The '90s was a decade full of awesome animated series, but perhaps the thing that has stuck
most with us from this time period are the heroes. Iconic animated figures from who battle
evil, in one form or another, and inspire us to better face the problems that confront
us in our own lives.
If you're watching this, we're going to go ahead and assume that you know who Batman
is. What you might not know, however, is that Batman: The Animated Series is quite possibly
the best version of the character to ever exist, a perfect synthesis of over 50 years
of comics that were distilled into bold animation and subtle, sophisticated stories.
Almost every version of Batman is super cool and intimidating in their superhero persona,
but what makes this version of the character surprisingly refreshing is that, bear with
us here, he's actually a well-adjusted guy. Unlike in some portrayals of the Dark Knight,
who treat their Bruce Wayne persona as an afterthought, this Batman understands the
importance of work-life balance. The animated Bruce Wayne is genuinely kind and connected
to those around him, a proper father figure to Robin who's not afraid to show affection
to his surrogate son, and a philanthropist who does as much good for Gotham during the
day as he does at night.
"We come back here, have Christmas dinner, and watch 'It's A Wonderful Life'."
"You know, I've never seen that. I could never get past the title."
You might think that this more hopeful tone would take some of the punch out of these
stories, but if anything, it often makes them hit even harder, increasing the dichotomy
between Batman's two separate lives. For instance, when you start off by establishing that Bruce
Wayne and Harvey Dent are actually genuine friends who knew each other before things
went bad, it makes Harvey's inevitable transformation into the villainous Two-Face even more tragic.
The darkness is even darker when you contrast it with the light, so for our money, the animated
series Batman is as good as the Dark Knight gets.
Spacey, gluttonous, clumsy, and not that bright aren't the typical traits that most people
would associate with a superhero, let alone the leader of an entire team of reincarnated
soldiers with an inescapable destiny to stand against evil forces across time and space.
That is, however, a description that fits Usagi Tsukino perfectly, which is why she
assumed there had been some sort of mistake when a talking cat showed up to tell her she
was the reincarnation of a magical superhero princess from the moon.
"I was told that Sailor Moon is clumsy, stupid, lazy, and unrefined, and there's no way a
girl like that could ever pass the princess seminar."
"That kinda makes sense!"
She wasn't alone, either. The rest of her new superhero team were also pretty shocked,
especially the fiery Rei Hino, who felt like she herself was far more suited to the job
of team leader. However, as time went on, Usagi, in her superheroic identity of Sailor
Moon, proved to the rest of her team, and to herself, that she could rise to any occasion,
fueled by a deep burning love for her friends.
That's what makes the story of Sailor Moon so compelling. In a world full of perfect
supermen, it's refreshing to see someone for whom being a superhero doesn't come easily.
Someone who thinks of herself as a failure. Someone who would rather just stay in bed
all day and eat snacks. After all, if everyone thought that Sailor Moon wasn't capable of
saving the world only for her to step up and do it anyway, maybe the rest of us can find
a similar reserve of strength buried deep within ourselves. If Usagi can be Sailor Moon,
we can all rise to the occasion in our own stories, too.
Although she started off as a side character on Beavis and Butt-Head, the misanthropic
bespectacled teen Daria Morgendorffer got her own spin-off in 1997. By the end of the
decade, she had grown into a pop culture sensation in her own right, just as famous as her two
buffoonish former co-stars. Her solo series, simply called Daria, tells the story of her
family moving away from the dim duo and into the fictional town of Lawndale, where she
attempts to assimilate into a new high school populated by a vast array of foolish teenagers
and even more foolish adults. Because of Daria's inability to hold her tongue in the face of
the fakery that surrounds her, the show's five seasons see her and her best friend Jane
clashing with pretty much every single institution, social structure, and cultural norm that exists
in high school life.
"Well, my history teacher hates me because I know all the answers, but there are some
interesting idiots in my class."
"That's great!"
If you haven't watched Daria before, you're probably at least familiar with the basics
of her character: a gothy, emotionless, somewhat smug sourpuss who hates everyone. If you think
that's all there is to the character, though, we urge you to give it a watch and discover
just how much depth and nuance the character and the series have to offer. Though its roots
as a Beavis and Butthead spinoff means that her show is never fully able to divorce itself
from the trend of low brow '90s humor in which it was created, the show can be transcendent
at times, with incredible and affecting character work mixed in with the comedy. Daria's philosophical
monologuing is every bit as beautifully tragic as the characters who racked up critical acclaim
on prestige dramas ten years later.
Not all cartoons from the '90s have aged well, especially in light of the animation renaissance
of the 21st century, but somehow, with each passing year, The Tick just seems to be getting
better. In part, this is due to its hilarious and enigmatic lead, the Tick himself. We never
get much backstory on exactly who the Tick is under his mask, or if it even is a mask,
but there are three things about him that we can say with certainty. He dresses like
a blue bug, he's nigh invulnerable, and he's completely clueless. But despite all this,
he has a good heart, and he does his best to fight the good fight and stand as a role
model for his anxious sidekick, Arthur. The Tick is such an appealing character that,
even though his animated series was cancelled after an all-too-brief 36-episode run, he's
come back in live-action twice and cemented himself as a cult favorite.
