Cartoons We Loved From the 60s and 70s

Take a nostalgic trip down memory lane with The Big 6-Oh! as we dive into the cartoons that defined our childhoods in the 60s and 70s.

From the lovable antics of Magilla Gorilla and the zany adventures of Huckleberry Hound to the intergalactic heroics of Prince Planet and Batfink’s "wings of steel," we revisit the animated icons that kept us glued to the screen. 

Along the way, we’ll share laughs, trivia, and a few surprises about the creators and characters that shaped Saturday mornings. 

It’s a celebration of the golden age of cartoons, perfect for anyone who grew up loving these animated classics.

Transcript

00:00
If you're old enough to remember when phones had cords and the only thing that went viral was a cold, then you're in the right place. Welcome to the Big Six-O with Kaylee Harris and Guy Rowlison. Because who better to discuss life's second act than two people who still think mature is a type of cheese?

00:35
Hello and welcome to The Big Six O. I'm Guy Rolison and today we're turning back the clock to revisit those lazy childhood Saturday mornings spent in front of the TV, eyes glued to our favourite cartoons and sitting alongside me in the pilot seat is Kayleigh Harris. Hey Kayleigh, how are you going? The pilot seat? Wow, thanks. How's your week been? Yeah, been pretty busy this week. It's been good. I've had a good week though, but yeah, it's been busy. What about you?

01:03
Look, I've been batching it this week and I spent a night binge watching way too much stuff including cartoons we grew up with. Can you believe that? I've been so excited for this episode because it's just a Pandora's box of gifts, isn't it? It's just there's so many things that come to mind when you go back and think about cartoons and

01:28
They were a huge part of our childhood. Can you believe we were taken with a talking squirrel and his dimwitted moose buddy or, or, or a superhero bat with wings, like a shield of steel. And he teamed up with a very politically incorrect Asian sidekick in a pink Volkswagen. Again, your memory is incredible. But going back to when did, I mean, I guess.

01:54
We started watching cartoons in the sixties, because we were born in the sixties. And they were very basic back then, weren't they? They were, it was with black and white TV. Oh, yeah. And I can remember back as far as, I guess my earliest recollections are things like Prince Planet and Gigantor. And Gigantor had that theme song, Gigantor, Gigantor, you know, and there'd be some sort of a robot thing. And do you remember those? Oh, look, you know.

02:23
I've got a story when I was four and we were living in Sydney and Prince Planet was my favourite. Absolute favourite. And my mum used to take the top off a jam tin, like a jar and put a big pea on the front of it and then put wool around the little, you know, the jam tin, the jar, put it around the neck.

02:44
And I'd say you had a pay. Yeah, I did. I had the big Prince Planet P cause that used to fill up with his energy or fuel or whatever it was. That's right. Yeah. It used to fill up. That's it. And, and the, my best friend, when you have a best friend, when you're four, because your best friend changes every week was a kid down the road, three doors down the court called Matthew and he used to be gigantic. So we'd, we'd pretend going up and down the street playing it. Isn't that amazing. And what was the one, was it?

03:11
Marine Boy. Do you remember Marine Boy and the mermaid, Neptena? Oh, I just wanted to be. Yeah, some splash. Yeah, splash art. Yeah. Yeah. And all those superheroes, they were like little animals or they were little people like us. He used to eat the oxy gum or something so he could breathe underwater. Yes. Oh gosh. Now you reminded me.

03:37
There was a bit of a sameness about all of those characters, they weren't they? You know, whether it was Marine Boy or Astro Boy, they all had the same very great big eyes and it was very, there was a lot of that robotic sort of thing, you know, with the Gigantors and all those sort of things. And they all, because it was all that very, is it manga, the Japanese sort of animation sort of thing? Because they were right into it, weren't they? Were they Japanese cartoons or not? Yeah, I think they were. Those Astro Boys and Prince Planets, they were all...

