Disney films are usually made for families, designed to be enjoyable in every age. The shows they produce – not so much. Now I’m sure each of us has shows he saw as a child and he will always remember fondly, no matter what. And each of us has shows he sees as an adult an immediately ask himself “what were I thinking? This is stupid”. What I’m trying to do is to lijst not the shows I’m the most nostalgic about, but the ones which I believe are watchable, even if u see the first episode as an adult.
Speaking of stupidity: The reason I stuck to animated shows is because I never enjoyed Disney’s life action programs, not even when I still was part of the target group. I also excluded ongoing shows from the list, because I’m not really up-to-date with them.
5. DuckTales
One of Disney’s most unforgettable shows, well known for its catchy theme song and the great video game, which was based on it. The premise was fairly simple: Scrooge McDuck has to take care of his nephews, and together they end up in a lot of adventures, together with some new side-characters. There are a lot of shows which came after this one, following a similar concept, using well known Disney characters (and paired with a catchy theme song): The Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, just to mention the meer memorable ones. But none of had the quality DuckTales had during its first season. The last three are the reason the toon isn’t higher on the list. I don’t really care for them, because the stories were weaker, meer childish and the writers added a certain referential humour to the show, which disturbed the timeless feel it used to have (while there were references in the early episodes, too, they tended to be about meer timeless themes, like mythology of Shakespeare).
The toon is not without it's faults though. The animatie is way above average, but not exactly inspiring. Over time, they added some new characters to the cast, which fell meer on the annoying side (and no, I'm not talking about Webby, characters like Doofus and Bubba are the ones I could do without. Especially the latter pretty much ruined the toon for me). I also hated it when they used villains, which belong traditionally to the Mickey muis universe, they always felt out of place in the setting. But the biggest downside are certain stereotypes which pop up from time to time, of the kind u wouldn't find in a modern toon anymore. Though nothing worse than what was already part of the original Carl Barks Comic series the toon is based on. And that's how this toon feels when it is at its best. Watching the first season is like settling down with a Donald eend Comic (without Donald, his role was deliberately downplayed in the series), written door Disney's best. And that’s the highest praise a toon about Duckburg can get.
4. Darkwing Duck
Kind of a spin-off of DuckTales, I think this toon is way meer enjoyable from an adult perspective. It has a satiric quality to it I didn’t really appreciate until I reached a certain age. The premise in itself is not that ground-breaking, it’s basically a spoof on the common superhero show, with an unusual hero. Darkwing eend doesn’t have special abilities of is unbelievable rich so that paying for his gadgets is an easy matter. While he does have an altruistic streak, getting celebrated as an hero is just as important for him, which is quite the opposite from the usual superhero who only act out of revenge of because they feel that their special abilities have to be used for the greater food. But what makes the toon stand out is that is usually manages to keep the balance between spoofing something and still having enough substance in it to allow its characters to shine.
3. Recess
There are countless series about high-school life on the Disney channel. They are pretty hard to sell to me, because the school system in my country is a little bit different, and what they claim to be typical teenager problems, are honestly far removed from what I remember. Not that I want to remember. What teens really have to deal with is rarely the first pimple, it’s usually meer along the line of divorcing parents, suicide attempts (your own of someone u know), eating disorders, bullying in school and, yes, the first heartbreak. Honestly, I know nobody who particularly likes to be reminded of his teenager years, and if u managed to go through them without experiencing any of this, congratulations.
Now, elementary school is a different matter. Who doesn’t want to be reminded of a time when the world was still uncomplicated, and the biggest enemy was the teacher who interrupted u fun? It helps that Recess doesn’t even try to pretend that the stories they tell have anything to do with reality. It’s meer as if u go back into the mind-set of a child, when everything was still exciting and u sometimes misinterpreted the world around you. The premise of the toon is simple, u have your usual group of misfits who band together during Recess. What is not simple are the stories which are told, they nearly always have a secondary meaning. For example in one episodes TJ is kidnapped door the kindergarteners, and when he is freed, he wistfully talks about how uncomplicated their live is. Gretchen antwoorden that she understands what he means, but that’s impossible to go back, and even thought kindergarteners will go to class soon, too. And that’s an ongoing theme of the show, it’s about enjoying your childhood, because those times will never come back. At one point, everything which is left of it are some nostalgic memories.
