Captain Planet

That's right, I revisited this eco-centric cartoon from the nineties. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad in retrospect as I thought it might be. The quality of animation is high, and while everything from the voice acting to the themes to the villains and storylines is a bit over the top (read: beating you over the head with green ideology), its solid. I mean, its a cartoon, aimed at a younger audience--not really looking for subtlety.

So, some observations from those first two episodes:

1) Mother Earth (Gaia) is of indeterminate race, but talks like a black woman just shy of ghetto (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, in fact--a few big name actors and voice actors on staff, not sure how they wrangled that . ..) and dresses like a Greek goddess. She also enjoys napping, and has a huge rack.  This photo doesn't do it justice. 

2) There's a Yu-Gi-Oh connection:

Wheeler: The comic relief Planeteer with a temper, Wheeler is a  fire-wielding lad from Brooklyn, complete with accent. Voiced by Joey (note: Joey) Dedio

Joey (note: Joey) Wheeler: The comic relief best friend with a temper, he is a fire-breathing-dragon wielding lad from Brooklyn, complete with accent. People have said that Joey's (Jounouchi in the Japanese) dub-name is an intentional nod to Captain Planet

3)Bad guys are usually deformed, and the environment is being destroyed by villains (not by regular people). 

4) Mullets are heroic. For reals. Lets take a look at the heroic mullet hall of fame here: 

Captain planet's mullet is not just a mullet. I would classify this as an Epic Mullet, spit curl included. 

More hero mullets: 

Macgyver

Rambo

Superman circa 1993

Aquaman

Chuck Norris

Togusa