Are 60s cartoons still watched?

Posted by OpenCantaloupe4790@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 37 comments

When I was a kid in the 90s, British terrestrial TV still ran all the old Hanna Barbera stuff (and its ilk) regularly, things like: Tom and Jerry, Wacky Races, Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Looney Tunes, Smurfs, etc. I’m not sure if these were just considered timeless or if it was part of a specific revival - the Looney Tunes especially had a real moment in the 90s as we had Warner Bros cinemas, Warner Bros stores, Space Jam, Tazos, Taz bars (caramel Freddos), etc. Was this a specific moment or have these cartoons continued to be enjoyed by subsequent kids?

Reply to Post

37 Comments

[-]

Glad_Character_2394@reddit

I introduce my son to Popeye when he was around 3 or 4, although that was 20 odd years ago so internet was still in its infancy. The cartoons were in black and white so a little bit earlier than 60s cartoons but he was obsessed with them. My youngest lot (all under 10) don’t seem as interested. I tried them with Road Runner and Tweety and Sylvester the other day and got a bit of a mixed reception but they seem to like Bugs Bunny and they love Scooby Doo.

[-]

Suspicious_Neck_5156@reddit

Good era Tom and Jerry is from the 40s and 50s. I think it’s the 60s when the animation gets weird and Tom gets really dark eyebrows. Boo.

[-]

ThatBandicoot4769@reddit

My kids don't have a clue what any of these cartoons are. Even when we took them to Disney, none of the characters meant anything to them. Kids just don't watch TV anymore.

[-]

doraisexploring27@reddit

That makes me so sad to hear :( my wife and I are going through fertility treatment and have had a lot of conversations about wanting our future child to watch the shows we watched growing up and not just all the American ‘brain rot’ on YouTube, but it seems the new generations just don’t care about tv characters in the way we used to.

[-]

ThatBandicoot4769@reddit

They watched CBeebies when they were little (Hey Dougee is genius), but they're just into gaming and YouTube now they're older. To be fair, some YouTube content is pretty good. Good luck with your treatment 🤞

[-]

doraisexploring27@reddit

My nephews and niece are obsessed with Bluey, and Paddington (on Netflix). Both seem like really lovely shows for younger kids. And we managed to get my godson into watching Bear in the Big Blue House which brought back a lot of childhood nostalgia!

[-]

buy_me_lozenges@reddit

There's a 24 hour Smurf channel on Roku, presumably there must be some demand for it to be all and day night access.

[-]

N64Andysaurus92@reddit

Or it’s just a very cheap license to obtain.

[-]

Used-Ad9589@reddit

My youngest children still watch classic Scooby Doo and Looney Tunes, until recently, admittedly far less now they have discovered Anime

[-]

-Aze@reddit

I set up streamio on the TV and my little bro (8 years old) watches scooby doo with breakfast (Various eras, but right now he's fixated on Scooby Doo and the 13 ghosts, for some reason)

[-]

NobDeRiro@reddit

You can’t beat the classics. I actually bought some Looney Tunes dvds a while back

[-]

Dedward5@reddit

Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd “Opera” is a work of art, as in the Tom and Jerry Piano concert.

[-]

perishingtardis@reddit

I don't know if Deputy Dawg ever aired in the UK, but I had a VHS of it as a child and still watch it on YouTube sometimes. Some of the humour is quite surreal and is wasted on children :-D https://preview.redd.it/l1z52sis2yig1.png?width=238&format=png&auto=webp&s=dd20f2868f18dd4ee6855843da2abca6053fa712

[-]

OudeArsenaal@reddit

“30 DAYS!”

[-]

Quality_Cabbage@reddit

It certainly did. I watched DD as a child in the 1970s.

[-]

schmoovebaby@reddit

My 9yo likes Tom & Jerry and at a slight tangent, really likes the Sooty Show (which is absolutely hilarious, I was literally crying during the episode when Sweep’s family visits).

[-]

peterbparker86@reddit

I can't remember who made them now but they're of the same genre as those cartoons but I Ioved the mocumentary style ones they did. They were like little clips of how to make a car? Or what happens in the iron factory but they had a funny twist to them. I'm probably not making sense, I wash I could remember them.

[-]

AndrewHinds67@reddit

I think you're referring to the excellent Tex Avery cartoons like The Car of the Future and House of the Future. They were definitely aimed at adults, especially the one with a car designed so that the mother in law sits in a tiny pid right at the back of the car. 🤣

[-]

peterbparker86@reddit

Those are the ones! And I remember the mother in law one too! Brilliant cartoons

[-]

External-Piccolo-626@reddit

I love the Tex Avery stuff.

[-]

AndrewHinds67@reddit

The best!

[-]

MrHotfootJackson@reddit

Used to love watching things like Captain Caveman and the Hair Bear Bunch on CBBC of a morning before school. Then on the weekends it'd be up at the crack of dawn to catch all the old school British stuff on C4, like the Herbs, Camberwick and the Magic Roundabout. Tried to get my little sister to watch the Magic Roundabout film, Dougal and the Blue Cat, when she was about 4. Scared the absolute shite out of her! 😆

[-]

Rude-Possibility4682@reddit

I still watch the Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner stuff, as it still makes me chuckle.

[-]

unbelievablydull82@reddit

I watch old loony tunes and tom and Jerry. My kids enjoy them too

[-]

O_C_Demon@reddit

Everyone should watch Batfink

[-]

PipalaShone@reddit

My wings are like a shield of steel!

[-]

O_C_Demon@reddit

My supersonic sonar radar will help me!

[-]

mattjimf@reddit

Scooby Doo is probably the one that's stuck most. My son just today mentioned knowing a USA snowboarder because she was in an episode of Scooby Doo (Scooby Doo and Guess Who?). There's been a number of different series, but most of them have kept the same formula of action and style of animation (apart from THAT one) that was the staple of the older versions.

[-]

Uhurahoop@reddit

What one? Is there a controversial one?

[-]

mattjimf@reddit

Sorry, it's Velma that was not well received -[Velma](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14153790).

[-]

MiserableAd2744@reddit

My kids loved Tom & Jerry. Slapstick comedy just seemed to tickle their funny bones. Anyone that says they are too violent really doesn’t understand slapstick and probably enjoys Mrs Browns Boys & Miranda.

[-]

Diesel__1991@reddit

I've wondered about this recently, when I'm putting background TV on early in the morning and all the kids programs are modern ones, with the exception of scooby doo still surviving 😂 You used to hear of how the likes of Tom & Jerry were considered too violent now, supposedly encouraging children to whack one another around the face with frying pans etc, but I don't know if there's any truth to that stopping them from being aired. It wouldn't surprise me if that is the case as things are certainly a lot more "gentle" nowadays. Are there other kids cartoons out now where one character is persistently trying to kill the other with a shotgun? 😂 (Elmer Fudd & Bugs Bunny).

[-]

PipalaShone@reddit

I think some have been "cancelled" because of stereotypes of their time no long being acceptable.

[-]

pdp76@reddit

They do really show them on mainstream tv for kids anymore. The stuff kids watch now is absolute crap and the worst ! Source : sat with my grandson watching modern cartoons wondering what the actual fuck are these !

[-]

doraisexploring27@reddit

My wife and I (in our late 20s and early 30s) regularly put Hanna Barbera cartoons on to go to sleep or to chill out to after a long day - mostly Flintstones, Scooby Doo and Top Cat. We both grew up watching them with our parents. One of my friends the same age as me recently said something like ‘you’re literally the only person I know who watches cartoons from the olden days’ so I don’t think it’s the norm much these days, sadly!

[-]

domsp79@reddit

Tried showing them to my kids when they were about 5 and 7. They didn't give a shit sadly

[-]

AutoModerator@reddit

**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - When replying to submission/post please **make genuine efforts to answer the question given**. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' **you may receive a ban for violating this rule**. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*