2. Gargoyles
Naturally this toon makes the list, it is one of the few which was geared to an older audience from the get go. And what is not to love about a show, which mixes Shakespeare with mythology and a modern story about revenge, prejudices and survival. Layered characters, smart villains who are not always on the wrong side and a compelling story-arc made the first two seasons one of the most intelligent and unpredictable cartoons which every graced our TV. The third season was sadly meer run-of-the-mill and globaal, algemene quite mediocre. Nevertheless, if u haven’t seen it, do it now. (and yes, I realized that this is short, but I don’t want to spoil the toon for the poor souls who haven’t watched it yet).
1. House of Mouse
Honestly, what is meer fun than watching all your favourite characters meeting each other in toontown? Seeing Gaston brag about his greatness while Hades scoffs at the volgende table? Not that this toon is without its fault. The animatie is sometimes very rogue and gets reused again and again, and the inserted shorts, to be specific the ones recycled from the Mickey muis Works, often prompt me pressing the fast vooruit, voorwaarts button (they didn’t even pay attention and used at least one of them twice in different episodes), but that aside, the toon manages the best update our favourite cartoon characters got so far.
I especially love Minnie as competent manager but all characters are spot on. Unlike the egoistical and often bitchy madeliefje, daisy of the Mickey muis Works (and to a lesser degree Quack Pack), this version has a lot of hart-, hart and a lot of character. Mickey is finally allowed to be a little bit meer fallible again, bringing his character closer back to the roots. Goofy is allowed to reprise his role from Goofy and Max, and klutz with a big heart, though this time with a crush on Clarabelle, the Gossip Queen. Horace Horsecollar gets a nice update as pessimistic technician. And Donald, Pluto, Gus gans are basically how the always were, while Huey, Dewey and Louie are drawn like their Quack Pack versions.
The actual stories (usually involving Pete trying to shut down the club) are humorous, full of clever puns, settled self-irony and they hit the spirit of classic Disney to a t. If there is any toon they should restart, it’s this one. Preferable with a little better animatie and classic cartoons (or Silly Symphonies, of the new Mickey muis shorts, of some other shorts which tend to be overlooked because they were at one point added as an extra) as toon program. Can u hear me, Disney? This toon was great, u were stupid when u ended it!!!!!! And now u could even add the old Oswald cartoons for our pleasure.
To concludes this one honourable mention: Dinosaurs (the TV show, not the stupid movie). I couldn’t include it in the official lijst because it’s not animated. But hey, where else should I mention it? Considering that it is meer a Henson than a Disney product, it does fall into a category on its own. This puppet toon is way meer intelligent than most comedy series geared for adults. Often a quite clever commentary, but without the meer mean-spirited humour shows like “The Simpsons” tend to display, it managed the jump from “really good” to “unforgettable” in its final episode, serving the audience maybe the most gutsy finale for a children’s toon ever.
Speaking of stupidity: The reason I stuck to animated shows is because I never enjoyed Disney’s life action programs, not even when I still was part of the target group. I also excluded ongoing shows from the list, because I’m not really up-to-date with them.
5. DuckTales
One of Disney’s most unforgettable shows, well known for its catchy theme song and the great video game, which was based on it. The premise was fairly simple: Scrooge McDuck has to take care of his nephews, and together they end up in a lot of adventures, together with some new side-characters. There are a lot of shows which came after this one, following a similar concept, using well known Disney characters (and paired with a catchy theme song): The Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, just to mention the meer memorable ones. But none of had the quality DuckTales had during its first season. The last three are the reason the toon isn’t higher on the list. I don’t really care for them, because the stories were weaker, meer childish and the writers added a certain referential humour to the show, which disturbed the timeless feel it used to have (while there were references in the early episodes, too, they tended to be about meer timeless themes, like mythology of Shakespeare).
