10 Best Cartoon Shows Of The 80′s

If you’re a child of the 1980’s, this list of 10 best cartoon shows of the 80's will take you back to Saturday morning good times. The 80’s were the start of a new kind of television and the cartoons of the time are indicators of that revolution. Check out this list for your favorites, invite your friends over for a special movie night, and spend some time reminiscing about the good ol’ times of childhood.

1. “The Care Bears” - From the cloudcity of Care-A-Lot, this sickly sweet family debuted in 1981. They keep track of all the bad emotions on earth with their Care-O-Meter and any 80’s child knows that bad emotions are no match for the Care Bear Stare.
2. “Thundercats” - In 1984, the fictional planet of Thundera was destroyed by a band of mutants. The inhabitants were all killed except the Thundercats, who landed on Third Earth. With their leader Lion-O and his Sword of Omens, the Thundercats fought off evil in all forms.
3. “Inspector Gadget” – From 1983 to 1986, Inspector Gadget used his high tech toys to bumble through investigations. On the side, his niece and her pup do the real mystery solving.
4. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” – Mutant yet light-hearted, this crim fighting cartoon group is made up of turtles named after famous artists: Donatello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael. Trained as ninjas by their mutant rat teacher, Splinter, these turtles captured imaginations from 1987 to 1990.
5. “Smurfs” – Everyone loves these little blue buddies. First created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo in the 1950s, Smurfs debuted on television from 1981 until 1990.
6. “GI Joe” – Everyone’s favorite solider, GI Joe first showed up in a 1983 miniseries. He got such a good response that he became the namesake for a real series that ran from 1985 until 1992.
7. “Transformers” – Your kids will say they know what Transformers are, but their high tech bad asses are of a complete different era. As an 80’s kid, you’ll be familiar with the original war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, created to market Transformer toys.
8. “Dangermouse” – This British crime fighting cartoon featured Dangermouse, an adventurous rodent, and his pal Penfold.
9. “Voltron, Defender of the Universe” – From 1984 to 1985, this space show featured a constantly changing army called Voltron who was called upon to protect the country of Arus. First shown as a conglomeration of space vehicles, season two featured Voltron as a robot who, when cut into pieces by an enemy, became five separate robotic lions.
10. “Dungeons and Dragons” - The 1980s had plenty of shows created to advertise products, but this is one of the only shows in TV history based on a game. In “Dungeons and Dragons”, six teenagers enter a magical world and face adventure and dangers.