Best fantasy / sci fi cartoons from the 1970's -1980's

[Black Dougal]

I was just curious what peoples favorite sci fiction/fantasy cartoons from the 1970/80's were. For me, my prime formative years and influenced my tastes into Adulthood.

In terms of my favorite 10:

1. Star Blazers
2. Robotech/Macross saga
3. Flash Gordon by Animation
4. Thundaar The barbarian
5. Spiderman and his amazing friends
6. Battle of the Planets
7. Superman and the justice league
8. Voltron defender of the universe
9. He-man
10. D&D

[Chris Mortika]

As long as you mean "Voltron the 5 lions" as opposed to "Voltron the fifteen-car pile-up" I agree.

I admit to being a fan of the Star Trek animated series, and of SeaLab 2020.

[M. Balmer]

Wizards - not a Saturday morning cartoon, but an all time favourite of mine.

[Laurefindel]

- Ulysses 31
- Les Mysterieuses Cites d'Or (Mysterious Cities of Gold)
- Albator (Captain Harlock)
- Captain Flam (no idea how good this really was, but it left a strong impression on me as a kid)

If long features are allowed:

- The Flight of Dragons
- The Last Unicorn
- Les Maitres du Temps (Masters of Time or Time Masters?)

[Morgen]

Wizards was really good. I also like Heavy Metal.

Wooo! Out of the animation ghetto! :D

[pezlerpolychromatic]

Laurefindel wrote:

- Ulysse 31

- Les Mysterieuses Cites d'Or (Mysterious Cities of Gold)
- Albator (Captain Harlock)

If long features are allowed:

- Flight of Dragon
- The Last Unicorn
- Time Travelers(?) (stand by, I'm looking for the real title...)

Flight of Dragons was a beautiful movie, with James Gregory, Harry Morgan,John Ritter, and James Earl Jones. Seeing that movie sparked my creativity for many years to come after that and it got me into roleplaying. I wish I had it again, but I don't believe it was ever rereleased in DVD format.

[GreyWolfLord]

hmmm...

1. Thundercats
2. The Hobbit
3. GI Joe
4. Superfriends
5. He-Man
7. Transformers
8. Silverhawks
9. Robotech
10. Exo-Squad

Off the top of my head, could change at the drop of a penny though.

[Cylyria]

Star Blazers
Transformers
GI Joe
Superfriends
Spiderman

[Laurefindel]

There's also Goldorak (Grendizer)

Cheesy as hell and probably pretty bad by modern standards, but I remember it being one of my favourites at a young age...

[Grey Lensman]

Chris Mortika wrote:

As long as you mean "Voltron the 5 lions" as opposed to "Voltron the fifteen-car pile-up" I agree.

I admit to being a fan of the Star Trek animated series, and of SeaLab 2020.

I feel like I am alone in my feelings about those shows. I thought the lions, while looking cooler, were piloted by 4 (quickly 5 when Sven was written out) very flat characters who never grew in any meaningful way. And the villains they had were even more one-dimensional. Plus the lame -try-everything-even-though-the-only-thing-that-ever-works-is-the-sword- is something that destroyed my suspension of disbelief even as a kid (I got a soft spot for the vehicle pileup solely due to seeing something other than blazing sword take out the monster of the week in the first episode I saw).

[Alex Martin]

Black Dougal wrote:

I was just curious what peoples favorite sci fiction/fantasy cartoons from the 1970/80's were. For me, my prime formative years and influenced my tastes into Adulthood.

All those would be on my list as well. If I had differ it be on #7 - only because there were the "Super Friends" episodes and then there were "Challenge of the Super Friends" episodes. "Challenge" was definitely a favorite, putting the notion of heroes vs. villains was just such a novel concept at the time.

Also - although made in the 60's - original Space Ghost and The Herculoids were two that were re-run a lot in the 70's that really hooked me.

Not sure it would totally count for fantasy/sci-fi, but Filmation's version of "Tarzan" was also a good one (from the same folks who made Flash Gordon, btw). Tarzan's tendency to name every animal was something I used when I played a druid character for the first time.

[Alex Martin]

Chris Mortika wrote:

I admit to being a fan of the Star Trek animated series, and of SeaLab 2020.

I enjoyed Sealab 2020 as a kid, but I'll admit my ability to see it with nostalgia has been totally corrupted by Adult Swim's version of a few years back.

[thejeff]

Grey Lensman wrote:

Chris Mortika wrote:

As long as you mean "Voltron the 5 lions" as opposed to "Voltron the fifteen-car pile-up" I agree.

I admit to being a fan of the Star Trek animated series, and of SeaLab 2020.

I feel like I am alone in my feelings about those shows. I thought the lions, while looking cooler, were piloted by 4 (quickly 5 when Sven was written out) very flat characters who never grew in any meaningful way. And the villains they had were even more one-dimensional. Plus the lame -try-everything-even-though-the-only-thing-that-ever-works-is-the-sword- is something that destroyed my suspension of disbelief even as a kid (I got a soft spot for the vehicle pileup solely due to seeing something other than blazing sword take out the monster of the week in the first episode I saw).

Voltron confused me so much as a kid. I don't know if they were playing them out of order or if I was just catching it occasionally and missing the entire plotline or maybe they were playing different parts at different times/days, but it felt like everything changed whenever I saw it. Lions one time. A whole ton of little vehicles the next. Probably the US distributor's fault for marketing them as one series.

