Remembering the 80s cartoons – Part 2

Remembering the 80’s Cartoon.

Remember when on Saturday morning how you would plop down in front of the tube for the cartoons. As a boy, G.I Joe’s or The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I would carry Donatello’s sword while watching the show and Imitate his every move. I remember my favorite show, the transformers, coming on at 8am. Transformers was better then any soap opera. Every week was something different. Sometimes the good guy one while sometimes the bad guy one. You basic action show in the 80’s featured the classic battle between good and evil. You could learn your child hood morals from Sergeant Slaughter during the commercial break of G.I. Joe. Optimus Prime preached about living the American way of life. All of the shows had the same basic themes. Honor, loyalty and love. No wonder the 80’s generation is the last great generation. Kids today are learning nothing from what they watch today. The games they play today or full of grotesque violence. I know in the 80’s we did have Atari and Nintendo. However, even in the War games of Nintendo there were no arms being hacked off or brains being blown out. It seems with the advancement of technology came the lack of morals taught on the tube. I guess the government didn’t want to step in. I understand you have to let the free market flow and grow at will. However, the violence has gotten out of control. Even worse, the influence of this violence in games has already made an impact on children in today’s society. Even worse, the cartoons children are accustomed to watch today have no moral teachings. At most you might learn the alphabet from sesame street. Not to say that this is bad, but kids don’t just pay attention to arithmetic on T.V. Cartoons for young teens are almost unheard of anymore. You might find a rebirth of shows like the turtles and transformers but nothing like what my generation is accustomed to.

With all of the trash that hit’s the airwaves these days, I yearn for an old cartoon. On the radio you have oldies 98, why not the 80’s cartoon channel. If it were a premium I would take it over any other. Somebody get Ted Turner on the line and remind him that preaching the American dream in cartoons should not be just another marketing scheme but a standard sub plot of any story. I guess I should just stop preaching to the choir. Thank you Optimus, Leonardo, Egon and Ray. Thank you Lionel, Splinter and even the evil shredder. Thank you for all of the great childhood memories. Thank you Howie Mandell for Bobby’s World. Thank You Snoopy and Charlie Brown for making me laugh after a rough day at school. Thank you to all the creators of the 80’s cartoons. You made my childhood much easier to deal with.