Childhood Innocence

[Tilas]

(DeviantArt Link)

Remember a time when childhood was innocent? When the toys we played with were soft and sweet and gentle? When the cartoons we watched were about love and caring and sharing?


...what happened to those days?

[Dialga-Brite]

Cute pic! I think some cartoons are still about those things, such as shows on the nick jr/noggin channel. Only thing is, they don't really have fantasy elements & villains like rb does, but they are about kindness & caring & sharing.

Some other cartoon channels however, totally scare me with mindlessness and bullying. I definitely agree that we need to keep the innocence!

The thing that bothers me is, the non jr version of nickelodeon has more mindless cartoons on it. It's like they think as kids get older they should abandon the messages of kindness and innocence.

[Starvoyager]

Nickelodeon is owned by MTV. They use Nick to shape the toddlers into ravenous teenage consumers who will gobble up the social/slutty/fashion/punk crap that MTV is selling to everyone.

What better way to ensure you can keep selling your product, than to control the development of future generations?

[TheWendybird]

While I agree with you on Nickelodeon and stuff I feel you've left out a lot of other stuff i hear you say all the time but then again I guess it's obvious in other threads. So I forgive you

To the original poster:

I dunno what happened to it but I can see the progression when i look back on my life...I've stayed a perpetual child (as has Starvoyager) and I feel like most stuff doesn't appeal to me now except for the generic dinosaur stuff that is out there....and disney's faeries...I still kinda like Barbie..i can't believe people thought she was a horrible influence back in the day and now today look what kids play with..oh to go back to the innocence of even BARBIE ....I turned to him and said "Do you think anyones buying Barbie anymore?" simply cause so many other more horrible things have come in her place...thank the gods at least there is SOME form of my little pony and care bears still out....tho I miss the old school more. But i'm bias. We try to keep to the old school shows when it comes to kids stuff...not that we have a lot but there isn't much interest in watching the new stuff. We have Rainbow Brite...some Jem and the Holograms...I want the old Ninja Turtles cartoon ...i refuse to watch the new one. I'd love to have the care bears. The new stuff doesn't peak my interest...USUALLY anyhow...i'm sure there's been something I can't think of at the moment. But if you look back on the last 20 years or so you see how things went downhill. I don't remember enjoying very much of what society has to offer since the early 90's. Back when Neon colored clothes were "da bomb" back when people still thought it was cool to yell "COWABUNGA!!!" back when you didn't get weird looks for wearing overalls...back when movies were actually GOOD! (May I just add we watched Twilight finally and are appalled at how bad the acting and plot were done/moving along...had potential but MY GAWD is that what qualifies as good entertainment today? sorry if anyone liked it but i'm just voicing my personal opinion let's not hijack this for the movie lol I just think this story being marketed to tweens doesn't help the matter any).

Companies try to act like kids want this stuff and that's why they're making it. I am willing to bet any amount of money that if they didn't start this..and if they all werent trying to one up each other in the over sexualizing of dolls and all they were making was sweet innocent stuff like we use to know...kids would be FINE. They'd be just as happy if it wasn't being pushed in their faces. But when you tell a kid "this is what you should want" they end up wanting it majority of the time....that's how advertising works. And media and advertising are ruining children today and innocence is going out the window faster than ever. Just look at some of the kids under 10 who dress like they're 40.

[Dialga-Brite]

Just thought I'd share the names of the shows I've been watching on nick jr (so you have an idea what shows I was talking about)... but I still like rainbow brite & the g1 mlp shows even better!

I like:
ni hao, kai-lan
wow wow wubbzy
max & ruby
pinky dinky doo
maggie & the ferocious beast

^^ these I don't think are that bad, because they teach good messages, just they don't have much fantasy elements & villains to overcome

I DON'T like (because they're mindless & corruptive):
spongebob
fairly odd parents
.... and that kind of stuff that's only on the more grown up nickelodeon

[Tilas]

Cartoons have lost their innocence to me. When I was little watching things like Rainbow Brite, sure there was conflict, but it was *harmless* conflict. There were lessons to be learned and stories to be told. So many cartoons now rely on fart/puke/burp jokes, crude humor, things exploding or just right out violence. The biggest complain is the "sex appeal". We do we need cartoons about preteen SLUTS? (I'm sorry, but that's what Bratz ARE) Why do we need cartoons where the girls have to dress up like hookers to be "fashionable"? Where the entire story revolves around wether or not they get a DATE that night or have a pimple? What happened to the REAL storylines?
Rainbow wasn't like that, she was as feminine as any girl, but she didn't need to dress and act like a skank to get people to like her. She had that innocent beauty about her. Innocent as a child, but strong and sensible as an adult. The plots in RB, while at times a little silly, were actual PLOTS. There was a purpose and a reason for them, not just regurtitated crap about boys, sex, and looks.

I agree with Wendy in a way about the media corrupting kids, but also, the parents are corrupting them too by ALLOWING them to watch that garbage. If I had kids, I'd never let them watch shows like spongebob, I'd show them a DVD like Rainbow Brite, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, Care Bears, or Astroboy! Even shows like Gargoyles were excellent shows for kids. It had a dark theme sure, but the entire series was about lifes lessons, about morals and consequences, and about learning. The stuff today just can't compare to the shows we got in the 80's and 90's.....

