Beyond the Book: Cartoons

This week we’re talking about cartoons. Is there anyone who’s never watched them? I must be older than dirt because some of my favorite cartoons aired a long time ago. I have one vivid memory of my father and I watching Woody Woodpecker. Bet some of you don’t know anything about that, but I liked the program so much that I wrote my own story about Woody. Of course I couldn’t write at the time so my dad had to write it down for me, and I’ll never forget how he laughed and told me how great it was.

As I got a little older one of my favorites was Tom and Jerry. Did you know that they won seven Academy Awards for animated short films? Tom the cat liked to say “I hate meeces to pieces.” Jerry was a mouse hence the name. My grandmother reminded me and my sister that we shouldn’t say that to any of the Meece family who lived in front of her. 

Bugs Bunny was great too. Some people said he was better than Mickey Mouse, and he has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I still remember him chomping on carrots and saying, “Eh, what’s up doc?” 

I also loved The Flintstones. It was said to be based on The Honeymooners, a TV show I was too young to enjoy. It debuted in 1955. The Flintstones was also slanted toward adults, but I promise kids loved it too. I would imagine it’s still in syndication somewhere even today.

My own children liked cartoons such as He Man: Masters of the Universe, Transformers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I watched with them, but I didn’t especially like them.

And then my grandson was born. If it had anything to do with superheroes he was all for it. I still have a nice selection of Spider Man and other superhero DVDs. He really liked Batman too. The picture I posted is my grandson in his Batman costume. 

Other than superheroes David liked some Disney/Pixar things such as Cars, Toy Story, Up, Monsters Inc, Finding Dory, and WALL E. I’m sure to have missed some. He also loved Thomas the Tank Engine. We watched many Thomas stories. I liked most of those programs, but my favorite one of all is Up. If you haven’t seen it you should get a copy and watch it. I showed it as a treat to my high school classes on the day before Christmas vacation started, and they liked it too. They must have because nobody tried to talk or sleep, LOL.

So what about you? Did you like any of the same shows I did?