The Disappearance of Saturday Morning

ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE ^ | April 30, 2003 | By Gerard Raiti

[Pikamax]

the networks themselves killed off Saturday mornings, no one else is to blame.

[Swordmaker]

Perhaps the poor animation combined with the overwhelming PC nature of the new cartoon shows has driven discriminating children to other pastimes.

With the PC banning of the old cartoons, cartoons are no longer funny.

[mlmr]

At our house the children listen to Adventures In Oddessy on the radio every Saturday morning and one or two other good children's radio shows that go along with it.

[niteowl77]

Over the years, the quality of the product went to hell, and I'm not talking about the actual animation (I can remember "Clutch Cargo," for crying out loud). PC and marketing tie-ins made cartoons worse as time went on. The last ones that I thought were actually funny (instead of preachy) were some on Nick- they were eventually pushed aside for "lifestyle" animation.

[Howlin]

(I can remember "Clutch Cargo," for crying out loud).

Ah, that doesn't make you ancient, ya know?

BTW, don't you think Howard Dean's mouth looks just like Clutch's?

[Prodigal Son]

Hard for me to relate. Been a long time since I lived in the States or owned a television. Do they not show Warner Brothers Cartoons anymore? Bugs Bunny? Roadrunner?

[BradyLS]

Jeez... Two words: Cartoon Network. Two more words: Samurai Jack!!!

[LizardQueen]

Now with the Cartoon Network you can watch them around the clock, not just on Saturday AMs.

I'm a real purist when it comes to cartoons - I only like the old ones. So many of the newer ones have crappy animation and stupid themes.
Some of the cartoon network ones aren't bad but still don't match up to the older ones, for me.

I love Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and really miss the Pink Panther and "The Ant and the Aardvark". We spent many happy Saturday mornings watching them with my father when I was a kid.

[Miss Marple]

You have to catch those on the Cartoon Network (cable), not on the regular networks.

[niteowl77]

BTW, don't you think Howard Dean's mouth looks just like Clutch's?

Well now that you mention it...

I find it hard to get past Howard's eyes, with their blank look. He could use Clutch's eyebrows.

[Freedom4US]

Saturday Morning was great - Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, etc. I liked Jonny Quest. They brought the latter "back" semi-recently, but of course the animation is very poor and he looks like a crackhead.

[speedy]

Remember his co-horts Spinner and Paddlefoot? What a bizarre cartoon. And where can you catch Speedy Gonzales these days? See you later, Wally Gator.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Children and fans of the 80's will appreciate this site:

http://www.80stees.com/pages/t-shirts/80s_cartoons.asp

Bought myself the Hong Kong Phooey t-shirt last week.

[niteowl77]

I am a cartoon nut myself, started out watching the networks on Saturday mornings, and the local daytime shows (Captain Ken's Cartoon Showboat out of the Quad Cities, and Captain Eleven when we moved up to the NW corner of Iowa) during the weekdays of my "yout." Even in college, there were a lot of us that tuned in to Duane Ellett and Floppy on WHO-TV to watch him take stale jokes from little kids between those great golden age Looney Tunes.

Dexter's Lab is okay, and Ed, Edd & Eddy has its moments (love those Kanker Sisters!), but I have lately given up on the new stuff.

[niteowl77]

Yep, Paddlefoot the pup! I was hypnotized by all those great aircraft profile drawings they'd use. I didn't know a Bellanca from a Boeing, but it didn't matter.

[squarebarb]

My step-grandkids love Spongebob Squarepants, which is where I got my screen name. Spent hours telling me the plots and characters. Sounded great. But I've watched other cartoons with the kids and the characters are often snotty and hateful.

[squarebarb]

I've only got 174 replies. Got to get my numbers up.

[Vesuvian]

Boomerang is pretty good too, but I wish they'd keep to more of a schedule- it seems to change week to week. Boomeraction is good though, Thundarr, the original Jonny Quest, good stuff!

[m18436572]

Even those have been shredded by the PC police.