Appreciating the Classics

Sometimes, kids just don't know how bad they have it. My sons are like most kids their ages; they like to hang out on social media and YouTube, watching all kinds of insanely worthless junk (such as watching other people play video games). Or, they'll watch modern cartoons on TV and think they are brilliance personified. They just don't know what they missed.

I know, this might sound like a 'get off my lawn' kind of rant. So what? I call 'em like I see 'em. Today's cartoons are unmitigated crap. The art is horrible; I failed 'stick people' in second grade, and even I could draw better than some of these artists. The humor, such as it is, relies almost exclusively on fart jokes and the humiliation of males. Watching this stuff is like gouging out your brain with a fork shoved in your ear.

So, I finally took steps. I made my twelve-year-old sit down and watch some old Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons. He watched Bugs Bunny torment Daffy Duck in the all-time classic Duck Amuck. He saw Elmer and Bugs re-enact Richard Wagner's epic operatic Ring Cycle in What's Opera, Doc? And he saw Goofy demonstrate how to ski and play baseball. And he was on the floor, laughing hysterically.

I don't know a single person who doesn't find Bugs, Daffy and Goofy to be hilarious. Let's face it, these are the all-time greats, cartoon characters that have been around since the 20s and 30s because they are timeless. They're also readily available, at least for the time being. There are plenty of options, including YouTube, collector's DVD sets, etc. But some of them are seen by a certain segment of society as being...problematic, for various reasons. Good luck finding a copy of Disney's Song of the South anywhere, for example. Or Warner Bros. 'Censored Eleven,' eleven cartoons that were banned decades ago because they were deemed 'racially insensitive.' Fortunately, even those ones can be found, if you're willing to look for them.

And we should be willing not only to look for them, but watch them with our kids and teach them the important lessons they offer. Yes, these cartoons have caricatures that would never fly in today's society. But they weren't made in today's society; they were made decades ago, when social views were different. And we have to understand that, because that's part of our cultural heritage, what got us where we are today. It wasn't a Utopia, but it wasn't Hell on Earth, either.

So, sit down and watch a classic cartoon; whether it's Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse, Wile E. Coyote, or dozens of other classic characters, they are worth watching. Not only are they hysterically funny, they're also brilliant in their design and plotting.

Of course, not everyone wants to watch a cartoon, classic or otherwise. Some people want to read; for those who fall in that category, I recommend A Universe of Possibilities, a collection of short stories, some of which are funny, all of which are fun. Take a look, and spread the word: Indie publishing is here to stay.