Beautiful Hedgehog
In a world where so few things bring us comfort and joy I have found that there is still one constant that remains true, Saturday morning cartoons. Every since we were young Saturday morning cartoons have been a beacon of truth and happiness. When we were kids we’d wake up early on Saturdays (imagine that) to catch our favorite shows. We’d watch as G.I. Joe fought for truth and justice and later on we’d see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fight Shredder and the Foot Clan under the same moral code. Various G.I. Joe characters would teach us that “knowing is half the battle” and random cartoon characters would remind us to eat right and study. Thankfully, none of that has changed.
OK, so maybe a few things have changed, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animation and theme music, but for the most part it’s still all there and it’s still comforting to sit down on the sofa on a Saturday morning with a big bowl of cereal or oatmeal and watch all the toons. Some of the names have changed, Sonic the Hedgehog now has his own Saturday morning time slot, but everything that we loved about our cartoons is still in these. The hokey life rules injected into each episode, the moral at the end of the show, and even the sometimes hokey, but sometimes seemingly drug induced, plotlines. I swear, the people coming up with some of this stuff have to be smoking something.
Saturday morning cartoons used to be the clear indicator that the weekend had started. If G.I. was on we knew it was Saturday and we knew the day was going to be good, filled with fun rather than school. Now, as adults, we can sit back and enjoy Saturday cartoons as a way of kicking back and remembering our youth. Again, it can act as a morning reminder that no matter how many errands we may have scheduled for any given weekend it’s still that, the weekend, and we should remember to set aside some time for fun and even, now stay with me on this one, nonsense!
An ad came on during the morning toons this morning where the scripting was so obvious I literally answered the questions for the characters. It started with a stereotypical bad guy trying to find out where Sonic the Hedgehog got all his powers. I said out loud, even though I was alone, “by eating his vegetables, right?” I was close. Apparently Sonic gets his powers from eating a healthy breakfast, getting plenty of exercise, not snacking while watching television and, of course, eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables every day. I laughed. It was a good reminder that no matter one’s influences in life the ad people still think that a cartoon hedgehog has the ability to influence children. There’s something beautiful and innocent about that, but no time to dwell on that topic now, I have fruits and veggies to eat!
OK, so maybe a few things have changed, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animation and theme music, but for the most part it’s still all there and it’s still comforting to sit down on the sofa on a Saturday morning with a big bowl of cereal or oatmeal and watch all the toons. Some of the names have changed, Sonic the Hedgehog now has his own Saturday morning time slot, but everything that we loved about our cartoons is still in these. The hokey life rules injected into each episode, the moral at the end of the show, and even the sometimes hokey, but sometimes seemingly drug induced, plotlines. I swear, the people coming up with some of this stuff have to be smoking something.
Saturday morning cartoons used to be the clear indicator that the weekend had started. If G.I. was on we knew it was Saturday and we knew the day was going to be good, filled with fun rather than school. Now, as adults, we can sit back and enjoy Saturday cartoons as a way of kicking back and remembering our youth. Again, it can act as a morning reminder that no matter how many errands we may have scheduled for any given weekend it’s still that, the weekend, and we should remember to set aside some time for fun and even, now stay with me on this one, nonsense!
An ad came on during the morning toons this morning where the scripting was so obvious I literally answered the questions for the characters. It started with a stereotypical bad guy trying to find out where Sonic the Hedgehog got all his powers. I said out loud, even though I was alone, “by eating his vegetables, right?” I was close. Apparently Sonic gets his powers from eating a healthy breakfast, getting plenty of exercise, not snacking while watching television and, of course, eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables every day. I laughed. It was a good reminder that no matter one’s influences in life the ad people still think that a cartoon hedgehog has the ability to influence children. There’s something beautiful and innocent about that, but no time to dwell on that topic now, I have fruits and veggies to eat!
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