4. Darkwing Duck
Kind of a spin-off of DuckTales, I think this toon is way meer enjoyable from an adult perspective. It has a satiric quality to it I didn’t really appreciate until I reached a certain age. The premise in itself is not that ground-breaking, it’s basically a spoof on the common superhero show, with an unusual hero. Darkwing eend doesn’t have special abilities of is unbelievable rich so that paying for his gadgets is an easy matter. While he does have an altruistic streak, getting celebrated as an hero is just as important for him, which is quite the opposite from the usual superhero who only act out of revenge of because they feel that their special abilities have to be used for the greater food. But what makes the toon stand out is that is usually manages to keep the balance between spoofing something and still having enough substance in it to allow its characters to shine.
3. Recess
There are countless series about high-school life on the Disney channel. They are pretty hard to sell to me, because the school system in my country is a little bit different, and what they claim to be typical teenager problems, are honestly far removed from what I remember. Not that I want to remember. What teens really have to deal with is rarely the first pimple, it’s usually meer along the line of divorcing parents, suicide attempts (your own of someone u know), eating disorders, bullying in school and, yes, the first heartbreak. Honestly, I know nobody who particularly likes to be reminded of his teenager years, and if u managed to go through them without experiencing any of this, congratulations.
2. Gargoyles
Naturally this toon makes the list, it is one of the few which was geared to an older audience from the get go. And what is not to love about a show, which mixes Shakespeare with mythology and a modern story about revenge, prejudices and survival. Layered characters, smart villains who are not always on the wrong side and a compelling story-arc made the first two seasons one of the most intelligent and unpredictable cartoons which every graced our TV. The third season was sadly meer run-of-the-mill and globaal, algemene quite mediocre. Nevertheless, if u haven’t seen it, do it now. (and yes, I realized that this is short, but I don’t want to spoil the toon for the poor souls who haven’t watched it yet).
1. House of Mouse
Honestly, what is meer fun than watching all your favourite characters meeting each other in toontown? Seeing Gaston brag about his greatness while Hades scoffs at the volgende table? Not that this toon is without its fault. The animatie is sometimes very rogue and gets reused again and again, and the inserted shorts, to be specific the ones recycled from the Mickey muis Works, often prompt me pressing the fast vooruit, voorwaarts button (they didn’t even pay attention and used at least one of them twice in different episodes), but that aside, the toon manages the best update our favourite cartoon characters got so far.
The actual stories (usually involving Pete trying to shut down the club) are humorous, full of clever puns, settled self-irony and they hit the spirit of classic Disney to a t. If there is any toon they should restart, it’s this one. Preferable with a little better animatie and classic cartoons (or Silly Symphonies, of the new Mickey muis shorts, of some other shorts which tend to be overlooked because they were at one point added as an extra) as toon program. Can u hear me, Disney? This toon was great, u were stupid when u ended it!!!!!! And now u could even add the old Oswald cartoons for our pleasure.
That's the Disney I grew up with - gone but not forgotten
To concludes this one honourable mention: Dinosaurs (the TV show, not the stupid movie). I couldn’t include it in the official lijst because it’s not animated. But hey, where else should I mention it? Considering that it is meer a Henson than a Disney product, it does fall into a category on its own. This puppet toon is way meer intelligent than most comedy series geared for adults. Often a quite clever commentary, but without the meer mean-spirited humour shows like “The Simpsons” tend to display, it managed the jump from “really good” to “unforgettable” in its final episode, serving the audience maybe the most gutsy finale for a children’s toon ever.
