Did you grow up in the 90s? Were you one of the watchers of the incredible animated shows or live-action kid dramas that were on television every minute of every week-day and weekend morning? If so, we're betting that you know some if not all of these 10 shows from the era that we couldn't help but fall in love with!
1) Rugrats - first aired August 11, 1991
With 172 episodes to its name, Rugrats is one of the most successful children's shows of all time, coming from Viacom International and airing from its start in 1991 all the way through to 2004. Branching out into the world of movies, comic books, video games and even live performances, Rugrats picked up a whole host of awards for its time on television and to this day still remains an important part of pop culture. The series was until 2012 the longest running Nicktoon to air on Nickelodeon, with the mighty SpongeBob SquarePants taking over.
Many think the show's success is down to its simplicity, at times just visualising ordinary activities through the eyes of a group of toddlers who go on to use their imaginations to transform routine tasks into exciting adventures. Adults are portrayed as mysterious and often eccentric beings, whilst episodes would usually focus on a moral lesson that the babies would learn throughout their journeys.
2) Animaniacs - first aired September 13, 1993
Produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, Animaniacs served as a comedy which mixed old-fashioned with alongside pop culture references, cartoon violence and slapstick, with some educational segments for the audience that would often be delivered in musical form. A large cast of characters were split into different segments of the show, with each pair or set acting in their own plot - usually three different plots going into one episode.
During its entire run, Steven Spielberg was the series' executive producer who has since defended the "irreverence" of the cartoon, saying that the crew who worked on it has "a point of view" and doesn't "sit back passively and play both sides equally". He went on to say that the Marx Brothers and Looney Tunes cartoons were inspirations for the humour of social commentary throughout the episodes.
3) Pinky and the Brain - first aired September 9, 1995
Another animation with Steven Spielberg working once again at the helm with production company Amblin Entertainment alongside Warner Bros. Animation, this series followed genetically enhanced laboratory mice Pinky and Brain. With Pinky feebleminded but with a good heart and Brain being arrogant, scheming and self-centred, the latter would in each episode devise a new plan to take over the world, but one that would ultimately end in failure.
Despite being a show that attracted huge audiences of young people, the humour it could be argued was in fact most of the time aimed at adult audiences, with parodies of pop culture icons common in the series such as 'The Megalomaniacal Adventures of Brainie the Poo', which parodies Winnie The Pooh.
4) Goosebumps - first aired October 27, 1995
Adapted from the hugely popular children's horror novels, Goosebumps was a genuinely scary attempt to bring horror to the small screen and younger viewers without stepping over the line. Filmed in Toronto, Ontario and Bellevue, Washington, many of the episodes were based on stories or characters first introduced through the books, and they made such an impact that the UK's children BBC channel CBBC had to censor some of the episodes.
However since then episodes have been shown on UK and Ireland cable channel Jetix, which has aired them with little to no edits, although one specific episode titled 'A Shocker on Shock Street' saw a scene removed where a character was electrocuted into submission.
5) Dexter's Laboratory - first aired April 28, 1996
Becoming one of Cartoon Network's most-watched and highest-rated series, the animation won three Annie Awards with additional nominations throughout the years at the Primetime Emmy awards and Golden Reel Awards.
Two episodes have been censored and removed in the show's run, with the first ('Dial M for Monkey: Barbequor') being cut because Cartoon Network thought a character was produced as a stereotype of homosexual men. The second ('Rude Removal') saw Dexter create a "rude removal system" in a bid to diminish Dee Dee's rudeness, but it instead created highly rude clones of the siblings which swore, but had their swear words censored.
6) Sabrina, the Teenage Witch - first aired September 27, 1996
With Sabrina's aunt revealing to her she is a witch on her 16th birthday, it's from this point that we see Melissa Joan Hart in the title role go through seven seasons of madness alongside her talking cat Salem.
Spawning six video games, a live action movie and an animated spin-off series, 'Sabrina, the Teenage Witch' has become one of the most-talked about series in child television history.
7) Cow and Chicken - first aired January 13, 1997
Another American series for Cartoon Network, the original pilot appeared as an episode of showcase series 'What a Cartoon!' before its popularity saw it sent for a full series by Hanna-Barbera. Following the story of two strangely biological siblings - a sweet-natured but dim Cow and her cynical older brother Chicken - the two were often caught in adventures with enemy Red Guy.
With a single voice actor - Charlie Adler - voicing all three of the lead roles, the series went on to guest star many big names including Will Ferrell, Tom Kenny, Dom Deluise, Jess Harnell and Jill Talley. Despite its popularity, the show was replaced by 'Tom and Jerry' in India, because of hindu religion considering the cow a sacred animal.
8) Recess - first aired August 31, 1997
Taking a look at the lives of six fourth graders, all with their own various personalities and ways of life, this animated series saw leader of the 'gang' T.J. Detweiler alongside Ashley Spinelli, Vince LaSalle, Gretchen Grundler, Mikey Blumberg and Gus Griswald, going about their lives in a hugely stereotypical school environment.
Illustrated to be a symbol of freedom and hoping to portray that 'Recess' is a time for students to express themselves and develop meaningful relationships for the future, most of the episodes involved some of the characters seeking a rational balance between social order and individuality, defending their freedom against school staff and other adults. Widely regarded as a cult classic, Recess is still one that gets people talking today, despite ending on June 30, 2002.
9) The Wild Thornberrys - first aired September 1, 1998
with 92 episodes, The Wild Thornberrys was a huge success for Nickelodeon and followed the adventures of a family of documentary filmmakers known as The Thornberrys, famous for their televised wildlife documentaries. Focusing on the youngest daughter in the family Eliza, we discover she has a secret gift of communicating with animals which sees her able to communicate with close friend and family pet chimpanzee Darwin.
Working together to venture through the wilderness, they befriend a number of different species of wild animal along the way and realise moral truth and life lessons through their experiences, whilst assisting those in the wild who truly need it. Eventually a movie was made which earned an Academy Award nomination in 2002, ahead of the cross-over with 'Rugrats' in the movie 'Rugrats Go Wild' in 2003.
10) The Powerpuff Girls - first aired November 18, 1998
So popular that a reboot is planned for Cartoon Network next year, 'The Powerpuff Girls' follows Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup who were created by a Professor in an attempt to "create the perfect little girls", using the mixture of "sugar, spice, and everything nice", shown in respective fields of each girls' individual colour - light blue, light green and pink.
When the experiment went wrong, all three were granted superpowers including flight, super speed, x-ray vision, super strength, super senses, heat vision, energy projection and near invulnerability. The show was hugely successful and won a Primetime Emmy in 2000 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation, for Don Shank's work on an episode titled 'Dream Scheme'.
What are your favourite children's shows of the 1990s? Let us know which we've missed in the comments below!
Tagged in Television