DVD Review: Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1980s, Vol. 1

Movie Info:
Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Frank Welker, Lennie Weinrib, Hamilton Camp, Julie Dees, B.J. Ward, Marilyn Scheffler, Susan Blu, Bumper Robinson, Henry Corden, Mel Blanc, Charlie Adler, Kenneth Mars, Judy Strangis, Sonny Melendrez, Chuck Norris, Robert Ito, Sam Fontana, Amy Linker, Dick Beals, Kathleen Helpie, Jerry Houser, Daryl Hickman, Bob Holt, Kip King, Henry Gibson, Marshall Efron, Michael Bell, Allan Melvin, Matthew Faison, Robert Morse, Bill Martin, Kathy Garver, Mona Marshall, Keone Young, Martin Short, Joe Flaherty, Jonathan Winters, Catherine O’Hara, Danny Cooksey, Mr. T, Phillip La Marr, Siu Ming, Shawn Lieber, Teddy S. Field III, Takayo Fischer, Laurel Page, Ellen Gerstell, Bob Ridgely, Nellie Bellflower, Hank Saroyan, Sidney Miller, Bob Arbogast, Frank Nelson, Lou Richards, Mary McDonald Lewis, Brock Peters, Bob Sarlatte, Michael Mish, Arthur Berghardt, Clive Revill, Fred Travalenda, Peter Cullen, Henry Corden, Robert Allen Ogle, John Stephenson, Jim MacGeorge, Don Messick
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Home Video

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: May 4, 2010
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99

We are both children of the 80s. The Saturday morning cartoons of the 80s were what we grew up watching. Having reviewed Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s, Vol. 1 and Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s, Vol. 1, we’ve been waiting for a chance to watch classic cartoons from the 80s. Well, here it is and while some of it is cool, there are some disappointing aspects to this release.

We expected The Smurfs, The Flintstone Kids, and other Hanna-Barbera shows to dominate this set. Instead, we have a lot more of Hanna-Barbera competitors, Ruby-Spears’ cartoons represented. That is okay because Ruby-Spears isn’t all bad. BUT, most of these cartoons aren’t as well known as the Hanna-Barbera titles. Some we had never even heard of and others are just plain awful, like the Chuck Norris animated show, Karate Kommandos. We assume some didn’t air as prominently in the Midwest, like Goldie Gold and Action Jack. We never even remember these shows being on.

Don’t get us wrong. There are some cool shows on here. We’ve been waiting for The Flintstone Kids to be put out, in any form, on DVD. Both of us watched this show all the time, as kids. We’d all but forgotten about The Biskitts, those cute “little” puppies, every person from the 80s knows Mr. T, unless they were living in a cave, and I (Dom) finally got to refresh Ashtyn’s memory of what a monchhichi was. So, essentially, in this set, fans of 80s cartoons are going to win some and lose some. Ultimately, it will be up to each person to determine whether there are enough winners in the bunch to merit a purchase.

While we’ve been waiting for Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1980s, Vol. 1 to come out, we cannot help but feel a sense of disappointment that more of our favorite cartoons were not included in this set. The source material for some of these cartoons isn’t as great as today’s but most of it has held up well. If nothing else, it has given us a chance to introduce the kids to a bunch of retro, lesser known cartoons they have never seen.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1980s, Vol. 1 Episode Synopsis’
There are 11 different cartoons in the Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1980s, Vol. 1 set. Some of the shows feature multiple segments and episodes. These shows are spread out across two discs. Here is a list of the episodes with a description of the shows and episodes.

Disc 1

Goldie Gold and Action Jack
Episode: “Night of the Crystal Skull”
Original Air Date: September 12, 1981

Think Richie Rich, a little ditzier, in female form and you have Goldie Gold. Goldie Gold is the richest person ever. She has more money than anyone else in the world. With so much money and time on her hands, Goldie has to do something to pass the time. Goldie owns the newspaper, the Gold Street Journal. Her boyfriend, Jack, aka “Action Jack” works for the paper. Jack, Goldie, and her dog, Nugget, use the paper to allow them to investigate crimes and save the day.

In “Night of the Crystal Skull”, Goldie arrives at her party to find men dressed as Incan warriors kidnapping two astronauts and a professor/scientist with the knowledge of how to create a space shuttle. When Goldie and Jack go to the Gold Street Journal, they are attacked by the Incans. The two chase them back to Peru. There they discover the Crystal Skull Masked man’s plot to take over the world, which they must stop.

Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos
Episode: “Deadly Dolphin”
Original Air Date: September 15, 1986

Chuck Norris is a douche and his cartoon just seeks to prove that. I think he just likes hearing his name (if parents played a drinking game for every time anyone says Chuck or Norris, they’d have alcohol poisoning in the first 2 minutes). Hearing it makes Chuck Norris giddy. Sure, he wants to teach kids lessons, and his show supposedly has moral values, but who wants to spend 20+ minutes seeing a badly drawn, bushy mustached, Chuck Norris kick butt? The funny part is, Chuck Norris really takes himself seriously in the live action sequences before and after the main show. Wow…

I will give Chuck credit. He has a crew that help him, including a totally annoying kid. I never watched this show when it originally aired, and I can definitely see why. In “Deadly Dolphin”, Angel Fish and Super Ninja capture Dr. Sanford. Angel Fish reads Dr. Sandford’s mind to discover how to get in Sealab. With control of Sealab, they can control the seas, something their boss, the Claw, has hired them to do. It is up to Chuck Norris and his rag tag team of Karate Kommandos, Tabe, the fat sumo champ, Pepper, the Tech expert/mechanic, Pepper’s brother Reed, who is Chuck’s apprentice, Too Much, the young Asian boy, and the samurai, Kimo, to stop them.

The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
Episode: “Tall, Dark & Hansom”
Original Air Date: September 10, 1988

There were quite a few cartoons based on live-action actors in the 80s. One of the later shows was The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. This vehicle for Martin Short has the comedian playing the spastic and weird Ed Grimley. The show is part live-action, part animation. Ed Grimley is just as weird as you’d expect Martin Short to be in cartoon form. His quirks are on full display in the episode presented in this 80s cartoon set.

In “Tall, Dark & Hansom”, the spike-haired E, is sad that his Cousin Lamar is sick, but is happy because this means that he is taking over driving Lamar’s horse and buggy for the day. Ed is celebrating with music, when we meet his talking rat, Sheldon, and his biting fish, Moby. Ed gets excited when his attractive neighbor, Miss Malone, says hi to him. He also is friends with Miss Malone’s little brother, a young, destructive boy named Wendall, who introduces him to a walkman and some loud music. Unfortunately, when he goes to do Cousin Lamar’s job, Ed has trouble getting the horse to move.

The Amazing Gustav Brothers interupt the action right before the horse looks sure to get it when a piano is about to fall on him. The brothers, Emile and Roger, teach about gravity. Emile jumps out of a plane with no parachute to show how gravity works, before returning to the cartoon with Ed. Ed manages to get the horse, Leonard, to move, but loses his cousin’s job for him, in the process. The show is interrupted again with a live action portion. In it, Count Floyd (Joe Flaherty) tells kids scary stories. This story is about an archeologist, Dr. Smite, who was investigating inside a pyramid, when he discovers a headless mummy. The kids seem unimpressed. The animated show returns with Leonard the horse entering a horse race to impress a female horse he has a crush on. In the end, Ed saves the day, though we won’t tell you how.

The Flintstone Kids

The Flintstone Kids was our favorite of all the shows in this set. We have fond memories of watching this show when we were kids. The segments are all from different episodes of the show. The first is a full length episode of the show, while the other are segments that became a central part of the show. These segments are, Captain Caveman and Son, Dino’s Dilemmas, and Flintstone Funnies.

In this quirky, Flintstones spin off, Fred, Barney, Betty, Wilma and the rest of the gang are young kids. They have the same kind of wacky adventures the adult Flinstone cast has, only they are much shorter and have to answer to their parents!! The regular characters are joined by their friend, Philo Quartz, the mean bully, Rocky Ratrock, and a spoiled, filthy rich girl who thinks Freddy is cute, Dreamchip Gemstone.

Episode: “The Bad News Brontos”
Original Air Date: October 4, 1986

Fred is the pitcher of the kids’ losing baseball team, the Bedrock Brontos. When Edna, Fred’s mom, takes on the job of coach, they start to improve and start winning. With the Brontos set to be the town champs, Rocky, who is on the Bedrottens team, bullies Fred into betting on the game. The prize is a seat next to Wilma at the baseball banquet afterwards. Rocky uses Dreamchip Gemstone to keep Fred up late the night before the game. With Wilma mad because Freddie can’t stay awake, things turn from bad to worse when she finds out about the bet!

Captain Caveman and Son
Episode: “Invasion of the Mommy Snatchers”
Original Air Date: September 27, 1986

The Flintstone kids are watching their favorite TV show, Captain Caveman and Son. In Bedrock, on the show, mothers are being kidnapped. Their only hope is Captain Caveman and his son, Cavey Jr. Unga-Bunga!! Kids are crying, running around causing trouble, and upset because their moms are gone. Captain Caveman and son try to search for the women. A man has a clue and after getting it, Cavey Jr. has Captain Caveman dress up as a mom to get abducted. When Riff and Raff the two headed alien arrive in their UFO to get him, they realize these child aliens aren’t willing to do what they are told and release the moms.

