Top 10 '80s Cartoons!

First Transformers and now G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. It's safe to say that '80s nostalgia is hitting the big time in Hollywood and we're absolutely loving it! So we decided to take our own nostalgic look back and count down the best animated series the "Me" decade had to offer.

Remember these? Share your favourite '80s cartoon in the comments!

10. Jem & the Holograms

Jerrica Benton, aka Jem, owned a music company by day and lead her killer band Jem and the Holograms by night, with the help of Synergy, the holographic computer designed by her late father. Between playing gigs, and struggling to keep her dual identities secret, she also funded the Starlight Foundation (a foster home run by the Holograms) and did battle onstage with rival band The Misfits - not to be confused with Glenn Danzig’s horror punk group. And chances are that many a girl picked up a guitar, inspired by Jem's all-girl rock group, and that says something about the power of this cartoon.

9. Care Bears

Probably the sweetest most straight-forward of the ‘80s cartoons, Care Bears was actually created as characters to be used on, wait for it, greetings cards back in 1981. Despite their somewhat questionable origins, these loveable teddies who came from a place in the clouds called Care-a-lot helped kids who were sad with their messages of happiness and joy during their Missions of Caring. Not that it was all rainbows and smiley faces - okay maybe it was - they still had to deal with Wizard No Heart, Beastly and Shreeky but they were no match for the Care Bear Stare!

8. Rainbow Brite

Before we get into why this show was awesome enough to make our list, I feel the need to share a fact I stumbled upon while writing this. The Rainbow Brite franchise generated $1 billion in retail sales of dolls, toys and other licenced products throughout the 1980s (and I'm sure I generated half that in my purchases alone). Amazing, right? That this fantastic story of a little orphan girl named Wisp who moved to Rainbow Land, made friends with the Sprites, a horse named Starlite and all seven of the Color Kids (one for each colour of the rainbow - Red Butler, Lala Orange, Canary Yellow, Patty O'Green, Buddy Blue, Indigo, Shy Violet) led to such a world-wide phenom is flat-out impressive. First airing in 1984, and produced by Hallmark Cards, the show actually only consisted of thirteen half-hour animated episodes, two half-hour live-action episodes and one feature-length movie. It may have had a short run but the fact that I still see people dressed up as some of the characters at Halloween leads me to believe this one is stuck in the zeitgeist for years to come.

7. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

If all the commercials that I remember from the '80s are to be believed, G.I. Joe is a Real American Hero. The show may have played like a constant recruitment commercial for the armed forces but you can't deny the show had pizazz - or at least the military equivalent of pizazz. Running from 1985 to 1987, the show followed the classic story of good versus evil or, in this case, Joe versus COBRA. The Cold War may have been over but Joe and COBRA did their best to keep it going in one animated form or another. But what really makes this short-lived but popular series resonate even now are those memorable PSAs that used to end every episode. A safety lesson after watching two giant armies battle to the death (although no one ever seemed to die!) - you just know you can't get more New Age '80s than that! And knowing is half the battle.

6. Thundercats

Hailing from the planet Thundera, these cat-like peeps were forced to flee their home when they were pursued by the Mutants of Plun-Darr and had to relocate to Third Earth. Lion-O, the Thundercats’ trusty leader, guides his fellow brethren Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara and others in their battles against Mumm-Ra, the ancient embodiment of evil with the help of his kick-ass weapon the Sword of Omens. Blending a classic good versus evil storyline with futuristic elements and a heavy dose of fantasy and sci-fi, this '80s staple was action-packed, quietly moralistic and all kinds of awesome. Thundercats, Ho!

5. Transformers

This one is just a given. Not only has it lead to one of the most successful movie franchises of all-time, but the animated series and the line of Hasbro toys continue to have an intensely loyal following 25 years after it first hit the small screen and toy shelves everywhere! With a genius tagline ("More than meets the eye!") and a concept that hooked you right from the get go, each episode depicted a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, animals and other objects as they saw fit. Many other shows have tried to reach the bar set by this show but none have managed, making this show one of a kind.

4. Smurfs

These blue creatures, standing just "three apples tall” lived in the woods and were created by Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, originally going by the name of Les Schtroumps, and followed the exploits of Papa Smurf, Baby Smurf, Smurfette, Handy Smurf and the other little azure dudes. In between fighting off the evil wizard Gargamel, they gathered food, tidied their mushroom houses and generally acted jolly. Their simple, unfettered life was all a kid could ask for.

3. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

By the Power of Greyskull...I won't lie to you - I may have owned a giant plastic replica of Castle Greyskull during the height of the show's run in the 80s. But who could resist the world of Eternia and the Zorro-like tale of Prince Adam (and his alter-ego He-Man) fighting to keep precious secrets hidden from ultimate cartoon baddie, Skeletor? The show was a fantastic mix of magic, myth and fantasy and featured one of the first cartoon TV heroes to actually fight hand-to-hand with his foes, with the help of his trusty sidekicks of course - Battle Cat, Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko. The animation itself has held up rather well (unlike some of its early counterparts) and despite the Clark Kent-like syndrome that allows for no one to notice that He-Man and his alter-ego look exactly alike, was popular enough to spawn a fairly successful spin-off about He-Man's twin, She-Ra: Princess of Power. I won't lie, I may have also had a replica of The Crystal Castle. Don't judge me.

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

These heroes in a half-shell were the ultimate laid-back crime-fighting foursome, beating down baddies in between scarfing down pizza, saying things like Cowabunga! and learning how to become ninjas from their rat sensei, Master Splinter. Add in some green ooze, a roving reporter and life in a Manhattan sewer and you’ve got a memorable cartoon that had kids glued to the screen. (N.B. Lest we think this show is just something to watch between commercials, the creators classed it up by naming the four turtles - Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello - after painters and artists. True story.)

1. Inspector Gadget

As animation's answer to Inspector Clouseau and Maxwell Smart, the ever-bumbling but well-meaning Inspector Gadget hit the small screen (and a few walls) in 1983 and even got its own big screen treatment in 1999. Voiced by the talented "Get Smart" star himself, Don Adams, this show (and its ever catchy theme song) became must-see TV for kids everywhere long before NBC's Thursday night lineup became the talk of the town. Each episode saw Gadget receive a Mission Impossible-style assignment from his hard-done-by Chief Quimby. Gadget then consistently bungled the case left-right-and-centre, only to be saved by his brilliant niece Penny and her smarty-pants dog Brain as they neatly solved the case and apprehended the villains without him. Gadget's variety of out-of-this-world special weapons and main nemesis Dr. Claw, leader of an evil organization known as MAD, immediately brought to mind Bond but suaveness and surety would've ruined what made this show great. Who needs a stealthy spy when you've got gadgets, a snazzy chapeau and one of the best theme songs ever? Go Gadget go!