With the San Diego Comic Con coming up next week I’ve been thinking about favorite comic books again. Since I posted about this before I’d like to take a step over to cartoons. I’m not talking about full length animated features like Snow White or The Last Unicorn. I’m talking about cartoons, the kind I watched on a Saturday morning back in the day. You know, best watched with a bowl full of Frosted Flakes?

Much of my cartoon watching in the 70’s consisted of shows created decades before like Bugs Bunny (1940), Tom & Jerry (1940), The Jetsons (1962) and The Flintstones (1960). The 70’s wasn’t a great time for animation. There was a lot of skimping going on with productions but some of the characters and ideas were a lot of fun.

This 5 on Friday list contains cartoons created in the 70’s. Even though Rocky & Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle and early Tom & Jerry episodes were uber cool I won’t be listing them here. Only cartoons created in the 1970’s. It’s tougher than you think.

So here they are… 5 Favorite 70′s Toons:

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972)

Hey Hey Hey! Check this out thanks to the Minisode Network, “You may learn something before it’s done”:

Schoolhouse Rock (1973)

This series of mini edutainment episodes made learning fun. All that stuff in my textbooks seemed to make more sense after singing along with Schoolhouse Rock.

“Conjunction Junction what’s your function… Interjection!!” I love singing along to these fun learning songs. To view “I’m Just a Bill”, click here. Click here to watch “3 is a Magic Number”.

Cover of 30th Anniversary Edition DVD

Disney presents Schoolhouse Rock these days. I purchased the 30th Anniversary Edition via Amazon a couple years ago.

The Great Grape Ape Show (1975)

“Grape Ape, Grape Ape”

Not sure why I liked this show so much. I know lots of other 70’s kids that felt the same way. Might have been the bright purple color that kept us zoned in, or maybe the idea of a 40 foot tall gorilla was all we needed.

Titlecard for The Great Grape Ape Show, featuring Beegle Beagle and Grape Ape

For video clips of Grape Ape & his pal Beegle Beagle visit Retro Junk by clicking here.

Hong Kong Phooey (1974)

It seemed like everyone was into martial arts back in the 70’s. Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Black Belt Theater… this dog janitor turned Kung Fu hero was just what Saturday morning needed.

Sublime takes on the Hong Kong Phooey theme song. What do you think?

Own Hong Kong Phooey on DVD August 15th!

Super Friends (1973)

So here we are talking about comics again. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman, Batman, The Wonder Twins, just a handful of the characters from Super Friends. This animated series was produced by Hanna-Barbera and based on the Justice League of America characters published by DC Comics.

Check out this Super Friends site for a grown up look at a Saturday Morning classic.