It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. But for a generation of fans, it was truly, truly the most outrageous of times. The last decade for both a thriving schedule of network Saturday morning cartoons and a full complement of weekday syndicated programming, the 1980s saw a television animation boom featuring a cast of colorful and eclectic characters.
The offerings ran the gamut from the blatantly commercial (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, created after restrictions on children's broadcasting were altered to allow programming based directly on merchandise) to the surprisingly unmarketable (Jem, canceled despite its popularity due to its failure to sell fashion dolls) to the utterly inexplicable (The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, helmed by underground animation legend Ralph Bakshi and future Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi).
Andrew Farago, a respected cartoon historian and a child of the eighties himself, provides an inside look at the history of the most popular cartoons of the decade, as told by the writers, animators, voice actors, and other creative talents who brought life to some of the era's most enduring animation, along with forgotten classics.