Are Saturday Morning Cartoons No Longer Interesting to Our Kids?

I remember Saturday mornings as a child. Getting up at the crack of dawn, running into the kitchen to get my bowl of sugar-loaded cereal and then plopping myself in front of the TV, where it was completely mine from 6:30 a.m. all the way until 1 p.m. in the afternoon. But, now that times have changed, I have noticed that Saturday morning animation has changed as well. It wasn't the usual typical fare, like watching Superman and his SuperFriends save the world once again from the Legion Of Doom, or maybe seeing The characters from the series 'Dungeons and Dragons' try to make their way home again and escape the evil clutches of the vile sorcerer, Venjor. Yes, these were indeed good times, and they still were until most recently, when I had noticed that what I had thought was fantastic was not so great anymore. What I had used to think was cool was suddenly not and was considered what the kids of the new generation called 'retro' and 'old'. Feeling like a relic, I began to watch over the years the new concepts that were coming forth from many of the television network studios, like CBS, NBC, Fox, and Kids' WB!, only to find that everything that I had come to know had suddenly vanished from the passage of time.

When I walk into retail stores, I notice that all of the greats that were available to me as a boy were now being released on DVD, with prices ranging from twenty-two dollars and some change all the way up to fifty dollars, and this was after I could watch them all for free and to my heart's content. Now, I was going to have to use part of my paycheck to relive those memories if I wanted to ever recapture the pleasant memories of my lost youth again. So, without further ado, I reach into my wallet and am now paying for all of the greats in order to have them for when my children come around and wonder what it is that their Dad watched when he was a kid. I grabbed series like 'Johnny Quest', 'Hong Kong Phooey', the older versions of 'Scooby-Doo', 'Space Ghost', 'Wacky Races', 'Fat Albert', and the list goes on. So, now I have these sets sitting on the shelves of my DVD cabinet, intent on enjoying them for the rest of my days upon this earth. But, there was still one nagging question that entered my mind: What's happening to today's generation of kids and what are they being allowed to watch?

When Illinois senator Paul Simon was in office, he had caused quite a stir in the Saturday morning cartoon franchises, telling the media that he had plans of making the networks come up with shows where they have an ingrained educational benefit, as he felt that the shows of the time were either of no beneficial value educationally to children or they were considered too violent to be aired in front of children. While I have to admit that such shows from my day, such as 'Transformers', 'GI Joe', 'Rambo: The Force of Freedom', and so on, were indeed filled with many battle sequences and scenes of violence, most children who had good parents and family to explain it to them, and knew that this was what was termed as 'fantasy violence', and no one was actually getting hurt. Then, of course, we cannot forget the great 'Power Rangers' debate of the nineties, where the Canadian government had followed suit as the Americans had by editing the battle sequences from the popular kid's show and leaving out the graphic battle scenes, such as when the Rangers fought the henchmen that were sent by their arch-nemesis, witch Rita Repulsa, that were known as Putties, where after they struck the creatures, they simply broke into pieces of clay and disappeared. While it still is alive today in many different reincarnations of the series and has been picked up by ABC, it still lives with the infamous days of when the controversies first arose from the original series. With all of this controversy being created, it was not a wonder that plans like the ones that were made by Senator Simon were quickly embraced by our legislature and why the state of animated cartoons have taken a turn for,(*what this content producer feels), the worse.

In today's society, Saturday morning cartoons are very rarely made by Americans, as studios are outsourcing considerably to other countries such as Japan, Italy, and others in order to keep the viewers that they already have and to keep the animation market stable in order to compete. But, with all of this new animation that is coming forward, is it really getting better for our kids? For instance, Japanese cartoons that are released in America, are in Japan for nearly two years before they are even released here in the States after they have been laid to rest within their own country. Now, with cartoons like 'Yu-Gi-Oh!', 'Card Captors', the new reincarnations of the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', the new 'Transformers', and 'GI Joe: Sigma Six', should we not question why these new versions of old favorites are possibly doing the same thing that we did in the past by exposing our children to the same things that parents most fear, and yet they are still being aired with that fear being apparent to America's families?

While Japanese anime does have a strong following, should it be the only style of animation that should be allowed to be viewed by our kids? While we do want our children to be culturally knowledgeable of other countries, what most people do not realize that there are very few Japanese animated cartoons that are actually made for children in their country that are for kids, but rather to the latter are made more for the adults. For example, 'Yu-Gi-Oh!', the very popular animated series that was made for kids and was nominated by parents and TV Guide as being one of the 'Best Animated Shows For Kids' a few years ago, what they don't know is that a lot of what they are seeing has actually been edited for content once it reaches America. In Japan, cartoons are not edited for what they show in their country, and we do not see that the things that have been edited out here in the USA. Awful things such as violence, underage sex, and other things as the Japanese culture does not see these issues in quite the same way as we do. While I am not saying that this way is wrong or that the Japanese are wrong in what they present in their own country or their views, but is it possible that depending on other countries for the entertainment of our children is actually more harmful than helpful?

