OK, maybe this title is incorrect to begin with. From the days of Looney Tunes, Tex Avery and Tom And Jerry, cartons were always pretty weird. There came a point in the 90s though when the weird quotient dramatically increased alongside a big stinky slice of grossness. It all started over in a little corner of Nickelodeon…
Ren And Stimpy*
It was weird, brash, crude and managing to be both similar to old timey cheapo cartoons whilst utterly unlike anything else. I was both fascinated and repelled by it. I had never seen a cartoon, aimed at kids and on a kids channel, devote an episode to a sentient fart before. Powdered Toast Man, Log, Happy Happy Joy Joy - there was something wilfully weird about the whole thing and it’s clear that it’s remained an influence on the sort of shows that you’d now find on Adult Swim to this day. Of course, it’s more immediate influence could be felt on the crop of shows that popped up pretty soon afterwards…
Rocko’s Modern Life
It might have been less overtly weird but there was still a hefty dose of strangeness to this tale of a wallaby, his gross dog and his cow friend (who eats a disturbing amount of burger and steak). It also had a number of jokes that clearly weren’t aimed at kids and were designed to sail neatly over kids heads while the adults turned to each other and asked, “Did they really just do that?” It’s also about someone striking out in the adult world for the first time so has a certain appeal beyond just the kids.
Johnny Bravo, Cow And Chicken, The Powerpuff Girls
These were ones that I dipped in and out of but were no less strange and wonderful and showed that, while Nickelodeon may have kicked off the whole weird cartoon revolution, Cartoon network was more than capable of getting in on the action. In fact, if anything, Cartoon Network have arguably stuck with and run with the whole weirdness thing for far longer than Nickelodeon have. You also wouldn't have other cracking shows like Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, Samurai Jack, Regular Show, Infinity Train, The Amazing World of Gumball and so many more.
Space Ghost Coast To Coast
This kicked off a whole other set of comedy shows. I feel like maybe Adult Swim is deserving of a post all of its own...
*Side Note:- As with, it would seem, a surprisingly large number of the pop culture figures around during my youth, I appreciate that show creator John Kricfalusi is involved in allegations about his sexual conduct. That’s not something that I’m going to get into here; I’m primarily looking at the influence this show had on me nearly 30 years ago, long before any allegations came to light.
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