I am not a fan of the modern cartoons on television. I think their oo nice, too clean, too simple. I know that we want to keep kids as innocent as possible and I know that the cartoon violence of of looney tunes leads to problems of kid's accepting that violence has consequences any more dangerous than scorch marks from explosions, and faces taking on the shape of frying pans.
The Reagan era cartoons like G.I. Joe, the Transformers, and He Man went too far in the opposite direction. These cartoons were built on the concept of good vs. evil. The heroes have swords, and guns, and alien weapons but the lesson given from those cartoons was that violence has no consequences, not been weirdly comical ones.
No one ever got hurt or died as a consequence of this cartoon violence. This leads to visions of violent action without consequence.
I don't have a problem with cartoons with a moral lesson, or cartoons that are super imaginative. Pepper Ann and Bobby's World are among my favorites. I'd speak of Tiny Toons and Animaniacs, but I'm not sure they were aimed at kids.
The cartoon that changed everything for me was Jonny Quest
| Name | Episode(s) | Comments | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
 "the chief" | Mystery of the Lizard Men | Name unknown, this dark-haired foreign zealot speaks English well with a slight accent. His plan to destroy the first US "man to the moon" mission literally backfired. As Dr. Quest had feared, lasers could be terrible weapons; "the chief" was among the first to use it as such. | Presumed dead; killed when the laser fired at the Quest ship was reflected back to his own, causing a tremendous explosion. |
  lizard men (images courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Mystery of the Lizard Men | These minions of the "chief lizard" were scuba divers (a.k.a. "frogmen") with special costumes designed to make them appear to be creatures from the sea. | Many presumed dead; killed when the laser fired at the Quest ship was reflected back to his own, causing a tremendous explosion. Others may have escaped. How many were there? Race made a comment as he, Jonny and Bandit made their escape: "That's one down, and forty to go!" |
 foreign submarine captain | Arctic Splashdown | This man was attempting to learn the secrets of Dr. Quest's missile control device by bringing the rocket down in the Arctic, then retrieving it for his own country. | Dead; killed when the rocket he was aboard self-destructed. |
 Dr. Ahmed Kareem | The Curse of Anubis | An Egyptian national who wanted to blame the theft of valuable archaeological finds on an infidel outsider to unite the Arab nations. Unwisely, he chose Dr. Quest to be that outsider. You think we would have known better, acquainted as he was with Dr. Quest (he even considered him an "old friend"!) | Dead; killed in a cave-in, in the clutches of the mummy of Anubis. |
 two bad guys | The Curse of Anubis | The two thugs ordered by Dr. Kareem to collect the boys and take them to the tomb where Dr. Quest and Race were being held prisoner. | Dead; killed when the jeep they were riding in fell from the plank bridge as they attempted to follow Jonny and Hadji's motor scooter across it. |
  Dr. Zin | The Riddle of the Gold, The Robot Spy, Double Danger, The Fraudulent Volcano | Dr. Quest's arch-enemy, a bald Oriental genius with a thin Fu-Manchu mustache, he's obsessed with the usual items attractive to evil madmen: world domination, absolute power, wealth, etc. Unfortunately (for him), he always come up short when crossing paths with Dr. Quest. It doesn't help that his presumably hand-picked henchmen are always meeting untimely ends, either. | Still at large. |
 Maharaja of Jahilipur (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | The Riddle of the Gold | Despotic ruler of Jahilipur province in India, this rather rotund, foppish character with a white goatee and spectacles kept a leopard chained to a wall in his palace as a pet. His previous involvements included gun-running and other criminal activities. His biggest scheme was an attempt to gain power and wealth by coercing a scientist to produce man-made gold. | Dead; poisoned with the jab of a needle from Abduhl Cassim's cigarette lighter, at the direction of Dr. Zin. |
 Abduhl Cassim (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | The Riddle of the Gold | One of Dr. Zin's henchmen, he also had a history of criminal activity. Tall, thin, and ruthless, he eliminated the Maharaja of Jahilipur (at Dr. Zin's direction) by poisoning him with a needle that emerged from his cigarette lighter. He tried to eliminate Dr. Quest, Race and the boys by blowing them up and, when that failed, by shooting them. | Presumed dead; when Cassim tried to shoot Dr. Quest, the deceased maharaja's pet leopard broke free and attacked him. He tried to escape by jumping through a window but the leopard followed. |
