Kids and Saturday Morning Cartoons

[Frustrated Father]

I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, Saturday morning was a special day for me. I was up at the crack of dawn, sometimes before, fixing a bowl of cereal or raiding poptarts and dorritos if I thought I could get away with it, and turning on the TV and laying down across the floor to watch Saturday morning cartoons that would usually take me from 6am to 11am easily.

Unless there was something my family had planned, I never missed it. It was CARTOONS!

So fast forward almost two decades ... hrmm, almost three decades if I'm to tell the truth damnit. Anyhow, fast forward to the present where I have three children of my own and it is the damndest thing but they don't care about Saturday morning cartoons. Hell, I can barely get them out of bed - and my oldest, which is 11, will sleep in until 1pm if you let her (child has the habbits of a teenager already, and the attitude).

It seems with the advent of the Cartoon Network, Nick and numerous other channels, that cartoons are no longer something for Saturday mornings now, but for any time of the day, of any day of the week.

It's odd, but I'm kind of bummed out about this.

I tried to get them interested in Saturday morning cartoons originally when they were small. Would actually jump up out of bed at the crack of dawn, go roust the little faukers and turn on the TV while we cuddled up on the couch and ate poptarts and dorritos (I know, I'm a terrible father).

They fell asleep. Or showed no interest. Or made me turn the channel.

These days, I sleep in, and so do they. No Saturday morning cartoons. Damnit I miss them.

[EricJ]

Um, I think a big problem nowdays is that morning cartoons tend to suck :(.

They're all really crappy Ren and Stimpy knock offs or just generally trying to be too "hip" for their own good. The only cartoons with any merit come on Adult swim, which are late night stuffs...

Besides, now days kids can just download all the entertainment they need, who needs to get up at 6am

[anatora]

FF, I think you are just lamenting the loss of your innocent pleasure and the fact your offspring hasn't inherited your good taste in cartoons:) Cartoons are definately not the same today..so many are really terrible. Maybe it is a good thing they are not as interested in them as you wish, so give them some credit for knowing at an early age good from bad. I believe I see a few warped personalities in the future if they feed on what passes as cartoons these days. Besides, the majority of gifted children do not find please in this sort of entertainment.

[EricJ]

PERHAPS, nathan is just having a hard time accepting his kids are smarter than him?

Although they are sounding just as stubborn :D

[anatora]

:thumb:

[Frustrated Father]

(laughing)

The little buggers are smarter than me I admit it, though I still have size on them for the moment and can lord it over them until they decide to make it a three on one, then it becomes a bit of a problem for me.

Yeah I suppose. Personally, I like the old Looney Tunes (it was Tunes wasn't it, not Toons?). Bugs, Daffy, Marvin the Martian .. all of them were fantastic. Of course they had drinking, smoking and shooting back then too, but I loved every bit of it.

These days though, I agree, there are some damn sad cartoons out there, or what they are calling cartoons. Most of them are just brutally warped.

[Celtic Lilly]

Aaaawwh, that's cute.

I used to like that Ghostbuster cartoon, the Muppets, though I think that was on Saturday nights, and Coyote and Roadrunner. Hated Tom and Jerry.

[EricJ]

Roadrunner was the best, and looney toons. They were both actually intelligent, and are still funny and interesting now when I see them, where as the crap they call cartoons now is just mindless crap showing kids doing more mindless crap...animated...

Muppets though was the best, not really a cartoon, but pretty much the height of entertainment for me...probably still is :D

[Celtic Lilly]

I LIVED for the Muppets.

Ooooh Keeermiiieee!

I wish I had the DVD's for the muppets, but I think they want an arm and a leg for them.

[EricJ]

I got the DVD, but I'm kicking myself, like a week after I got it, I noticed the one (which didn't cost any more) had green FELT on the cover was also out...okok, so it's ultimately not important, but still, green felt!

[LeadAsbestos]

I just saw Muppets Season 1, 604 minutes long and 4 discs, for 34.95 at Target last night. Not too shabby...

After cartoons ended, Godzilla movies till 4 in the afternoon! What a way to waste a Saturday... Loved every minute of it, although it was difficult keeping Dad out of the college football!

Now, the goddamn Today show on Sat. morn... Blasphemy!! :AR15firin

[Frustrated Father]

Damnit, ya'll are going to make me buy this DVD!

And LA - I agree with you 100%.

[EricJ]

if you buy it, be sure to get the one with green felt!!!

