My kids use Saturdays to sleep in, and I don't blame them because school has more pressure now than ever. But when I was a kid, Saturday was the day you woke up early to watch cartoons. My sister and I loved to watch the Little's followed by The Smurfs. It was a tradition, but there were so many cartoons to choose from. I loved the ones based on real life characters too. MC Hammer had a show as did the Ewoks, Hulk Hogan, Ghostbusters, and even Alf. My cousin was definitely a care bears girl. My favorite was Scooby Doo of course. Scooby Doo was also on in the afternoon following Duck Tales. In the later years scrappy doo made his appearance. To this day I can still sing the theme song to Fraggle Rock. Brenda's ring tone on her phone for the longest time was Inspector Gadget. She gave that phone away and felt violated when she heard the new owner using the Inspector Gadget ring tone. How dare she? Jem WAS truly outrageous and Pac-Man was kinda corny. My kids are huge fans of Super Mario Brothers and I even purchased DVD's of the old Saturday morning show.
Saturday's are special for my kids because I let them play the Wii on the weekends. But for me, it was all about waking up early and starting my weekend with a cartoon. My parents couldn't stop us from watching either. Why? Because it was educational. Between each half hour show were little skits called School House Rock. "I'm just a Bill" is by far my favorite. I have always wanted to find the man they call Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla.
There are several theories on what killed Saturday Morning Cartoons. Some say it was the invasion of Japanese animation and shows like Transformers, He-Man, and GI Joe. Others claim that the cable television explosion and channels like the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network made cartoons so readily available that Saturday mornings became obsolete. Maybe Nintendo killed the ratings. In any case, the cartoons got replaced by shows like Saved by the Bell and now they're a distant memory.
My sister and I are almost two years apart just like my two boys. As I look at my boys fight all day long it reminds me of my sister and I doing the same. However, when the Little's came on, a truce, a partnership, a bond if you will was formed. For a couple of hours on Saturday morning, we were the best of friends. My sister and I live far apart these days, but we will always have the memories of Saturday mornings to remind us to call each other.
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I grew up in colombia so I watch Smurfs of course in Spanish. As well Cartoons were only a weekend thing. However when I came to this country I loved Saved by the Bell and yes I watch it with my younger brother the same 18 months apart like my girls are now. These are the memories we always treasure!
ReplyDeleteOh man, too many memories! School House Rock was pretty crazy cool! I remember watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Smurfs, FraggleRock, and the Raggedy Ann & Andy show every Saturday morning like clockwork.
ReplyDeleteNow, my son thinks cartoon time is 24/7. :-)
I LOVED this post. I think it is a pure tragedy that my kids do not get to share in a line up similar to what you described. That time in front of the TV on Saturdays was sacred in our house growing up.
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was an equally as fun time for you.
-Francesca