Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Memory Lane

I haven’t watched a good cartoon in a long time.  I am an avid Family Guy fan, but I’m not sure that counts.  When I say cartoon, I mean a classic Scooby Doo or the now ‘retired’ PowerPuff Girls or Dexter’s Laboratory.  Those were great cartoons.  They had heart, lessons to be learned and at least one character to identify with.

When I was little, I could hardly go a day without watching/reading something Scooby Doo related.  Recently, I purchased a Mystery Machine box set of DVD’s, but its in the queue, way at the end too…but I do have the complete PowerPuff Girls Series and I am waiting it out for the Dexter’s Lab one.  I recently came across a discussion on Amazon about how greedy companies like Disney are. The reason we haven’t seen the next volumes for Chip and Dale or Ducktales is because they didn’t see enough sales on the previous sets.  I realise there has to be a cost benefit analysis, but as one of my other favourite cartoons finally made it to DVD, Pirates of the Dark Water, I wonder why they can’t use a Field of Dreams approach to things.  If you make it, people will buy it.

Honestly though, even in limited release, the people who want it will grab it, and the people who miss it, will pay anything to get it once it’s no longer available.  It’s really a win-win scenario, I think.

I am also a big Snoopy fan, if you don’t know me, this might be big news, but I do think I have the largest Met Life Snoopy collection this side of the world.  But I have noticed quite a few great Snoopy specials haven’t made it to DVD.  Most notable of those, one that made me cry even when I was a kid was Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown.  This cartoon had everything in it.  Good kids, bad kids and a great story that was about the whole Peanuts crew, not just my beloved Snoopy.  This movie is a heart-warming sort of story about doing the right thing, working together and being selfless. 

I feel like there aren’t cartoons like this out anymore.  Now it’s special effects and weak stories that rule the day.  Family Guy is great for its current events sort of humour, but really brings little else to the table.  If you want a wholesome cartoon, then you have to watch Boomerang for something of value.  For now, I guess I’ll have to get my cartoon fix from DVD’s.

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