In terms of TV animation, the 1990s gave us a lot of things that was both unusual and addictive. This decade provided us a little bit of everything, from excessive violence and terrible characters to masterfully choreographed battle sequences and fascinating narratives.
Exoskeletons and mech-suits, gigantic heroes and villains, mythological and mystical tales, and, most importantly, aesthetically rich and bright animation abound in these TV series. We wouldn’t be wrong if we said that what was offered was a much-needed bridge, bridging the gap between cartoons intended at children and those aimed at adults.
After the 1990s, a drastic and dramatic transformation in the way cartoons were made and seen occurred, and adult audience became a privilege that animation makers still enjoy today. The use of CGI alongside live-action sequences in cartoons became popular in the 1990s, and Tom and Jerry, which will be released in 2021, is the latest direct result of this practice.
In this video, we’ll look at some of the most cutting-edge, avant-garde cartoons that broke new ground. We will not include mainstream cartoons, instead focusing on those that we believe were game-changers on a minor or significant scale. So sit back and enjoy the ride, and let us know which of these you’d want to see in the comments.
Exosquad (1993–1995)
In the year 2119, humanity is on the verge of an interplanetary conflict with Mars’ Neosapiens. Humans had colonised Venus and Mars by this time, as well as creating the aforementioned new species, the Neosapiens, who serve as slaves. The relentless tyranny has sparked a revolution among the Neosapiens, and Earth is now fighting space pirates.
The Martian Neosapien governor, Phaeton, sees this as an opportunity to declare full-fledged war on Earth and its people. The show follows the exploits of Able Squad, a group of elite troops who wear extremely advanced and dangerous exo-suits known as E-Frames, in the context of this battle.
First off, Kudos to you if you remember this show. It’s considered by many as one of the best action cartoons that came out in the 90s and was axed before its time. And, why not? Exosquad was made as a response to Japanese Animes of the time.
It was hardly a cartoon made for young children – ithad darker themes than an 8-year-old could comprehend. The show was a realistic take on war and its outcomes: there were carefully planned battle strategies, deaths, treachery, rebellions, and darker concepts like the psychological effect of war on people and their lives.
As an action cartoon, it had all the necessary ingredients, with space soldiers donning unique and personalized Exo suits to fight battles and go on many other adventures. However, the show aired in difficult and unpopular slots, even at 6 in the morning in a few cities, leading to a decrease in viewing numbers. The cartoon was cancelled after its second season, leaving the story on cliffhanger at the end of the 52nd episode.
The Savage Dragon (1995-1996)
The Chicago Police Department’s Lt. Frank Darling discovers a gigantic humanoid creature with green skin and a finned head. The monster has no memory of his history, but that shouldn’t be a problem because he possesses tremendous strength and the capacity to recover at a faster rate.
He eventually joins the police department and goes under the moniker Savage Dragon, fighting crime alongside the city’s most notorious criminals, including the enigmatic Overlord.
Overlord wants to take over the city and recruits our green hero to join the Vicious Circle, a group of supervillains. When Lt Darling and Savage Dragon’s partner Officer Alex Wilde are kidnapped by Overlord, Savage Dragon must fight to save them while uncovering a massive plot.
The cartoon is an animated adaptation of the Image Comics character of the same name, which was created by the legendary writer and artist Erik Larsen. It’s a justified and honest adaptation of the comic, packed with all the action you expect: flipping, jumping, kicking, and head-butting.
Despite notfeaturing the nudity seen in the comic, the sensuality and a reasonable amount of violence iscarried over. Interestingly, the 21st episode is a crossover with three other famous cartoons of the period. Any guesses which? Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, and Wing Commander Academy.
This great idea was hatched by the USA Action Extreme Team of the USA Network. The Savage Dragon is an excellent piece of work as an action cartoon series,though the execution and productionis a little lacking. In Erik’s words, it was ‘an exercise in frustration.’ The episodes feel independent in themselves, and sometimes they fail to maintain continuity of plot and story.
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996-1997)
Johnny Quest is a computer genius who, with his companions, travels to foreign countries with his father, Dr. Benton Quest, to investigate weird happenings and mysteries. They also have access to QuestWorld, a virtual world where they can solve puzzles, find mysteries, and combat bad people in order to avoid life-threatening circumstances.