 Ali (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | The Riddle of the Gold | One of Abduhl Cassim's cronies, this Hindu with bad teeth at one point came very close to shooting Dr. Quest with his rifle. | Dead; killed on a tiger hunt by the very same tiger that was supposed to attack Dr. Quest. |
 The Po-Ho (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Pursuit of the Po-Ho | These South American natives made the mistake of kidnapping an acquaintence of Dr. Quest, and then they kidnapped the good doctor as well! | Thwarted, their canoe sunk, while chasing Race and the boys after they rescued Drs. Quest and Hartman from their clutches. Gee! I wonder how that happened? |
 Perkins (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Treasure of the Temple | This villain (an Australian or Brit) and his cronies attempt to frighten off Dr. Quest and the rest when they investigate an ancient Mayan temple. Then, when Jonny and Hadji discover the treasure room, they capture our heroes. | Presumed dead; attacked by crocodiles in an underground river while chasing the Quests. |
 Montoya (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Treasure of the Temple | This man was hired by the Quests to lead them to the ancient temple in the Guatemalan jungle, but was actually in the employ of Perkins, a ruthless treasure hunter. | Presumed dead; attacked by crocodiles in an underground river while chasing the Quests. |
 Kronick (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Calcutta Adventure | Using a secret base hidden in the mountains outside of Calcutta, this villain was secretly creating chemical weapons (a type of nerve gas) that was making some of the locals sick. A native of India, he wore a turban like Hadji, but that's where the resemblance ended. | Presumed dead; killed in an avalanche that also swept away his men and destroyed the secret base. |
 Kronick's men at the base (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Calcutta Adventure | These henchman stationed at the secret mountain base spent their days wearing suits designed to keep the nerve gas from affecting them - no wonder they were cranky! | Some presumed dead; killed in an avalanche that also swept away thier leader; others destroyed with the secret base, others still at large? |
 Korchek | Double Danger | Transformed by Dr. Zin into Race Bannon's double, this man ended up trying to force some information from Dr. Quest at gun-point, but failed. He had everyone fooled for awhile, but Hadji grew suspicious, and later Jonny also began wondering about him. The boys ended up voicing their suspicions to Jade, an old acquaintance of Race's who had arrived to warn Race that he was in danger. She later quipped "There's only ONE Race Bannon!" | Unknown; the last we saw, he was lying unconscious from Race's knock-out punch, his bald head exposed after the wig of white hair he'd been sporting was removed by Kogo the monkey. |
 Tabak (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Double Danger | One of Dr. Zin's henchmen, this was a giant of a man, bald, muscular, nationality unknown. His attempt to hold Race, Jade and the boys in a secret chamber of a giant Buddha statue in the jungle failed when Hadji removed the bullets from his gun using "magic", and Race knocked him out. | Presumed dead; killed in the explosion that he had arranged for his captives which destroyed the Buddha statue after they escaped. |
 Suthep | Double Danger | Another Zin henchman, this Thai national brought Race to the Buddha in the jungle so Korchek could take Race's place. He was a wild driver, almost causing their truck to careen over the edge of a cliff while driving to the Buddha statue in the jungle. | Unknown; when an elephant stampede put an end to the plans of Korchek (and thus Dr. Zin), he fled in terror into the jungle. |
 Heinrich vonFroelich | Shadow of the Condor | A World War I German baron and flying ace. | Presumed dead; killed when the plane he was flying crashed into a mountain after a condor attack. |
 Jos? | Skull and Double-Crossbones | Pretending to be just a humble ship's cook, this man was a plant for a local pirate trying to locate sunken treasure. Bandit never did like him, but he had the rest of 'em fooled until the rest of the pirates showed up. | Presumed dead or arrested after the pirate's boat was destroyed by a shell while trying to escape. |
 Chief Pirate | Skull and Double-Crossbones | Leader of the group of pirates who tried to acquire sunken treasure by forcing Jonny to dive down to a shipwreck while he held the rest of the Quests hostage. | Presumed dead or arrested after his boat was destroyed by a shell while trying to escape. |
 Manuel (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Skull and Double-Crossbones | Another of the pirates looking to score big by stealing some sunken treasure. | Presumed dead or arrested after his boat was destroyed by a shell while trying to escape. |
