Saturday morning coming right up. Is it still the highpoint of children's programming the way that it used to be? It's been decades since I've made that day the highlight of my television viewing week. It seemed that for most of my boyhood it was something not to be missed. I have to wonder,then, when it was that I started watching cartoons on Saturday mornings in earnest. Looking back deep into my life I can see a big, wooden cabinet television set sitting on the floor of my bedroom. I remember it being my pop's set from the barber shop. I am sure that I didn't care how it got there, because for awhile I felt like the top dog of the kid set, having access to Saturday morning programming in my bedroom from local network sign in till noon or later in the day.
Sundays never had the same appeal due to dodging all that religious traffic, and afterschool programming, while ripe with the live action antics of Hobo Kelly, Bozo the Clown and Sheriff John, never matched the fervor and partisanship that the Saturday line up promoted with my grade school set. There was one line up that came close, though. For awhile it was almost a sacred trust to make time for it, especially when the sun went down early and the afternoons went wet and cold. I seem to remember that the programming was left of the dial, PBS and small, scratchy independent stations. I felt I was a bit too old for Mr Rogers at the time but got into anyways, Sesame Street, the same thing. But following those shows came a priceless combo: the Little Rascals,Three Stooges, then Simba the White Lion, followed up by Speed Racer. That old Japanese fare was exciting even back then, made me yearn for Astro Boy and Gigantor all over again.
But Saturday mornings was where I truly cut my teeth as far as animation was concerned. Past and present and a bit of the future were all packed in right there between six in the morning and one o'clock in the afternoon. Back in those pre-video tape days we were prone to take what we could get. It meant flipping dials, studying the TV Guide like biblical scholars, looking ahead for something cool to watch even while we were watching something equally cool and interesting on the screen before us. Maybe that jiggly eyedm hyped up behaviour had a lot to do with the fact that we were consuming large amounts of starches and carbs in form of surgary cereals and processed flours, upping our heart rate to marathon runner levels while sitting on our asses. Nothing more frightening, I am sure, to a bleary eyed parent than to peek into a room full of sucrose mad children at eight o'clock on a wet and soggy wet Saturday morning.
Hanna Barbera ruled in those days, but old Warner Bros Looney Tunes and their ilk, with their ultra high standards, did more than hold their own, too. I know that even back then I could see the difference between the two animation houses, heck, I could even see the difference between the newer Bugs Bunny pieces and the older ones. It wasn't until years later, when I started seeking out collections of old cartoons packaged for point of purchase sale in the bargain bins, that I started having celluoid flashbacks to those pieces I had seen as a kid. Apparently those older black and white Fleischer and Terry Tune cartoons never stood a chance against the flash and bang of Space Ghost and Scooby Doo, but what the hell did those programmers know? I suppose as kids we didn't care either so long as the 'toons kept a rollin'. Half the fun of those mornings was being pandered, plied with toy and cereal ads, trailers to upcoming shows and movies. We had no idea that half the dreck we were watching was purely hack work to fill some programming slot. Or maybe, now having seen all the classics jumbled together on those bargin bin compliations, I realize that we squandered daylight watching those pieces that lacked merit, that shouldn't have held us in their thrall to begin with.
We should have known better about consuming such sub par fare considering all the classic animation pieces we used to catch at the movies, but I suppose, since we were a captive audience we just didn't care. Back in those days a good Disney piece would come through only rarely. It was a special event when a Sleeping Beauty or Jungle Book sort of classic would come to town and when it did it the quality of the piece really burned a hole into your subconcious. As I troll the second hands these days I see racks filled with all those Disney classics we loved as kids, see them on VHS lined up by the dozens and know that cartoon heads are truly living in grand times. All those pieces that filled my kiddie head with wonder can now be viewed anytime, anyplace. I know I no longer have to wait for a Saturday afternoon matinee to get my classic animation fix.
I still like to sit down on the couch with my kids and watch cartoons. I prefer those packaged Walmart specials, the 200 cartoon for five bucks numbers over any single work that're being cranked out of most large studio production houses. Sony, Dreamworks and Pixar have all been steadily releasing features, but alot of the product seem repetitious and crude. Not crude in design, as animation, especially computer animation, has advanced to a place where it's all pretty remarkable stuff. No, the complaint lies in the script writing. Sometimes it's a bit too raunchy for my tastes, or for that of my kids. Maybe it's focused on the tastes of the pre-teen set. Okay,then know that'll it be a tad boring for those somewhat sophisticated adult animation aficiandos in the audience, let alone the worn out parent hauling his passle of chillins to the multiplex.
