BloodyDisgusting: "5 Awesome Horror Cartoons Time Has Forgotten"

[JamesG]

5 Awesome Horror Cartoons Time Has Forgotten
by Nat Brehmer
5/15/17



Mummies Alive! (1997)





Imagine a superhero team like the Fantastic Four. Each one has their own individual strengths, each one serves a different purpose and has their own special power. Oh, and also they’ve been dead for 3,000 years.

That’s the basic premise behind Mummies Alive!, and it’s amazing. It’s amazing that a cartoon like this even got made considering that neither the Spider-Man or X-Men animated series could have any direct references to death.



Here, our mummies all freely talk about living the mummy life and often mention that they were all once happy, living people. Even our child hero is the reincarnated version of the King they used to serve. There’s even a mummy cat thrown in to be the cute comic relief. That’s the cute mascot. A dead cat.

As a kid who loved The Mummy and thought it was a monster that never got its due, I was so happy when I first came across this incredibly short-lived show.









VAN-Pires (1997-98)





In case the title still leaves you with some confusion, yes, VAN-Pires is literally about vans that are also vampires. Imagine if the Transformers had an unquenchable thirst for gasoline that controlled their every decision and you’re on the right track.

This combination live-action/animated show is actually named after its villains. Our heroes are the Motor-Vaters, teenagers with the ability to turn into robot cars, but who also need to chug gasoline and avoid sunlight at all costs.



The Van-Pires, stuck in their robotic forms, are led by the evil Tracula. And the heroes must get into the driver’s seat of their Carfins in order to transform. I swear I’m not making any of this up.

Oh, and let’s not forget that the team’s mentor Van He’ll Sing is played by Gary Oldman!









Tales from the Cryptkeeper (1993-94, 1999-2000)





This show is something of a mixed bag. Sometimes I bring it up to people and they immediately know what I’m talking about, sometimes they’re absolutely clueless.

Tales from the Cryptkeeper was, just as the title suggests, an animated version of Tales from the Crypt that was toned down for younger audiences. As a kid who loved the Crypt Keeper and always wanted to watch the live action show, it was a great access point for me.

Like its parent series, this often adapted some of the original comic stories, as well as literary classics like “The Monkey’s Paw.” It also featured the Vault-Keeper and the Old Witch, two other horror hosts from the early days of EC Comics, which is a fun bit of continuity between those iconic titles.









Mighty Max (1993-94)





Mighty Max was a show that I just couldn’t get enough of as a kid. Everything about it appealed to me. First, there was a boy at the center of it, constantly thrown into battle with the classic monsters, which reminded me of Monster Squad.

But he did this by transporting himself into the world of each character, like Zach Galligan in Waxwork. In the most nineties move imaginable, Max’s power stemmed from his cool backwards baseball cap.



I ate this up as a kid. I had the toys — basically the boy version of Polly Pocket, in an era where everything needed to be specifically catered to boys and girls individually — and even had the game for Sega Genesis.

I loved that a kid like me could go on all these adventures and fight all these different monsters. Plus, the cartoon featured Tim Curry as the overarching villain, Skullmaster.









My Pet Monster (1987)





If anything, people might remember the stuffed animal that the cartoon is based on. But I think this ‘80s cartoon is definitely worth another look. I’ll admit it might not be the most elaborately put together show.

It kind of looks and feels like an off-brand Christmas special from the days when different animation companies would essentially put out the Asylum mockbuster versions of Rudolph and Frosty. Yet there’s something about it I’ve always loved. I would watch this cartoon whenever I got sick as a kid.



Something about the sheer lunacy of it still intrigues me to this day. Monster is, as the theme song notes, a monster of a friend. He’s a stuffed animal that comes to life and takes his owner on wacky adventures, thwarting the doubly monstrous Beastur at every turn.

Before Toy Story, and long before I stumbled onto Child’s Play and Puppet Master, I think this was the first thing I ever saw that depicted the idea of a toy coming to life when adults aren’t looking. That instantly hooked me as a child, and I’ve remained hooked by the idea ever since.

http://bloody-disgusting.com/editori...ons-forgotten/

[Mace Dolex]

Not on the list but I'd add Inhumanoids from 1985:

Earth Corps, a team of scientists specializing in subterranean exploration, would prefer to simply go about their work. However, this changes when a horde of monsters from below called Inhumanoids, collaborated by the evil human traitor, Blackthorne Shore, begin to attack the surface world. Against this threat, the team, and allied monster species they meet are forced to oppose them with whatever skills and equipment are useful

Pretty heavy stuff for a kids show, and the animation while crude had the perfect blend of heavy uses of deep black shadows to show you who were the bad guys from the good guys.

[Retro4Life]

They didn't list "Drak Pack", which always seemed like a watered down (if that's possible) version of the 1976-1977 Saturday morning show, "The Monster Squad."

[Videoranger007]

I certainly wouldnt call van-pires "awesome"

[king of comedy]

I never heard of these shows.