80s and 90s cartoons and Anime - How they have influenced my life and childhood

I'm pretty sure that everyone growing up had either a favorite game, toy, tv show or cartoon.

I understand that not everyone would have grown up in similar environments, yet I would like to believe that even then there would be at least some good memories that could be retained along with the bad. For as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining.

For this post I would like to share the shows that I grew up with, specifically the cartoons.

Growing up I was surrounded by many relatives, from my great grandmother, my grandparents, my parents and siblings, aunts and uncles, and my many cousins. We were a closely-knit family back then. Sure our family has expanded rapidly since then,while many have drifted apart yet most of us still remain close. We enjoyed many things together and some of them included cartoons.

Hence, part of the fond memories, lessons, beliefs and developed philosophy that I still retain today come from the cartoons I watched as a child. Sure many tell me that I'm either childish, I should grow up or I'm just outdated, yet I feel that there are things that you could learn from even 'old' cartoons.

Sure they may be 'old versions' of the current 'trends' these days, yet I find these oldies to be goodies.

Like most kids who enjoyed the classic Disney Movies here is a list of the Disney Films I enjoyed:

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
• The Little Mermaid
• The Jungle Book
• Sleeping Beauty
• Robin Hood
• Peter Pan
• Sword in the Stone
• The Aristocats
• 101 Dalmations

Listed below are several images of cartoon series logos of the cartoons I loved as a kid apart from the classic Disney Movies.

- Kimba the White Lion

- Filmation's version of Ghostbusters

- The Real Ghostbusters

- Transformers Generation One

- My Little Pony Generation One

- Batman TV series starring Adam West

- Looney Tunes

- Tom and Jerry

- Super Friends

- Captain Planet and the Planeteers

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series 1987

- G.I. Joe

- Batman the Animated Series

- Princess Knight (Ribon no Kishi) - it was developed in the 1950s but aired around the 1960s

- He-man & Masters of The Universe and She- Ra Princess of Power

- Jem

- Care Bears

- Casper the Friendly Ghost

- Venus Wars

- The Nutcracker Prince

- X-men : The Animated Series

- Extreme Ghostbusters

- Sailor Moon

- Dragon Ball Z

- Card Captor Sakura

One might wonder how is it that I am able to remember these many cartoons after so many years.
Yet, in my case I tend to remember things which I hold dear or things which have influenced me on a deep level.

As a little girl, I was a dreamer and tended to be the odd one out apart from being the only girl especially when spending time with my relatives from my father's side . On mum's side, I had more girl cousins but not all were my age and our interests differed more.

I seemed to find solace in watching cartoons and singing along as the story played, especially when it came to the Care Bears, My Little Pony and Jem and the Holograms. There were even times I would dance along, or at least try to while watching the Nutcracker Prince.

Sometimes my cousins and I (the ones my age were mainly boys on Dad's side till my younger cousins were born) would role-play as either the Ninja Turtles dressed up in masks and jumping up and down from furniture or pretending that there were ghosts around and we would shoot and capture them like the Ghostbusters but with noisy toy guns if not water guns. Otherwise we would imagine that we were Warriors and helping the Great Rebellion or the Masters of the Universe to save He-man and She-ra from the Horde. That is, if we weren't taking turns being superheroes or becoming soldiers in battle like in G.I. Joe or the Justice League/ Super Friends .

Here are a few values and possible influences which I hold today from watching or still watching those cartoons:

• love for music, singing and dancing
• interest in martial arts
• unwavering imagination
• value of making friends and how much I care about others
• my belief and interest in magic and mythical creatures
• fantasy of being a female warrior like She-ra and Princess Sapphire or having powers like Sailor Moon
• love for animals and their well-being
• value of adventure and fantasy
• child-like and sometimes childish mind
• interest in astronomy

I'm pretty sure that there are a lot more cartoons I could list down and more values. Though that's all for now.
There are many reasons that these cartoons hold a special place in my heart. Some would be self-explanatory from what values and lessons I gained from them or it's as simple as I find them entertaining.

Everyone will value things differently. Some may like the same thing while others don't. Yet, what I believe is that there's no right or wrong on what you like and where you find your lessons and values. As that's what develops you as a person and it's what makes you unique.

Thank you for dropping by and have a great day ^_^

*Disclaimer & Reference: The images shown are referenced from Wikia and Wikipedia