I, myself, have watched the 'Yu-Gi-Oh' phenomenon while it was on the air here in America for nearly six years while it was on 'Kid's WB!', and I was pleasantly surprised by the storyline despite its dark precepts. It taught about friendship, family, good sportmanship, and so on, but it wasn't until I did some research on the Internet that I realized that there was something else that was waiting in the wings to be discovered, and when I learned of the massive editing that was being done for the series here due to the bluntness of the original content, I was mortified at what I soon learned about was cut out, and I was severely disgusted that I had fallen into the same trap as our kids had without having the knowledge at hand immediately. Am I saying that all Japanese anime should be ripped from the airwaves? By all means, not at all. What I am saying is that we need to be able to stand along with the others in the animation business and be able to work together so that our children are not only given quality programming, but programming that will not leave them grasping for the remote and wanting to change the channel. What is needed here is not just a pure educational merit, but where if it must be educational, why not make it enjoyable for them as well as entertaining? This is where many networks have failed, such as CBS and NBC, where their lineups have been made from a predominantly educational value, with only a slight bit of entertainment value to keep the child's interest. ABC has also followed suit, creating series in the same way, but to the reverse of the educational side, where they give a lot of entertainment, but not enough educational value. WB and Fox are considered the 'black sheep' of the group, where they focus more on producing hits and have maybe one educational inspired show in their line-up to keep the government censors happy. The WB has borrowed the Cartoon Network's 'Krypto, the Superdog', and even it has little educational value, where most of the stories focus on emotional dilemmas and social etiquette rather than any kind of learning.

While some networks are going 'whole hog' on the educational wagon and others are not, we also cannot forget PBS, with all of the educational programming that it has to offer. While PBS was considered the flagship of our child's learning with such hits as the long-running 'Sesame Street' and 'Mister Roger's Neighborhood', even PBS is starting to lose its identity by attempting to make shows that make the attempt at being popular with our children. With such shows as 'Teletubbies', 'Barney and Friends', 'Curious George', and 'Dragon Tales', just to name a few, these shows are even getting low on the educational meter,and that is with all of the extras such as learning about numbers, creativity, shapes, and learning simple things such as right and wrong through song and play, is there something else that may have been missed even with the creation of these shows? In truth, there actually has.

While most networks are doing their best to keep the government dogs at bay and create the shows and content that they want on the airwaves, they have failed to see one simple fact: our children are not unintelligent. In the early years, fifth graders in public schools were reading Shakespearean sonnets while children today are watching a purple dinosaur teach them about their ABC's. Does there seem to be something wrong with this picture? If the networks are expected to created these educational shows for our kids so that they have the learning potential that they need for the future on Saturday morning, what is happening in the classroom during the week? Is it possible that the networks are expected to be the new instructors of our kids so that the teachers will have less responsibility over its pupils? While there has been no evidence to suggest that as of late, it does make one wonder what the teachers are thinking within their minds while the children are on the playground having recess.

The main purpose of Saturday morning cartoons were to be for one simple thing and it has to deal with our children, and that purpose was to have fun and watch the shows that our children love without having to worry if it was teaching anything or not. While such shows such as 'Transformers', 'GI Joe' and other in their earlier beginnings did have the violence and battle sequences, they also taught a lot in their earlier years despite the content that was included with them. 'GI Joe' always had something at the end of their shows that taught kids about how to deal with bullies, how to stay healthy, and even medical things, such as how to treat a sunburn or a nosebleed. While they may not seem like great and wonderous things like teaching about Newton's Theory of Relativity or how to fix a leak, they still taught our kids at least something, and that, to me, has merit. If the creators of Saturday cartoons are at least making an attempt, should that be enough said that they do care to a certain degree about our children?

So, before we start cramming huge amounts of knowledge into our kids, why don't we just start with one simple thing: let them have fun. The main purpose of a cartoon is so a child can laugh, think, and dream. Without the process of imagination within a child's mind first developed, the child cannot think of doing anything else. Imagination is one of the brain's greatest gifts, and if they are not allowed to create and we fill them with numbers, facts, and statistics, then they are no longer children. Why not let the educational system be allowed to do their job, which is to educate, and then when Saturday does come, let them enjoy some great eye and brain candy in order to allow them to be one thing....our kids.