In my car early this morning, the nice lady on NPR told me that today marks the 40th year that Mister Rogers' Neighborhood has been on television. Although Fred Rogers died in 2003, his show lives on. She also played a snippet of a conversation with Fred that ended with him telling me that he likes me just the way I am. That was a very nice thing to hear first thing in the morning. He was a gentle man in a comfy cardigan sweater.
I was more of a Captain Kangaroo kinda kid, myself. Dancing Bear, Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Moose (think ping pong balls), and Bunny Rabbit were my morning companions after breakfast. Grandfather Clock seemed kindly and slightly spooky at the same time. Didn't Bunny Rabbit wear glasses? I'm sure he did, and they made him look smart. He must have been crafty, because he always managed to cadge carrots from the Captain.
When I got a little older, Bugs Bunny was my favorite, and I still love all the old Warner Brothers cartoons. I think my first exposure to classical music was via these cartoons. My dad enjoyed these old cartoons, too, and we would watch them together when he was home. My mom would just roll her eyes to see her Navy frogman husband laughing out loud at Foghorn Leghorn and the little chicken hawk. Then she would dash off to scrub, scour, or wax something in the house.I still like to watch old cartoons, and I know that my dad would, too, even though he'd be close to ninety. I wish I could sit beside him today and chuckle at the old Looney Tunes characters. My dad always loved to laugh, and (just like Mister Rogers) he loved me just the way I am.
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I still get a huge kick Bill out of the old Looney Tunes cartoons, they were and still are the best. My Mom will watch them with me and my Dad will think we are nuts to be adults laughing our heads off at a cartoon.
I say, I say, I say, Son! Hahahaha!!! That is so funny still.
I loved Mighty Mouse, Heckel and Jeckel, Top Cat, Underdog, the Clutch Cargo Show, and the live action show Lance Link, Secret Chimp (and his girlfriend Mata Hari who always said, "Oh, Lance-elot!"). And Fireball XL5 whose puppets Steve, Venus and Zoonie were so surreal.
We were so lucky to have such great shows, I can't say I have watched much of today's cartoons, but they just don't seem as good.
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane.
I grew up with Cap'n Kangaroo too. And I love Bugs et al so much that I own Looney Toons vol. 1 and 2. Did you know that, of the top five cartoons of all time (voted by the cartoonists' union), four of them are Looney Toons? #1: "What's Opera, Doc?" I can't remember all of the rest, but I know they include "One Froggy Evening," a Marvin the Martian feature (the first one?) and the one with Daffy Duck battling it out with the artist that draws him. How sad is it that I know this and nothing of our economy or top literary choices. C'est la vie.
Still enjoying your blog, Bill! (One of my top literary choices.)
Birdie
Oh my gosh I loved the Clutch Cargo Show, and had not thought of it in years until I just read Scotts comment. I don't watch any cartoons now, they make me nervous for some reason. I've never seen The Simpsons or anything that has come out in the last...oh 15 years I guess.
I wish you would cater to me more by posting more often.
heard the NPR about Mr Rogers this morning as well--cherished the memories. Love reading some of yours.
Oh I remember the Captain too
I loved Quick Draw McGraw, and my brother and dad did a great imitation of Yakee(? the bird) and Chopper (the bull dog). Cartoons aren't what they used to be.
I got my first blowjob from Mr Green Jeans.
No.
No, it was from a friend in the sixth grade.
Never mind.
Loved Clutch Cargo too. The way only the lips moved is just too funny. We did have a lot of the good cartoons back then. I have been "forced" to watch some since I have a daughter who is 16. She absolutely loved Barney.....gag. But on the other hand one of her favorite movies when she was 2-3yrs old was Jurasic Park. I probably watched that, oh maybe 50 times! She was never scared at all. In fact she isn't scared of much of anything even now. She is quite a young lady.
I saw a show on Mr. Rogers a while ago on PBS. He was a good person who truly cared about kids. That cuts his show apart from most kids' shows, which are just about selling brands. Yeah, I miss the "good ole days" sometimes!
PS Remember Bozo the clown?
Mr Rogers was skeeeeery to me.
Dad and I would watch Warner Bros cartoons and laugh until we both cried. This was only a few years ago. Dad would always say about Bugs Bunny "it's not a classic until someone's in drag" I too learned about classical music from these cartoons.
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