Sundays never had the same appeal due to dodging all that religious traffic, and afterschool programming, while ripe with the live action antics of Hobo Kelly, Bozo the Clown and Sheriff John, never matched the fervor and partisanship that the Saturday line up promoted with my grade school set. There was one line up that came close, though. For awhile it was almost a sacred trust to make time for it, especially when the sun went down early and the afternoons went wet and cold. I seem to remember that the programming was left of the dial, PBS and small, scratchy independent stations. I felt I was a bit too old for Mr Rogers at the time but got into anyways, Sesame Street, the same thing. But following those shows came a priceless combo: the Little Rascals,Three Stooges, then Simba the White Lion, followed up by Speed Racer. That old Japanese fare was exciting even back then, made me yearn for Astro Boy and Gigantor all over again.
But Saturday mornings was where I truly cut my teeth as far as animation was concerned. Past and present and a bit of the future were all packed in right there between six in the morning and one o'clock in the afternoon. Back in those pre-video tape days we were prone to take what we could get. It meant flipping dials, studying the TV Guide like biblical scholars, looking ahead for something cool to watch even while we were watching something equally cool and interesting on the screen before us. Maybe that jiggly eyedm hyped up behaviour had a lot to do with the fact that we were consuming large amounts of starches and carbs in form of surgary cereals and processed flours, upping our heart rate to marathon runner levels while sitting on our asses. Nothing more frightening, I am sure, to a bleary eyed parent than to peek into a room full of sucrose mad children at eight o'clock on a wet and soggy wet Saturday morning.
Hanna Barbera ruled in those days, but old Warner Bros Looney Tunes and their ilk, with their ultra high standards, did more than hold their own, too. I know that even back then I could see the difference between the two animation houses, heck, I could even see the difference between the newer Bugs Bunny pieces and the older ones. It wasn't until years later, when I started seeking out collections of old cartoons packaged for point of purchase sale in the bargain bins, that I started having celluoid flashbacks to those pieces I had seen as a kid. Apparently those older black and white Fleischer and Terry Tune cartoons never stood a chance against the flash and bang of Space Ghost and Scooby Doo, but what the hell did those programmers know? I suppose as kids we didn't care either so long as the 'toons kept a rollin'. Half the fun of those mornings was being pandered, plied with toy and cereal ads, trailers to upcoming shows and movies. We had no idea that half the dreck we were watching was purely hack work to fill some programming slot. Or maybe, now having seen all the classics jumbled together on those bargin bin compliations, I realize that we squandered daylight watching those pieces that lacked merit, that shouldn't have held us in their thrall to begin with.
We should have known better about consuming such sub par fare considering all the classic animation pieces we used to catch at the movies, but I suppose, since we were a captive audience we just didn't care. Back in those days a good Disney piece would come through only rarely. It was a special event when a Sleeping Beauty or Jungle Book sort of classic would come to town and when it did it the quality of the piece really burned a hole into your subconcious. As I troll the second hands these days I see racks filled with all those Disney classics we loved as kids, see them on VHS lined up by the dozens and know that cartoon heads are truly living in grand times. All those pieces that filled my kiddie head with wonder can now be viewed anytime, anyplace. I know I no longer have to wait for a Saturday afternoon matinee to get my classic animation fix.
I still like to sit down on the couch with my kids and watch cartoons. I prefer those packaged Walmart specials, the 200 cartoon for five bucks numbers over any single work that're being cranked out of most large studio production houses. Sony, Dreamworks and Pixar have all been steadily releasing features, but alot of the product seem repetitious and crude. Not crude in design, as animation, especially computer animation, has advanced to a place where it's all pretty remarkable stuff. No, the complaint lies in the script writing. Sometimes it's a bit too raunchy for my tastes, or for that of my kids. Maybe it's focused on the tastes of the pre-teen set. Okay,then know that'll it be a tad boring for those somewhat sophisticated adult animation aficiandos in the audience, let alone the worn out parent hauling his passle of chillins to the multiplex.
