Category: Saturday Mornings

General Mills Monster Cereals Reviews

With the spirit of Halloween already in the air, it’s certainly not too early to start enjoying all the cool food treats that come along this time of year. One of the best, and my personal favorites, are the classic monster cereals from General Mills. Starting all the way back in 1971, Count Chockula, Frankenberry, Boo Berry, and others have thrilled the taste buds of the young and the young at heart. Even though they are no longer available all year long, the monster cereals are still highly regarded in the cereal world, and have managed to maintain their great taste for multiple generations.

In celebration of the yearly release of these flavors, and to commemorate the start of the Halloween season, me and the kids sat down with bowls of each cereal to do a taste test and review over on our food review YouTube channel, Our Table. You can check out all three below, and if you have a minute, chime in with your thoughts and memories on these delectable morsels of spooky goodness. And if you dig all the cool food and treats this time of year, consider subscribing to the channel as we have Halloween Treat videos going up all month long!

If you’ve been unable to find these wonderful cereals in your area this year, you can pick up a 3-pack featuring Count Chokula, Frankenberry, and Boo Berry at Amazon with this link.

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by The Retro Rambler

Hanna-Barbera’s Jabberjaw

In the year 2076, a group of teenagers, as teenagers often do, formed a band. They called themselves The Neptunes, with Biff on guitar, Shelly on tambourine, Bubbles on piano, and Clam-Head on cello. Not getting the sound they wanted, the band was faced with difficult questions: Where are we going to play? Do we need a drummer? and, perhaps most importantly, Why is there a cello in our rock band? Deciding to tackle the drummer issue first, they turned to their good friend Jabberjaw.

Jabberjaw brought several things to the table. Aside from the fact that he was a terrific drummer, he was very funny. That would come in handy during those lonely nights on the road. He was also a real shark at the negotiating table. As a matter of fact, he was a real shark everywhere. A great white, to be exact. The band now complete, The Neptunes would ride in the Aquacar to their concert dates, playing bubblegum pop tunes and inexplicably getting mixed up with criminals in nearly every episode.

Jabberjaw constantly whined about getting no respect, a trademark of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, yet his voice and mannerisms were eerily reminiscent of Curly from The Three Stooges.

The show ran for two seasons, the second of which was composed entirely of repeats. The shark himself reappeared later in the decade as a competitor on Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics.

by The Retro Rambler

Celebrating 40 Years of Garfield

A few days ago, one of our favorite felines turned 40 years old. That’s right, Garfield debuted in 1978, and is still going strong today. I just wanted to take a moment and wish Garfield a happy birthday, and congratulate Jim Davis on 40 years of phenomenal success with his creation. In honor of our cat hero, here is one of my favorite specials he starred in, Garfield in Paradise. Enjoy.

by The Retro Rambler

Popular Cartoons We All Miss

(The following is a sponsored guest post from the folks over at StickerYou! Check them out for cool retro themed stickers and vinyl graphics. You can even create your own!)

Let’s face it, life was much simpler when we were younger. I’m sure we can all remember waking up at the crack of dawn and making our way to the sofa to eat breakfast and watch some classic cartoons. We’ll never have enough time to go over every single show we all loved, but here are some that really pulled on our heartstrings and still fill us with nostalgia to this day.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Cowabunga dude! This iconic show was the pinnacle of cartoons for many of us. Not only this, but the Turtles also appeared in multiple other movies and shows, making for some of the best crossovers ever. This show was so popular that there are still series and movies made about them to this day. It’s even rumored that a new show, “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” will make its debut around September 2018. Hopefully it’s filled with even more pizza!

More Cartoons | What You Didn’t Know About Your Favorite 80’s Cartoons

The Transformers

Who doesn’t love robot superheroes? This classic series first aired September of 1984, although movies are still being made about Transformers to this day. This show also gave birth to “transforming” toys, most of which were cars that turned into robots. Since this time, transformers have continued to remain popular, and will captivate the younger generation for years to come.

Dragon Ball

Often considered one of the masterpieces of television animation, Dragon Ball was the introduction to anime for many people growing up. With the great array of characters, vivid and dreamy landscapes, and epic martial arts, there was truly never a dull moment. This show was later adapted into further series’ including Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball Super – even more are sure to come!

The Real Ghostbusters

Where do we even start with this one? There are so many awesome things about this show and movie that all of us can surely remember. The awesome tech and gadgets used throughout the series, the above-average animation, and all the goo and the slime you could ever dream of – this truly is peak nostalgia when it comes to Saturday morning cartoons. The movie, which came out in 1984, is also a must-have for your collection.

