The Muppets say good-bye to Jim Henson
(Source: Mark Evanier.)
So, people looking on the Amazon baby registry may have noted there’s a lot of DVDs on there for a little kid. That’s my fault. The theory is that, no matter how parents may plan otherwise, eventually the kid gets put in front of the TV for a moment, even if just to enable the parent to go to the bathroom or shower. And once there, the kid is going to imprint on something random. (Both my nieces have imprinted on Elmo in a pretty major way.) While you hope the kid imprints on, say, Stephen Colbert (who, in his own way, is as much of a cartoon as Bugs Bunny), there’s always the danger he’ll bond with Barney or the Teletubbies, those creepy Wiggles guys or those strange fundementalist Christian vegetables. (Seriously, vegetables. There’s a born-again cucumber, tomato, a whole garden full. How is it that no one finds them really odd but me? Does no one else wonder how a tomato could find Jesus?)
My plan, therefore, is to flood the channel with good stuff. Classic Looney Tunes, the Muppets (including Sesame Street, the Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock), the Dini/Pimm DC animated stuff, non-exasperating Disney movies and so on. Then, when the kid decides he needs to watch the same DVD over and over (and over and over and over), it will be slightly less painful for the parents.
That’s the theory, anyway.
And I still miss Jim Henson. He was the only celebrity whose death made me cry.
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Muppets. Good choices… Conor imprinted on Thomas the Train early on and Megan seems to be following in his footsteps (with side trips to Elmo) only because she loves what he loves – it’s a great choice – but be prepared for the toy outlay to be staggering. Stay the hell away from the Wiggles and Barney. Big Big World, Zooboomafoo, and Jakers are wonderful (yeah PBS!) and Sesame Street is of course the Standard.
We won’t get started on Pixar/Disney. Sufficeth to say, my children cut theri teeth on Pixar, now are warming to Disney…
I’m finding the BTAS and STAS stuff is a bit scary for most kids under 5… and seriously, when I see kids 3 and 4 with Bats and Spidey gear and its clear they’ve been watching stuff not meant for their age bracket – and it reflects in their behavior – I shudder a bit… These are the ones giving our teacher and coach friends constant headaches… Conor’s seen 2 Batmans – the recent ones with J’onn J’onzz – but that was after prescreening and Dad watching alongside. No problems… But man, I cannot wait to show him the BTAS/STAS/JLU stuff…
My big question? When to show him Star Wars… I’m thinking this coming year will be it.
J
Comment by John — May 22, 2007 @ 10:11
Glad to hear the theory makes sense.
I’ve seen Big Big World before, it’s very trippy. That big sloth (?) is a little too goody-goody, but the supporting characters are great, especially the somewhat obnoxious frog. (I figure frogs would be obnoxious if they could talk.)
Good point on BTAS especially being too scary.
Beyond Nemo, which Pixar things are the most kid-friendly? The Incredibles is great, obviously, but it’s got scary moments and has a very adult message.
Comment by Beau — May 22, 2007 @ 11:31
Love Snook – the sloth of the Big Big World – he’s a total stoner as well as the monkey elder that teaches t’ai chi. Conor loves the fish, Ick.
Another good find on PBS? Curious George. Really nice handling of the series.
Conor’s seen Nemo, Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc, and the Toy Story series with no worries. Nemo and Bug’s is most kid friendly (but the Bird at the end of Bug’s can be a bit freaky). Monsters next (this would seem to be scary, but Conor didn’t grow up with monsters under the bed idea, so it was just a big adventure yarn), Toy Story last (only for the Sid stuff…). The Incredibles may get a spin this coming year but it does have some fairly serious scenes of menace…
Disney stuff that has gone over big – anything Pooh. Conor used to watch the original video – Pooh in Rabbit’s House, the Blustery Day, intro of Tigger – religously (and we rode the Pooh ride at D’land easily 4 or 5 times)… The Heffalump Movie was Conor’s first trip to the theatre… and he loves Fantasia (both), Peter Pan, and The Aristocrats. He’s seen Bambi but it didn’t really register (and for the record, I didn’t show it to him… some relations with questionable judgment did… thank God he didn’t freek…)
A big and unexpected hit? The Wallace and Gromit series. Conor LOVED the series and we took him to see “Curse of the Were-Rabbit” in the theatre.
J
Comment by John — May 22, 2007 @ 12:33
As much as I love the classic looney tunes, I read a paper detailing the potential effects of such cartoon violence, so we decided not to let our little ‘un watch those just yet (she’ll be 2 in October). However, she is completely hooked on the Backyardigans. She likes Happy Feet too, but thankfully, her TV attention span hasn’t stretched above 20minutes yet, so she’s not interested in just sitting in front of the TV for long periods. She likes to be able to listen to it though 🙂
Comment by Tony — May 23, 2007 @ 3:35
Doraemon is a great one, but I’m not sure if there are English language versions of the cartoon available. I THINK that the latest series had an English dub (and not just the standard english subtitles on japanese media). I know that there are Doraemon teaches English anime available. Might be an interesting way for a baby to become multilingual.
Is Asterix available on video?
Comment by f. chong rutherfod — May 23, 2007 @ 4:29
See, I’ve heard that about Looney Tunes from adults, but I’ve never heard of any anvil-related deaths or the like. I just don’t get how the cartoons have not turned 50 years of children into violent people but now constitute a danger. (In the US, they show edited versions of the cartoons, rendering things like “rabbit season!” “duck season!” incomprehensible without the shotgun going off.)
I don’t think Asterix is available in English on video, but I grew up on a steady diet of the comics, so I plan on all of them (except for maybe the really terrible “Asterix and the Actress”) being available for the same reason. Heck, I did great on world history for YEARS because of random knowledge picked up from Asterix.
Comment by Beau — May 23, 2007 @ 6:52