Ah, OK, as a child? Probably "Peanuts". I was an adult when "Calvin and Hobbes" had its run, but I enjoyed that strip, and the books. I liked the way it was drawn. I drew cartoons myself, for a while, when I was in college. I drew editorial cartoons for my college's paper, and sold some to a local newspaper, too.
I was a fan of some of the older humor strips, too, like "Beetle Bailey" and "Hagar the Horrible".
But I'm on the other side of the fence from you, as far as animation goes. I am a big fan of animated cartoons, but I have very specific tastes. I prefer Warner Bros, classic Warner Bros, not any of the remakes like "Tiny Toons" or whatever they hell they call 'em. No CGI animation, either. I like the old Warner Bros. cartoons for the style in which they were drawn, for the humor, and the music. When I was in 8th grade (1979, I think that was), I undertook to study them. One of our local TV stations ran an hour of uncut WB cartoons at 3PM every day, and I'd run home to watch. I even made notes about who the production staff were. I learned to tell just by looking, which cartoons were produced in which year, and which animators, which director, which writer produced them. And you really have to know our cultural history in the 30s, 40s and 50s, and classical and popular music, to get all the humor. And along with playing the trumpet all those years, those cartoons helped me to learn and appreciate classical music.
I was never a fan of Walter Lantz' work, though I appreciate his talent. Same goes for Hanna/Barbera, though I watched all of their cartoons when I was younger. I do appreciate their "adult" cartoons, too, "The Flintstones" and "the Jetsons", and what they were trying to do, in producing animation for grown-ups.
Eventually, I also became a fan of anime, too. When I was a little kid, "Tobor the Eighth Man", "Kimba the White Lion" and "Marine Boy" were all carried by a local station, and of course, I watched "Speed Racer". When I was in high school ('80 to '82), "Star Blazers" aired, too, and I was re-introduced. Again, I have very specific taste; my favorite series are "Ghost in the Shell" and "Cowboy Bebop". They share elements with sci-fi works that I like, like "Blade Runner" (the movie is far, far better than Dick's original story) and "Firefly".
So, I have to go ahead and, disagree, with you, on the animation.
Now--would I buy a kit of my favorites? Probably not, though I do have some anime kits in the stash. I did build Monogram's "Peanuts" kits, when I was a kid, though, Snoopy's Sopwith Camel, the Red Baron's Fokker, Snoopy's Bugatti and motorcycle with sidecar. I may get around to picking those up again on the second-hand market and building them again, someday.
Prost!
Brad