Of course, we can’t list all of the shows/movies on this list – there are hundreds of shows that we will never forget from our golden age. Wanna keep the nostalgia alive forever? It’s never been easier! Print some custom vinyl stickers or temporary tattoos of your favorite characters at StickerYou! With no minimums, it’s easy to create some awesome custom products, without breaking the bank.

by The Retro Rambler

Wax Pack Flash Back: American Gladiators 1991 Topps Trading Cards

It’s time for another Wax Pack Flash Back, and this time, the subject is a pack of American Gladiators trading cards produced by Topps from 1991. These cards were based on the hit television show, American Gladiators. If just seeing these photos of the cards aren’t enough for you, you can watch me open a pack and discuss the cards on my YouTube video here.

For more memories like this, check out our Wax Pack Flash Back archives!

by The Retro Rambler

Looking Back at Hulk Hogan’s Rock and Wrestling Cartoon

Professional wrestling had been around long before television, but the mid-80’s brought new levels of popularity to the much-maligned “sport.” Due to the business savvy of Vince McMahon, pro wrestling became one of the most successful entertainment ventures in the world. Relying heavily on the “good guy vs. bad guy” storyline and giving each wrestler ample time to speak to the viewers at home, McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation became a national phenomenon. It was only a matter of time before a Saturday morning cartoon was developed based on the WWF.

The show featured any wrestler who was popular at the time (Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, The Junkyard Dog, etc.), but the focus was on the WWF’s biggest star, Hulk Hogan. Hogan, who was a positive role model for all, never turned down an opportunity to help out those in need, the springboard to the plots of most episodes. In many cases, Hogan was forced to ally himself and his “good guy” cronies with the “bad guy” wrestlers in order to get things done. The bad guys were usually only looking out for themselves and reverted to their abhorrent ways immediately after solving that week’s crisis.

More Saturday Morning Cartoons | Alvin and the Chipmunks

The series also featured live segments in which Hogan, along with announcer “Mean” Gene Okerlund, would relay a positive message to the kids, generally one that fit with the day’s episode. The show satisfied its “rock” quotient by featuring a montage of the wrestlers performing a variety of acts, backed up by popular tunes in highlight reel fashion. The concept for the series came from musician Cyndi Lauper, who often appeared in the cartoon as herself.

Amazingly enough, none of the wrestlers provided his or her own voice for the cartoon. Apparently, the eloquence they showed in pre- and post-match interviews was too difficult to capture in a voice-over studio. Hogan’s cartoon voice was performed by Brad Garrett, who would eventually find fame as Robert Barone on the popular CBS series Everybody Loves Raymond.

This post originally appeared on the long defunct Yesterdayland website. We archive it here to preserve it.

by The Retro Rambler

Help Chance Rasberry Bring Little Billy to Life

My friend and Emmy award winning animator on The Simpsons, Chance Rasberry, has a new animated series that he needs our help with. This new series titled, Little Billy, is right in our wheel house too, because it’s set in the 80’s, and is chocked full of our favorite 80’s cartoons, toys, cereals, and so much more! Not only that, it’s done in the classic animation style of the 80’s. The premise? I’ll let Chance explain that himself….

Chance is looking for help from folks like to get this off the ground, and has started an Indiegogo campaign to raise money. And brother, he’s got some very cool perks that come along with your pledge. Things like awesome t-shirts, Count Chokula inspired Little Billy prints, the Little Billy Poster in the style of Garbage Pail kids, and my favorite…the set of Little Billy stickers done exactly like Garbage Pail Kid’s stickers we used to love in the 80’s! And if you’re feeling really generous, you can get an hour long, one-on-one animation lesson from Chance himself!

I would love to see this dream become a reality for several reasons. One, this world can never have enough 80’s fueled entertainment. Two, I miss the classic animation style of the 80’s and am craving some more of that goodness. Third, I love the premise, and with a daughter that has severe tics herself, I know how important something like this could be for kids like her. And fourth, the trailer is just oozing with retro goodness…..

Chance has some of our favorite creators involved in this project as well. Folks like Charles Zimbillas who was the animator on the original He-Man and She-Ra series, Bill Kopp from Better Off Dead, the Roger Rabit shorts, the Simpsons Tracey Ullman shorts, and the creator of Eek the Cat. Also involvedd is Joe Simko, the master painter behind the Topps Garbage Pail Kids cards of the 80’s, who also hand painted the Little Poster print that you can get a copy of with a pledge! There is no shortage of talent in this project, so you know just how cool it can be if it gets made.

So give Chance a chance (see what I did there?), and head over to the Little Billy Indiegogo page and help get it funded!

Little Billy on Indiegogo

You can also help out by spreading the word by sharing it on your Twitter feed, Facebook page, Instagram, and wherever else you can. Hell, if nothing else throw him some moral support by reaching out to his Twitter page, or Facebook page. He would appreciate it, and so would all of us who really want to see this get made.