GeekCastRadioToonCastTop 100

The Top 100 – Animated Series – 100-81

The countdown officially begins! Join the crew as they discover the identity of the first 20 shows on the countdown. Hear them debate the merits of educational cartoons, discover the surprising first two superhero entries, and find out which of our hosts has one of his top ten picks come in during the very first episode.

Geeks:

Kevin “OptimusSolo” Thompson

Steve “Megatron” Phillips

Mike “TFG1” Blanchard

DiRT from the Pop Culture Network

UNLEASH THE TOON IN YOU!!

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Kevin "OptimusSolo"

OptimusSolo is a Cartoon Historian and even has an actual History degree to go with it. He's also an avid Toy collector boasting an over 1,000 piece Star Wars collection and nearly 400 Transformer toys. He is one of the hosts of the Powers of Grayskull series. He also has a passion for cartoon Theme Songs, Star Trek, MacGyver, Baseball, and is a major Movie Geek!

24 Comments

  1. I think it would be a good idea to recap the list in written form when your done.

  2. I think there was a problem in the recording. The episode I got off my podcast catcher topped out at 47 minutes or so. I didn’t hear what #88 – 81 were.

  3. Something you should note about Evangelion: it only lasted one season because it was telling a single story with a beginning, middle, and, well, the last episodes made no sense and couldn’t really be counted as a good ending, but that was due to censor issues and the uncensored ending was released as a movie. That movie ended with basically the end of the world, so there couldn’t be any more episodes. Those 26 episodes and movie did get rereleased and remastered in more “special editions” than Star Wars, toys from the series continue to sell, and there’s now remake of the series in the form of a new movie trilogy from a different director (the second movie of which is currently playing in American arthouses, and its $125,000 and counting box office take isn’t too shabby for a film that’s only played in 15 theaters at most and usually for only one weekend per theater), so I’d say it’s been sufficiently pimped out like most of the big successful cartoons out there. It not only influenced other anime, but current earthquake recovery efforts in Japan. Seriously!

    https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-03-12/evangelion-inspires-real-operation-yashima-after-quake

    So yeah, it’s kind of a pretty big deal. It’s telling that in a fandom as flavor-of-the-month and ADD as anime fandom, it’s still talked about extensively 16 years since it aired. It’d be in my personal top 25, and in terms of general popularity and influence, it definitely deserves higher than spot 99.

  4. Thanks for the info. I can see your point. But as we said in Ep 20 we aren’t knowledgeable in anime that much. Keep listening and let us know what you think of the rest of the countdown.

  5. Powerpuff Girls only #100? MAJOR FAIL!

    I am listening right now, and they are only up to Hong Kong Phooey. I suppose these young’uns don’t remember that Hong Kong Phooey was the first black cartoon character.

    I suppose these guys are too young to remember all the great cartoon shows of the sixties, all the Gerry Anderson stuff, Colonel Bleep, Dodo: The Kid From Outer Space; Funny Company, Davey and Goliath, etc. And even earlier – Spunky and Tadpole, Ruff n’ Ready, Crusader Rabbit.

    Of course I am old enough to have watched The Alvin Show, The Flintstones, and Beany and Cecil in their first runs.

    Okay, first of the classic HB shows, Huckleberry Hound at #94. WTF?

    Okay, wonder what other ratings these guys will get totally FUBAR.

    EJKorvette on the boards

  6. I’m so glad that Arthur, Recess, The Magic School Bus and Mighty Max made this list! I should have been on this episode with you guys, especially since I put Arthur as #6 on my list, but it’s shaping out pretty well so far. I think my only contention is that Arthur should have been in the top 50 as well as Neon Genesis Evangelion.

  7. @EJKorvette We will address your comments at the end of the countdown but just wanted to point out a few things since it seems like you didn’t listen to episode 20. We actually range in age from 18 to over 40 years old so although we dont have any 50+ year old people we are def NOT ALL ‘youngins’.

    Also, I understand you thinking Huckleberry Hound should be higher on the list but I find it odd that you don’t recognize the fact that both myself and Mike BOTH stated on the episode that we thought it deserved to be MUCH higher!

    Also, I am well aware about Hong Kong Phooey’s cultural significance, just because we didn’t bring up every fact about the show does not mean we are ignorant of such fact. We didn’t want the episode to run 5+ hours haha. Plus, at least we had HKP on our list, IGN DIDN’T!!!

