I am a major sucker for nostalgia, but that’s not particularly unique. I think a lot of us want to live in the past, because there’s a certain level of comfort and familiarity there. The present is scary, almost as scary as the future. So with that in mind, I’m always on the search for some of my childhood favorite animated shows to revisit in an attempt to recapture that feeling of being a kid.
But I took it a step further than even that. I wanted to find cartoons from the ’90s on free streaming services, because premium ones are just becoming absolutely ridiculous. This is a big reason why I recently switched to applications like Jellyfin and never looked back. Still, I didn’t expect to find much, but I was surprised by just how much the free streaming site Tubi had on offer.
Turtle power
All right, technically, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started its run in the late ’80s, but I would argue it reached its peak popularity in the early to mid ’90s. At ten seasons, there’s quite a bit to watch, but it still holds up incredibly well. Or maybe that’s just nostalgia at work again. Either way, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a lot of fun, with great action sequences and hand-drawn animation that still looks a lot better than the majority of what’s produced nowadays.
Of course, we can ignore the final three seasons, often dubbed the “Red Sky” seasons, because they are completely misguided. You can see how desperate the producers are to compete with stuff like Batman: The Animated Series, and it’s a little sad. Overall, it’s still a fantastic show, and you can’t really beat watching a classic for free.
Ms. Frizzle is still the coolest teacher
The Magic School Bus is kind of a trip to watch as an adult, to be completely honest. I still love Ms. Frizzle (Lily Tomlin), but wow, she really put her students in a lot of danger throughout the show. It’s also hard not to sympathize with Arnold now, who was often on the receiving end of some pretty traumatic events. As a kid, I just found him annoying.
Still, The Magic School Bus is just as fun and whimsical as it was when I was younger, and I love its focus on being educational without beating you over the head with it. Too many educational shows nowadays forget how to be entertaining on top of it. If you need a good nostalgic trip or just want to experience a good ’90s cartoon for the first time, you could do a lot worse than The Magic School Bus.
A much better watch than Men in Black II
While the Men in Black movies were major theatrical hits, I don’t think the cartoon adaptation gets nearly enough love from general audiences. Men in Black: The Series is a surprisingly good watch with a lot of actual depth in its writing and characterization. Taking place in an alternate reality from the films, Men in Black: The Series actually has a darker tone than the movies and features some truly terrifying villain designs. While still designed for kids, it almost has the tone of a great sci-fi thriller at times.
It’s also much better than Men in Black II, and at least on par with Men in Black 3. But even I had forgotten about the series for the longest time, and thanks to Tubi, I rediscovered it. That’s the real value of free streaming services like this. You risk nothing, and you might just discover a show you missed or forgot you once loved. Men in Black: The Series is absolutely one of the latter examples for me.
Yeah, this actually exists
As an adult, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that this show even exists. The concept of taking a horror show, very much intended for adults, and making it both a cartoon and kid-friendly is something that just should not work, yet it absolutely does. The eponymous character is even voiced by John Kassir, who voices the Cryptkeeper in Tales from the Crypt.
This version of the series has more of a lesson for kids attached to each episode, and obviously tones down the murder, blood, and gore. But it still manages to be just scary enough to walk that line between thrilling and kid-friendly. They really don’t make shows like this anymore, which is a shame, because Tales from the Cryptkeeper holds up, even though itshouldn’t.
Seriously, where is she?
I was borderline obsessed with Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? as a kid, because it made me feel like part of the action. Almost like a precursor to shows like Dora the Explorer, but more sophisticated, and you actually root for Swiper. The titular character, voiced by the legendary Rita Moreno, was arguably my first introduction to the concept of anti-hero. The show attempts to give us ACME agents to root for, but everyone knows that Carmen Sandiego is who we’re all there to see.
That’s the reason her name is on the series, after all. As an adult, there’s still a fun level of complexity to be found in Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? Especially when she teams up with ACME on occasion to bring down someone far worse. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get an edgy live-action reboot someday, but for now, this classic cartoon will do nicely.
Nostalgic cartoons are the perfect way to unwind
Life can be pretty hectic and overwhelming, and for me, watching some of the cartoons on this list is a great way to unwind and escape from reality for a little while. That’s one of the great and positive aspects of nostalgia, and streamers like Tubi certainly make it easier to access shows like this. The fact that it’s free is all the better. But if you’re looking for some more stuff to watch, we have some other comfort shows you can binge when life is just too much.