 Francisco | Skull and Double-Crossbones | This pirate was possibly the meanest of the lot, but his actions were the ones that lead directly to thier plans being foiled. First, he dropped Bandit overboard, but that only allowed Bandit to swim to Superintendent Owens for help. Then, when the coast guard drew near, he opened fire, alerting the officers to the presence of the pirates. From there it was all down hill. | Presumed dead or arrested after the pirate's boat was destroyed by a shell while trying to escape. |
 Harden | The Dreadful Doll | In order to construct a secret submarine base, this man tried to use the threat of voodoo to scare the local plantation owners into leaving. | Turned over to the authorities |
 Korbay | The Dreadful Doll | A local witch doctor used by Harden to threaten local plantation owners. He used tiny blowgun darts dipped in a drug to induce a paralytic trance, making folks think it was a voodoo curse. | Turned over to the authorities |
 Pygmy chief (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | A Small Matter of Pygmies | The leader of a group of pygmies who ruled with an iron fist and absolute power in his small kingdom. Was willing to sacrifice one of his own people to a black panther, and obviously had no remorse about capturing and holding prisoner our heros. | Scattered into the jungle along with the rest of his tribe. |
 Dr. Ashida | Dragons of Ashida | A brilliant scientists who let his ego get out of control, he genetically altered lizards into huge monsters he named after himself. Also intensely competitive, he was enraged when Race defeated him in hand-to-hand combat. He also became very angry when Race later defeated his henchman and dragon-trainer, Sumi, in another staged wrestling match. When the Quests insisted on leaving his island, he sent his dragons after them when they tried to escape. | Dead; killed by his dragons. |
 Sumi | Dragons of Ashida | A giant oriental man, caretaker of Dr. Ashida's dragons. Immensely strong, he was nonetheless defeated by Race Bannon in a wrestling match because of Race's speed and agility. Often punished by Dr. Ashida, he finally had all he could take, and threw the evil scientist into a pit with the dragons. | Unknown; presumed to be still living on Ashida's island (Thanks to PB2388@aol.com for suggesting this update.) |
 servant (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Dragons of Ashida | A servant of Dr. Ashida, this man pulled the cord that opened the trap door underneath the Quests at Ashida's bidding. (NOTE: What I'm presuming to be this man's name is very hard to make out, Ashida says it so quickly. I heard something like "Kuru-isek". In fact, what Ashida says may not have been the man's name at all, but something else entirely. If that is the case, this may indeed be Himoki (see next entry), who was clearly identified earlier in the episode. Does anyone know enough Japanese to make an informed analysis?) Richard Lyons wrote:I was looking at the Bad Guys list the other day. and I noticed that Dr. Ashida of "Dragons of Ashida" had one or two servants. You weren't sure and were looking for input, so I put in my Jonny DVD last night and did some checking. What I figure is that the two servants are only one, the one named Himoki. Here is my reasoning. First, they both look alike, although that's not very definitive even in such a realistic cartoon as Jonny Quest. But second, I checked the subtitles for the scenes where the servant appeared. In one scene, Dr. Ashida calls the servant Himoki, and that is depicted in the subtitles. In the other, where you thought he might be being called Kuru-something?, there were no subtitles. Checking further, I discovered that whenever the foreign language (Japanese, Mandarin, or whatever) is spoken, there are no subtitles. So, apparently Dr. Ashida is issuing a command, not calling a name. I then checked a Japanese-English dictionary on-line, and discovered that a possible meaning for "Kuru" is "come" or "come over". So, perhaps he is commanding Himoki to come get the Quests (?). Anyway, I hope this helps you out somewhat.Yes, you did help; thanks, Richard! | Unknown |
 Himoki | Dragons of Ashida | Another servant of the mad Dr. Ashida (or possibly the same one mentioned above). | Unknown |
 Deen | Turu the Terrible | This white-haired maniac was wheelchair-bound, but that didn't stop him from enslaving a large group of natives so they could mine silver for him. It is not known how he acquired or trained the giant pteranodon he called "Turu", but the animal obviously had a place in the old villain's heart. | Dead; fell into the tar pit where his pet pteranodon also met its fate. |
 Simon 1 | The Fraudulent Volcano | One of Dr. Zin's henchmen; the leader of the secret base under the volcano where Zin was trying to perfect his own version of the para-power ray. | Captured when base destroyed under the Governor's order. |
 Simon 11 | The Fraudulent Volcano | One of Dr. Zin's henchmen; a spy hidden in the Governor's house who reported on Dr. Quest's plans to his superiors. | Captured when base destroyed under the Governor's order |