    And finally, I am a HUGE classic cartoon buff. I have made pages for EVERY single cartoon you mentioned at behindthevoiceactors.com!! But let’s be serious, other than possibly Ruff and Reddy [which for being the retro enthusiast you seem to think you are I found it interesting that you spelled the show incorrectly ;)] or Crusader Rabbit none of the ones you listed belong anywhere near a top 100 of ALL-TIME list.

    Please keep listening though I would love to hear your thoughts as we move along.

  8. I have to disagree with Steve about the ’60s Spider-man being on the list. It definitely deserves a place on the list because, aside from “Amazing Friends”, this was the first animated encounter with Spider-man for many geeks and geek-ettes.

    Not only that, but compared to the “Marvel Super-Heroes” cartoon series that aired during the same period, “Spider-man” was the better made series. Where as “Spider-man” was done in traditional 2-D cel animation, “Marvel Super-Heroes” was just panels from the actual comic books turned into a ‘motion comic’. I still love that series, for purely nerdy reasons, but it was not as good as “Spider-man”

    Plus, it had THE GREATEST THEME SONG EVER!!!

  9. @JT
    I am not debating the theme but it isn’t the best theme ever just a memorable one. I have never seen the 60’s Spiderman and while I will credit it with being a show belonging in the top 100 for that theme and the fact it was Spidey’s first intro in the cartoon world it is not as good as Spiderman ’94. I will agree that it is better than Spiderman and his Amazing Friends in that I knew the theme for the one over the other. Just saying.

    @EJKorvette
    I am sorry that you feel Powerpuff Girls was a fail but it isn’t in the league of some of the shows coming in down the pipeline. As for HKP it was a great show but we weren’t going for full detail on these moreso glossing over them and stating why we chose what we did unlike IGN. ToonCast our other show tells the full details from some of these shows.

    True I am too young to remember the other shows from the 60’s but as Kevin said with looking them up they maybe nostalgia based but they warrant no place in this list. We do have older stuff even with Spidey from the 60’s so we are ranging all over in selections. I watched the original Alvin, Flintstones with my parents in reruns in the late 80’s and early 90’s so I remember and love those as well.

    As for Huckleberry Hound while it was a great show and probably should have been a little higher, it at least made the list. So we again are still hitting that older cartoon listings and at least have them unlike IGN who focuses on all things current in theirs for the most part.

    Sorry you feel our list is off but I think with a collaborations with 5 geek networks that it is much more accurate with all different backgrounds and likes whereas again IGN is more adult toon oriented.

    Keep listening and let us know your comments in the next episode. And as Kevin said listen to the others and let us know but we will have a call-in and response show separate to these after all is said and done so feel free to call when that time comes.

  10. @Steve/Megatron: I completely understand. I guess everyone has a favorite and “Spider-man ’67” was mine. “Spider-man ’94” was well done over all (animation, voice acting, writing, etc.) but I love the bat-crap insane plots of Spidey fighting the comically inept Dr. Octopus and Green Goblin and blue-faced baboon people from Dimension X. LoL!

  11. You people have horrible taste in animation. Just because you 6 when a show was on DOES NOT MAKE IT ONE OF THE TOP 100 SHOWS. Also disregarding anime as a whole is pretty stupid.

    1. @Sadsic maybe you should listen to episode 20 before you make too many more ignorant comments. Love feedback don’t get me wrong but we address most of this in episode 20

  12. @Sadsic How do we have horrible taste. This is a collaboration between all of the 5 networks. Plus if you had listened to episode 20 you would know we do not know anime nor do we claim to. One of the networks primarily voted those in. We all weren’t 6 at the time either as we also range in age. I can’t argue with older shows if I wasn’t around for them nor would I try.

  13. The only other quibble I have with this first set of shows is the placement of “Robotech”. I agree with the reasons why it where it is. I am just saying I would have placed it in the Top 50. The story, characters and themes in the series were all reasons I started taking a closer look at the animated series that I watched.

  14. Tim thanks for the support and all, but i deleted your link in the first comment. WE will publish the master list after the podcast episodes are all released. The point of us doing a podcast version is so people have to listen in and find out what makes our list plus listening will allow people to hear WHY we rank shows where they are ranked. It isn’t just some post on a website.

