How many of us old farts were screwed up by watching Looney Tunes?

[3db]

'In today’s outrage culture, nothing is sacred - not even memories of Saturday mornings spent watching “Looney Tunes.”

Murder and suicide is sure a problem among animated wabbits, ducks, and hunters, and I’m sure today’s kiddos aren’t capable of figuring out that “Looney Tunes” is fake. I mean, you run into talking wabbits all the time.'

Linky HERE

Seriously, if some kids don't know this is npot real then that points to some pretty poor parenting skills and that some people should not be allowed to reproduce.

Abbada abbada abbada...

Yeah really!! Looney Tunes taught me the world was round, Rossini's overtures, how to cuss, and a whole host of,other things. I had bad parents. LOL

 

[slipperybidness]

Yeah really!! Looney Tunes taught me the world was round, Rossini's overtures, how to cuss, and a whole host of,other things. I had bad parents. LOL

My favorite part of watching the old cartoons is all of the innuendo and jokes that went right over my head as a child!

Scandalous!

 

[highfigh]

Yep. That's progress... thus "Progressives". Yesterday my wife saw a story where some group wants to designate "Sexual Predator" as a legitimate sexual orientation.

I believe the pendulum of social conscience swings similarly to the Peter Principle. It swings beyond the point of reason before it stops and starts swinging the other way. It is inconceivable to me that we have not reached that point, and the general, (majority), populace will begin to push back. I pray so.

I think it's time for someone to develop a way to install a Default and Safe Mode button on people, so errors and bad software can be removed.

 

[fuzz092888]

I loved the old Looney toons. I forget what we had, maybe satellite, that had a channel dedicated to the original cartoons. The originals were the best for a bunch of reasons, including how educational they were in many aspects. They were also my first introduction to classical music, and in a way that made it extremely enjoyable.

I don't know if anyone has watched any of the cartoons or children's programming on today, but we've gone from Looney Toons, to kids shows that reflect, not only the massive amount of drugs the writers must have taken, but the extremely short attention spans that kids have in addition to their reaction to cheesey puns, one-liners, flashing colors, and story lines devoid of wit or any thought at all really.

I remember in the original "The Fast and the Furious" when Dom said, "I live my life a 1/4 mile at a time." I always think of this when interacting with students and kids in general because everything happens in 10-45 second spurts. Another way to look at that is the length of an instagram video, vine, most snapchats, etc.

 

[herbu]

I loved the old Looney toons. I forget what we had, maybe satellite, that had a channel dedicated to the original cartoons.

Hahahahaha! So you saw the original cartoons on satellite? It is funny to hear someone of your generation, (young whippersnapper), decry the shortcomings of today's youth. Prepare yourself. You are approaching cootdom... perhaps faster than you know.

 

[fuzz092888]

Hahahahaha! So you saw the original cartoons on satellite? It is funny to hear someone of your generation, (young whippersnapper), decry the shortcomings of today's youth. Prepare yourself. You are approaching cootdom... perhaps faster than you know.

It's hard not be a little old cootish. I grew up watching looney toons, old westerns, and Nick at Nite (I love Lucy, Mork and Mindy, etc), hanging out at the bowling alley with a bunch of old coots, and now I'm a teacher. I'm there.

 

[sawzalot]

I think they messed me up big time , I learned how to blow shite up , booby trap my brothers , hunt rabbits and ducks , the proper use of a mouse trap how to survive falls off of cliffs while holding an anvil swimming under water for hours without air by chewing gum !! I learned what all the buttons on my mom's dashboard did to get us home faster , lets not forget the stooges as well they taught me all I needed to know in regards to self defense and safe work practice. Long live the TOONS !!

 

[Chu Gai]

I may be more messed up than others because I recall having the children's book, Little Black Sambo.

 

[herbu]

"Please don't throw me in the briar patch!!!"

 

[Johnny2Bad]

ShadyJ has it right.

Looney Tunes, like all cartoons of the early history of the cartoon, were not addressed specifically towards child audiences; they were intended to be enjoyed by everyone, and that includes adults.