It's totally worth it though, if you like the muppets :)

or you want to make your kids like the muppets

slip in some "Meet the Feebles" every now and then though

[Sakura]

I allways liked to whach Saturday cartoons, since I was awake at the crack of dawn and and could sneak in the livingroom ( we weren't allowed to watch much TV when we where younger). I actually watched them till I got 18 or something, but they really got worse and worse, and many channels stopped showing them, so there wasn't much point in it anymore.

[supervike]

My wife and I have discussed this very topic actually more times than I am comfortable admitting.

I try to convey what it was like to my kids, how special cartoons were to me, and it falls a bit flat.

Back in my day, when I walked to school, uphill bothways in the snow, we got 3 stinking TV channels and NO Cartoons...except the bliss of Saturday morning.

The Looney Tunes, as mentioned, were far and away the best of the bunch, but I loved Captian Caveman. Well maybe love is a bit strong, I was just damn happy something drawn was on TV!! Another great one was the Justice League of America when Wonder Woman would fly around in that invisible jet....Couldn't the bad guys just see her sitting up in the air and think that was a bit odd???

Cable TV has all but ruined childrens programming. There are a few good ones out there, but not many. It all has to be a marketable product anymore.

Yeesh, I feel old. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go yell at some kids for playing on my lawn....

[RedDawn]

My kids actually like some Sat. morning cartoons, in particular, Kids WB (Yu-Gi-Oh) and the ones that come on before it. I really liked Jackie Chan when it was on. Uncle was one of my favorite characters - especially since Scott/Grumb can do a great imatation of him!

I have some videos of old Looney Tunes cartoons and the kids really like them! I'm going to try and find more.

I can remember when my aunt and uncle had a reel-to-reel movie player and we had some old Mickey Mouse reels. My older cousins would close all the doors in their hallway and we'd all cram down on one end and watch the cartoons off the wall at the other end. (Now I'm REALLY dating myself!)

After cartoons I LOVED Tarzan on Sat. afternoons - especially the old black and white ones. I wonder if my kids would be interested in watching those???

[Duende]

Fortunately, my three-year-old is still at an age where I can (sort of) control what she watches, right now her favorites are Dora the Explorer, Baby Looney Tunes, Hamtaro, and Blue's Clues. I'm sure she thinks TV is nothing but cartoons since the only things I watch are animes,... well, and the Weather Channel (I work outside so I need to know the weather). So all my Gwena knows on TV is her cartoons, mommy's cartoons, and hurricanes. :vb_tongue

She's gonna be soooo warped when she grows up....Loco :loco:

[Frustrated Father]

One of my favorites was 'Thundar the Barbarian'. Anyone remember that one? Loved the premise too.

[wiccanpony]

I came from a large family.....we kids would get up at dawn and beat feet out of the house before the old folks got up and started handing out those hated weekend chores! :afraid:

[supervike]

I remember Thundarr the Barbarian!! Didn't he have some sort of Wooly mammoth that shot energy balls???

The Looney Tune collection can be found on DVD....Its worth every penny!

[Sakura]

I still love many of the Disney- cartoon- series: Weekend Kids, big break, and the one with Penny. They don't run specially on Saturday, though.

[Frustrated Father]

I remember Thundarr the Barbarian!! Didn't he have some sort of Wooly mammoth that shot energy balls???

The Looney Tune collection can be found on DVD....Its worth every penny!

No, your thinking of that family of freaks with the flying thing, rhinocerous thing and I think something called gleep.

Thundar had the energy sword and a big wookie lookin' thing running around with him.

[LeadAsbestos]

@ supervike- You're thinking of the Herculoids. Also excellent

Thundarr is our barbarian hero, Ariel the Sorceress, and Ookla the Mok.

Can you tell I loved it?!

Not on DVD though... :mad:

[Mad Max]

It seems with the advent of the Cartoon Network, Nick and numerous other channels, that cartoons are no longer something for Saturday mornings now, but for any time of the day, of any day of the week.


Well, advertisers and channels have clued into the marketing frenzy of kids, so there are so many "blocks" of cartoons now that saturdays have lost that spark. Cartoons before school, after school, before bed, etc. Personally I agree with Eric in that most of the stuff nowadays is crap... Not just "crap" because heck I watched a lot of crap that I can't rewatch now (Hanna-Barbara anyone?) but things that are SO blatantly into product marketing (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-O) or that are just unwatchable/borderline bad for kids. Things with too much violence (yes, I sound like a fuddy-duddy, but I don't remember a lot of people *really* dying in my cartoons. as happens nowadays...)

I watched my daughter's TV intake and make sure to avoid anything with just random violence, though it's getting harder and harder to do...

TIVO has been a godsend in that regard - I record shows she likes and are parent approved. She gets to watch them any time she wants (well, if she's been good and she hasn't exceeded her TV allowance for the day.) In effect any time can be "Saturday morning" for her, but I at least we have some say into what she's watching.

