Remember when you were a kid how you waited all week for the days to pass so you could kick back and watch those sweet, sweet old Sunday morning cartoons?
Oh, right … you were waiting for Saturday morning cartoons. Hmmm.
Well, fine. I guess I was, too.
But the truth is, Saturday didn’t hold a monopoly on weekend cartoon fun. As any good kid of the 60s or 70s can tell you, these Sunday morning cartoons kept the fun rolling even as Monday bore down on us.
Enjoy the memories!
(“???” means I know it happened but just can’t prove it right now. You can trust me, though.)
Aquaman
Series Synopsis: Aquaman is a DC Comics character whose father discovered lost Atlantis, then sealed it up and made a haven there for him and his family. He taught his boy how to do all the underwater things that a normal dude can’t — breathe, sonar, swim like a school, control fish, etc. The kid uses all of this to fight crime and so forth.
Series Run Dates: September 1967 through June 1970
Sunday Run Dates: 1970
Beany and Cecil
Series Synopsis: Beany — or Beany Boy — is a good-hearted kid who somehow ends up on the wrong side of bad dudes every week. Luckily, he has the top-half of a sea serpent/dinosaur thing named Cecil to help him out of his jams.
Series Run Dates: 1959-1962
Sunday Run Dates: ???
The Beatles
Series Synopsis: The Fab Four run into all sorts of magical creatures and sticky situations, like vampires, leprechauns, kidnappers, Robin Hood, and any number of other ‘shroom-tastic adventures
Series Run Dates: September 1965 through October 1967
Sunday Run Dates: 1986-1987
The Bugs Bunny Show
Series Synopsis: If you don’t know what Bugs Bunny is about, you need to go back to childhood and do the whole thing over, pronto. But in case you need convincing, picture the Easter Bunny crossed with George Carlin and complemented by George Constanza, W.C. Fields, Fred G. Sanford, and Brian the Dog. That’s pretty close.
Series Run Dates: October 1960 through September 2000
Sunday Run Dates: 1967-1985
The Bullwinkle Show
Series Synopsis: Rocky and Bullwinkle are this flying squirrel and cheeky moose duo, see. And they get into all sorts of trouble fighting crime and altering history, and they have friends that do things like fracture beloved fairy tales and Mounty-serve in the great white north. It’s all sort of surreal and creepy, but also magnificent.
Series Run Dates: November 1959 through June 1964
Sunday Run Dates: 1964-1973
Curiosity Shop
Series Synopsis: OK, so technically this was not a cartoon, but a puppet show. When Chuck Jones is your executive producer, though, you get to use the cartoon moniker, and it helps to have your origins on Saturday morning and to be sponsored by Kellogg’s. Here, three kids visit the Curiosity Shop each week to learn about science, nature, history, and terrifying puppet-walls.
Series Run Dates: September 1971 through January 1973
Sunday Run Dates: ???
The Fantastic Four
Series Synopsis: Four scientists embark on a research mission to outer space and are blasted by cosmic rays for their troubles. When they come back to earth (literally), they’re pretty much stuck with each other since their travels have left them unlovable freaks. Crime-fighting, back-biting, and hilarity ensue.
Series Run Dates: September 1967 through September 1968
Sunday Run Dates: 1967-1968
Groovy Goolies
Series Synopsis: This was pretty much an animated sitcom populated by the inhabitants of a haunted boarding house called Horrible Hall. The creepy cast included Drac, Frankie, Wolfie, Hagatha, Bella La Ghostly, and a host of others who pretty much fit the monstrous stereotypes indicated by their names.
Series Run Dates: September 1970 through September 1972
Sunday Run Dates: 1971, 1975
Jonny Quest
Series Synopsis: Jonny is an 11-year-old kid being raised by his genius father, Dr. Benton C. Quest. Benton is a renowned scientist who takes his son along on the adventures of his job, which somehow transcends the elbow-patch complacency of most cartoon lab rats.
Series Run Dates: September 1964 through March 1965
Sunday Run Dates: ???
Kid Power
Series Synopsis: Kid Power started as a comic strip named Wee Pals, the first in the United States to feature a diverse cast of child characters. Rankin/Bass picked up the Morrie Taylor creation and turned it into TV cartoon in 1972. The series followed the “Rainbow Gang” in their day-to-day adventures.
Series Run Date: September 1972 through September 1974
Sunday Run Dates: 1974
The King Kong Show
Series Synopsis: In this American-Japanese cartoon adaptation of the classic monster ape story, Kong forms a strong bond with a family name, um, Bond. Together, they go on adventures, fight other monsters, and generally save the world.
Series Run Dates: September 1966 through August 1969
Sunday Run Dates: 1968, 1969
Linus! the Lion Hearted
Series Synopsis: Linus is the kindhearted king of a jungle inhabited by strange beings, and he always gets the first of four shorts on this show. The second segment? Yeah, that one belonged to Sugar Bear, of Sugar Crisp fame. Can’t make this stuff up. (I totally could, but I’m not in this case.)
Series Run Dates: September 1964 through September 1969
Sunday Run Dates: ???
The Osmonds
Series Synopsis: Yeah, this was the Osmonds, and Rankin/Bass. So, your typical early 70s psyche-disco fare, with plenty of music to help promote the group. Solid stuff.
Series Run Dates: September through December 1972
Sunday Run Dates: 1972
Spider-Man
Series Synopsis: Dude, this is Spider-Man … c’mon. You know — Peter Parker, radioactive spider, Daily Bugle, Doc Oc, Green Goblin. Stan Lee, for fudge sake. It’s freaking Spider-Man, is what I’m trying to say.
Series Run Dates: September 1967 through June 1970
Sunday Run Dates: 1970
Tom and Jerry
Series Synopsis: Cat finds mouse. Mouse finds cat. Cat eats mouse, but mouse TNTs his way out of cat. Cat and mouse team up to make dog look like fool. Mouse and dog team up to make cat look like fool. Woman of house blames cat for everything. Yeah, as with Spider-Man … this is freaking Tom and Jerry.
Series Run Dates: February 1940 through September 1967
Sunday Run Dates: 1967-1972
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