Child of the 80s
In honor of I love the 80s remix and my original childhood fangirling, a brand new meme:
In the spirit of the retro, plastic jellies, big hair, and bad color combinations, name your top eight animated crushes and why before you knew what anime was!
8.Schmendrick from the Last Unicorn-- The man was a schmuck quite literally, but captured my interest like no other. The Last Unicorn was a fairy tale in truth, bittersweet and bone deep before the darkness was bled away into pastel Victorian sensibilities. Schmendrick was a second rate pickpocket, ragbag wizard, and dry eyed dreamer, but spoke truths deeper than any singing seafood special could hope to mark on a wide eyed audience.
7.Charlotte from Charlotte's Web-- Bambi might have made me tear up, but Charlotte will always make me weep like a babe in arms. Lovely, wise, little spider taught me more on the value of words and the finality of things than my Sunday school ever did. I will not kill a spider to this day in her memory.
6.Starlite from Rainbow Brite-- All little girls are horse mad, I think it hardwired into double X chromosome. The Black Stallion was the first movie I sat through and Starlite was the first horse I wanted. Vain, imperious, and beautiful, Starlite embodied every pony Santa letter and why I find Alan Rickman so alluring, even if I was clueless at the time.
5.Justin from The Secret of NIMH-- I watched my copy until the VHS burned out and I still can't pined down how just how the animators managed to make him hot. Justin is strong, brave, intelligent, and a free thinker with a good sword arm and a softness for ladies in distress. And his introduction plays up a sneaking menace until we realize he's a good-guy with an award-winning smile.
4.Tramp from Lady and the Tramp-- I'm pretty sure Tramp was my first animated crush (and I really wanted a dog as a kid.) Feckless and fearless, Tramp was a smooth operator until he fell head over heels for a pair of big brown eyes. A rogue, a con artist, a cocksure canine Cary Grant, what isn't to love?
3.Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-- From the title you know the creators were goofing around or smoking some pretty good crack but this show was a favorite of every 80s baby and Leo was mine. Whether because of a shared eldest child syndrome or because of my childhood blue fetish, I adored poor responsible Leo who got all the duty and none of the respect, but the best frigging' weapons ever.
(Looking back it is mildly disturbing how attractive those turtles were.)
2.MacBeth from Gargoyles (and pretty much the rest of the cast)-- Not quite 80s, but my first full blown fangirl obsession, Gargoyles deserves its laurels. Macbeth had the clothes, the accent, and the charm of being an honorable man without being a 'good guy.' And the Sean Connery similarity. And getting me perks in my eighth grade honors English class for knowing that Macbeth was historical propaganda.
1.Darkheart from the Care Bears II-- Complete crack I know, but a grumpy bedroom eyed redhead that magically flickers into various animals when he hiccups and still manages to be a terrifying villain counts in my book. And he reforms out of love of the tough minded heroine.
I was a weird kid.
In the spirit of the retro, plastic jellies, big hair, and bad color combinations, name your top eight animated crushes and why before you knew what anime was!
8.Schmendrick from the Last Unicorn-- The man was a schmuck quite literally, but captured my interest like no other. The Last Unicorn was a fairy tale in truth, bittersweet and bone deep before the darkness was bled away into pastel Victorian sensibilities. Schmendrick was a second rate pickpocket, ragbag wizard, and dry eyed dreamer, but spoke truths deeper than any singing seafood special could hope to mark on a wide eyed audience.
7.Charlotte from Charlotte's Web-- Bambi might have made me tear up, but Charlotte will always make me weep like a babe in arms. Lovely, wise, little spider taught me more on the value of words and the finality of things than my Sunday school ever did. I will not kill a spider to this day in her memory.
6.Starlite from Rainbow Brite-- All little girls are horse mad, I think it hardwired into double X chromosome. The Black Stallion was the first movie I sat through and Starlite was the first horse I wanted. Vain, imperious, and beautiful, Starlite embodied every pony Santa letter and why I find Alan Rickman so alluring, even if I was clueless at the time.
5.Justin from The Secret of NIMH-- I watched my copy until the VHS burned out and I still can't pined down how just how the animators managed to make him hot. Justin is strong, brave, intelligent, and a free thinker with a good sword arm and a softness for ladies in distress. And his introduction plays up a sneaking menace until we realize he's a good-guy with an award-winning smile.
4.Tramp from Lady and the Tramp-- I'm pretty sure Tramp was my first animated crush (and I really wanted a dog as a kid.) Feckless and fearless, Tramp was a smooth operator until he fell head over heels for a pair of big brown eyes. A rogue, a con artist, a cocksure canine Cary Grant, what isn't to love?
3.Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-- From the title you know the creators were goofing around or smoking some pretty good crack but this show was a favorite of every 80s baby and Leo was mine. Whether because of a shared eldest child syndrome or because of my childhood blue fetish, I adored poor responsible Leo who got all the duty and none of the respect, but the best frigging' weapons ever.
(Looking back it is mildly disturbing how attractive those turtles were.)
2.MacBeth from Gargoyles (and pretty much the rest of the cast)-- Not quite 80s, but my first full blown fangirl obsession, Gargoyles deserves its laurels. Macbeth had the clothes, the accent, and the charm of being an honorable man without being a 'good guy.' And the Sean Connery similarity. And getting me perks in my eighth grade honors English class for knowing that Macbeth was historical propaganda.
1.Darkheart from the Care Bears II-- Complete crack I know, but a grumpy bedroom eyed redhead that magically flickers into various animals when he hiccups and still manages to be a terrifying villain counts in my book. And he reforms out of love of the tough minded heroine.
I was a weird kid.