 Men on hovercraft | The Fraudulent Volcano | More of Dr. Zin's henchmen; these rough characters rode floating platforms and made sure that no one escaped from the secret base under the volcano - well, almost no one. | Some killed pursuing the escaping Quests; others captured when base destroyed under the Governor's order. |
 Pierre | Werewolf of the Timberland | This backwoods smuggler used a werewolf costume made of wolf skins to try to keep any outsiders from discovering his operation at a logging mill. He was using hollowed-out logs to hid gold in, until the Quests put an end to his plans, with the help of a wolf. | Attacked by the wolf Grey One, and pushed over a cliff into the river. Presumed captured by the Mounties after Dr. Quest called them. (Thanks to PB2388@aol.com for suggesting this update, and the ones for Pierre's henchmen.) |
 Blackie LeBlanch | Werewolf of the Timberland | One of Pierre's henchmen, and one of only three people who knew that Pierre was masquerading as a werewolf (loup garou) to scare away "snoopers". | Presumed captured by the Mounties. |
 Jacques | Werewolf of the Timberland | One of Pierre's henchmen. | Presumed captured by the Mounties. |
 Andre | Werewolf of the Timberland | One of Pierre's henchmen. | Presumed captured by the Mounties. |
 Valmar | Pirates From Below | This leader of a group of foreign bad guys is trying to acquire the secrets to Dr. Quest's latest invention, a new type of submersible armored research vehicle. Based on his accent, either Russian or East European; he was rather stocky, with a shock of white hair with black roots, bushy black eyebrows and a black mustache. He wore a spartan military-style uniform, with a high collar and little or no decoration. | Dead; killed along with several of his crew when the mine he had ordered placed on the Quest's submersible was "re-attached" to his boat by Race. |
 Colonel Svedri (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Pirates From Below | This was the right-hand man of the foreign commander trying to acquire the secrets to Dr. Quest's submersible. Captured Race and Jonny along with the submersible and brought them to his boss's secret underwater base. | Presumed dead when his mini-sub was crushed by Dr. Quest using the submersible's mechanical arms. He and a partner (whose sub was also crushed) were firing torpedos at the submersible to try to kill the Quests when his sub was caught in the submersible's claw. |
 "Silky" | Attack of the Tree People | One of two former gunrunners who were now trying to make their fortune in ivory. Silky came up with the idea to extort a large ransom for the safe return of Jonny and Hadji when he heard on the shortwave that they were missing. Has blond hair, and wears a floppy bush hat. Judging from his accent, either from England or possibly Australia. | Arrested after being thwarted by a bunch of anthropoid apes befriended by the boys, then captured by Race and Dr. Quest. |
 "Chopper" | Attack of the Tree People | Silky's cohort in crime, and definitely not the brains of the outfit. He would have been satisfied with the reward Dr. Quest was offering, but Silky talked him into bigger plans. After the boys got captured, Jonny got to show him some judo moves. Black hair, and also from England or Australia. | Arrested after being thwarted by a bunch of anthropoid apes befriended by the boys, then captured by Race and Dr. Quest. |
 "Heinrich von Duffle" aka Klaus (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | The Devil's Tower | Trapped for 18 years on the Devil's escarpment in Africa, this escaped Nazi war criminal forced the Neanderthals that were living at the top of the escarpment to mine diamonds for him, and to otherwise do his bidding. Not content to simply escape with his diamonds in the Quest's bi-plane, he tried to kill them by dropping boulders on them as well as throwing grenades at them. | Presumed dead; killed when the plane he was flying went down. |
 cavemen (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | The Devil's Tower | Forced to do vonDuffle's bidding, these relics from a prehistoric time mined diamonds, and acted as prison guards when the Quests were captured by the mad Nazi. | Presumed still living atop the Devil's Escarpment. |
 General Fong | The 'Q' Missile Mystery | The penultimate military-type bad guy, this Chinese general has a secret missile base in a swamp, a whole group of costumed henchmen, and a local police lieutenant under his thumb. His plans include building a submersible rocket launcher and taking over the world. Unfortunately for him, his missile fuel operations are poisoning the fish population that the citizens of the area eat, which causes the local police commissioner to call in Dr. Quest. | Presumed dead; killed when a mine is detonated under his boat. |
 Fong's Guards (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | The 'Q' Missile Mystery | The general has a whole group of his henchmen in special costumes posted thoughout the swamp, keeping watch over the way in and out - but Dr. Quest and Race were two very determined men, and these guys never had a chance! | Some knocked unconscious - the lucky ones! Others died with Fong when their boat was destroyed by a mine. |