[Morgen]

pezlerpolychromatic wrote:

Flight of Dragons was a beautiful movie, with James Gregory, Harry Morgan,John Ritter, and James Earl Jones. Seeing that movie sparked my creativity for many years to come after that and it got me into roleplaying. I wish I had it again, but I don't believe it was ever rereleased in DVD format.

Actually it's been on DVD since 2009. I agree it was a fun film. Interesting premise and enjoyale to watch. I had it recorded off of TV on VHS growing up.

Amazon has the DVD on sale for like $12.

[MeanDM]

1. D&D
2. He-Man
3. Thundarr
4. Robotech (but really mostly Invid Invasion)
5. Thundercats

[Matthew Morris]

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
Gumi Bears
Wheeled Warriors
Robotech (loved Southern Cross)
Spiderman and his Amazing friends introduced me to Marvel

[thenovalord]

when was Pirates of Dark Water, that was fantastic

[mempter]

Matthew Morris wrote:

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers...

THANK YOU!

I used to watch this show too, but for the life of me could not remember the name of it!

[Matthew Morris]

mempter wrote:

Matthew Morris wrote:

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers...

THANK YOU!

I used to watch this show too, but for the life of me could not remember the name of it!

It's on Hulu+, I've been rewatching.

Nice to know I remembered correctly they flushed two redshirts out of the airlock in one episode.

[limsk]

Blocker Corp Machine Blaster
I watched it obsessively in my teens and instilled a passion for all things mecha

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

[Purple Dragon Knight]

Laurefindel wrote:

- Ulysses 31

- Les Mysterieuses Cites d'Or (Mysterious Cities of Gold)
- Albator (Captain Harlock)
- Captain Flam (no idea how good this really was, but it left a strong impression on me as a kid)

pretty much this, plus Goldorak the space robot, and also "Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea" (French Les Mondes Engloutis, "The Engulfed Worlds")

I actually would love to find that show again as it was too subtle for my young mind (i mean the recurring baddies are pirates that are organized in a fake democracy that is really control by mass media... someone from the past tuning in to "Dog the bounty Hunter" would think that this cartoon was some kind of prophecy...)

[Te'Shen]

thenovalord wrote:

when was Pirates of Dark Water, that was fantastic

1991-1992 apparently.

[M. Balmer]

Another one from the vaults:

'Rock and Rule'

I still watch this and 'Wizards'.

[yellowdingo]

Belle and Sebastian

[Auxmaulous]

For me it would be

1) Thundarr the Barbarian
2) Thundercats
3) Battle of the Planets
4) Robotech (only the Khyron era episodes - I wanted him to waste everyone else - he almost did)
5) Speed Racer
6) Voltron (I liked the lions, but as a kid - I didn't really car too much either way)

I know these don't count since they were live action - but in the US they were episodic and ran alongside cartoons, usually in the same time slot.

1) Giant Robot (or just, Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot)
2) Ultraman

[LazarX]

I'm going to be one of the few ex-Trekkies to put in a mention for Star Trek:The Animated Series. While it was disowned by Roddenberry, and the animation quality is not something that even Filmation should be proud of, It had better storylines than much of the original series, and introduced some rather neat alien crewmembers.

[Grey Lensman]

LazarX wrote:

I'm going to be one of the few ex-Trekkies to put in a mention for Star Trek:The Animated Series. While it was disowned by Roddenberry, and the animation quality is not something that even Filmation should be proud of, It had better storylines than much of the original series, and introduced some rather neat alien crewmembers.

One of the great things about animation is you don't need a makeup budget. Freaky-looking aliens often cost the exact same amount as normal looking humans and never have the actors complain about sitting in the chair for hours.

[OldSkul]

Vampire Hunter D.

[OldSkul]

There was also "the mysterious cities of gold" that use to come on real early on nickelodeon back in the mid-80's. A lot of great ideas on that show.

[Alex Martin]

mempter wrote:

Matthew Morris wrote:

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers...

THANK YOU!

I used to watch this show too, but for the life of me could not remember the name of it!

Remembered that one too - glad you mentioned it. Only problem I have in watching it now is how cheesy the 80's power ballads/music sound; although I loved them at the time.

[DungeonmasterCal]

Star Trek: The Animated Series
Land of the Lost (Not a cartoon but was on Saturday mornings)
Thundarr The Barbarian
Dungeons and Dragons
Scooby Doo (the original!)
The Jetsons :)
Valley of the Dinosaurs

[DungeonmasterCal]

Chris Mortika wrote:

As long as you mean "Voltron the 5 lions" as opposed to "Voltron the fifteen-car pile-up" I agree.

I admit to being a fan of the Star Trek animated series, and of SeaLab 2020.

Forgot all about "SeaLab 2020"!

[Chris Mortika]

I admit, one of the reasons it was memorable is that I had a kid-sized crush on Pamelyn Ferdin.

[Laurefindel]

SeaLab 2020?

Wasn't it SeaLab 2021, or did I miss a whole series?

[Chris Mortika]

Sealab 2020 was the original, Saturday-morning, sincere kid's show.

Adult Swim got ahold of it and decided to mock it with Sealab 2021.

[Set]

M. Balmer wrote:

Another one from the vaults:

'Rock and Rule'

Ooh, loved Mok (plus music by Blondie and Cheap Trick, that's some '80's gold!). Great choice!

"He'll put a heck on me!"
"Hex, Stretch, hex."
"Ooh, two of 'em! That's even woise!"

[Marc Radle]

I was WAAAAAY into Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers as a kid ...

[SAMAS]

I missed Star Blazers as a kid, but if you haven't checked out the recent Space Battleship Yamato remake, you should.