Saturday Morning Cartoons
Feb. 25th, 2023 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
palusbuteoAnother interesting installment from The History Guy
https://youtu.be/X80b8oOsNk8
My comment on his video:
"I agree with the statement that there has been something "lost" in the experience of these cartoons and collective culture. I think there is something else to be said or considered with the "toy marketing" that is perhaps overlooked - yes, it was a bit heavy-handed on our poor parents to constantly supply us with the required/demanded toys and playsets, but, when the block of cartoons ended at Noon on Saturday, most often Mom was pushing us out the door out of the house for the rest of the day, where we would often bring our beloved toys and set up shop with neighborhood friends at the end of a driveway or in a backyard play area to continue the adventures and analyze the episodes we'd just watched. So, while there was a few hours of us kids where we were locked into the trance of the TV screens, mindlessly sucked in, there was a point where we were interacting and socializing in real life with real friends.
There was also the discussion and critical analysis of these shows when we were back in school that Monday, usually for the rest of the week until the next Saturday, as well as the Afternoon weekly cartoons we'd race home from school to watch. So....the whole Moral Superiority thing....I dunno, looking back feels like treading thin ice."
As I was setting up this post, another thought came to mind on the (hypocrisy) of the Moral Superiority thing with the content of cartoons, particularly with the "educational content" requirements in the 80s' cartoons, being that the Pearl-Clutching Moms who demanded these requirements were also sometimes the ones hammering on about Biblical Studies being More Important, etc. Yet a number of these cartoons were dealing out some pretty serious "Mature Content" with Real Life Issues, Morals, and things like Character Development. The X-Men series is certainly one that comes to mind. and the comics predate the Regulations.
Meanwhile, In (Middle & High) School, we're learning about not just Biblical mythology but Ancient Greece, Egypt, Roman, Celtic, Asian, etc etc Mythologies, and, that was dealing with some pretty MATURE stuff. So, having a cartoon of say Giant Transforming Robots who crash-landed on Earth and are fighting a centuries-old battle of Good vs Evil....And the initial Comicbook adaptation of it being based directly on the Arthurian Legend, I dunno, it just kinda smacks of Double Standards.
And yes, some of the cartoons were pretty terrible and had no real "value", but others seemed to be "edutainment" enough even before the Regulations. And many of them, of course, were just Silly Fun. They didn't NEED to have any "value" other than being purely silly fun. We. Need. This.
(one that comes to mind is Laughalympics and to an extent, Tom & Jerry...Speaking of which, you walk onto a rake the wrong way and smash yourself in the face? Yeah, you usually do that Once and you're good)
Although my mind keeps drifting back to the comment & thought about the unspoken aspect of the Marketing and Toys, the whole idea of the toys and playsets was of course to reenact the episodes but also to continue the adventures and make up our own
And yes, perhaps the Marketing to Kids-but really their Parents with the Money was a bit heavy-handed, and it did seem to get to a level of ridiculousness by the 1990s.
There was also the advent of the Console and Video Gaming Age for us kids of the 80s and 90s. When we matured a bit out of Saturday Morning ("kiddie") Cartoons, we moved onto trying to spend as many hours on Saturday morning playing video games. So, it was marginally more "interactive" than just sitting and watching the cartoon play out. We had a little bit more of a say on how things are playing out via our controllers.
I'm not saying it was "perfect" or necessarily "better", but, the basic "interactive" and "social" aspects were kinda there....That was until about 11AM or so where Mom would come around and force us outdoors, especially during Summer break. But we were also lucky in that we HAD that option to just walk outside, down the street, and come across any number of peers and friends on the street, and would "interact" for a few more hours until dinner-time.
we also had to learn Important Social and Societal Skills like "when you see a car coming down the street you get the fuck out of the road and let them pass" and "you don't throw rocks at houses, no matter how much fun it seems or how "gently" you throw/small rocks shouldn't do any damage, right?"" and "if you don't want to be beaten up by the other kids, maybe don't be a dick, they might even invite you into their home where their mom might offer you snacks; likewise, if one of the kids down the street is being a dick, well, they may not be asked to play next time"
Both watching these cartoons with my siblings and cousins, and, playing for hours outside in the Summer, will always be some of my fondest childhood memories, and, I do have concerns that Kids These Days really have lost something of that experience. I am also saddened that there aren't enough accessible Green Spaces and parks where kids can go and play, and just walking down the street has become seemingly way riskier than ever before.