Hanna Barbera produced this show, which was a continuation of the 1964 series Johnny Quest and the 1986 series The New Adventures of Johnny Quest. The show’s original creator Peter Lawrence wanted this incarnation to be more realistic and believable than the original cartoons and so he used locations like the Airstrips of Nazca and the Ruins of Teotihuacan.
But Hanna Barbera wanted less believable mysteries which were in line with the original cartoons, and the rift resulted in Lawrence getting fired and new writers being brought in.The project was in development hell, and a separate series planned called The New Jonny Quest was pulled, with the episodes for that season being released as the second season for this one.
The chaotic result was a bizarre fiasco with the second season looking and feeling extremely different.However, for people looking for a nostalgic walk down memory lane, this is a great show with exploits and adventures on par with that of its predecessors. Impressively, the creators were mindful enough to age the characters by a few years so that they could make more of the action and fighting; however, some fans objected to the change.
The show seemed to address the accusations that the previous versions faced, such as xenophobia, sexism and racism. The animation is visually stunning, with CGI transforming the Questworld passages into a cinematic spectacle and the combat scenes with Medusa and Surd becoming a must-see. Despite all of the enhancements and adjustments, the show was cancelled after the second season due to a lack of ratings and viewership.
Biker Mice from Mars (1993-1996)
Mars was once a prosperous planet with abundant natural resources and a population of anthropomorphic mice. When the Plutarkians, a carnivorous, worm-eating, foul-smelling fish humanoids, arrived and plundering the planet’s resources in order to transport them back to their dying home planet, all hell broke out.
Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie are three Martian mice who discovered a spaceship and travelled to Earth, which the Plutarkians want to invade next. Cestus, lasers, flares, and even a prosthetic arm are among the weaponry used by these mice. To preserve Earth from the Plutarkians, the three must band together and hope to return to Mars one day.
Heavy metal, heavy action and kids cartoon combine in this memorable show created by Rick Ungar. Many don’t know that Marvel Productions produced the first season, yeah, the same Marvel you’re thinking of.
Marvel Comics also published a three-issue series in the 90s. And why not? I mean, humanoid mice who live by a small and simple code: “brains, bros, bikes”, and fight big, bad, smelly aliens using cybernetic weapons? We’resold! These muscle-mice fight aliens, robots and other monsters in style and with grace.
This is one of the earliest cartoons to includes themes of climate change and environmental degradation. While it didn’t transform kids into Greta Thunberg, it did manage to bringthe issue into homes, and raise whatever little awareness it could. In 2006, the concept returned to TV screens with the same name in a 28 episode series. This revived series was a continuation, but addedmore antagonists in the form of cat-like humanoids called Catatonians.
Extreme Ghostbusters (1997)
Dr. Egon Spengler and his colleagues founded a group that pursued ghosts for a living a few years ago. With the exception of Dr. Egon Spengler, who now lives in a firehouse with his ghost friend Slimer, studying paranormal activities and teaching a group of young students at a local college, the lack of supernatural activity in the city led the team members to look for other opportunities, and they all went their separate ways.
When additional paranormal incidents arise, he forms an all-new Ghostbusters squad with pupils Kylie Griffin, Eduardo Rivera, Garrett Miller, Roland Jackson, and his secretary Janine Melnitz! Slimer, the ever-hungry ghost, is also a member of the crew. Together, they determine to search New York and hunt ghosts.
After the success of the 1986 show The Real Ghostbusters, producers felt that there was enough juice in the story to make another series. The result was Extreme Ghostbusters, a revamped continuation with next-generation ghostbusters.
As a horror cartoon, it was genuinely spooky, even by the standards of younger teenagers, while the supernatural comedy was funny and gritty. What’s commendable is that the show contained heavier action and more serious plots, aiming for an older audience than its predecessors.
Sadly though,this is what led to the show’s demise. Poor scheduling meant that the show aired to a largely pre-school audience, despite being aimed at an elder demograpic – a blunder that resulted in poor ratings, leading to the show’s cancelation after its first season.
Skeleton Warriors (1994)
Prince Lightstar and Baron Dark struggle for ownership of the Lightstar Crystal, which powers the city of Luminicity and grants superhuman abilities, on the fictitious planet Luminaire. Baron Dark succeeds in stealing one half of the crystal during one of his attempts to take it, while Prince Lightstar and his Legion of Light protect the other half.