04:06
Japanese cartoons or the animators were Japanese. And yeah, so it was a whole period there in that early to mid sixties where it was and very accentuated big eyes, that whole thing. But it just. Yeah, I remember making after with Giganto, I remember my sister and I making a robot out of cardboard boxes and sticking them all together and then drawing eyes on it and you know, little antenna things on its head. We use sticks, you know, for its antennas.

04:36
I remember, and it was, it was actually pretty good, the robot. Yeah. It was, that was our gigantor. When you, when you think about the way that we played as kids in the pre digital world, it was amazing, wasn't it? It was the, though we kind of.

04:52
based our play around a lot of those shows that we watched, didn't we? Oh yeah, look, you know, and whether it was being Gigantor and flying around and pretending you're a robot, but all the noises that came with it as well, you had to do the noise to become Gigantor and, you know, hit your fists together because that's what Gigantor did. And yeah, and like, I'll make down the road, Matthew and myself, you know, we'd spend hours just pretending that's who we were.

05:19
Um, it was just another life and it was so long ago, but it was only yesterday for, you know, in our minds. Yeah. I mean, you hit the nail on the head though, pretending something that, you know, we don't, that we did a lot in the positive sense when we were kids. But these days, if you, you know, pretending is discouraged, like it's almost like pretending to be somebody else, but that's what we did. And that's how we played. Yeah. And, and, and it's how we interacted. There was a commonality among kids as well, because we all knew those cartoons.

05:49
Um, uh, and it didn't have to be, you know, your gigantos. It could have been all those Hanna Barbera cartoons, like the Jetsons or, um, and people talk about how the Simpsons these days could foretell the future. How, how good were the Jetsons with their teleconferencing and all those sorts of things? And the robot maid. Oh, yes. Yes. Whatever her name was. I can't remember what her name was. Yeah. But we all sort of couldn't imagine a time when we were at that age where.

06:18
you'd be so lucky to have a maid. Well, I'll give you a little bit of trivia. The maid whose name was Rosie, that was her name of the Rosebot in the Jetsons. The lady, and this is a useless piece of trivia that you just pick up along the way. The lady who voiced the maid of Rosie also did the voice for Wilma Flintstone. Oh, did she? She was in the Hanna

06:47
Yeah. So Rosie the maid was also Wilma Flintstone as far as that voice family goes. So you know, that's one of those. It's like Jim Backus from Gilligan's Island, who was the voice of Mr. Magoo. Everyone had another role to play within that whole sort of Hollywood animation and TV sort of set. Yeah. And the whole, yeah, the Mel Blanc studios were, yeah, everyone, you didn't just do one voice.

07:17
like Mel Blanc, you did a dozen different voices for different cartoons. Well, that's it. And he, of course, he was Barney Rubble, but he also did the Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam and Daffy Duck. And so you're 100% right. There's all these voices that we associate with the characters, but there were real people behind them and usually multiple sort of voices from characters as well, which I find it hard to get my head around sometimes because I think, oh gosh, you know.

07:46
some little intonation in your voice. You hit the nail on the head when you said they were only just short cartoons. There was only, there was a few different, there'd be the Bugs Bunny one and then there'd be different characters in, you know, follow cartoons after them. It'd be a whole half an hour but it'd only be six.

08:02
four minute cartoons. Yeah, I think they all worked out. Our attention span was pretty short and, you know, colour movement and all that sort of thing. So keep a cartoon to three or four minutes and then direct our focus somewhere else to another character and another storyline. Which was clever back in the day. I mean, we think we're pretty clever about the way we do things now, but yeah, the precedent had been set years and years beforehand and usually through cartoons and because of, like I said, the colour and the movement.

08:31
Even your wily coyotes chasing roadrunners and all those sort of things, you know, and anvils falling on this poor old coyote. And these days you couldn't get away with it because it'd be a violence disclaimer at the cartoon before you even start. Do not try this at home. And I'm thinking, I don't know how many kids are going to try and ride a rocket or order something through the ACME sort of, you know. The ACME company. But also we can think of Daffy Dark.

