Codell Rodriguez
Daily Egyptian
It seems a lot of students go out on Friday night and don't wake up on Saturday until it's dark again.
I know, I'm one of them a lot of the time.
Unfortunately, I'm not having as much fun as them, I'm just staying up all night and playing video games like a true nerd.
But there was a time when the majority of these kids woke up at 7 a.m. every Saturday with enthusiasm. Why? Because back in the middle to late '80s, they had a reason to get up. Back in the day, there were some wicked-slick Saturday morning cartoons.
Hopefully everyone 20 or older can remember enthralling cartoons such as "Transformers," "GI-Joe," "Thundercats" and "He-Man." Girls had shows such as "She-Ra," "Rainbow Brite" and "Strawberry Shortcake." However, the last three cartoons were sometimes too sweet, and it wasn't uncommon for girls to watch the shows that were intended for the male audience. "GI-Joe" was an especially unisex program. Boys had heroes like Snake Eyes, Duke and Roadblock, but girls also had Lady Jane, Scarlet (who later joined the ninja force) and Jinx (who was already on the ninja force). There were also other gender-friendly cartoons like "Shirt-tales," "The Get-A-Long Gang" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks."
Those were the days. Those were the times when tin lunch boxes and thermoses sporting our animated heroes made us the envy of every kid in the cafeteria. The time when heaven was a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and a five-hour run of cartoons.
Now, most stations don't even have cartoons, and when they do, they are just boring, beyond childish and recycled storylines. Interestingly, Saturday morning cartoons seem to have gone through an evolution. They started on the major networks such as ABC, CBS and NBC. This was probably the golden era, with "Transformers," "GI-Joe," and "Voltron."
Then, FOX started to throw its hat in the ring in the early '90s with quality shows like "X-Men," "Batman: The Animated Series" and "Tiny Toon Adventures."
Then, most of the shows moved when Warner Bros. obtained its own network. The WB was pretty much the last stand of the Saturday morning cartoon: "Animaniacs," "Pinky and the Brain" and "Hysteria."
Unfortunately, this was about the time that shows such as "Pokemon" and "Digimon" took over. "Pokemon wasn't really that bad, but after the first few episodes, which had some decent humor, the rest of the time, they seemed more concerned with providing Burger King with new toys.
It seems that the biggest hope for the return of Saturday morning cartoons lies in the East. Like everything else, we should turn to Japan for a superior and much more reliable product. I believe salvation lies in shows like "Dragonball Z." Fortunately, WB has already picked some of these up, and maybe the art of the Saturday morning cartoon will return. But for now, I'm going to sleep in.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
