Is it just me or has anyone else noticed a major reawakening of certain old cartoons? You know them... the ones that woke us up every Saturday morning and kept us glued to the tube 'til noon, when our parents came in yelling at us to get up off our lazy butts and do something. The ones that we all used to have action figures of or play pretend in the back yard with our friends. That's right, I'm talking about Old School boys and girls. But why re-make classics?

Well, for one there's a serious lack of imagination in any new cartoon from the last 5 years. Take "Sponge Bob." That says it all right there. There are some people who enjoy cartoons that aren't just mindless dibble and aren't drawn by 5-year olds. Also most of the kids today don't remember the popular cartoons from the late 70s, 80s and early 90s. They grew up with Nicktoons and such. But TV producers realize that if they just air the old cartoons in their original state then they are not as likely to attract today's audience as the brightly colored and moronic "Sponge Bob." That is why they felt that if they remade these old hits, they would not only bring in the current audience but the old fans as well.

It started back in the mid 90's with the remake of the classic "Batman and "Superman" cartoons. They were re-released for current 7-13 year old age group and started at the very beginning of either story. I remember they ran during primetime then were moved to the afternoon schedule on various networks. Both ran in succession to each other and were very similar to the old story line with a few differences. This new "Batman"/"Superman" was re-made for today's audience of kids, which meant big guns, more explosions, and more in-depth storylines. Not to criticize the old cartoons, but they always lacked the comic book continuity, which the new series seem to have. But this was just the beginning. To date, Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network are working on re-animating the entire DC universe. Right now they are up to the Justice League, which was renamed or shortened (whichever you prefer) from "The Justice League of America."

The DC universe was just the first. "Johnny Quest" followed in '97 with The New Adventures of Johnny Quest." This series was pretty good and very well drawn. It had a lot of anime elements to it, in my opinion, which made it look very appealing to the younger generation. This, however, was not the old "Johnny Quest." It had more technology and concentrated more on cyber action rather then the adventures in far off places we have come to expect from the Quest family and their associates. Sure, the show got a more realistic feel to it but it's not the same.

Recently cartoon producers have stepped up their efforts greatly. In the last few months I have seen the simultaneous re-appearance of "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," "Transformers" (now re-named "Transformers Armada"), "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Thundercats," "Speed Racer," not to mention all the random Hanna Barbara action heroes like "Birdman" and "Space Ghost." I remember that "Space Ghost" was brought back to do that talk show which then spawned "Toonami" that gave rise to the anime craze, but I'm not getting into that whole issue.

The re-done "He-Man" looks very good and as with the other shows, goes a bit more in-depth with the story. "Masters of the Universe," however, retains a lot of its old simplicity. The few episodes I've seen very much reminds me of the old cartoon. "Transformers" were totally re-done in complete anime. The original series was anime but one couldn't tell as easily as they would now. The same goes for "Speed Racer." The "Turtles" got snapped up by Fox so who knows what will look like. They are to air some time this winter. As for "Thundercats," as of now it's just a comic book. It was redone by a few of its very artistically inclined yet die-hard fans, so it tries to follow the old cartoon closely. It's actually more of a continuation but the stories seem to follow the same pattern. The only difference is the artwork style, which is to be expected.

I am almost positive that the list of old school 'toon will only increase. This author's best guess on what is next is as good as any but I think it will be "She-Ra," "Care Bears" (as they are already the selling toys), "Rainbow Brite," and the short-lived "SWAT Kats." As long as the shortage of new ideas and popularity of old sure-fire cartoons continues, so will these re-makes.