Baron Dark may transform people into undead skeleton soldiers with the crystal’s powers. To free Luminicity from darkness, the Legion of Light must confront Baron Dark and his skeletal henchmen.
Back in the 90s, there were sci-fi action shows, and there were horror cartoons. Skeleton Warriors was a breath of fresh air as it blended these two genres, givingus something to really cherish. It was a visual treat and had superb fight sequences, cool vehicles, lots of bone-crushing and in-air fights.
Everything from the theme song to the graceful sword fights screamed it’s status as a classic 90s show. It could have been the next big thing but unfortunately, it couldn’tquite garner the right numbers, so the producers crushed it in cold blood. Never before did we see scores of the titular skeleton warriors fire lasers and guns while riding cruiser motorcycles.
So many skulls and ribs were crushed that one might question the sanity of its creators and writers. The cartoon was aimed at a very niche audience with its dark and violent undertones, so much so that it became economically unviable.In addition, its toylinefailed to develop a fanbase.
Godzilla: The Series (1998)
The plot of this show is based on the events in the 1998 film. After the nest of mother Godzilla is aerially bombed by US forces, Dr. Nick Tatopoulos discovers an unhatched egg. When he trips and cracks the egg, a baby Godzilla hatches from it, believing him to be its mother.
Following that, Dr. Tatopoulos leads the Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team, a study group made up of scientists and US authorities. Strange monsters have begun to appear over the world as a result of the events of the film, and it appears that all they know how to do is cause chaos and ruin. To combat these monsters, Nick and his team rely on the infant Godzilla as their ultimate weapon.
The show was actually better received by Godzilla fans than the film, because it was closer to Toho’s Godzilla franchise. It packed great action, story, and monster vs. monster fights in all its episodes and became an immediate favorite of kids of all ages. However, the action was sometimes too violent for younger audiences and was not really child friendly.
Unlike the monster in live-action movie, the animated Godzilla was not just a violent killing machine trying to save its eggs, and its independent thinking closer resembled the instincts of an apex predator.
Like the original Godzilla, this versioncould emit the classic radioactive beams from its mouth, and didn’t hesitate from making a mess to save Nick and the Earth, which it thought was its nest. The cartoon ran for two magnificent seasons but eventually our radioactive kaiju was forced to succumb to the power of its distant brethren,Pokemon and Digimon, who had started taking the prime Saturday morning schedules.
GI JOE EXTREME (1995)
The drama follows the breakup of a superpower bloc as many separate factions vie for control of Skar, a terrorist organisation. Iron Klaw, who wears a mask and has a dual personality, is the major adversary.
In a conflict where the bad guys, who just want to bring chaos to an already chaotic and damaged society, have the upper hand, Lt Stone and his updated Joe team strive to destroy the mercenary and terrorist groups.
Hasbro sought to recapture an age of glory with G.I. Joe Extreme, which is based on the original G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. However, it is a well-known fact that cartoons were formerly as good as its toyline. While this cartoon was new and fresh with indistinguishable heroes fighting organizations like SKAR i.e.the Soldiers of Khaos, Anarchy and Ruin, the toyline failed to generate the expected interest, which faded after one wave.
Nevertheless, Joe Extreme featured some fantastic villains, ushering in fantastic fight sequences, conspiracies and violence. Naturally, the show saw more pronounced action and violence than previous incarnations, with darker themes and backstories.
Giving its villain a dual personality was not a common concept back in the 90s, but the creators were bold enough to explorethe psychological troubles of thecharacters, in this instance increasing the villain’s depth and horror factor. Dark Horse comics obtained GI Joe rights in 1996 and their initial publication had the tagline: extreme times call for extreme heroes!
Conan the Adventurer (1992 TV series)
Conan is a wandering warrior who comes from Cimmeria, an ancient mythological city. He watches a meteor shower that he refers to as “fiery tears” one day. He gathers the celestial objects and delivers them to his blacksmith father.
Conan’s father makes weapons and tools out of the metal found in meteorites, which he refers to as “star metal.” The greatest thing he develops is a sword that can open portals to other realms and renders the bearer virtually unkillable. However, the mysteries of Star Metal and the abilities it possesses are discovered by an evil sorcerer named Wrath-Amon. As he battles the serpent-faced sorcerer, Conan’s adventures begin.
