Have you seen any cartoons?

[montana_charlie]

By that I mean, have you seen what kids today consider to be 'quality' cartoons?
Do you suppose any kid alive today knows what "Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody nº 2" is ... or even wants to?

This Tom & Jerry cartoon won an Oscar 65 years ago ... when cartoons were intended to amuse AND educate.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/QbxArVlS5tU?rel=0

CM

[Dale in Louisiana]

"Cartoons", the six minute shorts that I grew up loving, like this Tom & Jerry, and the Warner Bros. stuff went south in about the late fifties. The big studios couldn't afford the staff of illustrators and cartoonists and yes, a real, live orchestra, that it took to make one of these.

Of late, computer animation has made feature films, in my opinion, pretty darned good, but NOTHING today has gotten me laughing as hard as the 'toons of the forties and fifties.

And Mickey Mouse was a wimp! Bug Bunny, Daffy and Foghorn Leghorn (I say!) rule!

dale in Louisiana

[Reload3006]

I miss a lot of the good ole cartoons. My kids and grand-kids are into this Japanese ****. I dont get it but they do. I guess a lot of the cartoons we used to watch were violent (LOL) and racist.

[mooman76]

I kind of like Sponge Bob. My grand kids love him and I guess I go used to watching him and I find him tolerable. I bought some of the old ones they sell in packages at Walmart and have been meaning to get them out but the grand kids probably won't like them but again you never know. The old Woody wood pecker and popeye and such.

[stubshaft]

I think that the older cartoons stimulated the imagination in children. Some of my favorites were; Woody Woodpecker, Roadrunner and of course Porky Pig. The newer ones are designed to be learning tools. That being said, I don't really see a corresponding increase in intelligence.

[starmac]

Nobody mentioned the adult cartoons, I'm not sure when they started coming about, or who watches them. I have to think enough people watch them for them to be profitable though.

[gray wolf]

The newer ones are designed to be learning tools.
Learning tools ?????
I think Re-education tools would more fit the description.
OH--Heckle and Jeckle, where are you when we need you ?

[94Doug]

Or my personal fav., Mac and Tosh those polite gophers that ended up in the canning factory.

d

[Ickisrulz]

Phineas and Ferb is a very good cartoon with positive characters. Most of the stuff on the Disney channel is pretty good and somewhat educational. Much better than a coyote chasing a roadrunner, cat chasing a mouse or a wise cracking rabbit. I'm not sure many cartoons of old were made to educate.

[starmac]

Education???? I always took cartoons for cartoons, you know funny for kids to watch.
I would be very skeptical of any educational value from them, but I guess the last time I watched a cartoon, they were full of mice, rabbits, coyotes and little short dudes that couldn't hit anything with a shotgun. Oh yea don't forget speed racer.

[3006guns]

Not long ago I caught my eight year old grand daughter watching what passes for "cartoons" these days. She sat there transfixed....no expression, no laughter, no nothing.

I led her over to the computer and brought up some Donald Duck, Road Runner and various others from the late fifties, early sixties. She just about laughed herself sick, which is what God and the illustrators intended.....

[DocHoliday]

I have this conversation about once a month. But not just cartoons, tv in general. What hapless to all the good shows. Everything is now drama this or reality that. Bring back Gunsmoke, Giligans Island, Mash and the likes. For children bring back Mighty Mouse and Tom & Jerry and let's call it a day.

[DCM]

If you want them to learn something decent have them watch Liberty kids, Veggie tales or The Book of Virtues.

[runfiverun]

they are drama's if you watch a couple of those anime's and children that watch them you will see them acting much like the characters of those shows.
the japanese have always had incidents that lead up to one great final stroke.
the samuri, and how they fought war shows this tradition.
their cartoons are also based on this premise.
oddly many of those here watched gunsmoke,bonanza,the wild wild west, the lone ranger and davy crocket to name a few, i am sure those shows were an influence on how we played also.

[frkelly74]

I LIKED ROCKY AND BULLWINKEL. Moose and squirerrrel. , Boris and Natasha. The cold war. those were the days! My sisters wanted to see national velvet or black beauty or some horse and girl story, Couldn't stand it.

[mroliver77]

I will not allow the kid to watch the weirdo stuff.

I WATCH sHAUN THE sHEEP WITH MY DAUGHTER. iT IS HILARIOUS! Dang! Caps lock! Have a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAKQ20hNerc

Veggie tales is awesome!



Johnny Quest! Now there was a great cartoon!

Wallace and Gromit is another I watch with the kid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O22nPvdOwMA

Oh man they have Davy and Goliath!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sy8IaJIbkU

[Katya Mullethov]

I wont say one way or the other about poor influences , especially when it comes to foul language . But there are millions of kids that would have no idea what is going on in their country if it weren't for South Park lampooning it .

[starmac]

Isn't south park one of the adult cartoons.

[montana_charlie]

Education???? I always took cartoons for cartoons, you know funny for kids to watch.
I would be very skeptical of any educational value from them, but I guess the last time I watched a cartoon, they were full of mice, rabbits, coyotes and little short dudes that couldn't hit anything with a shotgun. Oh yea don't forget speed racer.
In those good old cartoons ...