    Your voicemail will be played in The GCRN Top 100 Animated Series Wrap Up……which will be a episode after episode 25 is released.

  15. So far I feel like you have a very good list. I left a voicemail with my feedback on some of the shows, but I will make a few general comments here as well.

    The one show I heard you guys mention that didn’t make the list, Thundarr the Barbarian, was a disappointment, but I understand that it doesn’t have the popularity of other shows. So perhaps it doesn’t deserve to be on the top 100, but I truly enjoy it.

    The Powerpuff Girls was everywhere, as you said, so it deserves a spot. Neon Genesis Evangelion and Robotech are very good, very well-known series. I have seen them and enjoyed them both. While many anime fans won’t like the low ranking, I think they are well-ranked within the top 100.

    SWAT Kats is on Boomerang, so I have seen it occasionally, but I didn’t grow up with it. The jet design is amazing. Not sure it should be on the top 100, but at the stop it sits, i think it’s fair.

    Captain Planet is not a great show by any stretch, but for the time it was what it was. I love the DIC animation, and I think it deserves a spot, and it is in a reasonable spot.

    Hong Kong Fuey and Huckelberry are great shows. The latter probably deserves a higher ranking, but not much higher. I wouldn’t rank it higher than 50, for sure, but it would likely fall in the 70’s on my list. No major issues here.

    Fat Albert was big when I was young. It was on a long time and I liked watching Bill drawing at the board. I can’t watch the show nowadays though.

    Carmen Sandiego. Another DIC show. Glad to see it on here. Surprised it ranked so high, actually. But no problem.

    Not an Adult Swim fan, so I wouldn’t know much about the Birdman.

    Mobile Suit Gundam was the show I watched and it was awesome. The franchise deserves a spot here.

    C.O.P.S. and Jem have great upbeat themes. Two very memorable themes. And Jem’s theme is very well-known. Just start singing it and many people will be able to finish it with you. C.O.P.S. was fun in the 90’s, but I can barely watch it now. As Kevin said, in small doses it is okay.

    I never saw Magic School Bus, Arthur, Recess, Static Shock or Mighty Max, so I’ll take your word for it that these are good. I have heard of Recess and Arthur, but not the others.

    Good spot for Woody.

    Spidey ranks well. It has the memorable theme song and it was the first Spider-Man cartoon, to my knowledge. So it deserves a spot. I tried to watch some episodes I borrowed from a friend and I didn’t make it past the first disk. Rudimentary animation and basic, although very funny plots. Enjoyable and good for some laughs.

    Looking forward to the next 20!

  16. Oh, a general comment. When you guys are discussing the shows, remember not to use so many pronouns. While you were discussing number 97, SWAT Kats, you referred to “it” several times. I had to rewind to remind myself which show you were discussing. You might consider name-dropping throughout the discussion a few times for those listening who may become distracted.

  17. No problem, Mike. I will leave feedback for each show. And I need to call to leave final feedback for Toon Cast soon. Cheers.

  18. I wouldn’t put Jem, Captain Planet, or Static Shock in a top ONE THOUSAND.

    Robotech… ought be listed as Macross. I understand that Robotech gave us anime, and it was a brilliant piece of localization that has yet to be topped. But really, the second and third sagas of Robotech are not that good. Also, whenever anyone praises Robotech, they’re talking about the Macross Saga. We’d all like to forget that Dana Sterling ever existed.

  19. powerpuff girls i think should be higher
    neon genesis evangelion am fine where it’s placed IGN put it at #10 too high
    robotech needs to be a little bit higher
    swat Katz i don’t know this but am fine where it’s placed
    hong kong phooey good sopt
    captain planet should not be on this list
    huckleberry hound needs to be a little bit higher
    fat albert needs to be higher
    moble suit gundam wing i would put zeta gundam over gundam wing
    carmen sandiego ok placement
    harvey birdman like the theme song but i don’t it needs to be on this list
    magic school bus am only ok if it was #100
    c.o.p.s i don’t know this show but i prefer the fox cops over this
    jem nothing to say
    recess i like this show glad to see it here
    arthur ok fine placement
    woody wood pecker good placement for a original classic
    static shock nothing to say
    mighty max nothing to say
    spiderman 60’s i don’t this one even being on here but yet it’s at #81

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