Bumpers: Disney Afternoon

I guess I'll file this as a bumper...

Back before Disney became the evil conglomerate that it is today, they provided kids with quality shows that didn't involve the caterwauling of nasal-voiced teenagers. The Disney Afternoon was a staple in the TV viewing habits of kids born in the 80s.

My Disney Afternoon programs of choice included The Gummi Bears, Duck Tales, Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers, Tale Spin, Goof Troop, and once in awhile, Darkwing Duck. I tried to give Bonkers a chance, but that show was absolutely abysmal. The made more than one dig at it on Animaniacs for a good reason. Plus, unlike its predecessors, it didn't have an awesome theme song. Soon after, I abandoned The Disney Afternoon, due to the line-up changes and my impending puberty.

Here's the first intro, featuring characters from the original four (The Gummi Bears, Duck Tales, Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers and Tale Spin), plus Darkwing Duck, whose show was in the works at the time:



Here's another version, with the addition of characters from Darkwing Duck, Goofy, Max, and (ugh) Bonkers:



There was apparently a soundtrack that was sold in stores (I'm going to have to scavenge the local used record stores now). Here's the full version of the Disney Afternoon theme. You gotta love the jazzy flute solo:

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

This entry is different from the usual, because I didn't actually watch this when it aired. However, this show is from the early 90s, so it's not exactly off-topic. I discovered the awesomeness of The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog through my younger brothers, who watched the reruns on USA during the later half of the 90s, after new episodes were no longer being produced.

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was yet another cartoon series based on a popular video game. I've always had a soft spot for the old school Sonic games, so I don't know why I originally missed this.

This show was a low-budget crapfest... and that's what made it so great. It was oozing with campiness. Examples:

The animation was mediocre at best. Also, the colorist should have been fired.

The storylines were extremely slapstick and beyond corny.

This show gave the New Kids on the Block cartoon serious competition for the Worst Sound Effects in Animation Award.

Catch-phrase after catch-phrase ("Let's speed, keed!", "Gotta blow, Joe!")

The music was absolutely horrid, especially the cheesy rendition of In the Hall of the Mountain King that was sprinkled throughout the soundtrack.

Sonic was voiced by Mr. Steven Q. Urkel.

What late 80s/early 90s show would be complete without a PSA at the end ("Sonic Sez Says")?

Interestingly, another Sonic cartoon aired on ABC at the same time. I got the series on DVD for my brother last Christmas, and I have to say, it was a damn good show, animation, plot, and music-wise. Unlike The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, this one obviously had a budget of more than 60 dollars.

Here's one of the cheesier episodes that I remember. I friggin' love Scratch.

Here's the opening, which was cut out of the video I posted:



Finally, heres a bonus "Sonic Sez". Sonic says that sexual harassment is NO GOOD. I love how they use that cheesy version of In the Hall of the Mountain King in the background. At least they didn't show Robotnik chasing Tails while Sonic was talking.

Denver, the Last Dinosaur

In the late 80s, kids seemed to go dinosaur-crazy. It most likely started with the first Land Before Time movie. Soon, the small screen decided to capitalize on this fad with the introduction of Denver, the Last Dinosaur.

To refresh your memory, here's a summary of the show, courtesy of Wikipedia: The show revolved around the adventures that Denver, a dinosaur who was released from his dino egg by a group of multiracial modern California teens—Jeremy, Mario, Shades, Wally and Casey, along with tagalong little sister Heather. The kids taught Denver the finer points of skateboarding and other Generation X pastimes while protecting him from concert promoter Morton Fizzback. The unscrupulous concert promoter was looking to cash in on Denver’s status to make a quick buck, but the kids were always one step ahead.

This show was typical of late 80s cartoons. Skateboarding, surfer dudes in shades, electric guitars, and if I remember correctly, one of the characters sported one of those horrid "box" haircuts. That's about all I remember about it, other than the theme song.

"Denver the last dinosaur, he's my friend and a whole lot more." ...Yeah, getting my mind out of the gutter now.

Unfortunately, there are virtually NO videos online, other than the theme song. Here's the opening. Very catchy. I'll be singing this all day.



And the closing credits (same song, but with still images from the episodes):

The Super Mario Brothers Super Show

Hey, pisanos! It's The Super Mario Brothers Super Show!

Ah, this show epitomized the cheese of the late eighties and early nineties. It had a rap, canned laughter, former wrestlers posing as video game mascots, ethnic stereotypes, "celebrity" cameos, you name it.

I remember watching this after school when I was about six. However, I dreaded Friday episodes, because there was NO trace of Mario. Stupid Legend of Zelda. I wanted my Mario, dammit!

To this day, I refuse to call the princess "Peach". She'll always be Princess Toadstool to me, partially thanks to this cartoon.

And now for the clips.

The opening theme (is it just me, or does the rapper sound like Flava Flav? And what the hell is a pisano?):



Do the Mario!



Here's a cameo by Magic Johnson:



Did Mario drop the f-bomb?



And finally, a clip from the cartoon segment. After watching this, I decided that I hate Toad. With a passion.

Out of This World

For the record, Out of This World is the show about the alien. Small Wonder is the one about the robot.

I didn't watch this show as religiously as the others I've blogged about, but I feel obligated to do an entry about it, since I did one about Small Wonder and so many people tend to confuse the two.

If you remember the theme song, you might recognize it as Bing Crosby's "Swinging on a Star". It's funny how an old standard is so often associated with a short-lived syndicated series by members of my generation. I'm sure this makes pre-Baby Boomers want to tear their hair out.

So this story had your basic Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch formula:

• Evie discovers she's half-alien
• upon coming of age, Evie receives supernatural powers
• Evie abuses said powers, all while trying to keep her identity a secret
• wacky hijinks ensue

The most notable of Evie's powers was the ability to stop time. To this day, if I could pick any power, that would be it.

Evie's father (who we never saw) was voiced by none other than Bandit. Additionally, her uncle was Plucky Duck.

Here's a full episode, split up into four parts. Enjoy!

Small Wonder

For the record, Small Wonder is the show about the robot. Out of This World is the one about the alien.

In my area, this show came on right before Disney Afternoon. Most people I knew referred to it as "that show with Vicki the Robot". Since I'm a redhead, I heard "You look like Harriet from Small Wonder/that show with Vicki the Robot!" more than once in elementary school. To make matters worse, the actress and I even have the same first name. Dammit, all redheads don't look alike! The last person I want to be compared to is Vicki the Robot's Satan-spawned neighbor.

The Lawson family tries to pass Vicki off as their daughter. They even forge fake adoption papers for her! Illegal much? Plus, you would think that acquaintances of the family would question the fact that Vicki never changed out of that same godawful dress.

Maybe it's just me, but the whole concept of having a slave robot that looks so much like a little girl seems... unethical somehow. I certainly wasn't so bugged by Screech's robot Kevin on Saved by the Bell. At least Kevin wasn't kept in a cabinet in Screech's bedroom.

So it turns out that Harriet's mom was Ferris Bueller's school secretary, among other things. Oh yeah, the kid who played Jamie is NOT Billy Corgan.

The theme song is hilariously bad. Very 1950s-esque. "She's fantastic, made of plastic, microchips here and there" is beyond campy. Since it's cut from the video of the episode I posted, here's the intro:



Here's the pilot episode, broken into two parts: