Throwback Thurday Special: Top 30+ Cartoons From My Childhood (CRTV Souvenirs Souvenirs)

You’ve probably watched most if not all of these if you were a child in the 90s growing up in Cameroon. My sister shared some hilarious throwback snaps with me yesterday. And not only did I almost pee myself looking at them but they brought back a lot of memories from way back. The good old days when I could watch (and later narrate) whole movies in Spanish on Malabo (Equatorial Guinea’s National TV, lol), the good old days when the highlight of my Sundays was watching Michael Knight and his magical talking car slay the baddies, when Accapulco Bay, L.A Law and Un Flic Dans La Mafia kept me on the edge of my seat…Those were the days.

Well I’ve relived all those memories again and I thought I’d share them with you. Les souvenirs de mon enfance. Just for fun! Do you remember these cartoons? Which were your faves? Which ones have I left out? Let’s go!

1. Rahan

The only Tarzan I knew back then. His signature ivory necklace inspired many traditional statement necklaces I rocked back then. He possessed the best bod in the business. See him run…

2. Barbapapa

The famous crafty shape-shifters! I remember wishing I could be one of them. They could literally just change their shapes into anything they wanted to when they wanted. Cool!

3. Pingu

I guess the benefits of being a child is not only can you speak gibberish but you can understand it perfectly. This cartoon is an example. I watched and enjoyed every single episode without knowing what a single word meant. Does anyne know what language this is in please? It will never grow old. Class!

4. Ordy 

For some weird reason Ordy creeped me out like crazy! But I still sat through it anyway. It was enchanting.

5.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Commonly known as Tortues Ninja. Even though I have heard Tortoise Ninja…My ultimate faves! And they stood the test of time too. Maybe it was the catchy song, or the pizza-munching lovable ninjas, or the very cute April but everyone is still crazy about these turtles. This cartoon helped me a great deal in my History class. Do you know all of the Turtle Ninjas were named after great Italian artists? Raphael the Italian painter who painted the Transfiguration at Rome, Donatello the Italian Sculptor, Michaelangelo the Italian painter, sculptor, poet and architect;  and Leonardo Da Vinci the Italian genius who painted the Mona Lisa amongst others. Most TV programmes were in French so I can’t even get used to the theme song in English. Here we go:

6. Denver: The Last Dinosaur

Another cartoon I can’t get used to in English. Isn’t Denver just the coolest dinosaur ever? I couldn’t afford to miss an episode 🙂

7. Superbook

The well-loved cartoon series that served us one Bible story at  time come Sunday. 

8. Moi, Renart

Loved this one. The cool fox, his foxy lady and his conniving friends all made for a fantastic watch.

9. Samba Et Leuk

I don’t know why I called this show Samba et Luc. After further investigation, I’ve found out it’s really called Samba Leuk Marana…;( Since when? Anyway, I loved a good African cartoon and this was one of them.

10. Les Aventures De Bosco

My dear Abricotine! How can I forget her! This aired on CRTV in 1992/93 every Sundays. Time flies eh? I’m definitely watching this one all over. I can’t remember why but I was really into it.

11. Flying house

I used to get this mixed up with Superbook because it was another cartoon about Bible stories. But I actually preferred this because what happened was they lived in a flying house which would land in a different place and time in every episode and they would relive the Bible story they had stumbled upon. 

12. Les Jumeaux Du Bout Du Monde

Meaning ‘The Twins Of Destiny’, I don’t even remember the story line in this but watching the opening song makes me feel some kind of way. I miss everything 🙁

13. Pif et Hercules

Dog and cat comic strips were a dime a dozen back then (and even now) but this was a special one. Their love/hate relationship was a thing of mere adorableness to a kid like myself back then.

14. Sesame Street

Not really a cartoon but this was one of the biggest kids’show of all time. I had so many favourite characters; Guy Smiley, Ernie & Bert, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Count Von Count whom I called The Coconut Counting Man…

15. Lucky Luke

Lucky Luke and the naught Dalton Brothers. Who didn’t love them? I was hooked as a worm! His cool factor? The straw he was always chewing on.