08:58
an Elmer Fudd. No, it wasn't Elmer Fudd. No, it wasn't Elmer that was going just trying to, I'm going haunting Wabbitt. Yeah, was that Elmer Fudd? I'm hunting Wabbitt. Yeah, and I think he would, when you think about it now, he'd shoot at Daffy Duck and Daffy's beak would fly around his head 10 times and then Daffy had moved it back into front position again because his beak had been shot off. Think about that now. That's terrifying for kids. You'd never get away with it. I know.

09:25
And you'd also be another disclaimer about, you know, the fact that Elmer may have had a speech impediment or something. You know, by the time the disclaimers were finished, then the kids would probably never be able to watch the cartoon these days. But you talk about like those little snippets of cartoons that would change through a half hour program, but there'd be like five or six cartoons. There was a series of cartoons called Fractured Fairy Tales. Yes.

09:51
And it would have Leonardo line and Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Yeah. Oh, yeah. The way back machine, which was a great way to teach kids a bit of history in a really lighthearted way, if you remember that cartoon at all. Yeah, yeah, I do. I loved Leonardo line. Yeah. And Mr. Yeah. Mr. Sherman, he was always so straight, wasn't he? He was a dog and he was so Mr. P Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Yeah. It was just, oh my gosh, now you're bringing back memories. And I loved.

10:18
Rocky and Bullwinkle? A thunder of jets in an open sky, a streak of grey and a cheerful... Ah!

10:27
world into vertical climb and once again you'll know it's time for the adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and friends. And Boris and Natasha from Rocky and Bullwinkle. Do you about like, when you think about it, how do you say, it's like really not racist about people from Eastern Europe? That's right. No, you're right. And then you had people like Dudley Dooride of the Canadian

10:55
You know, it was the Canadians poking fun at themselves, but you're right, whether it was Boris or Natasha or whoever. Yeah, there was, there was a lot of that wasn't there, but it was always sort of just under the surface, but we're all too young. We just knew they were bad guys and we're chief of the good guys and, and, you know, it was sort of, you know, boo the bad guys when you're allowed to actually boo someone and not get in trouble for it. Exactly. Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.

11:23
So much politically incorrect. As I mentioned, Bat Fink and karate. And that was a stereotypical karate, you know, and the whole thing. But then there was Hong Kong Fooey and Charlie Chan and the Chan Clan. Like what's with that?

11:41
When you think, yeah, it was amazing, wasn't it? And we didn't come out as bad racist people, you know, because of those cartoons. You just accepted that it was, we knew it was a cartoon. Yeah, that's right. And you're right. We hope that we didn't come out bad people and we understood the concept, even though we're only quite young. So yeah, I think, you know, there's so many of those instances and a lot of cultural cringe as well. There used to be a series of...

12:10
American cartoons called, there was Super Chicken, there was Tom Slick and there was one called George of the Jungle which only ran for like a season apparently but then 30 years later Brendan Fraser on the back of that little cartoon series made a movie called George of the Jungle. George, George, George of the Jungle, strong as he can be.

12:34
Watch out for that tree! That's it, that's it. And of course there was a cartoon called Roger Ramjet. I don't know if you remember that.

12:52
Yes, that is, that's almost got over. Roger Ramjet, it sounds like a porn star, doesn't it? I think it does. Great name for a porn star. Oh my god. But that was a whole, that was a very chest thumping, you know, Roger Ramjet and the American Eagles fighting for our freedom. And you think, wow, like is this...

13:18
Is was this all developed on the back of you know the cold war and you know because that was the whole thing they were flying around in jets they're fighting for American freedom and we didn't get it back in the day but I'm sure there was some undertones there with things like that. Oh there would have yeah it would have been based on something like that I guess but do you remember um uh cartoons like Top Cat? Top Cat! The most factual Top Cat! And McGilligarilla.