I also realize my experience in mostly Suburban setting is a very different experience than being in the City, and how problematic an Urban childhood experience is.
https://youtu.be/X80b8oOsNk8
My comment on his video:
"I agree with the statement that there has been something "lost" in the experience of these cartoons and collective culture. I think there is something else to be said or considered with the "toy marketing" that is perhaps overlooked - yes, it was a bit heavy-handed on our poor parents to constantly supply us with the required/demanded toys and playsets, but, when the block of cartoons ended at Noon on Saturday, most often Mom was pushing us out the door out of the house for the rest of the day, where we would often bring our beloved toys and set up shop with neighborhood friends at the end of a driveway or in a backyard play area to continue the adventures and analyze the episodes we'd just watched. So, while there was a few hours of us kids where we were locked into the trance of the TV screens, mindlessly sucked in, there was a point where we were interacting and socializing in real life with real friends.
There was also the discussion and critical analysis of these shows when we were back in school that Monday, usually for the rest of the week until the next Saturday, as well as the Afternoon weekly cartoons we'd race home from school to watch. So....the whole Moral Superiority thing....I dunno, looking back feels like treading thin ice."
As I was setting up this post, another thought came to mind on the (hypocrisy) of the Moral Superiority thing with the content of cartoons, particularly with the "educational content" requirements in the 80s' cartoons, being that the Pearl-Clutching Moms who demanded these requirements were also sometimes the ones hammering on about Biblical Studies being More Important, etc. Yet a number of these cartoons were dealing out some pretty serious "Mature Content" with Real Life Issues, Morals, and things like Character Development. The X-Men series is certainly one that comes to mind. and the comics predate the Regulations.
Meanwhile, In (Middle & High) School, we're learning about not just Biblical mythology but Ancient Greece, Egypt, Roman, Celtic, Asian, etc etc Mythologies, and, that was dealing with some pretty MATURE stuff. So, having a cartoon of say Giant Transforming Robots who crash-landed on Earth and are fighting a centuries-old battle of Good vs Evil....And the initial Comicbook adaptation of it being based directly on the Arthurian Legend, I dunno, it just kinda smacks of Double Standards.
And yes, some of the cartoons were pretty terrible and had no real "value", but others seemed to be "edutainment" enough even before the Regulations. And many of them, of course, were just Silly Fun. They didn't NEED to have any "value" other than being purely silly fun. We. Need. This.
(one that comes to mind is Laughalympics and to an extent, Tom & Jerry...Speaking of which, you walk onto a rake the wrong way and smash yourself in the face? Yeah, you usually do that Once and you're good)
Although my mind keeps drifting back to the comment & thought about the unspoken aspect of the Marketing and Toys, the whole idea of the toys and playsets was of course to reenact the episodes but also to continue the adventures and make up our own
And yes, perhaps the Marketing to Kids-but really their Parents with the Money was a bit heavy-handed, and it did seem to get to a level of ridiculousness by the 1990s.
There was also the advent of the Console and Video Gaming Age for us kids of the 80s and 90s. When we matured a bit out of Saturday Morning ("kiddie") Cartoons, we moved onto trying to spend as many hours on Saturday morning playing video games. So, it was marginally more "interactive" than just sitting and watching the cartoon play out. We had a little bit more of a say on how things are playing out via our controllers.
I'm not saying it was "perfect" or necessarily "better", but, the basic "interactive" and "social" aspects were kinda there....That was until about 11AM or so where Mom would come around and force us outdoors, especially during Summer break. But we were also lucky in that we HAD that option to just walk outside, down the street, and come across any number of peers and friends on the street, and would "interact" for a few more hours until dinner-time.
we also had to learn Important Social and Societal Skills like "when you see a car coming down the street you get the fuck out of the road and let them pass" and "you don't throw rocks at houses, no matter how much fun it seems or how "gently" you throw/small rocks shouldn't do any damage, right?"" and "if you don't want to be beaten up by the other kids, maybe don't be a dick, they might even invite you into their home where their mom might offer you snacks; likewise, if one of the kids down the street is being a dick, well, they may not be asked to play next time"
Both watching these cartoons with my siblings and cousins, and, playing for hours outside in the Summer, will always be some of my fondest childhood memories, and, I do have concerns that Kids These Days really have lost something of that experience. I am also saddened that there aren't enough accessible Green Spaces and parks where kids can go and play, and just walking down the street has become seemingly way riskier than ever before.
I also realize my experience in mostly Suburban setting is a very different experience than being in the City, and how problematic an Urban childhood experience is.
