There is a rare joy in old time cartoons. It's as though the writers unhinged their brains and let whatever burbled up onto the screen to cavort and carry on. I loved them as a kid. Some of my fondest memories are waiting for Saturday morning cartoons to roll through. Such things are a simple joy, and hard to really pin down as to why. I think the biggest thing for me was watching ridiculous creatures doing ridiculous things in ridiculous places. I don't know how many times I've seen Wiley E. Coyote windmill in the air before plummeting down and making a shaped crater in the valley floor, but each time is enjoyable.
I doubt any kid ever thought it was real, but that's besides the point. The point was pure fun, no matter how crazy or outlandish. In some ways, it was better when it went off the rails and flew into complete insanity. Classics like "What's Opera, Doc?" where the cartoons took the epic Ring Cycle from Wagner and turned it into a brilliant comedy. I see the same sort of imagination in Pixar Shorts, and other smaller studios. It's good to see.
Humor is a distinctly human quality, and I'm glad. There are a lot of wild and fantastical cartoons out now, and I guess I'm a bit out of touch since I don't watch them. Still, it warms my heart that cartoons are still around and changing to match the desires of new audiences. Hope continues through the younger generations, with their own imagination and zaniness.
- M
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