Monday, March 30, 2009

Well, in my day...

The cop and I have been having long conversations about how cartoons really suck nowadays. I mean, what is this crap that they watch? Most of it is a deep look into the Japanese obsession with Americana, combined with terrible animation and horrible plot lines.

But really were our cartoons much better? Most of our cartoons were obviously made up by people that were totally tripping on acid and looked like they had been illustrated by color-blind monkeys. Think about it - the Smurfs, Scooby Doo, My Little Pony, Inspector Gadget. The list goes on.

So really were our cartoons so much better than today's shows? Or is it just the memories that we associate with them. Sitting on the couch on Saturday morning in our pjs, sucking down sugar cereal while watching a full hour of Ren and Stimpy followed GIJoe.

But I present one form of evidence that does, in fact, show how much more awesome our cartoons were when we were kids...

Looney Toons.

Seriously, that stuff was awesome. It was hilarity and violence and racism and mind-numbing idiocy all rolled into endless hours of nonsense. And kids definitely don't get enough of that these days. Nothing compares to the like of Bugs Bunny torturing a retarded hunter, a duck with a lisp, or a cowboy-type with a Napoleon complex. Or Porky Pig, the one character with a horrendous stutter. Or Foghorn Leghorn, the giant rooster with an obvious hearing problem, considering how loud he insisted on being all the time. Or the poor Coyote, who could never catch that damn Roadrunner.

Absolutely nothing compares to that animated goodness. I've always wondered why they stopped playing it too. I mean, I know they had been playing re-runs for the majority of my life, but if you just push it onto a new generation of kids, they don't know any different!

Well after doing a smidgen of piss-poor internet research, I read that Looney Toons was quietly taken off the air in 2000 when Cartoon Network bought the exclusive rights to the show and its icons. Cartoon Network sporadically plays it on its smaller network, Boomerang, but unless you have digital cable or a dish, it's not likely that you get this network.

I guess because of all the fun and good memories that we associate with our childhood, we only wish that our kids could have the same stuff we did. I imagine every generation feels this way as it gets older. Our kids will be saying, "Well in my day, we had Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, not this crap they have on TV now..."

My favorite Looney Toon was definitely Daffy as Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century with Marvin the Martian. What was yours?



Notice that this episode in fact reintroduces the orange monster, Gossamer, who earlier had an adventure with Bugs Bunny.

Note to Self: I have this sinking feeling that my kids are going to ask me, "Mom, what were CDs?"

12 comments:

RoeH said...

I could not agree with you more. To think what my grandkids are watching now is the pits. My favorite one(s) because I guess these would be tied. I liked Foghorn Leghorn alot. He said everything I wanted to. The other favorites were Sam (the sheepdog) and Ralph (the wolf) both punching in to work every day. Or was it the other way around. And the other was Wiley E. Coyote and the Road Runner. You can't match them today.

colbymarshall said...

I agree 100%...at least the characters in our cartoons didn't all wear weird space boots and have ridiculously huge mouths when they smiled. (and ridiculously tiny when they are closed)

Sarah Jane said...

I agree too - but I think was concerns me more are the LENGHTY conversations about cartoons...

Although, I have them too...Like - how did the whole Smurf village exsist with just ONE female?

My favorite - Pinky and the Brain. Talk about persistance - trying to take over the world every day - even though you had failed the night before....

Anonymous said...

My fave was Duck Tales. I can remember racing home after school to catch the shows. I can still sing most of the theme song.

As far as Looney Toons, Speedy Gonzales was my all time favorite... "¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!"

Aubrey said...

I loved Looney Tunes, where else could you hear great opera sung by a rabbit?
I also loved Pinky and the Brain, my sister did a perfect impression of Pinky (Narf! Poit!).

Anonymous said...

Bugs Bunny all the way! I even had a stuffed Bugs Bunny when growing up.

The trees in the cop's yard are gorgeous!

pure evyl said...

I always rooted for Wile E. Coyote.

Maki said...

I'm a Japanese gal from Japan and I hate Japanese cartoon. Some stuff were great growing up, but I really don't like the stuff that we have there now..

My girls love "Tom & Jerry" because their mama loves it and she has it on dvd's... Classic. We also loooovvee Looney Toons on DVDs and it is one of my favorite moments when I hear the girls giggle watching it....

Cary McNeal said...

Our cartoons were better, no doubt. They were witty, thoughtful, had classic narrative structure -- like mini-movies, almost -- and they didn't move at the frantic pace that today's toons do -- those just go go go from start to finish, wall to wall flash and noise. My kid won't watch old toons on Boomerang because they're too slow or "boring" for her.

MJ said...

Lucy - Oooo, I loved Sam and Raplh! I totally forgot about those!

CM - UGH. Right.

SJ - "What are we going to do tonight, Brain?" "The same thing we do every night, Pinky..." LOVE IT.

Janelle - DUCK TALES! Ooo, and that reminds me of Darkwing Duck and TailSpin. Loved those shows!!

Aubrey - Yeah, the opera episode with Elmer Fudd is classic!

KM - Yep, Bugs is definitely classic.

PE - I was never a fan, but yeah the RoadRunner always seemed a little too smug for my taste.

Maki - AW! Tom and Jerry was one of my faves growing up! I always loved the episodes with the Bulldog.

Cary - I guess I never thought of it that way... that our stuff was so much slower. But it totally makes sense now that I think about it.

Scott said...

I totally agree! Looking back at all the cartoons I watched, "Looney Toons" is the only one I still enjoy (although I just called it "Bugs Bunny"). They're so politically-incorrect, I'm not surprised they ended, on network TV. But that's what makes them so hilarious--nobody is safe from parody or violence! There was even one about Southerners, that portrayed all of us in the old "plantation" stereotype--and it's one of my favorites! ("Oh, Belvedeah--come heah, boy!") But I have no single favorite--they're all so unforgettably funny! In fact, if I ever have enough money, and if the "Looney Toons" are available in box sets of DVD's, Blu-rays, or whatever--I'm going to buy every single one of them!

teeni said...

Marvin the Martian is very cool. But I also loved the big, red, hairy monster. I forget his name. It was probably something like Harry Monster. LOL.