 Lt. Sing | The 'Q' Missile Mystery | While this policeman appears to be polite on the outside, on the inside he's a bad guy. Not only does he try to send a bomb to the Quest's hotel room, but he kidnaps the boys and Bandit. When his life is nearly ended by a car accident, however, and Dr.Quest tries to bandage his wounds, he relents and tells Dr. Quest and Race the whole story of the secret missile base. | Unknown; we last see him being loaded into an ambulance, but the police chief indicated that, if he survives his injuries, he will wind up being put before a firing squad. |
 Dietrich Sorensson  Deitrich as the gargoyle (images courtesy Paulo Brandão) | House of Seven Gargoyles | A small disfigured man who disguised himself as a gargoyle to spy on a colleague of Dr. Quest, Professor Eriksson, who has invented an anti-gravity device. At one time he had been known as Norway's greatest acrobatic dwarf. | Dead; shot by his boss, Ivar. |
 Ivar (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | House of Seven Gargoyles | This man was trying to steal the anti-gravity secret of Professor Eriksson. He had one of his men, Dietrich, spy on the professor disguised as one of the gargoyles at the professor's castle. When Dietrich demanded payment for his efforts, Ivar shot him. | Presumed dead; buried when a glacier collapsed with his boat underneath; the collapse was triggered by his men shooting at Race and Dr. Quest as they chased him in a helicopter. |
 Chu Sing Ling | Terror Island | This mad scientist, who was altering existing creatures to enlarge them to monstrous proportions, wanted Dr. Quest to help him resolve some problems he was having with his process. | Dead; killed when an enlarged lizard chased him into some high voltage fences; both he and the lizard were electrocuted. |
  Chu Sing Ling's guards (images courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Terror Island | These men guarded Moy Tu island against instrusion from outsiders, including rescuers of kidnapped scientists. They were about as successful as most gangs were against Race - that is, not very. | Race Bannon kills off several as he makes his way through Chu Sing Ling's compound to save Dr. Quest. One is shot dead when Race bounces shots off an bulldozer's blade, and a few others are presumably killed when Race tosses a grenade at a jeep full of pursuing guards; all we the audience sees as Race hides behind a shack for cover is an explosion and two jeep tires rolling past, one after the other. (Thanks to adisguys@earthlink.net for submitting this information.) |
 restaurant photographer (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Terror Island | Obviously Chu Sing Ling's tentacles stretch into the Hong Kong underworld. This outwardly pleasant woman took a photo of the Quest party so she could identify Dr. Quest to the people who would later kidnap him. | Unknown |
 two bad guys (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Terror Island | While these two men likely did not do the actual kidnapping of Dr. Quest, they identified him to those who did. | Unknown. |
 kidnapper | Terror Island | One of two actual kidnappers who silently pushed their getaway boat next to the Quests boat, then kidnapped Dr. Quest from his cabin, leaving a note that Dr. Quest would die if the police were called. | Unknown |
 Osom (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Monster in the Monastery | By playing on the general population's fear and superstitions concerning the abominable snowman, or yeti, rumored to live in the mountains, this man and his associates were trying to overthrow one of Dr. Quest's old friends, the Raj Guru, so they could take over the village and surrounding countryside. | Slipped on oil-covered steps and fell to his death on the rocks below the castle. |
 One of Osom's henchmen (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Monsters in the Monastery | One of the men trying to overthrow one of Dr. Quest's old friends, the Raj Guru, so they could take over the village and surrounding countryside. | Killed by a real yeti. |
 Osom's henchmen dress as fake yeti. (image courtesy Paulo Brandão) | Monsters in the Monastery | Some the men in yeti costumes trying to take over the village and surrounding countryside. | Killed by a real yeti. |
Sadly it may have been the last action/adventure kids cartoon that ever showed any character that did not survive the mortal danger they put themselves into.
After that cartoons began their long slide into teaching kids that actions font have consequences or excitement or imagination. We talk down to kids and treat them like they are kinda brain dead. I know they are kids and talking to them like adults doesn't work either. But those psychological tapes are set super early, and I think it's better for them to know what is going on than to go through life that violent actions can have some serious consequences.
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