After all these years, something about the Tick still resonates with us, even if we can't
exactly articulate why. Maybe it's the unique combination of his selfless nature, the vast
unearned confidence that comes along with his unstoppable powers, and his penchant for
spouting nonsensical aphorisms. Maybe it's the fact that as superheroes have become the
most popular things in the movie theaters, the Tick's sharp genre parody just gets more
relevant to pop culture. Maybe it's that we all feel like Arthur from time to time and
wish we had someone like the Tick in our lives to remind us of a simple truth. Even if you
have no idea what's going on, you can still save the day. If only we all could have the
confidence, compassion, and zest for life of the Tick.
One of the roles of a hero is to inspire people, and there are few cartoon characters who inspired
young audiences during the '90s quite like Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus.
"Please let this be a normal field trip."
"With the Frizz?"
"No way!"
Played to perfection by Lily Tomlin, Valerie Frizzle is a fourth grade science teacher,
known for her jovial attitude, adventurous spirit, and colorful wardrobe. Whenever she
wants to teach her students a lesson, Frizzle takes them on a reality-building field trip
aboard the titular shape-changing bus. Across four seasons, her class goes pretty much everywhere,
from the farthest reaches of the solar system to the Amazon rainforest, and even into the
human body! Twice! And yes, it was just as gross as every kid wanted it to be, with the
kids getting really panicked about where their classmate's digestive system was going to
take them before they remembered that burping exists and they could leave the way they came.
Aside from the gross-out factor, there's so much to love about Miss Frizzle. She's fearless,
encouraging, and she always helps guide her students to discovering the solutions to problems
on their own, rather than giving them all the answers, encouraging them to learn by
doing rather than just lecturing them about the facts. The Frizz is the teacher we all
wish we had, and it's not just because she has inexplicable magic powers. Although, if
you want to go deep down the well of trying to figure out exactly what is going on with
Miss Frizzle and her strange abilities, there's a fairly popular theory among Doctor Who fans
that Miss Frizzle is a Time Lord, and her school bus is a Tardis.
The moody action fantasy series Gargoyles, launched as Disney's take on the darker, more
sophisticated storytelling style that made Batman: The Animated Series such a hit, was
sadly never as popular as the Dark Knight. Revisiting it these days, however, shows that
it stands the test of time better than most of its '90s cartoon contemporaries. The aesthetics
are sharp, the world building is deep, and the work put into the characters is truly
impressive by the standards of any decade. Pretty much every member of the principal
cast is rock solid, some of them literally, but today, we're going to talk about the dark
and tortured heart of the show, Goliath.
The wise and honorable leader of the Manhattan Clan, Goliath is a winged stone warrior who
was cursed to sleep for a thousand years, along with the rest of his clan, before awakening
in the modern world. Though unparalleled in battle, Goliath's big heart also means that
he tends to trust people whenever he can afford to, and even sometimes when he can't. Thus,
some of the more cynical denizens of our modern age, such as the amoral businessman David
Xanatos, are often able to take advantage of this big lunk's good nature.
As his story progresses, Goliath becomes an increasingly angry character, but those who
think that he's some sort of violent brute misunderstand him. Goliath's rage also comes
from his tragic idealism, his disappointment that yet another person who seemed to be his
friend ended up being just another well-spoken liar. It's not often that you get to describe
a cartoon character as "Byronic," but Goliath certainly fits the bill.
Between the enduring nostalgia for the classic toy line and cartoon, and the film franchise
that hit theaters in 2007, the Robots In Disguise of Transformers have moved from the fringes
of nerd culture firmly into the mainstream. Even though everyone knows who Megatron is
these days, though, the focus for all of those well-publicized fond memories has always been
on the original 1980s cartoon and not any of the later iterations of the franchise,
and as much as we like the show, that's a shame. Transformers: Beast Wars, the computer
animated '90s sequel to the hand-drawn original, is worthy of just as much attention, even
if its looks are more than a little bit dated. Like their G1 predecessors, Beast Wars tells
the story of two rival factions of robots, the Maximals and the Predacons, who crash-land
on an uncharted planet. In classic Transformers fashion, these two warring teams continue
their fighting after taking on the appearance of the locals, but this time, they opt for
animals instead of machines.
The leader of the Maximals, Optimus Primal, becomes a gorilla, a disguise which fits his
personality well, as he's strong, intelligent, and imposing. In his heart, though, Primal
is a peaceful, troubled soul. He does his best to live up to the legacy of Optimus Prime,
the legendary Autobot from whom he inherited his name, but he always feels destined to
live in the shadow of the greatest Autobot who ever lived. However, Primal eventually
becomes just as much of a legend in his own right. Whereas his predecessor was idealistic
and traditional, Primal realizes the benefits of being practical and creative. And did we
mention that he has a flying surfboard and a jetpack? Yeah: he's a robot gorilla with
a jetpack! That's the kind of thing that sticks with you no matter how it's animated. Clearly,
Optimus Primal deserves to be remembered as the icon he is, right alongside everyone's
favorite truck dad.
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