13:50
We've got a gorilla for sale, a gorilla gorilla for sale. Won't you buy him, take him home and try him. Gorilla for sale. The gorilla gorilla, the premise was he was in the shop front of the pet store, Melbourne Peebles pet store, and he was always wreaking havoc and no one had buy him and yeah, it was Mr. Peebles hated him. But you know, he was, you think about that, you know, a gorilla in a pet store. I know you can get everything in America, but wow.

14:18
Yeah, you have the bull in a china shop, but the gorilla in a pet store, yeah, that's sort of next level. Yeah. How many animals were there in those cartoons? Like, was there an animal that wasn't included on a cartoon? I don't think so. I think they were all based on animal like Yogi Bear. Yogi Bear. Most of the cartoons were based on animals rather than people. Yeah.

14:39
I mean you had Boo Boo, you had Underdog, I don't know if you know remember Underdog with Miss Polly, he was a dog with big floppy ears, he used to go around saving the world, but you're right whether it was Top Cat or Huckleberry Hound or Deputy Dog. There were so many, I mean if you imagine it would have been huge business for the TV companies to pump these out, imagine the animation and the animation experts having to pump out these

15:09
it would have been a pretty big deal. Yeah. Well, and they didn't have the technology that we have today. And they talk about Disney franchises and things like that and how everything would be hand drawn, all that sort of thing. But when you think about the number of cartoons that came out back in the day, and the work and the teams of artists and graphics sort of people that must have gone into that, let alone the voiceover people, and then all the producing.

15:38
It was a monumental sort of effort, wasn't it? It would have been very big business for them. Oh, look. As well, there was so many, cause there were cartoons, like you remember we'd get up at 5.30 in the morning and the cartoons had started at six or whatever. And if you were lucky enough, if your parents let you watch cartoons before school, cause a lot of parents didn't. And then it was on again in the afternoon from about four o'clock. And a lot of kids weren't allowed to watch them until they'd done their homework. So you'd race home from school.

16:05
and do your homework so you could start watching the cartoons at four o'clock. Because there was no such thing as replaying them. No, well, that's it. Once they were on, they were on. Yeah, look, I wasn't allowed to watch TV in the morning. I was on a Saturday before, you know, heading off to sport or whatever it was. But on the weekday, I wasn't. But you'd sort of sneak in some. I'm sure Mum and Dad knew you'd sort of sneak in at six o'clock and turn something on and, you know, you'd watch something called Space Angel, which was I hated, but it was, you know, it was animation, but it was a.

16:33
a real person's mouth on the animation. That's right. That was awful. Yeah. That was creepy. That was very creepy. Yeah. It was. It was super creepy. But in the afternoons, after you'd done your homework, and mum would probably say, look, you can watch a little bit of television, then go outside and play. You'd be able to watch something like Wacky Races. I don't know. Oh, Wacky Races. That's right. Yeah. This episode of The Big Sixo brought to you by Louis Carr Real Estate, helping people in the Hills District find their dream home since 1992.

17:03
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17:11
Have a think, we're talking about inappropriate cartoons. What about Pepe Le Pew and the female skunk? Like if that's stalking right, that is serious stalking and stuff of that poor female skunk, whatever her name was. I hadn't thought about that. I hadn't thought about that. What message is that sending? It says don't ever trust a French skunk. That's right. If one had to come across one in the street. That's right and of course the female sort of...

17:41
unwanted amorous sort of relationship was actually a cat if you remember because some paint fell on the back of this cat and the skunk thought it was a damn female skunk. That's right, that's right. Oh my goodness. This is just so many. I can't get over how many. I had not thought about that. Yep. And then there were things like

18:03
There was a show called Milton the Monster, which was just to take off the whole, yeah, of the monsters and the Frankenstein thing. And this is going to be another podcast where we talk about, you know, the Adams family, that whole creepy sort of genre that went on for a few years as well. Yeah. But so much. But...