16. Road Runner

Or the cartoon everyone called ‘Beep Beep’. This was hilarious as hell. A cartoon about the fastest ostrich on this earth and he coyote that never learnt his lesson. I felt sorry for him really. Did her finally end up getting anything to eat? 

17. Olive et Tom

I wonder how kids this cartoon inspired to play football. A cartoon about this little kid with extraordinary football skills. I was in love…;)

18. Kimboo

Kimboo et Kita, who didn’t love these mischievous siblings and their parrot friend? This Franco-Ivorian cartoon won over the hearts of many a Cameroonian child. Kita became a popular word coined for girls who sported her famous cornrows.

19. Bonjour Les Bébés

Man I was way too old to be be watching this program for babies! But everyone did. It was such a Sunday classic. Hahahaha.

20. Clementine

This was one of my favourite cartoons but it spooked the hell out of me. I think it was the creepy ass ghost lady in the bubble. What an enchanting show though. I need to find the box set ASAP.

21. Raconte Moi Une Histoire

All my favourite fairy tales and stories recounted to me one day at a time. Sweet nothings…:)

22. Les Snorky

Qui qui qui sont les snorkies? Well, they are these strange underwater cuties with antenna-like appendages on their heads.

23. La Vie

This came on. Infrequently. Like a treat. A cartoon about the anatomy of the human body. Exciting stuff.

24. Enigma

My kind of girl. Ordinary girl next by day. Super heroine hot diva by night. Loved her costume. It was dope. The slayage she executed was out of this world. 

25. Johnny Bravo

One of the few shows we watched in English. The very smexy Johnny Bravo. His body can only be rivalled by that of David Beckham. Or so he thought. (To be fair he had the body of a gym obsessed male). Helloooo ladies! Meet the guy with the best pick up lines in cartoon history. His lines were so bad they were good. Ladies’ man 😉

26. Les Aventuriers De L’Espace

The baddie in this cartoon was a bat and he scared the living daylights out of me!

27. Flintstones

Ei yababadabadooooo! Another fun cartoon that was broadcast in English. This cartoon may or may not have started the one shoulder trend (check out the wives). Not to talk of the frayed hem trend…

28. The Smurfs

Or Les Schtroumpfs as we watched this in French. They reminded me of the seven dwarfs. Miss them.

29. Les Polluards

I can only the dance from the opening credits. What a catchy routine. I was often seen dancing to this…

30. Alice Au Pays Des Merveilles

I was reading this book when they aired this so I very intrigued. Loved this cartoon so much. Awww. Sadly, the movie about Alice In Wonderland did not appeal to me that much.

31. Les Milles et Une Nuits

What a treat! I loved this, theme song and all.

32. Robin Fusée

God I hated this one. It just wasn’t my cup of tea for some reason. Too many space cartoon on TV, and that stupid guy who ate too much arrghhh! 

Wow. I thought I had 15 cartoons to write about but I’ve remembered over 30. How crazy is that. My head is swarmed with memories. How many more can you come up with? Because I know this is not all of it. As many as these seem, it always felt back then like there was never enough animated programmes on TV. Always News, News, News…:( LOL. 

I’m still such a huge cartoon fan though. Phineas & Ferb, Totally Spies, Brandy & Mr Whiskers are amongst some of my current faves 🙂

Anyway what can you come up with? Share please!

I need to find full episodes of some these cartoons. My kids have to watch these! As bad as some of the graphics look, they are innocent little heart-warming stories. Free off all the exaggerated technology and overworked programmes we have on TV today.

Don’t you think?

What did you watch as a kid?

Share your #ThrowbackThursday memories with us. It would be interesting to know what children watched in other countries.

I might make this a regular Thursday feature. (On to the next category!)

Share, Like, Rate & Comment

Love & Light

Lydie xx