Rewatching the Disney Afternoon?

[cinnabunjay]

Ever since getting Disney+, my favorite thing to do has been rewatch the original Disney Afternoon shows (Adventures of the Gummi Bears, DuckTales 87, TaleSpin, Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, etc). It's honestly been a blast. Other than some more questionable elements, a lot of them have held up okay... but even more, I had genuinely forgotten how AWESOME the theme music was for those shows.

It's honestly interesting to look back at those old shows and remember watching them all growing up. Anyone else been poking around at those? I think my favorites to go back to so far have been TaleSpin and DWD... I just really enjoy those found family stories.

 

[BrianL]

Ever since getting Disney+, my favorite thing to do has been rewatch the original Disney Afternoon shows (Adventures of the Gummi Bears, DuckTales 87, TaleSpin, Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, etc). It's honestly been a blast. Other than some more questionable elements, a lot of them have held up okay... but even more, I had genuinely forgotten how AWESOME the theme music was for those shows.

It's honestly interesting to look back at those old shows and remember watching them all growing up. Anyone else been poking around at those? I think my favorites to go back to so far have been TaleSpin and DWD... I just really enjoy those found family stories.

Oh yeah - the first thing I did with Disney+ was embark on the epic Disney Afternoon journey, starting with Gummi Bears. I watched Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing, and Goof Troop. There are a couple of missing episodes, and the order is a mess, but it was fun. I found online guides to help me out with the order, which doesn't matter too much most of the time, but it can. I also agree, the theme songs are amazing, and I had forgotten what a great score TaleSpin had! I mean....

That's spectacular! What absolute quality these shows had. Honestly, I'll admit to never having watched Goof Troop that much, but I love A Goofy Movie, so I went through it as well and it was quite enjoyable. I may go for the later shows too, like Bonkers, but I don't have a nostalgic attachemnt to those. I do want to watch Gargoyles at some point too. It's great that it's (mostly) all there!

 

[supernova]

I must have just hit the age of "Disney isn't cool anymore" when these cartoons came out during my junior high school years. Never watched any of them then, and I guess I won't be doing so now, either.

 

[BrianL]

I must have just hit the age of "Disney isn't cool anymore" when these cartoons came out during my junior high school years. Never watched any of them then, and I guess I won't be doing so now, either.

Yeah, that's kind of why I didn't really watch Goof Troop much - it was that age where it wasn't a priority. Gummi Bears actually started in 1985 as a Saturday Morning cartoon, but repeats were paired with DuckTales in 1989 to start what would become the Disney Afternoon. They are absolutely quality shows though, especially DuckTales and Talespin. DuckTales is just classic Disney based on the Carl Barks Duck comics, and TaleSpin is such a unique and creative twist. You can see the animation quality becomes a little reduced when you get to Goof Troop and the shows after weren't quite as popular, other than maybe Gargoyles, which also aired on Saturdays and was a big push to compete with popular action-adventure shows. It was very high quality.

 

[cinnabunjay]

I must have just hit the age of "Disney isn't cool anymore" when these cartoons came out during my junior high school years. Never watched any of them then, and I guess I won't be doing so now, either.

I was a kid who never cared about what was "cool," and even now at my age I still enjoy watching old cartoons and new ones as well. It's been fun revisiting them, and I'd really recommend the original lineup to anyone curious.

I do want to watch Gargoyles at some point too. It's great that it's (mostly) all there!

I rewatched Gargoyles first (a bit out of order to the series creation) just because I'd been thinking about it, and that was BEYOND worth it. It was just so well animated, and they were very good at following up on plot threads throughout the whole series. I can only think of a few that didn't have great payoffs (if you ignore the existence of the Goliath Chronicles at least, hah).

 

[BrianL]

I rewatched Gargoyles first (a bit out of order to the series creation) just because I'd been thinking about it, and that was BEYOND worth it. It was just so well animated, and they were very good at following up on plot threads throughout the whole series. I can only think of a few that didn't have great payoffs (if you ignore the existence of the Goliath Chronicles at least, hah).

Yeah, I'll get to it. It's jsut hard to get to everything, you know. I'm still only a little over halfway through The Muppet Show. I'll probably watch Goliath Chronicles too - I know Greg Wiseman doesn't like it, but Greg Wiseman doesn't really like anything so....

 

[mullysisters]

I am great aunt to an 8 year old and 6 year old. I really enjoy watching the old and new kids shows. Talespin is a favourite of ours as is Mickeys Roadster Racers.

 

[BrianL]

I am great aunt to an 8 year old and 6 year old. I really enjoy watching the old and new kids shows. Talespin is a favourite of ours as is Mickeys Roadster Racers.

Yeah, I never really "grew out" of watching cartoons, but for a time as a teenager some were definitely low on the priorities list. There were still some cartoons that I never missed, even through high school.

 

[mullysisters]

My boys watching Disney Christmas on DVD. It's hard for them to relate to Mickey and Co the way we do. I've been 11 times to WDW, their parents wont let us take them.

 

[old lady]

I love Tale spin. I had a childhood crush on Don Karnage. I also like Darkwing Duck.

 

[cinnabunjay]

I love Tale spin. I had a childhood crush on Don Karnage. I also like Darkwing Duck.

No judgement here- Don Karnage is a fantastic villain! One of the best of the old DA, I think (I'm a big fan of DWD's Negaduck myself).

I joke a lot that Drake and Baloo are my favorites because I'm the dad friend in my group, so obviously I lean heavily towards dad characters.

I really miss that era of Disney cartoons. There were some real gems.

 

[BrianL]

You know, the more I think about it the more I can see how brilliant TaleSpin is. How did that even come about? Someone at Disney pitched a Jungle Book cartoon, and then said, "No, wait, let's set it in a 1920's style adventure land of early aviation, with sky pirates and a bar for the characters to hang out in." It's part Jungle Book, part Where Angels Fear to Tread, part Casablanca - it sounds insane! Then they pushed for a full orchestral score and some very early computer assisted animation for the planes (that's how they keep the geometry right) - the show just oozes quality. It's pretty amazing, all things considered. What a show!