18:22
Pepe Le Pew, wow, I hadn't even thought about that whole stalking thing. And that's another disclaimer altogether for kids. Oh, I know. And what about, I mean, Popeye and olive oil, you know, Popeye was the, was the real nerd and he had to eat his spinach. Now think about the message in that. Eat your greens and you'll grow these massive muscles. So there was a message in that even in Popeye and olive oil. And Popeye was, was developed off a real live sailor.

18:48
of all things. I don't remember his name, but yeah, that whole character was all centered around a guy who actually did exist. I don't know whether Olive Oil actually existed, but a bit of fun, but you're right. It sent a message as well. But, you know, talking about the whole creepy sort of thing, then there was things like Scooby Doo and the mystery machine and they used to go and hunt down the zombies and the vampires and all that sort of thing.

19:16
Scooby-Dooby-Doo, where are you? We need some help from you now. Come on Scooby-Doo. But with Scooby-Doo, they had, remember the characters in Scooby-Doo? There'd be, there was the good looking guy and there was the good looking girl, Daphne? Yes, yes. And there was the girl who was sort of portrayed as the nerd. She seemed to be the one that always solved, you know, the mystery, the crime or whatever it was.

19:45
Yeah. Yeah. Was there a message in there about you know, your dad have to be the gorgeous cheerleader, you can be the nerdy kid and still have success in life. But was that the message that you know, but it was always the message. Does it mean that I get nerdy kids, you know, there's a life solving crime and chasing zombies for you? Because I don't think the pretty girl or the handsome guy ever solved, did they ever solve any of those mysteries? Or just the nerdy girl? I think just the nerdy girl.

20:15
And with the help of Scooby. Of course. I mean, and Shaggy who didn't stop eating. Oh yeah. And little, little bit of trivia as well. And I'm full of it. I'm full of it. The guy that did the voice for Scooby-Doo also did the voice for, uh, in the Flintstones Bam Bam. Oh, really? And also did the voice for Mutley out of Wacky Races. So, you know, and if you, if you want to go, if you want to go a little bit further than that.

20:45
He actually did Boo Boo as well and Ranger Smith. But you talk about those groups, you know, like with Scooby Doo, then there was Josie and the Pussycats and the Archies. Loved Josie and the Pussycats. There you go. Yeah, for girls, you know, dreaming of being, you know, in a rock band or something. Yeah, I mean. It was just such a metaphor for people that- Spice Girls have got nothing. Yeah, that we, yes, that we knew, we all knew characters like the ones in these cartoons. Yeah, yeah.

21:15
and pre-dating even the Archies. Everything's Archie. Archie's here. They actually had a couple of, you know, Billboard tops, you know, 20 hits as well. I mean, it wasn't a real band. It was obviously a session group, but- Sugar, sugar. You sugar, sugar, you know, all those sort of things. But before then, even the Beatles got involved because they had their own cartoon series in the mid-60s, mid to late 60s, the Beatles. That's right.

21:43
Yeah, that's right. They did. Yeah, you're right. They did. So, oh my gosh. So many genres were covered, whether it was, you know, all your animals like Tennessee tuxedo or huckleberry hound. I don't know whether huckleberry hound. I was going to say. The biggest show in town. Remembering all those songs, you know, that whether it was.

22:08
Prince Planet theme song or Gigantor or Marine Boy. They all had songs, didn't they? Yeah, we do. I mean, you do remember them. We used to sing along to them every time it would come on. You'd get excited. And what was this week's episode going to bring? What was the story? And you didn't want to miss it. Yeah, and there was just, you know, and as we were saying, a lot of these things went on to, you know, 20, 30, 40 years later, whether it was Georgia, the jungle, or movies then became developed. And primarily on the back of probably people

22:37
of our sort of demographic who have a fondness for those cartoons back in the day. So producers then made these movies from when we were so-called adults and, you know, under the veil of eye, and this is a kids movie. No, it never was. They were always going to be attracting those 40 and 50 year olds that would want to reminisce about that cartoon series and go and see the Brendan Fraser of this world because we remember Georgia the Jungle. How good was that?