- When the coyote came up with new ways to catch the roadrunner, there was always a certain amount of logic used in his newest invention. Kids with just a little common sense could see the reasoning, and could also understand why it failed. That was education.

- When the villain showed up, his appearance and the music made it clear he was the bad guy. If he told the sweet old lady something while he crossed his fingers behind his back, the kids knew what was happening. They understood he was lying, and they knew it was wrong. That was education.

When a character performed some action that was undair, dishonest, or unmannerly, the other characters reacted in ways that illustrated he was not socially acceptable. That was education.

I won't bore you with a dozen more examples, but they were there.
If you never learned anything while watching those old cartoons ... you weren't paying attention.

CM

[Janoosh]

Mr. Peabody and Sherman, a dog and his boy (quite funny the reverse standard), and the wayback machine. A history lesson being taught there. And then Crusader Rabbit and Felix the Cat and the arch villan "the Master Cylinder". Oldies, but they made you think. Some of the older cartoons are simply hilarious. Exit....... Stage left

[Bent Ramrod]

Last time I got up early enough in the morning to watch a kids' cartoon show, there was a trio of preteenagers who were fighting against a bald man who sat at a desk in an office. In the window behind him was a factory which he owned, and which, according to the story, produced only two products: 1) thick black smoke that poured out of the chimney and 2) yellowish green goop that flowed out of a pipe into the river, the shore of which was lined with dead vegetation and supine fish with plus signs on their eyes. This man was apparently the very essence of evil greed and his polluting factory was something the kids were fighting to put out of business.

No mention in the story, of course, about the technology available that keeps that kind of stuff from happening. And of course, not a hint of the idea that if the kids succeed in saving the environment from the greedy evil bald man, their mommies and daddies who work in the facory would be laid off and would not have the money to buy the kids their cool superhero uniforms.

Nowadays I just sleep in, and pray the little mind-control zombies that are being indoctrinated by this stuff get a clue sometime before they're old enough to vote.

[KYCaster]

Somewhere around here I have a CD titled "Cartoon Classics" or something like that (been a long time since I've seen it). It's about two hours of classical music from old WB cartoons. William Tell Overture, Hungarian Rhapsody, Anvil Chorus, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and a bunch of others I don't recall.

My son bought it when he was a pre-teen....I was surprised.

Some pretty good music. :popcorn:

Jerry

[MBTcustom]

I was homeschooled I was only alowed to watch 1 hour of TV per week, and that was on Saturday morning.
Believe it or not, I was taught piano from a young age and had 9 years of classical training. I wasn't ever a world class pianist, but I was taught to use memory and imagination and respect. Yes I am a red-neck and a hillbilly and I work with my hands but I also played Solfeggietto in front of a live audience. Its not just that the kids are being indoctrinated with B.S. like Bent Ramrod says, but the parents are not investing time making sure they walk away from childhood with something good to show for it as well.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

If you get Net Flix on your computer or Wii, they have a bunch of the oldies on there. "Have Gun Will Travel, all the John Wayne movies, The Rifleman...... it goes on and on. Many, many episodes of each. It is a great resource for the oldies. Wanna watch all of the episodes of How It Is Made? Many WWII films. I use it a lot.

[462]

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, with its cast of characters: Boris and Natasha, Dudley Doright, Nell and Snidley Whiplash, Mr Peabody, Sherman and the Wayback Machine, Fractured Fairytales. No doubt I've left some out.

I found the show to be more cerebral than humorous, more adult than childish, educational rather than entertaining.

[big dale]

I miss Rocky and Bullwinkle. In 1990 I took a weeks vacation and drove from Austin, Texas to Minnesota in search of the most famous town in the state...Bullwinkle's home town... and never could find Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. They just don't write cartoons as good as theyu used to.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[Ickisrulz]

In those good old cartoons ...

- When the coyote came up with new ways to catch the roadrunner, there was always a certain amount of logic used in his newest invention. Kids with just a little common sense could see the reasoning, and could also understand why it failed. That was education.

- When the villain showed up, his appearance and the music made it clear he was the bad guy. If he told the sweet old lady something while he crossed his fingers behind his back, the kids knew what was happening. They understood he was lying, and they knew it was wrong. That was education.

When a character performed some action that was undair, dishonest, or unmannerly, the other characters reacted in ways that illustrated he was not socially acceptable. That was education.

I won't bore you with a dozen more examples, but they were there.
If you never learned anything while watching those old cartoons ... you weren't paying attention.

CM

So...no moral ambiguity and triumph of the good is what you see in these older cartoons.

[KYCaster]

Anybody know what happened to the Warner Brothers....Yako, Socko and Dot?

About the time I discovered them they disappeared, and I can find very little of them on the web.

Jerry

[flinchnjerk]

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, with its cast of characters: Boris and Natasha, Dudley Doright, Nell and Snidley Whiplash, Mr Peabody, Sherman and the Wayback Machine, Fractured Fairytales. No doubt I've left some out.

I found the show to be more cerebral than humorous, more adult than childish, educational rather than entertaining.

Egad, sir! You overlooked Commander McBragg!