I have a young daughter, and I have become familiar, too familiar, with the various cartoons she watches. I can't help but mentally compare them with the traditional Chuck Jones/Friz Freleng Looney Tunes stuff I watched as a child, usually unfavorably. I tend to be old school about this stuff -- I think a cartoon oughta be about a coyote painting a fake tunnel on the side of a mountain, trying to fool a stupid roadrunner. A hunter with a speech impediment getting outwitted by a rabbit. That sort of thing.
Modern cartoons all seem to drink from the same Sesame Street well -- hugs, sharing, self-esteem, etc., etc. Lessons that halfway-decent parents should be able to impart. The idealism behind it is nice, and there are certainly worse things, but the end result is frequently less than entertaining.
So I've been pleasantly surprised by The Backyardigans, which airs on Nick Jr. twice a day, and on CBS on Saturdays. Conceptually, it wouldn't ordinarily be my cup of tea -- talking animals, show tunes, occasional lesson-learning. But the animation is outstanding, the songs are catchy, and the writing even makes you think someone put some time into it, instead of just sticking their hand up a puppet's ass and riffing on feelings for ten minutes in an annoying voice. (I'm lookin' at you , Elmo!)
Most of all, my kid just adores the show, knows all the songs and characters, and that's obviously the main thing. If you have a young child (3-7) and they haven't seen it yet, check it out.
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