Back in the 80s, as you readied your bowl of cereal in front of the glowing electric box we all have grown to love, there were quite a few shows that soon became Pop-Cultural icons. One such show was the series Thundercats. 'Thundercats:Exodus' was the first episode in that series showing the other world beings called Thundercats (part human/part cats) crashland on Third Earth (a future Earth having gone through several golden and dark years) as their own planet of Thundera is destroyed. Thundercat Prince Lion-O must find a place on the strange new world for his subjects while discovering what it really means to be a leader.

Another great cartoon of the 80s was the cartoon 'He-Man, Vol. 1'. In this series we are introduced to the world of Eternia and it's super strong protector: He-Man. He-Man must contend with the evil wizard Skeletor who continuously tries to control the magical Castle Greyskull. In the movie 'He-Man and She-Ra - The Secret of the Sword' He-Man discovers that he has a twin sister named She-Ra who was stolen at birth and now battles on the planet Etheria. They later join together again in the video 'He-Man/She-Ra Christmas Special'.

And who could forget the series cartoon 'Transformers - First Season Collector's Edition'? Stranded on Earth, the Autobots and thier evil enemies The Decepticons, try to return to thier home world of Cybertron. Taking various forms, the Transformer Robots can take many shapes from cars, planes, boomboxes and even insects. In the episode 'Transformers Vol. 9 - Grimlock the Hero' we even see robot Dinosaurs! The Transformers even received the big screen treatment in the movie 'The Transformers - The Movie'.

And if you STILL haven't had enough of other world adventures I suggest you check out 'The Original Voltron, Defenders of the Universe - Fleet of Doom (Vol. 1)'. It's about a select group of 20 somethings who are chosen to command a team of high-tech giant robot lions. Each lion has a special ability according to which element it adapts to best. When things just get a little too hairy, the lions can merge together to form a powerful robot called Voltron. One of my favorite episodes is 'The Original Voltron, Defender of the Universe - The Princess Joins Up (Vol. 4)'.

Comic book characters were even huge pulls for cartoon. The show Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends highlighted the super hero and his two roomate friends: Firestar and Iceman. In the video 'Spider Man and his Amazing Friends: A Firestar is Born Vol 2 - Spider-Man Joins Forces with the X-men' we discover that both Firestar and Iceman were actually members of the fabled X-Men. Spidey even joins the two on an X-Men reunion in the episode 'Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends: The X-Men Adventure'. The X-Men themselves were even huge successes on the small screen. The first video released was 'Pryde of the X-Men'. Similar to the animated syle of G.I. Joe, it was very visually appealing. In the early 90s X-Men was given another show with 'X-Men - Night Of The Sentinels/Days of Future - Special Edition'. As opposed to the character Kitty Pryde playing 'Dorthy' in the land of X, Jubilation Lee (Jubilee) is given the introduction treatment. Out of all the episodes in that series I really like 'X-Men - Rogue - Rogue's Tale/Beauty and the Beast' due to the highly involving storyline with the character Rogue and the 'X-Men - The Phoenix Saga' storyline which was taken almost word for word from the original comic. Another great comic book character is the pony-tailed hero 'Sailor Moon - A Heroine Is Chosen (TV Show, Vol. 1)'.

Swords and sorcery cartoons were also very popular. One of the most popular cartoons was 'Dungeons & Dragons: Search of Dungeon Master'. In this cartoon, a group of young friends go to their local amusement park and take a spin on the new Dungeons and Dragons ride. Unfortunately for them, they never make it out as they discover they are trapped in a strange new world where magic is as common as the air they breath. Another great magical cartoon is 'Miss Switch Mystery Special'. Local 'brain' Rupert Brown III discovers that the new substitute teacher is a real live witch who desperately needs his savvy computer smarts to stop an evil coven of witches from destroying her. You might remember the cartoon running on ABC's Weekend Special, hosted by the animated orange cat O.G. Readmore. Magic and history melted together in the ever informative 'Luno:Missing Genie' and 'Luno:Whos Dragon'. Luno was a wonderful Terry Tunes cartoon in which a young boy says some magic words to his marble toy horse and it suddenly comes alive and whisks him off to many historic pasts.

As proven by the popularity of She-Ra and Sailormoon, cartoons weren't just for the boys. Girl cartoons were highly popular, even among many boys! 'Jem - Passport to Rock (Vol. 1)' was one of the biggest hits to come from the 80s. It was a story about a woman named Jerica who inherited a record company from her late father but needed a new gimick to bring in fan interest. That's where her other inheritance comes in: the Starlight Earings! When she squeezes them and says "Showtime Synergy!" she becomes the pink haired super star Jem! Another great episode is 'Jem - Fashion Fiasco (Vol. 2)'. Another 'colorful' character from the same time-period was 'Rainbow Brite'. Punky Brewster-like Rainbow Bright lives just over the rainbow and used them to travel to different lands on her magical horse. She tries to stop villians like Merky who try to make gloom where ever they go. And who could forget 'My Little Pony:the Movie'? It's the story of group of unicorned and winged horses who spread love with their ever present good hearts. And speaking of good hearts, who could ever forget 'Here Come the Littles / Animated'. Tiny people living in walls, with thimbles for pots and matchbooks for beds, makes for a very cute cartoon.

One of my favorite cartoons from the 90s is Disney's 'Gargoyles / Animated'. Stone statues by day, fierce warriors of good by night. This has to be one of the smartest and interesting cartoons made. Too bad it has yet to receive the DVD treatment. Another great 90s cartoon was the Wildstorm Comics owned Wildcats. In the episode 'Big Takedown/Cry of Coda/Evil', the Wildcats (a group of super powered heroes who's ancestors are from another planet) must stop alien invaders from taking over the world. For more great Wildcats episodes I recommend also 'Endgame 1 & 2/Love's in the Ba'.