The dialog was written such that there were jokes for children, teens, and adults inter-spread throughout the program. One clear example is the historical references in Bugs Bunny cartoons, or the highbrow Classical music ("The Merchant of Venice", "The Barber of Seville", reference to the famous conductor Leopold, etc).

Something for everyone, so to speak. So, we had adults and children watching and enjoying cartoons together, with the adult available to provide context to the child, and being able to offer constructive explanations if a child should ask about an adult theme.

That changed in the mid 1960's and really gained traction in the 1970's, when advertisers realized the power of direct advertising to children.

The net result was cartoons now cater exclusively to children, with virtually no dialogue intended for adult entertainment.

The unintended consequence of that is now we have nannies patrolling the airwaves looking for anything inappropriate to a 10 year old, since it was now the case that no adults were likely to be in the room watching with the children, there was no adult entertainment value in the programming.

And that is why Looney Tunes is now treated as "inappropriate for children" because they are treated the same way as a cartoon that no adult could sit through or enjoy for it's own sake.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Double Post.

The site is acting strange; I typed a reply, but the page hung when I tried to post it. Knowing that often the post does make it to the server even if my page won't reflect anything happening, I copied the text (the composition window is still live on my machine) and then refreshed the page to find out if the post made it to the server the first time, or simply disappeared.

So, I check, refresh the page, and no, my post isn't there. I then paste my text (still in the clipboard) into a new reply window, and post. That works, but ... now both are there? That shouldn't happen if it didn't show when I double-checked. Oh well.

 

[highfigh]

The dialog was written such that there were jokes for children, teens, and adults inter-spread throughout the program. One clear example is the historical references in Bugs Bunny cartoons, or the highbrow Classical music ("The Merchant of Venice", "The Barber of Seville", reference to the famous conductor Leopold, etc).

Something for everyone, so to speak. So, we had adults and children watching and enjoying cartoons together, with the adult available to provide context to the child, and being able to offer constructive explanations if a child should ask about an adult theme.

That changed in the mid 1960's and really gained traction in the 1970's, when advertisers realized the power of direct advertising to children.

The net result was cartoons now cater exclusively to children, with virtually no dialogue intended for adult entertainment.

The unintended consequence of that is now we have nannies patrolling the airwaves looking for anything inappropriate to a 10 year old, since it was now the case that no adults were likely to be in the room watching with the children, there was no adult entertainment value in the programming.

And that is why Looney Tunes is now treated as "inappropriate for children" because they are treated the same way as a cartoon that no adult could sit through or enjoy for it's own sake.

Think about when those cartoons came out- TVs were expensive and programming was for the whole family. Also, most parents would explain that what the kids were planning to build or do only works on TV because it's not real.

WRT cartoons catering to children, The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and others are hardly aimed at kids, at times. Fortunately, the dialog that applies often uses slang, innuendo and requires inference in order to be appreciated. The nannies who determine what's appropriate are either slacking, or don't understand everything that crosses their desks, based on some of what I have heard on Family Guy and American Dad. Not sure I would want to use Bart Simpson as a template for a kid and Homer is hardly a model citizen, but the dialog and events are pretty funny.

 

[markw]

Think about when those cartoons came out- TVs were expensive and programming was for the whole family. Also, most parents would explain that what the kids were planning to build or do only works on TV because it's not real.

WRT cartoons catering to children, The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and others are hardly aimed at kids, at times. Fortunately, the dialog that applies often uses slang, innuendo and requires inference in order to be appreciated. The nannies who determine what's appropriate are either slacking, or don't understand everything that crosses their desks, based on some of what I have heard on Family Guy and American Dad. Not sure I would want to use Bart Simpson as a template for a kid and Homer is hardly a model citizen, but the dialog and events are pretty funny.

The "cartoons" you mention aren't aimed at kids. Just because a show is animated doesn't mean it's aimed at children. Look at "Robot Chicken" or other "cartoons" on Adult Swim.

 

[slipperybidness]

. Look at "Robot Chicken" or other "cartoons" on Adult Swim.

Some of my favs!!!

