Our generation is currently suffering from a collective ’90s hangover. But honestly, who can blame us? Unlike the ’00s, which I can’t quite recall for various reasons, the ’90s was an era of incredibly respectable music. It was the dawn of coffee shop culture, flannel and most importantly, incredible cartoons. I’m talking about the Nickelodeon greats here; like Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Doug, Ren & Stimpy and Angry Beavers.
Due to high demand, Nickelodeon execs decided to bring the wholesome animations back to their station TeenNick, with alternating schedules of happiness every weeknight from 12 to 3:30 AM. I for one, was thrilled. These shows held good memories for me — of being young and innocent; a time before I really had to worry about my own image.
I was quite excited to watch some of these old shows. Sure, I had a couple papers due, a looming Russian exam and…well, never mind. I quickly narrowed it down to my two favorite Nicktoons: Rugrats and Hey Arnold. What I didn’t expect though was how different I found these shows to be. I recalled these cartoons being simple, albeit very entertaining. Upon revisiting ’90s Nickland, I realized just how clever the writers of these shows were.
Rugrats was especially impressive Ones of my favorite episodes I viewed, “Send in the Clouds,” depicts Tommy classically ‘wishing on a star’ for an airplane. Much to his chagrin, Tommy finds that he has turned his entire house into a giant airplane and has to get into the “crockpit” to land it in order to save his family from accidentally walking out the door and into impending doom. Of course, the house isn’t actually an airplane; it just happens to be an exceptionally foggy day and Tommy also just happens to have an exceptional imagination. However, I found myself getting into the story, perhaps more then I did when I was a young’un. I mainly found it remarkable that so many mundane occurrences could be linked together and transformed into a magical story.
I also felt as though I could connect more with the adults in the show, quite possibly because of my age. I found myself laughing almost more at the adults than any of the babies. Stew, who kept getting ridiculous injuries each time he tried to fix something, Didi, who had her sixteen pairs of shoes stolen by Tommy and company, and Grandpa Pickles, who has clearly has decided that his entire family is insane, all illustrate just how relatable Rugrats characters can be.
Beyond my newfound connection with these old characters, Rugrats left me with a fleeting sense of nostalgia. I do admittedly yearn for the time when something as simple as fog and a silly wish could constitute an adventure. Each baby is so happy and carefree, a feeling I won’t have until this month of midterms is over, and I have consumed a quality beverage or two.
Hey Arnold is equally impressive. First of all, nothing trumps the ingénue that Arnold’s head is actually shaped like a football, and his BFFL Gerald’s is an upside-down ice cream cone. I decided to watch “Sid the Vampire Slayer,” in honor of Halloween. Sid, after seeing a vampire flick with Arnold and Sticky, decides that his friend Stinky is in fact a vampire, and that he must vanquish Stinky before he plunges the world into disarray.
Hey Arnold struck me with its clever jokes and witty dialogue. Nineties Nicktoons placed much more importance into character interaction and humor than the covert sexuality and shock value of today’s cartoons, for which I have a deep appreciation. Instead of typical and easy, the cartoonists and screenwriters consciously chose to create a more developed and intellectually challenging type of cartoon, where imagination is everything, and nothing is necessarily as it appears to be. This is why these cartoons have such staying power. They still demand people’s attention, despite the fact that many of these Nicktoons are actually almost twenty years old. Even in my twenties, I find the dialogues to be relevant, entertaining and ridiculously funny. Most importantly though, these writers knew about vampires, flying houses (hello, Up?) and football shaped heads before they became mainstream. And that’s just really hip.
