Tuesday, April 3, 2012

C-Cow (as in, try not to have one) and Cowabunga

Has anyone else noticed a recent onset of nostalgia for the late 80’s / early 90’s in our collective cultural mind? (woah. That was deep.) 

Maybe it’s because those of us born in the early 80’s are now entering our 30’s and subconsciously littering film, television, and clothing with nostalgia for our youth. (again, I am just on a roll here. Maybe I should teach a class?) 

In any case, I admit I recently sat down with my kids and watched one of my favorite childhood movies from the early 90’s -Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yes, the movie that filled my 8-year-old vocabulary with things like ‘Tubular!’, ‘Radical!’, and ‘Cowabunga Dude!’ Not to mention- had me playing with bizarre Turtle merchandise, like toy military tanks that shot plastic pizza’s at unsuspecting victims.

That thing was rad.

*sigh*

They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore. And, well, thank god for that.- Despite the fond memories, I have to admit, the corniness was cringe-worthy.

We seem to forget just how much of the early 90’s was chuck full of corny corniness in-cornated.

Some things should just stay in the pastJ

Are you feeling the late 80’s, early 90’s revival?

44 comments:

Huntress said...

So that's where 'DUDE' came from.

What about 'Groovy'?

Theresa Milstein said...

The late 80s/early 90s has a lot of good things to remember. And I was so young then... sigh.

My kid love The Simpsons now.

Glynis Peters said...

I'm loving the fact that the UK fashion is 70's style at the present time. Enough said!

Good post, my children will be in the same nostalgic era as you. 'I have the power' by He Man will ring around the land all over again. LOL

Laura S. said...

I love it! I don't like how they're updating it though, like Strawberry Shortcake and the My Little Ponies. Now they look like teenagers instead of the sweet, wholesome ladies and horses they originally looked like!

My siblings and I had that pizza canon. So fun!

This website is awesome when you're feeling nostalgic for our youth: http://www.perpetualkid.com/

Cowabunga, dude!!

Marta Szemik said...

I remember TMNT Dude! Awesome! I like to see it all come back, but there's nothing like the originals. Smurfs was a lot better as a cartoon, though the movie was decent for the kids.

Leigh Caron said...

Ha! And I hope shoulder pads stay there too. But I've seen some creeping into the fashion scene. No! I won't wear them ever again!

Old Kitty said...

The 80s was/were (LOL!) my paradise! Sigh! Take care
x

Kimberlee Turley said...

I've been feeling it for a while now. (Like how Friends is still airing reruns.)

I've mostly been cringing with the fashion statements.

I swore I'd never wear bright colored pants again after they went out of style in the 90's and now they're all in the stores again.

farawayeyes said...

Trying to keep my distance.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

OMGosh! Tubular! I'd forgotten about that. Love the turtles.

And hey, it's not just those born in the '80s. Dial back a few years. I was in the throng of all that too. But only dial back a few years, 'K?

Kyra Lennon said...

The idea that I am old enough for things from my childhood to be revived is a little bit disturbing. In my head, I am still 16!

I love it though. A couple of years ago, I bought a t-shirt with a picture of Gizmo on the front, and the slogan read "Gizzy is the Shizzy." :D

Haven said...

I'm TOTALLY feeling the revival. And frankly I love it! The animation was better, the story lines weren't as convoluted, and the corniness was kid friendly and entertaining. I absolutely loved it.

Matthew MacNish said...

You said rad.

Connie Keller said...

I kind of missed the the early and mid 90s because my kids were born in those years and I didn't get any sleep. Maybe it will all be new and fun for me.

Tracy Jo said...

I am still stuck in the 70s. :-) I have an inner hippy that wants them back!

Chippy said...

I am one of the biggest TMNT fans ever! In the UK the cartoon was called Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.

And I loved (and still do) The Ghostbusters!!

And then there are the UK 80s kids shows that I loved - Count Duckula, Dangermouse, Trap Door. I actually have a t-shirt with Duckula on it... and one with She-ra (He-man's twin sister - she also has the power!)

shelly said...

I can't tell you how much I miss the 80's/90's.

Luanne G. Smith said...

I've been stuck in the 80's since, um, the 80's. :)

vic caswell said...

yeah, i've been noticing it for awhile, too.
but HECK! i loved the turtles and still do!!!!
but still, why are they recycling old shows and not building on all the new stories people are producing.
(i'm speaking of the tmnt film remake coming out, where the turtles aren't even mutants anymore, but aliens)
BLECH!

M.J. Fifield said...

Oh boy, how I loved the TMNT. The movies, the cartoons, all of it. So much fun.

Why wouldn't we want the late 80's/ early 90's to come back? They were awesome. Well, maybe not the hair so much but the pop culture aspects were gold.

M.J. Fifield
My Pet Blog

Suze said...

Wait, the '80s are over? Wh ..?

Unknown said...

I had to laugh at this. My wonderful husband--let me stop there. I love everything about him. I love his blue eyes, I love his thick, Alabama accent, I love his penchant for hard work. We do not, however, share the same love of movies. I caught him watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles last weekend, laughing and reminiscing, even reciting some of the lines. Close seconds for him would include everything--and I mean everything--with Adam Sandler, Pauly Shore, and or Brendan Fraiser. (Bonus points for "Son-in-Law," as it contains both of the latter.)