I tire, too, of teenage focused story lines, of movie length cartoons filled with hip characters, potty jokes, poor parenting skills, coach like mentors helping disadvantated charges get over their problems. I want an animation piece to entertain me, not move along like Young Adult literature, I want action and romance and comedy, not a piece that panders along to the climax where small speeches are made, everyone makes up and everything turns out all right. I want my cartoons served straight up, filled with pratfalls and explosions and anvils, or I want them to be otherworldly and beautiful, filled with visions of wonderment and gorgeous song. I know that every piece of animation can't be Snow White or Pinnochio, but there needs to be a benchmark set, a place where good films and their appreciativce audiences can meet.
I suppose that's why Pixar films have been so instrumental maintaining that Saturday morning cartoon magic in us older folk. I have never felt let down after a viewing of Toy Story or A Bug's Life, never felt flat after watching Wall-E or Up. Sometimes, when I watch Pixar's contemporaries try to occupy the high ground that they so easily took, I long for simpler days but happy all the same to see that the animation art is healthy and taking strides to be something more than just entertainment fodder for kids. I take long road trips to be with my children and when I do I take them to see "cartoons" on the big screen and lately I have to admit that I have not been disappointed. The animation house that produced Astro Boy is superb. Pieces like Monsters and Aliens was astounding in it's range and breadth of film references and gags. The Fantastic Mr Fox was as over the top and wonderful to me with it's stop motion magic as Gumby ever was when I was a boy.
I take home animation pieces from the video store these days just to keep up with the art and have something to talk about on the phone with my kids. I watched 9 the other night and was touched by it's dark wonder. I plugged in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and was tickled by it's boy's life, mad scientist charm. I correspond with an old schoolmate and know that we both share in the delight of Up!, something that I rarely do with another adult. Maybe that's why the draw to cartoons is so visceral, maybe because we are all Saturday morning veterans, marooned in an adult world that lacks that whiz and bang of colorful celluloid, Our lives are missing that sugary cereal, footed pajama draw that those simple cartoons on a Saturday mornings supplied. Maybe that's why, when I faunch and carry on, trying to get my oldest to watch damn near anything else with me at the cineplex, I am secretly pleased when I knuckle under and watch the latest Ice Age or Bolt or some such ilk with him. Once again I am the little boy sitting up close to that old barbershop black and white set. Once again I am held in thrall of the cinematic genuises of the animation arts.
Action!
I suppose that's why Pixar films have been so instrumental maintaining that Saturday morning cartoon magic in us older folk. I have never felt let down after a viewing of Toy Story or A Bug's Life, never felt flat after watching Wall-E or Up. Sometimes, when I watch Pixar's contemporaries try to occupy the high ground that they so easily took, I long for simpler days but happy all the same to see that the animation art is healthy and taking strides to be something more than just entertainment fodder for kids. I take long road trips to be with my children and when I do I take them to see "cartoons" on the big screen and lately I have to admit that I have not been disappointed. The animation house that produced Astro Boy is superb. Pieces like Monsters and Aliens was astounding in it's range and breadth of film references and gags. The Fantastic Mr Fox was as over the top and wonderful to me with it's stop motion magic as Gumby ever was when I was a boy.
I take home animation pieces from the video store these days just to keep up with the art and have something to talk about on the phone with my kids. I watched 9 the other night and was touched by it's dark wonder. I plugged in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and was tickled by it's boy's life, mad scientist charm. I correspond with an old schoolmate and know that we both share in the delight of Up!, something that I rarely do with another adult. Maybe that's why the draw to cartoons is so visceral, maybe because we are all Saturday morning veterans, marooned in an adult world that lacks that whiz and bang of colorful celluloid, Our lives are missing that sugary cereal, footed pajama draw that those simple cartoons on a Saturday mornings supplied. Maybe that's why, when I faunch and carry on, trying to get my oldest to watch damn near anything else with me at the cineplex, I am secretly pleased when I knuckle under and watch the latest Ice Age or Bolt or some such ilk with him. Once again I am the little boy sitting up close to that old barbershop black and white set. Once again I am held in thrall of the cinematic genuises of the animation arts.
Action!
WOW! Saturday morning cartoon schedules, mid-sixties through late seventies:
9:
Astro Boy:
Monsters Vs Aliens:
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