Dino’s Dilemmas
Episode: “Dreamchip’s Cur Wash”
Original Air Date: September 27, 1986

Freddy and Dino visit Dreamchip at Gemstone Manor. There, she asks Freddy to convince Dino to test out her new dogasaurus washing machine. She doesn’t want to ruin her expensive pet, Fluffy’s fur. Dino is forced into it by Fred, but it is humiliating, as is Dreamchip constantly calling him a mutt. Dino has a plan to get even and Freddy apologizes for letting Dino be humiliated in the first place.

Flintstone Funnies
Episode: “Princess Wilma”
Original Air Date: December 16, 1986

A sick Wilma is stuck in bed. Her dad won’t let her meet Betty at the Bedrock Mall. Sad about missing her mall trip, Wilma imagines being a real princess and doing whatever she wants. Princess Wilma has a magic mirror. She wishes for a true fairytale. When Sir Rocky of Ratrock shows up, her father, King Slaghoople, makes a decree. Whoever beats Sir Rocky wins Wilma’s hand in marriage. Enter Sir Freddy of Flintstone, who sets out to win the hand of the fair princess.

Mister T
Episode: “Mystery of the Golden Medallion”
Original Air Date: September 17, 1983

In a more successful live-action inspired, Ruby-Spears production, Mr. T, an 80s hero, fights the bad guys. AND…he’s not nearly as annoying as Chuck Norris while doing it. After a brief live action intro (in which Mr. T says, “I Pity the Fool!”), Mr. T joins his team, a group of young gymnasts in San Francisco, in cartoon form. The team solves mysteries and kicks butt while doing it, but you probably already figured that out.

The team gets a new gymnast, Woody, and they are none too pleased While Woody is performing, someone swipes all the gold medallions and Woody is unable to get his first place medal. Spike, gymnast Robin’s little brother and the boy who has hero worship for Mr. T, stumbles upon the thieves and he is kidnapped by them. The team must set out to find him, but nobody wants to work with Woody to find Spike. With Woody helping Mr. T and his mohawked dog, Dozer, the team soon realizes just how much they underestimated Woody.

Disc 2

The Biskitts
Episodes: “As the Worm Turns/Trouble in the Tunnel”
Original Air Date: September 17, 1983

Imagine The Smurfs living in a castle instead of mushroom houses, and as little dogs instead of tiny blue creatures. These dogs even sound like Smurfs. We think some of the same actors that voiced The Smurfs voiced The Biskitts. The pups live in a castle on an island in the swamp. They are protecting royal treasure. Of course, they have a Gargamel-esque character, King Max, who wants nothing more than to take the treasure. His entire quest revolves around finding the island castle and, in turn, the treasure.

In “As the Worm Turns”, Sweets gets a pet caterpillar, Fuzzy. Fuzzy is hungry and eats up their entire garden. In the meantime, King Max has the hounds out to find Biskitt Island. With King Max looming near the castle, the Biskitts have as much trouble hiding their castle as they do with Fuzzy, who the other Biskitts say must leave due to his destructive eating.

In “Trouble in the Tunnel”, The Biskitts are flying bone kites. It is a beautiful day, and Shiner convinces Scat to polish the treasure, by saying it is a big honor. Inside the castle, Scat heads off to polish. Outside, the ground begins to shake and quake. Something is going on beneath the island, and they soon realize it is a mole. When King Max discovers the mole has some of the Biskitt’s treasure, he realizes he can use it to his advantage to find the island. Scat, who has followed the mole, learns of the plot, so it is up to the young Biskitt to warn the others.

Monchhichis
Episode: “Tickle Pickle”
Original Air Date: September 10, 1983

Dom had a Monchhichi when he was 2. His little monkey sucked his thumb. This show is definitely for the younger crowd. These monkeys are simply adorable. The cute little Monchichis live in the trees. They have to live high up to avoid the Grumplins. The Grumplins are evil looking monkeys who wish to ruin the lives of the Monchhichis.

Go to Page 2 of the Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1980s, Vol. 1 DVD Review.

Written by Dom & Ash Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick and Ashtyn have been together since 2002. Together, they live in Michigan, work together as pro bloggers, and homeschool and raise their 15 year old son, CT. Their interests are diverse. Ashtyn loves to write, listen to music, shop and enjoy the finer things in life. Dominick enjoys playing wheelchair sports, watching sports, acting, singing, playing video games and making movies.