In the 1960’s, television executives from ABC were looking for a creative way to diversify their advertising customer base and sell the American consumers more stuff. Oh sure, they were getting their fare share of cigarette, car and dish soap ads — yup, got that covered — but the lucrative toy market was slipping by.
Now, at this time Saturday mornings were a soft slot in TV programming and were filled with 1950’s filler — The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Tarzan and some animated shorts used in feature films such as Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry. So, since kids were already watching at this time it became the ideal time to create some original animated content — something that had never been tried before.
What came to be known as Saturday Morning Cartoons was such a huge success and such a big deal in the kid world, that the idea of being sick on a Saturday morning or just plain oversleeping and waking up near noon — when the shows were over —- was the weekly equivalent of missing Christmas. And add to that, now being a social pariah because you would be the only one in fifth grade who didn’t know what mischief Speed Buggy got into — it was enough to ruin your whole week.
As cable television grew the 24 hour cartoon networks grew with it and The Saturday Morning Line Up faded away, replaced by the round-the-clock access to cartoons. But this did not change the impact of cartoons on our lives, in fact it actually expanded it.
THE TEN BEST ANIMATED MALE CHARACTERS OF ALL TIME.
10. UNDERDOG
1964
Yes, he’s a dog, but he’s also a man dog and that counts.
Underdog is that perfect combination of strength and sensitivity. His ability to fight crime, have an active dating life with Sweet Polly Purebred and balance his stressful career as a shoe shine boy — makes him a character to admire.
9. PATRICK STAR
1999
No, SpongeBob didn’t make the list — a little over-performing tipped the scale a bit — but his buddy Patrick definitely did.
Patrick is that perfect combination of a best friend that we all want; strong, funny, willing to do anything we ask and not too bright. Patrick is the guy we all want around and miss when he’s not there.
8. POPEYE
1932
Popeye the comic strip existed long before the animation did — along with Olive Oyl, Sweet Pee and Wimpy — but the very first Popeye animation sets the stage. Here, he and Brutus come across a bevy of bathing beauties near a pool. We see them scanning all the voluptuous women – a little bored — until they came across the skinny, clumsy, Olive Oyle in her clod hoppers and 1920’s bathing dress. They are smitten and the rivalry begins.
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7. SPIDERMAN
1967
The Spiderman animated series began in the late sixties and is responsible for that classic Spiderman theme: Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can …
Although Spiderman was well known before the animated series it was here that the American public got their first inside look at the character of Peter Parker and was able to relate to his vulnerability and strength — plus you just cannot get that stinkin’ song out of your head.
6. BENDER
1999
Bender is a cigar smoking, beer drinking robot with kleptomaniacal tendencies. What’s not to love? He is the best friend of Phillip Fry and an employee of Planet Express in the animated series Futurama. Bender became so popular and made the transition from rogue to hero so many times, that his anti-social activities became largely unnoticed. And out of the six Futurama episodes that were determined to be the most heartwarming, four revolved around Bender.
5. HANK HILL
1997
It’s difficult to think of Hank Hill as a great animated character because we don’t really think of him as animated at all. He is so real that he comes across as more of a painted reality-series character — or that uncle we all have. King of the Hill was so different than any animated series before it, we responded to it as a live action show and found Hank so incredibly straight-laced that he actually became cool.
4. PINKY AND THE BRAIN
1993
You can’t think of Pinky without The Brain so you need to consider them together. Pinky and The Brain are two lab rats that each night, as the lab is closed, begin to launch their master plan to take over the world — well, The Brain’s plan and Pinky just comes along to mess everything up. It’s funny, creative and one of the best animated buddy teams ever.
3. BULLWINKLE
1959
Bullwinkle J. Moose is the big, dim witted, half of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. He lives with his friend Rocky The Flying Squirrel in Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. Each week he and Rocky are thrown in an adventure that usually involves defeating the evil Boris and Natasha. But it’s the subtle innuendos and creative puns of Bullwinkle that make him one of the great animated characters of all time.
2. BUGS BUNNY
1940
Bugs Bunny has been around so long and is so deeply entrenched in our culture that he is all things to all people. His flippant and relaxed attitude — along with that New York accent — makes him strong, curious and cocky. Plus, since he was developed for World War II fundraising and training films, he’s as American as they come.
1. HOMER SIMPSON
1987
Homer is a fat, lazy, simple minded father that at the same time is caring, thoughtful and brave. After over twenty five years of Homer he still amazes us with his diversity and depth. Homer is the guy we don’t mind loaning money to even though we know we’ll never get it back.
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