And occasionally we get to coincide our tastes, like watching Teen Titans together. (She is such a future goth chick - her favorite's Raven!) Even I know to draw the line at things like Justice League, where the violence is a little more intense at times (she's 6).

Cartoon creators are also pretty sly about including things to give the parents (who they know are watching) a chuckle - Planet of the Apes references on "Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi", etc. They know our generation (are probabaly *from* our generation) and throw us the occasional bone.

Adult Swim is, of course, right out!! But damn funny for me and my wife... ;)

Take care,
Laszlo

[Mad Max]

One of my favorites was 'Thundar the Barbarian'. Anyone remember that one? Loved the premise too.

"Ookla! Ariel! RIDE!!!" Loved it.... I can still drive the wife from the room in under a minute watching it ;)

Take care,
Laszlo

[Mad Max]

No, your thinking of that family of freaks with the flying thing, rhinocerous thing and I think something called gleep.

Ahem... You mean the Herculoids?!? Greatest Hanna-Barbara show *ever*. No, never heard of it... ;)

Later,
Laszlo

[Frustrated Father]

I believe Mad Max has become the new Cartoon Afficionado!

[LeadAsbestos]

Ahemm.... (see 3 posts earlier...)

:thumb:

Now who's the geek around here!

[Leopardpixie]

there are some good cartoons out there that they make, but they are just not on saturday morning any more. Yes all saturday morning cartoons SUCK. But on cartoon network they have Fosters home for imaginary friends, teen titans and the adult swim time. If you have not seen these i advise you do, they are great!

[marineboy]

Sorry, I've been away from the States far too long to know what is happening afa. Saturday morning cartoons go ... are there still well defined seasons (such as September start, 26 episodes, with reruns from April so that you could get to see the ones you missed) and all the fixin's like back in the 60's and 70's?

I waited impatioently until the start of the school year, not to go back to class but to see the new cartoons. "Land of the Lost" was one of my faves .. not animated, of course, but pretty wild with a well defined universe and rules you had to figure out bby watching the series. Great continuity, with scripts done by proper writers (David Gerrold did some, f.ex.) Others: Space Ghost (Hanna-Barbera, true, but fun -- Ghost Planet, the later incarnation was funnier, I thought), Wacky Racers and early anime like Astroboy, Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion. Seem to remember the Herculoids.....

I also miss Saturday afternoon Creature Double Features.

[supervike]

No, your thinking of that family of freaks with the flying thing, rhinocerous thing and I think something called gleep.

Thundar had the energy sword and a big wookie lookin' thing running around with him.


I knew there was something big and hairy with him!!

[Frustrated Father]

Yeah the seasons are more or less like that still, though to be honest, I watch about 4 hours of TV a month so I may not be on the complete know.

Wasn't there one called 'Speed Buggy' as well, a little dune-buggy with hippies and all that? And of course, my absolute favorite, Scooby-Doo. Don't much care for the live action movies they made for them (kids love them though) but I'll sit with the kids and watch Scooby anytime.



Sorry, I've been away from the States far too long to know what is happening afa. Saturday morning cartoons go ... are there still well defined seasons (such as September start, 26 episodes, with reruns from April so that you could get to see the ones you missed) and all the fixin's like back in the 60's and 70's?

I waited impatioently until the start of the school year, not to go back to class but to see the new cartoons. "Land of the Lost" was one of my faves .. not animated, of course, but pretty wild with a well defined universe and rules you had to figure out bby watching the series. Great continuity, with scripts done by proper writers (David Gerrold did some, f.ex.) Others: Space Ghost (Hanna-Barbera, true, but fun -- Ghost Planet, the later incarnation was funnier, I thought), Wacky Racers and early anime like Astroboy, Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion. Seem to remember the Herculoids.....

I also miss Saturday afternoon Creature Double Features.

[vincegamer]

Been a while since I watched saturday morning cartoons, but I think there's still one on called "safety patrol" or something like, which is pretty good. It is about a little elementary school kid who's like a hall monitor, but it plays like the old Dragnet series.

So not all Sat am cartoons are bad.

[Frustrated Father]

Never even heard of it. Of course, my kids don't do saturday mornings so that's the odds of course..

[vincegamer]

Searched around. It's called
Fillmore

Here's disney's site, but it says on ABC saturday mornings:
http://psc.disney.go.com/abcnetworks/toondisney/shows/fillmore/

Another well-written one is
Recess
http://psc.disney.go.com/abcnetworks/toondisney/shows/recess/index.html