90's Madness: 4 Shows I loved as a kid that taught me more than I thought a cartoon ever could (Guest Post by Maddy Sulla)

We all know the 90s and early 2000s were a great time for television. Okay, maybe that’s debatable, but there’s definitely no
arguing that 90s and early 2000s kid shows, especially cartoons, totally killed the game. Here are my top 4 amazing and informative cartoons.

 1.     Hey Arnold!

“Move it football head!” and, “stoop kid’s afraid to leave his stoop!” are just two quotes that, when asked, every 90s kid could immediately identify as being from Hey Arnold!, possibly one of, if not the, most awesome and cartoon of our time. Some may say there was far too much bullying going on in this show, but honestly, it’s probably one of the most accurate depictions of growing up in New York City (I didn’t grow up in the city, but I’ve read a lot about the show), and despite this, and the constant jokes, I always came away from every episode with a new lesson. I think that might be what was so great about this show; it used humor to teach us lessons we didn’t even know we needed to learn – although some of the humor was just for the adult’s sake, like this quote I didn’t understand until I was much older.

Then, though, there were the episodes like the one with Big Patty and Rhonda, where two enemies learn to appreciate one another for who they are and even find they have some things in common. I’m telling ya, no matter what that show will always be one of the best!

2.     Rugrats

Ahhhh, Rugrats – the second you heard the familiar sound of its theme song, you knew you were in for twenty-five minutes of pure entertainment. The anticipation of what the babies would get themselves into this time, or what Angelica would do to ruin their fun, would nearly kill you! This show taught me a lot about friendship; I mean, come on, Tommy and Chuckie were like the ultimate bros! Tommy spent most of his time trying to help Chuckie overcome his ridiculous fears – now that is a true friend!

 

3.     The Wild Thornberrys
 I mean, what kid wouldn’t love a show about a family who follows around wild animals in exotic places and always seems to get themselves into some sort of bizarre situation in every episode? Throw in the fact that Eliza can talk to the animals, Darwin has a cheeky British accent despite being a Chimpanzee, and Donnie is, well, Donnie. On the real though, this show taught me a lot about nature, like, way more than I ever realized. Like, the episode “Forget Me Not,” where the family searches for Rebecca, an elephant that Nigel had saved twenty years ago. Not only did that episode make me sob like an infant, but it also taught me that elephants have excellent memories – coincidence that elephants are now my favorite animals? I think not! OH! And let’s not forget the time they made the Rugrats Go Wild movie – pure gold!

 

4.     Rocket Power

My dad and I still to this day do the Rocket Power handshake (you know the one). It’s almost like a right of passage for every 90s kid who watched the show. Let’s face it, these kids were total bad asses who sometimes got into trouble (and Reymundo was definitely a bit of a stoner looking back), but in the end, they always did the right thing and learned something valuable – and who didn’t love the wise words of Uncle Tito? This show also taught me a lot about friendship and how important it is to stick by those who stick by you. Reggie, Otto, Twister and Squid were basically my OTP friend group, and I totally aspired to be as badass as Reggie!