Saturday Morning Cartoons
@just4him (323168)
Green Bay, Wisconsin
February 6, 2021 8:11am CST
Good morning on this very cold morning in Green Bay, Wisconsin where the temp is 0 F and the wind chill is -16 F.
I got an early start to this day getting up at 1 AM. In my defense, I went to bed at 7 PM. I did go back to bed at 3:40 and got up at 6.
During the Christmas holidays, I saw a commercial on TV for Saturday morning cartoons on ME-TV. That brought back memories of getting up early to watch the cartoons every Saturday morning. Back then they didn't have cartoons every day all day. I thought it would be fun to watch some nostalgia.
What did I find when I turned on Saturday Morning Cartoons? Violence. I don't remember cartoons being so violent when I was growing up glued to the TV on Saturday morning. Yet, there it was in Black and White. Popeye and Betty Boop, followed by Tom and Jerry. After Tom and Jerry, I turned the TV off totally disgusted that I had watched so much violence as a kid.
Could the violence seen on Saturday morning have led to the violence we saw and still see every day? Or has that kind of violence been around even longer and didn't need Saturday Morning Cartoons to emphasize it?
Could Saturday morning cartoons be responsible for domestic violence? While the cartoon characters laughed through their violent behavior, chowing down on spinach to beat the crap out of Bluto, did we learn a lot more than liking spinach? Did juvenile delinquency take off with the onset of Saturday morning cartoons, or did they just enhance it?
I know I'm not the only one who watched Saturday Morning Cartoons as a kid. What are your thoughts on those cartoons?
Thanks for reading. The image is mine.
15 people like this
13 responses
@allen0187 (59818)
• Philippines
6 Feb 21
Never really thought of Saturday morning cartoons as violent. It was all harmless fun for me.
2 people like this
@allen0187 (59818)
• Philippines
6 Feb 21
@just4him I guess growing up into adults changed our perspective. I still maintain that cartoons aren't to blame for violence in our society.
2 people like this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
6 Feb 21
@allen0187 They might not be, but they do have a huge influence on little minds.
2 people like this
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
6 Feb 21
When I read again fairy tales when I grew up I was also amazed at the violence of the stories.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
6 Feb 21
@just4him One of my short story books (a book of short stories for grown ups) was about fairy tales with a twist.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
8 Feb 21
I honestly forgot about the violence in cartoons, but I was never into cartoons much. I liked howdy doody and romper room. I don't remember what else.
Glad you went back to bed for a few more hours of sleep.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
10 Feb 21
@just4him I was thinking were about the same a age but I may have watched howdy doody after it was in a few years. I've not idea when we got our first tv. I know our first color one was when I was in highschool near 1970 because the tigers won the world series.
1947-1960 was when howdy doody was on TV.
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
10 Feb 21
@MarshaMusselman I never saw it. I thought I was too young for it, but I see I'm not. I watched Kaptain Kangaroo every morning before school.
1 person likes this
@Elizaby (6902)
• Pensacola, Florida
6 Feb 21
I grew up watching cartoons on Saturday and most of the cartoons when violence was displayed show that the good won over the oil, But what I have seen in the cartoons of today and other kid programming (except the ones on PBS and Smile of a Child network from TBN) I wouldn't let a child watch because besides violence it shows great disrespect for authority.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (209277)
• United States
6 Feb 21
They were violent come to think of it..but I don't think the violence was the main point really. It was just the funny animation talking animals etc. I saw one of the wind chills for Green Bay as -41 over the coming days..Yikes..I would stay inside until spring!
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (136117)
• Marion, Ohio
6 Feb 21
I still love them. We watch them now that they are back. You grew up being taught that stuff was wrong or in the case of the coyote getting smashed that real life didnt work that way. I think so much of the trouble now is parents that dont want to be responsible for teaching kids right and wrong.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128861)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Feb 21
Definitely a lot of violence in the cartoons we watched as kids. I thought Tom & Jerry was the funniest cartoon ever. And who didn't root for Popeye to beat the crap out of Bluto? Yep, full of violence. But I don't know how much it really affected us in real life. I seem to have turned out pretty well. My parole officer says I should be able to get out of jail in just 3 more years if I stop fighting all the other inmates. I blame it on the spinach they feed us. LOL
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (22286)
• United States
9 Feb 21
I don't the cartoon back in the day is the cause of the violence we have today. Normal people know that cartoons are fantasy and not real. Now there are people who don't know the difference. Those people it would affect. I mean since you saw all the violence, does it make you want to kill someone?
1 person likes this
@Dena91 (17038)
• United States
6 Feb 21
My brother and I enjoyed Saturday morning cartoons. As far as being violent, I suppose they were but we knew that they were make believe. The violence within the four walls of our home was real and very frightening.
One could draw the conclusion that cartoons plant violent thoughts in young developing minds. But the parents ought to know what their kids are watching, and talk with them about it. If the kids don't get it turn the tv off.
1 person likes this
