2000’s.

In 2018, it’s Peppa Pig and Paw Petrol.

They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

I was recently feeling nostalgic about some of the cartoons I watched during my childhood (I was a ‘94 baby) when I wasn’t outside playing hide and seek or tip the can, which is a lot more than can be said for the kids of today.

I remember when I was a young one. Every Saturday morning without fail I would make my bowl of cereal, usually Rice Krispies or Crunchy Nut, and watch back-to-back cartoons on the only channel I could at the time — RTÉ Two.

Now kids have a choice of SKY, Netflix, YouTube or PlayStation. It was far from any of them I was reared.

Of course there were the classics, The Simpsons, Rugrats, Pokémon, Bear in the Big Blue House. But there are so many forgotten favourites.

Recess was one of my all time favourites. Remember the famous six, T.J, Ashley, Vince, Gus, Gretchen and Mikey? The fourth-graders keeping King Bob and his minions at bay.

Not a cartoon but nonetheless still a 90’s classic, Sister, Sister starring twins Tia and Tamera Mowry. According to Wikipedia, in January 2018, a revival of Sister, Sister was confirmed and is currently in the works.

American teen sitcom Kenan and Kel were two other household names when it was originally released in the late 1990’s.

In the early 2000’s, Goosebumps was the scariest thing on TV, in my opinion. Even the theme tune still gives me shivers.

“BRACEFACE, my life gets complicted, BOYFRIEND, don’t wanna talk about it, TEENAGE I’ll work it out in the end, BRACEFACE!”. That Braceface theme tune has been cemented in my head since my school days.

It doesn’t get more Old Skool than The Flintstones though. Fred and Wilma, and neighbours Barney and BettyRubble. According to the interweb, the show convinced a generation of children that dinosaurs and humans occupied the planet at the same time.

Kim Possible was my of my favourite childhood cartoon characters — she was the ultimate superhero, clever and cunning.

Remember child genius Dexter and his laboratory and his pesky sister Dee Dee? 

Not forgetting Pepper Ann, which was another stereotypical teen classic, debuting in 1997, following Pepper Ann and the ups and downs of adolescents.

And they’re just a handful of some of the classics down through the years.

I’d love to hear your favourites, email me at sarah.peppard@leinsterleader.ie!