23:06
Yeah and the Scooby Doo movie you know all those movies and like you said the TV shows of um the and recent movies of the Adams family that have come out they stand the test of time and they were great for us because we took us back to something different didn't it but That's right and Lost in Space um all those sort of things that were just remakes not designed for kids designed for the kids in our in our hearts that still live that will go and pay our hard earn to go and watch these things at the cinema. Yeah we don't wander into Lost in Space or um

23:34
or, you know, the Addams Family, things like that, because that's a whole nother podcast. We've got to do TV shows. Thunderbirds, be still my beating heart, Virgil. We've got to, we're going to... I know you know about that as well. That's a whole nother episode. We're going to talk about TV shows like Maxwell Smart and Get Smart and stuff like that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, don't get us started. Hey, look, you know, we're on the back of the podcast. We've got a Facebook page, so anyone can find us at the big six. And we put this out there too, to a few people.

24:04
And I just want to go and you tell me if you remember any of these sort of things. We've already touched on a few, but Craig actually came back to us and said, Oh look, apart from the mainstream like Gigantor and Marine Boy, he loves something called the Herculoids. The Herculoids. I remember that name. Yes. Look, it was a program that had like a dragon called Zoc or something like that. And Gloop and Gleap, which were these ghosty sort of...

24:34
figures that could absorb energy. So there's all those sort of, you know, I'd forgotten about it. Another lady, Katarina said she loved Shazam, which was the genie. Oh, Shazam. I love Shazam. I know. Thank you, Katarina. I remember I used to love Shazam. Yeah, the idea of a genie that you could have a genie, you know, the what it did for your imagination and things like

24:59
I know. And it's just so good to know that, you know, we're not the only ones that are thinking, gosh, do we have an ill-gotten, ill-spent youth just watching? And there were, there were just way too many that we probably haven't even skimmed the top yet of so many of those sort of, you know, programs that sort of kept us sort of our imaginations turning and like a, you know, a ferret on a wheel. We just kept, you know, it just stimulated, stimulated who we were and how we grew up. And obviously,

25:28
people like you and I are still thinking about it and have that vivid recall, whether it's a gorilla in a pet shop or... I know, and we don't have square eyes for sitting too close to the TV. Yeah, look, I haven't gone blind yet, but as I'm getting older, I'm thinking it's not because I sat too close to that tiny little TV set where you'd actually have to get up and change the channel using a... Yep, yep, that's right. And you had a choice of three channels, I think, seven, nine, and two or whatever. That's it, that's it. Hey, listen, I...

25:58
I think I've got to go, go and catch up with a few more cartoons that I haven't caught up with, go and binge watch a little bit more, but can we do this again? Absolutely. This was so much fun. And of course, if anyone wants to get in touch with us, they can drop us an email too, contact at thebig60.com. If they've got any ideas or cartoons that they may have loved back in the day that we haven't even mentioned, drop us a line. Yeah, please send those ideas through or TV shows that you'd like us to revisit.

26:26
That would be great. What do you remember about the great TV shows at the time? Cause that'll be an upcoming podcast. Hey, I can hear mum calling. I better go. Can I come around to your place next time? Sure, no worries. Okay, I'll see you later. See ya. The views and opinions expressed on the Big 6O are personal and reflect those of the hosts and guests. They do not represent the views or positions of any affiliated organizations or companies.

26:51
This podcast is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice. Please consult with a qualified professional for guidance on any personal matters. Ah, and before we go, let's give credit where credit is due. Kayleigh Harris and I came up with all the genius content for this week's episode. Our producer, Nick Aboud, well he keeps the lights on and makes sure we don't accidentally upload a cat video instead of a podcast. So thanks for keeping us on track, Nick.

27:21
Nick?