Saturday-morning cartoons had been in a rut, nothing but superheroes, toys, and other franchise properties, and certainly little that was flat-out funny. In the nick of time (1987 to be exact), along cameMighty Mouse: The New Adventuresto save the day, and, as the theme song promised, things wouldn't be like they'd been before. Born in creative anarchy,Mighty Mousebrought a Looney Tunes sensibility back to Saturday mornings, with cartoons that, like their Warner Bros. predecessors, seem designed by the animators to first and foremost amuse themselves, as witness "Don't Touch That Dial," a "Duck Amuck"-inspired cartoon in which Mighty Mouse finds himself inserted into parodic takes onThe FlintstonesandThe Jetsons,Scooby-Doo!, andRocky and Bullwinkle(think Sylvester Stallone instead of flying squirrel).Mighty Mousehas cult classic drawn all over it. It was produced by Ralph Bakshi, who began his career in children's animation before making the infamous X-ratedFritz the Catas well asWizards,Lord of the Rings, and the epicAmerican Pop. He recruited John Kricfalusi (who would later create the kindred-spiritedRen & Stimpy) as well as young (and cheap) talent just out of college, among them Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series, Andrew Stanton (Wall-E), and Jim Reardon (The Simpsons).  As someone observes in the excellent series retrospective included as a special feature, "I don't think you could afford to put all those names in the same room." Like the best of Warner Bros. and Jay Ward, most of the cartoons have cross-generational appeal, with silliness for the kids, and sly, subversive satire and pop culture references for adults. The series was a rebuke to the "electronic pabulum" television dished out. So, of course, after a mere two seasons, it was canceled after a controversy blossomed over the cartoon "The Littlest Tramp," in which an image of Mighty Mouse sniffing a crushed flower was outrageously misrepresented by a fundamentalist group to be a cocaine gag. That cartoon is included in this set. As a treat for baby boomers who grew up with the original, three vintageMighty Mousecartoons are also included as bonuses. The best is the operatic "Gypsy Life."Mighty Mouse: The New Adventuresushered in a new golden age of television animation. Its energy and artistic integrity are undimmed. What strength, what power, what a mouse!--Donald Liebenson