Also, how about some Anamaniacs, The Tick, Freakazoid? Anybody ever see these "later" cartoons that were clearly aimed at kids, but still had the innuendo and adult material too? Again, some of the best!

Ren and Stempy, FTW!!!

 

[markw]

Some of my favs!!!

Also, how about some Anamaniacs, The Tick, Freakazoid? Anybody ever see these "later" cartoons that were clearly aimed at kids, but still had the innuendo and adult material too? Again, some of the best!

Ren and Stempy, FTW!!!

I loved the "Animanics" and "The Tick" I also liked the live Action Tick with Patrick Warburton.
.
Let's not forget "Pinky and the Brain".

 

[slipperybidness]

I loved the "Animanics" and "The Tick" I also liked the live Action Tick with Patrick Warburton.
.
Let's not forget "Pinky and the Brain".

Of course YOU won't forget them! Nice avatar!

But, I kind of covered that with Animaniacs

 

[Steve81]

I know I was deeply traumatized by Looney Tunes growing up. Fortunately, my sons have more wholesome cartoons like Paw Patrol to watch. It's hard to describe just how awesome that show is, so I'll give an example. As you'd expect from today's cartoons, some lip service is paid towards being environmentally friendly. OTOH, apparently the food chain is just foreign to the writers of the show as the main characters have gone out of their way to deny an eagle its prey (rabbits, other birds, etc) on several occasions... Apparently fish are OK though since they have no souls. And of course while it's super important to recycle, taking trips into the Arctic or down to Mayan ruins in a huge RV is totally cool.

 

[highfigh]

The "cartoons" you mention aren't aimed at kids. Just because a show is animated doesn't mean it's aimed at children. Look at "Robot Chicken" or other "cartoons" on Adult Swim.

But it's called 'Adult Swim'!

Ever watch Duckman?

 

[highfigh]

I loved the "Animanics" and "The Tick" I also liked the live Action Tick with Patrick Warburton.
.
Let's not forget "Pinky and the Brain".

NARFF!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Midwesthonky]

ShadyJ has it right.

Looney Tunes, like all cartoons of the early history of the cartoon, were not addressed specifically towards child audiences; they were intended to be enjoyed by everyone, and that includes adults.

The dialog was written such that there were jokes for children, teens, and adults inter-spread throughout the program. One clear example is the historical references in Bugs Bunny cartoons, or the highbrow Classical music ("The Merchant of Venice", "The Barber of Seville", reference to the famous conductor Leopold, etc).

Something for everyone, so to speak. So, we had adults and children watching and enjoying cartoons together, with the adult available to provide context to the child, and being able to offer constructive explanations if a child should ask about an adult theme.

That changed in the mid 1960's and really gained traction in the 1970's, when advertisers realized the power of direct advertising to children.

The net result was cartoons now cater exclusively to children, with virtually no dialogue intended for adult entertainment.

The unintended consequence of that is now we have nannies patrolling the airwaves looking for anything inappropriate to a 10 year old, since it was now the case that no adults were likely to be in the room watching with the children, there was no adult entertainment value in the programming.

And that is why Looney Tunes is now treated as "inappropriate for children" because they are treated the same way as a cartoon that no adult could sit through or enjoy for it's own sake.

Yeah, there is definitely a difference between the cartoons of old and today. I have genetic offspring myself and have been forced to consume various versions of today's cartoons. Most of it is mindless drivel as many have already expressed.

Besides Animaniacs, The Tick, Ren & Stimpy, Pinky & the Brain, there are a few that are/were pretty good. Anyone watch Phineas and Ferb on Disney? They had a good mix of jokes for kids as well as pop culture references that us old farts would get. It was clean, sometimes ignored physics as a good cartoon should, and had a modern day Wile E Coyote in Prof. Dooffenshmertz (sp?).

It's a tad off topic, but anyone watch episodes from the first season of The Muppets back in the day? The boss and I have them on DVD. We popped them in the player and...WTF??!!??!! THAT'S NOT THE MUPPET SHOW I REMEMBER FROM SYNDICATION!!! Whew! Definitely adult oriented.