'90s Cartoons That Didn't Age Well

The '90s was a glorious decade, especially if you were a kid. It was a golden age for cartoons, with Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney Channel offering a plethora of amazing shows. And a lot of these series are still pretty incredible by today's standards. But for every Batman: The Animated Series and Animaniacs out there, there's a show that hasn't exactly stood the test of time.

Perhaps they haven't aged well because the animation just hasn't held up at all. Other times, these cartoons dealt with certain subjects that were pretty cringey in hindsight. Others might've seemed funny as a kid, but looking back as an adult, they're just plain annoying. Yeah, these '90s cartoons might've been part of your regular line-up back in the day, but you probably shouldn't schedule a binge-watching session any time soon. Otherwise, you may question what you ever saw in these shows in the first place.

There was a period in the '80s and '90s where a ton of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ripoffs permeated the zeitgeist. From Battletoads to Biker Mice from Mars, plenty of creators tried to replicate the formula of taking animals and turning them into buff, anthropomorphic warriors. One of the most egregious examples of this was Street Sharks, which ran from 1994 to 1997. 

As for the plot, a professor and his four sons are forcibly transformed into humanoid fish, courtesy of a "gene-slammer." Thus, the titular Street Sharks are born, and they spend their days battling monsters in the streets of Fission City. Honestly, the whole thing feels like one of those ideas that was designed to sell toys more than actually create an enjoyable television series. And sure, you don't exactly expect The Wire from a show named Street Sharks, and the series probably had some fans considering it lasted for three seasons. But Street Sharks never got out of the shell-shaped shadow of Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Donatello. So if you're going to revisit a series about buff animals, you're better off sticking with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

Iron Man is now a household name thanks to his prevalence in movie theaters over the last decade. Starting with the 2008 blockbuster, Tony Stark went on to become the central figure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in his own line of films, as well as the Avengers and Spider-Man movies. But before Robert Downey Jr. made the character a household name, most people only knew Iron Man from his short-lived and critically panned cartoon series from the '90s. 

After the success of the X-Men cartoon, Marvel was wanting to expand their line-up. The result was The Marvel Action Hour, which aired shows such as Iron Man and Fantastic Four. But in case you were thinking of looking more into Iron Man's origins, there's no reason to bother with this show. The storylines are overly dramatic with little explanation given for why characters are in certain situations. Also, Tony Stark has a terrible mullet. When you see it, you just can't pay attention to anything else on the screen. 

In the '90s, Donkey Kong was one of Nintendo's flagship characters. The company had already adapted Mario and Luigi into their own feature-length film and cartoon series, so it only made sense to give the big ape his own show, too. Unfortunately, the cartoon was just as well-received as any of those Mario properties.

The show has some rough CG animation — and we're talking rough — which hasn't allowed the series to age particularly well. But we may have been able to forgive that if it was clear anyone who'd worked on the show had actually ever played Donkey Kong. Many of the characters undergo radical transformations from how they behave in the games. For example, in the cartoon, King K. Rool is a big wuss. He's a formidable opponent in the games, but in the show, Donkey Kong can knock him out with one punch. It could be fun to see some adventures with Donkey, Diddy, and the others, but this just isn't it. 

There was a point in time when Mortal Kombat dominated arcades across the United States. The gory fighting caught on with players of all ages, and the video game even lent itself to a feature-length film. However, when the creators tried to follow up that success with a cartoon series marketed toward kids, it just didn't work at all. 

For starters, the cartoon series featured characters that were in Mortal Kombat 3, which was noteworthy for leaving out several popular characters from earlier in the series, such as Scorpion. Additionally, the show was geared toward young children, so it couldn't be anywhere near as violent as the games. Granted, this was all part of a trend in the '90s when studios took R-rated properties and turned them into children's cartoons. Just look at RoboCop and Toxic Avenger. But the result was something that didn't (and doesn't) really appeal to either kids or adults. 

Having a show to teach kids about the dangers of environmental degradation is absolutely relevant to today's world, and that's why we've got to give major props to Captain Planet and the Planeteers. And in addition to taking care of the Earth, the show tackled many issues that kids needed to learn about, such as the danger of drugs and political corruption. But looking back on the series today, it's unclear what its legacy will be. 

In a certain regard, it's kind of disappointing to see how so many issues dealt with in the show are still pertinent to this day. And the show basically feels like one long sermon, and it's definitely not entertaining on its own as a superhero show. With all that in mind, it doesn't seem like the series was particularly effective in its goals. Additionally, Captain Planet may be one of the lamest superheroes ever created. His weakness is pollution, which is supposed to be the one thing he's supposed to fight against. That would be like if Superman's whole goal was to save Metropolis from kryptonite.

Cow and Chicken was basically Cartoon Network's answer to Ren & Stimpy. The show was wild and out-there. As for the plot, it follows two siblings, a cow and a chicken, who get into various surreal adventures. Their parents are just legs, and they're constantly being harassed by the Red Guy, who's basically the devil who constantly tries to scam them. 

Ren & Stimpy was also surreal and weird, but there's more going on than just that. The animation was revolutionary at the time and pushed the boundaries of what was possible with a kids' cartoon. It's hard to follow up on that, and Cow and Chicken is basically just weird for the sake of being weird. Although, if you ever get the chance to watch the "Buffalo Gals" episode, then you should definitely check it out and marvel at how something like this was even able to air in the first place.