Nostalgia Animated

I guess, I was feeling kinda sentimental this weekend. You could say that my generation is probably the first of the TV junkies. It's not that my parents just set me in front of a TV, I discovered its magical attraction by myself during a stay at the hospital where I couldn't do much else. After that I'd spend weekend mornings in front of the box devouring one cartoon after another, episode by episode. I'd watch them after coming home from school. They were sometimes my motivation to do homework more quickly or my excuse for skipping them.
Talking to my friend about what we watched as kids made me think. I often say cartoons today, things like Pokemon or Dragonball, are not what they used to be. So, I thought back about what were those shows that shaped my childhood. For better or worse.
So, here they are. The list is surely not comprehensive but it should at least cover the stuff I watched on a regular basis. The links lead to videos of the opening titles, which, happily, you can still (or again) find on youtube. Join me on a tour of my childhood.

Galaxy Rangers: Law men in the future, each with their special abilities.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The prince of a threatened kingdom discovers he can use his magical sword to become the "most powerful man in the universe" and fight back against his enemy Skeletor.
Transformers: Two species of convertible robots, the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons, fight an ancient war and end up on earth where their struggle continues for the resources of the planet. Probably my all-time favourite. Of course, there was a highly successful toy series.
Challenge of the Gobots: Similar to Transformers. According to sources this actually came first but was way not as popular.
Bravestarr: The Exploits of Marshall Bravestarr, lawman with mystical powers, and his robotic talking horse protecting the citizens of the planet New Texas. Also one of my favourites.
Inspector Gadget: A clumsy inspector of Scotland Yard is equipped with countless ingenious gadgets while his niece and her dog secretly help him solve cases and thwart the plans of the evil Dr. Claw.
Queen Millennia: A mysterious planet is diverted from its orbit and hurled through space on a collision course with earth while its inhabitants secretly work on earth to avert the catastrophy. Very original, I was so sad when it ended. (Here's the original Japanese intro)
Starcom: Can't remember much; law enforcers or military in space. There was an elaborate toy series.
Voltron: With the universe in danger a special force is dispatched to recover the lost super robot Voltron fight off the evil forces.
Bionic Six: A family of six bionically enhanced individuals fight crime.
Mask: A secret force of crime fighters driving convertible vehicles fight the similarly equipped evil organisation dubbed Venom.
Silverhawks: Sadly, I can't really remember what this was about.
Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs: Special unit of law enforcers, equipped with high tech weapons and a super spaceship that transforms into a huge robot, called Ramrod, fight evil on distant planets.
Defenders of the Earth: A group of famous (super) heroes fight crime and evil.
The Real Ghostbusters: Based on the movie of the same name, a group of four specially equipped scientists catch malevolent ghosts in and around New York.
She-Ra: He-Man's twin sister, also equipped with a magic sword and "fabulous powers" leads the battle against the evil Hordak.
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: Four genetically mutated, humanoid turtles with a craving for pizza are trained as ninja and fight crime and the foot clan led by the evil Shredder around New York.
Ulysses 31: Based on the Odyssee from Greek Myth but in space.
Captain Future: Can't really remember this one but I did watch it on occasions.
Captain Planet: The one and only environmentally friendly cartoon around five kids with rings of power that could combine to call up the defender of the environment: Captain Planet. It's kind of embarrassing today.
Addams Family: Yes, there was also a cartoon based on the B&W series about the weird and spooky family.
Spider-man: Based on the Marvel comic, when young student Peter Parker gets bitten by a radio-active spider and develops the powers of that animal he must realise that "with great power comes great responsibility" and he sets out to fight crime and super villains around New York.
Spider-man and his Amazing Friends: Spidey gets reinforcements from two other super heroes: Iceman and Firestar.
The Incredible Hulk: Another Marvel cartoon, about Professor Connor who when under stress transforms into an incredibly strong, violent monster of a man.
Mr. T: A series about the actor Mr. T (from the A-Team) about fighting crime and providing valuable lessons for kids. Embarrassing, I know.
Robocop: Based on the feature film of the same name but way not as violent, Detroit police officer Alex Murphy is mortally wounded in action and his body cybernetically enhanced and armoured making him a super-cop.
Gummibears: A tribe of tiny Gummibears live in an enchanted forest and equipped with their Gummibear juice that gives them great power they have lots of adventures and must fight off evil monsters.
Ewoks: Based on the characters from Star Wars - Return of the Jedi, a series about the adventures of the ewoks on the forest moon of Endor before or after the movie happened.
Jem: Can't really remember much, except that I watched it every weekend on the English channel.
Smurfs: The good-hearted little Smurfs live hidden in their village deep in the forest and must evade the evil sorceror Gargamel and have many other adventures. (Since I can't find this intro in English this is the original French opening.)
Michel Vaillant: A series about the race driver of that name and his adventures. (this is the German opening.)
Ring Raiders: A short-lived series about a special military organisation that could give their fighter planes special power stored in a ring worn by each pilot. There was also a collectible toy series.
Rude Dog and the Dweebs: A pack of dogs lead by the ultra-cool (or so he thinks) Rude Dog trick cats and other people that want to get at their home.
Dungeons & Dragons: Based on the roleplaying game, a group of kids are magically transported into a fantasy world where each receive special powers, where they have to fight evil, find a way home and receive guidance by the mysterious Dungeon Master.
The Flintstones: What, you don't know the Flintstones? The stone-age family?
Beverly Hills Teens: Can't remember much, a lot of it seems to be concerned with being cool but it's been a long time since I watched it when the English channel still had cartoons.
Tom & Jerry: A slightly dumb cat and a clever mouse - guess what will happen.
Die Schnellste Maus von Mexiko (never found out the English title): A spin-off of Bugs Bunny about Speedy Gonzalez a lightning fast mouse, Sylvester the cat, Duffy Duck and Roadrunner and Koyote. I loved this, I would even come indoors from playing to watch this.
The Bugs Bunny Show: Lots of short funny episodes about Bugs and his friends.
Around the World with Willy Fogg: A cartoon adaptation of Jules Verne's classic except that all characters are talking animals.
Ducktales: The adventures of Disney's favourite characters, Scrooge McDuck and his family.

The list goes on ...