[TheWendybird]

Cartoons have lost their innocence to me. When I was little watching things like Rainbow Brite, sure there was conflict, but it was *harmless* conflict. There were lessons to be learned and stories to be told. So many cartoons now rely on fart/puke/burp jokes, crude humor, things exploding or just right out violence. The biggest complain is the "sex appeal". We do we need cartoons about preteen SLUTS? (I'm sorry, but that's what Bratz ARE) Why do we need cartoons where the girls have to dress up like hookers to be "fashionable"? Where the entire story revolves around wether or not they get a DATE that night or have a pimple? What happened to the REAL storylines?
Rainbow wasn't like that, she was as feminine as any girl, but she didn't need to dress and act like a skank to get people to like her. She had that innocent beauty about her. Innocent as a child, but strong and sensible as an adult. The plots in RB, while at times a little silly, were actual PLOTS. There was a purpose and a reason for them, not just regurtitated crap about boys, sex, and looks.

I agree with Wendy in a way about the media corrupting kids, but also, the parents are corrupting them too by ALLOWING them to watch that garbage. If I had kids, I'd never let them watch shows like spongebob, I'd show them a DVD like Rainbow Brite, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, Care Bears, or Astroboy! Even shows like Gargoyles were excellent shows for kids. It had a dark theme sure, but the entire series was about lifes lessons, about morals and consequences, and about learning. The stuff today just can't compare to the shows we got in the 80's and 90's.....

Here here! Oh and I loved all those cartoons you mentioned too! I was hardcore about care bears and astro boy when I was like 7. And GARGOYLES is SO true....i LOVED LOVED LOVED that one. Got a Gargoyles t-shirt this past year..i think from Hot Topic...with Goliath on the front. That was something I noticed about that series the moment I started watching it when I was like 11....it had lessons...but it also has Shakespeare characters..though not totally in their original forms I think it encourages kids to take a look at the arts. I was into shakespeare pretty early so to see them pop up on Gargoyles I thought was just too cool haha.

[Major Ursa]

I think alot of today's cartoons are just plain boring compared to the cartoons of the 80's. I think the classic cartoons like Looney Tunes have far more taste when it comes to humor compared to Spongebob Squarepants.

[Dialga-Brite]

Cartoons have lost their innocence to me. When I was little watching things like Rainbow Brite, sure there was conflict, but it was *harmless* conflict. There were lessons to be learned and stories to be told. So many cartoons now rely on fart/puke/burp jokes, crude humor, things exploding or just right out violence. The biggest complain is the "sex appeal". We do we need cartoons about preteen SLUTS? (I'm sorry, but that's what Bratz ARE) Why do we need cartoons where the girls have to dress up like hookers to be "fashionable"? Where the entire story revolves around wether or not they get a DATE that night or have a pimple? What happened to the REAL storylines?
Rainbow wasn't like that, she was as feminine as any girl, but she didn't need to dress and act like a skank to get people to like her. She had that innocent beauty about her. Innocent as a child, but strong and sensible as an adult. The plots in RB, while at times a little silly, were actual PLOTS. There was a purpose and a reason for them, not just regurtitated crap about boys, sex, and looks.

I agree with Wendy in a way about the media corrupting kids, but also, the parents are corrupting them too by ALLOWING them to watch that garbage. If I had kids, I'd never let them watch shows like spongebob, I'd show them a DVD like Rainbow Brite, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, Care Bears, or Astroboy! Even shows like Gargoyles were excellent shows for kids. It had a dark theme sure, but the entire series was about lifes lessons, about morals and consequences, and about learning. The stuff today just can't compare to the shows we got in the 80's and 90's.....

Not ALL of todays cartoons are like this (I know you didn't say ALL, but just pointing out). The nick jr cartoons don't use fart/burp jokes & crude humor, nor are they about sex appeal and getting a date. I too hate shows where it's just about getting a date. VERY much! But I think there are still some cartoons of today that have good morals to be told. Like for instance, Max & Ruby to me seems to teach about open-mindedness. Watch the new Wow Wow Wubbzy special that's on tv this week - one of the main messages is "being yourself". I agree that there are too many cartoons today like spongebob, and those *really* bother me, but not EVERYTHING today is like that.

[Chibi Rachy]

Just thought I'd share the names of the shows I've been watching on nick jr (so you have an idea what shows I was talking about)... but I still like rainbow brite & the g1 mlp shows even better!

I like:
ni hao, kai-lan
wow wow wubbzy
max & ruby
pinky dinky doo
maggie & the ferocious beast

Max and Ruby as well as Maggie are based off books to begin with. Ni Hao is just feeding off the language thing that Dora spawned.

I think alot of today's cartoons are just plain boring compared to the cartoons of the 80's. I think the classic cartoons like Looney Tunes have far more taste when it comes to humor compared to Spongebob Squarepants.

I was forbidden to watch Looney Tunes growing up. My mom thought it had too much violence, so it was not allowed in our house. Of course, when she tried to do the same thing with the Simpsons, I fought her on that; it gets a laugh these days. I grew up liking Power Rangers though and I still love the originals.

I'll agree that shows today lack a certain quality, but I think that kids' cartoons targeted at the 5-8 year olds have increased on the stupidity. I was a tomboy, so I never went for the girly stuff; hated it. I did do the Barbie thing but even she was easily tossed aside for an action figure. Boys' toys were always cooler anyway...and pink was not a favorite.

Boys had strong characters to look up to and the shows did have morals. Today they still get some of that, but it's all about the effects and the muscles. I mean, when they released the 15th anniversary Red Ranger series, all those Rangers were beefed up on the muscles. These Rangers (for the most part) are teenage boys... it was like Rangers, on steroids.

We've mentioned girls and the media image given to them, but what about the boys too? Where does "strength" draw the line, and how is it to be interpretated?