As per Robert E Howard’s Conan or Marvel Comics’ Conan, the characteris a ruthless and rather immoral warrior, whose heroic tasks were somewhat overshadowed by the less than righteous methods he used to complete them.
The cartoon series couldn’t show Conan’s true personality as it was quite adult, so they diluted his character and toned down his murderous and thieving traits. Conan fans weren’t pleased with this, but the cartoon was popular among children because it showed a hulking man fighting bad guys with age-old weapons and the sheer brute force of his muscular body.
Having said that, the creators remained largely loyal to Howard’s original literature, the result being engaging stories and characters. It remained one of the best sword and sorcery cartoons of the age and competed well with its contemporaries like He-Man and Dungeons and Dragons. In 1994, Sunbow Entertainment released Conan and the Young Warriors, which was a direct sequel to Conan the Adventurer.
Wild CATS: Covert Action Teams (1994)
The plot of Wild Cats revolves around a battle between two prehistoric alien races: the good Kherubim and the evil Daemonites. It is a universal and age-old conflict that must be fought for the survival of the planet. Helspont, the Daemonites’ leader, is the main antagonist, whereas the Covert Action Team is led by the cyborg Spartan.
The Wild Cats comics were first published by Image Comics in 1992, and the rights were eventually purchased by DC Comics. However, the comics have been successful since their inception, and David Wise created a cartoon series for CBS based on them.
It was clubbed together with other cartoons in the Action Zone block, with the likes ofTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Skeleton Warriors. The show ran for 13 episodes but was canceled because it drifted away from the comics, and that killed the charm of these wild cats. However, it was and still is a visual treat to viewers who dig action, irrespective of that action being wrapped around some loose plots and some really dodgy dialogue.
Highlander: The Animated Series (1994–1996)
Humanity is nearly wiped out as a meteorite collides with Earth, causing a chain of nuclear explosions, leaving only the immortal highlanders. They declare themselves Jettators and swear to quit battling for an everlasting prize in order to safeguard what is left.
However, one of the immortals, Kortan, continues to seek the Prize and desires to rule Earth. He succeeds, but there is a prophecy that one Last Highlander will be born, defeating Kortanin and freeing the world from his tyrannical tyranny.
Highlander: The Animated Series is a loose spinoff and sequel of the 1986 film of the same name. Much like Conan The Barbarian’s character, Highlander was made for adult viewership or at least college kids.
However, the extreme cartoon creators of the 90s saw fit to bring these stories into the animated world and make them suitable for kids. This experiment didn’t always prove successful, because if you remove the basic features of gritty and dark literature, and make it morally and politically correct, then you’re doing something absolutely criminal.
This series did however do quite well on the action front, using non-lethal means of fighting like martial arts and simple swordplay. The visual aesthetics were vibrant and engaging, but the plot lacked continuity and created confusion. Then again, if you watch this show independently of the movie, then it may just win your heart.
ACTION MAN (1995)
Action Man awakens with amnesia – he has no recollection of anything – but is quickly recruited as the leader of a team known as The Action Force, entrusted with bringing down the infamous Dr. X and his Council of Doom. Later, Action Man discovers that Dr. X is the cause of his amnesia and, most likely, the murderer of his parents.
One of the best things about Action Man is that you get exactly what you pay for. Hasbro’s Action Man toy line was so popular that DIC Entertainment decided to make a show based on it. Action Man was an above-average character, but the show was undoubtedly stolen by its villain, Dr. X. He was clearly the most developed character of the show and was a staple 90’s villain.
With his iconic hair and his army of Skull Men, he Dr X. is always a step ahead of Action Man, stealing nuclear warheads and Russian Cybernetic androids, and Action Man’s team seemed a little unidimensional in comparison. The cartoon wasspecial in two respects – the first being that the creators didn’t shy away from going into space.
Secondly, it was a cartoon that used animation, CGI and live-action sequences, at unique approach that added greatly to the thrill factor. Sadly, this aspect also made it difficult for young kids to grasp all that was happening, and the show was prematurely canceled. However, it’s a highly recommended series for people who want to see something new in the animated world.