But you know what? I love him for that. I love how he can sit and laugh at the same things I'm rolling my eyes at on television. It's kind of, well, endearing. ;-)

Thanks again for the morning laugh. See you tomorrow, A to Z'er!

D.G. Hudson said...

I watched the Mutant Ninja Turtles with my two daughters, and I loved their artistic names - Michelangelo, Leonardo, etc.

With names like Shredder and Splinter, how could we not be amused?

Cheesy, maybe, but kids like cheese most of the time.

Isabella Amaris said...

Nice post:) Yes, I do feel the revival, very strongly. Maybe not TMNT (I know, blasphemy:D), but I've been addicted to reruns of the Back To The Future series lately. Sigh, I so want to own a DeLorean!*hides from the corniness police*:) Okay, okay, time travelling cars do not exist - but if someone from a certain secret agency could just pop KITT over to my side of the world, I won't be complainin':)

Stephanie said...

HUGE fan of al things 80's and 90's. Maybe because I was a kid and teen and it was just so easy back then. We spent our days playing and watching TV, listening to music..no bills, no responsibilities. Easy to wanna hold onto that!! LOL!

My son is all about TMNT lately...rented a DVD of old episodes. He loved it!

Kelly Polark said...

I loved late 80's and 90's. I say BRING it!

Tamara Narayan said...

I'm stuck in Barbie hell right now. I do remember working in a theater with a TMNT video game and listening to "Heros in a half-shell--turtle power!" for hours and hours and . . .

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss katie! yikes! im gonna need to wait a pretty long time to revive stuff from my early life cause im still in my early life. ha ha. its fun hearing your stuff and reading the comments. i saw the nija turtle movie. wow! those guys are uber cool! cowabunga dude!
:) ...hugs from lenny

jabblog said...

Oh dear, I don't remember decades, really, stuck inside my head . . .

Elana Johnson said...

I've totally seen this! Especially because if you've got a daughter you're buying clothes for, all you see is 80s gear! It's sort of scary, actually...

Eric W. Trant said...

Our thought-paths crossed, because I was thinking the same thing this week.

Tom Cruise is going to play Jon Bon Jovi.

TMNT, as you pointed out, is in re-make.

They can't stop re-re-re-releasing and remaking Star Wars.

Now I see Total Recall is coming out -- again. Lord help us all.

I posted a FB update last fall, and it was this: "In theaters: Three Muskateers, The Thing, and Footloose! Welcome to 1985!"

Yes, I feel it, and yes, I agree with your reasoning. We are now at the sweet-spot age, the most sought-after consumers on the planet!

We are the 30-50 crowd, the ones who are old enough to EARN money, and young enough to SPEND it in wild abandon!

Pre-30 is struggling. Post-50 has learned you need to set something back.

Us tweeners are like, you know, you can always earn more money, for sure.

Welcome to the honeypot of the advertising and marketing machine!


- Eric

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Early 90's? Well, I have been playing some old Alice in Chains music lately.
My childhood memories would include the original Scooby Doo and Superfriends.

Unknown said...

I loved the turtles. The cartoons, movies, the games (yes, I had some of the old video games with them), I even had an old ooze sewer set when I was a kid.

Cherie Reich said...

TMNT! Good times! I was a big fan of Donatello. I still think we had better cartoons than kids do now, even if they are a bit corny.

Angela Brown said...

I'm a child of the 80's and 90's but I'd have to say some things are better left where they were, like Footloose or Total Recall or 80's fashion.

Kristi said...

Ahhh...the days when my sister and I argued over which one of us would marry which TMNT. Good times.

:)

Stephsco said...

Michael Bay, prolific producer of The Transformers, is remaking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but he's just calling it Ninja Turtles, and it's probably going to awesomely terrible.

Tonja said...

I'm not a fan of ninja turtles but I am nostalgic about 80's teen movies - probably because I was a teen in the 80's. I worked too much in the 90's, so I couldn't really tell you what was going on with movies then.

DL Hammons said...

Gnarley..Dude!!! :)

Tracy Moore said...

Definitely nostalgic here! I cracked up last year when my cousin's teen daughters thought that they were the first kids on the planet who had worn skinny jeans. Ha! They were goggle eyed when I pulled out the old yearbook. :) I miss my original Looney Toons and so many of the other cartoons from back then. Yep...I'd still watch them. I might have a hard time getting off the floor in my footie pajamas nowadays though! ;)

Tracy Moore said...

Definitely nostalgic here! I cracked up last year when my cousin's teen daughters thought that they were the first kids on the planet who had worn skinny jeans. Ha! They were goggle eyed when I pulled out the old yearbook. :) I miss my original Looney Toons and so many of the other cartoons from back then. Yep...I'd still watch them. I might have a hard time getting off the floor in my footie pajamas nowadays though! ;)

Jaycee DeLorenzo said...

These were my formative years...I get so nostalgic seeing these. I actually had a Cowabunga shirt! LOL.


My C

Jennifer Joyce said...

I was a massive fan of the Turtles. Am not impressed with the new version bring planned. The Turtles will now be an alien race come to Earth. Leave the Turtles as they are!

Sarah Tokeley said...

I was a teenager in the 80's - my head is stuck there :-)

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