There are those days when you find yourself drifting down memory lane, reminiscing about simpler times. When you were a kid, you did not worry about the future, you did not have responsibilities.
Usually these recollections are triggered by a smell, tune, place or a person. We tend to remember songs, cartoons, and movies that we enjoyed back then together with the mental state we had back then. So listening to those childhood tunes almost makes me feel like I am a kid again. Such is the wonder of how human memory works.
I have a youtube playlist where I add any such songs - Tamil, Malayalam or English. You might find songs from movies (Hakuna Matata) and even cartoon theme songs. I'll keep updating it. Please comment what songs you find nostalgic, if you are from my generation (95' born) I might discover some new triggers too.
Anyway I hope in this post to catalogue the art that shaped me as a kid. Too many books to list (just off the top of my head - Princess Diaries, Goosebumps, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Septimus Heap, Asterix & Obelix, Tintin, Archie, Sherlock, Artemis Fowl, Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Inheritance Cycle, Harry Potter, Twilight, The Count of Monte Cristo, almost everything by Enid Blyton, Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Robin Cook). Just check out my Goodreads shelf.
Without further ado, in no particular order let us start with anime, tv series and (what I called all of them back then),
Cartoons
Alice Academy
Avatar The Last Airbender
Bakugan Battle Brawlers
Blue Dragon
Beyblade
Black Jack
Codename: Kids Next Door
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Cardcaptor Sakura
Dexter's Laboratory
Dragon Ball Z
Drake & Josh
Flame of Recca
Gun X Sword
Inuyasha
Jimmy Neutron
Kim Possible
Naruto
Phineas and Ferb
Popeye The Sailor Man
Pokemon
Ranma ½
Totally Spies
Tom and Jerry
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
Wizards Of Waverly Place
Looney Tunes
Yu Yu Hakusho
The Powerpuff Girls
Scooby Doo
Recess
Noddy
Bob The Builder
Oswald
Pingu
Shaka Laka Boom Boom
Takeshi's Castle
Johnny Bravo
Ed, Edd n Eddy
Fairly OddParents
The Jetsons
The Flintstones
Then there were the movies, Disney movies were the golden standard for movies targeted at children.
Movies
Happy Feet
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Aladdin (1992)
High School Musical
The Lion King (1994)
101 Dalmatians (1996)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Ratatouille
The Incredibles
Osmosis Jones
The Mask
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Treasure Planet
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
The Medallion (2003)
The Mummy Returns (2001)
LaMB (2009)
I had a desktop in my house for only a few years before my dad took it away. He did not want me getting addicted to it the way I was addicted to reading. My prized possession was the Game Boy Advance SP. I used to visit my cousin brother and play on his PS2. I remember how after playing for extended periods of time I would hallucinate the pokemon game sound tracks.
Games
Tarzan 1999 (PC)
The Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System (PC)
Road Rash (PC)
Claw (1997)
Pinball (PC)
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, FireRed and LeafGreen, Emerald (Gameboy)
I am sure you all might have watched, played other kinds of stuff. Maybe Kya Mast Hai Life? Sunaina? Shararat? Lady and the Tramp? Johnny Test? Yu-Gi-Oh! Do comment below your treasured memories of your childhood.