RSS Atom
Last night I watched “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”. You know, the original one. The good one with the voice of Boris Karloff. Every year I watch it. Once a year had always been enough. For years, that was it for television. Once a season. The good old days….before overkill. Now it is on the day after Thanksgiving and then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the “Grinchy Weekend”. And sometimes even on Christmas Eve. But I will watch it once.
I have also seen “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. You know, the other one. The one with Jim Carrey and a cast of thousands. Every year now it’s on cable and regular channels with a frequency that rivals toy commercials. I was not happy with this one. Maybe I was a snob or a traditionalist. I don’t know. I have always thought that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The original was perfection. Not too long. It held a child’s attention.
Now it is a rarity to see animation. Or maybe I should say cartoon animation. Kids today are being raised on children’s television that is a mish mash of styles. The Disney channel shows stuff like Hannah Montana and the Wizards of Waverly Place. If you want to see a cartoon, maybe you will be lucky to catch one in the middle of the night or after dinner they may show “The Little Mermaid” …but only if you are lucky.
If you turn on Nickelodeon, you may be treated to Jimmy Neutron. Computer generated animation is very cool, don’t get me wrong. But what happened to Bugs Bunny? A whole story was told in ten minutes. What we saw back then was drawing after drawing from a cartoonist’s pencil. They took time and alot of talent. Now the kids get SpongeBob, who, while still awesome, is just lacking in depth.
I have tried to watch the cartoon Grinch with kids and they are just not interested. “It has songs” “It don’t have explosions” and “It’s boring” are a few of the comments that I have heard. Yet, if I turn on the movie version, they will sit mesmerized as trees around Whoville are blown up or set on fire. They find it amusing to see the Grinch vandalize the post office and the gifts.
I don’t find it funny at all. I have noticed that I am saddened to see my old favorites being passed over in favor of full length toy pitches. I remember the magic of Rudolf and Charlie Brown. I remember the laughter. I remember all the songs. I remember sitting with my parents and it was a family ‘event’.
What will today’s kids remember?
18 Comments »
{ RSS feed for comments on this post} · { TrackBack URI }
Sybil Law said:
on December 1, 2009 at 9:31 PMWhat?!!! My kid LOVES the cartoon Grinch and all the other classics. Maybe because WE do, and so therefore that’s what she’s been brought up with, but… man. WTF kinda of weirdo kids are you with?!
Also, she sees plenty of old Tom and Jerry cartoons and whatever. Again – it’s what we can all watch as a family and enjoy.
Tug said:
on December 1, 2009 at 9:43 PMI buy all the old classics whenever I can, & the grandkids love watching them with their mama & I!
Mik said:
on December 1, 2009 at 10:04 PMI prefer the older version too, have to introduce the grand kids to the original versions.
HoosierGirl said:
on December 1, 2009 at 10:06 PMToday’s kids will remember Spongebob. My teens QUOTE it to each other. It’s scary.
I totally agree with you on the original Grinch. It’s the best.
J.
Metalmom said:
on December 1, 2009 at 11:48 PMSybilLaw-My own kids loved a mixture of all the different cartoons. They learned the originals because Hubs and I watched them. The little ones that come here all have younger parents who use the TV as a babysitter at home.
Metalmom said:
on December 1, 2009 at 11:50 PMTug-We own so many of the classics from Tom & Jerry and Huckleberry Hound to all of the Disney classics and Bugs Bunny. The only thing is that now they are all on VHS and we need to upgrade!!
Metalmom said:
on December 1, 2009 at 11:51 PMMik-It’s becoming more and more the grandparent’s job to do that, unfortunately. Make sure you include Daffy Duck!! And have you ever seen ‘Danger Mouse’?
Metalmom said:
on December 1, 2009 at 11:52 PMHoosierGirl-What’s not to love about SpongeBob?? I love Patrick personally!!
Tug said:
on December 2, 2009 at 12:02 AMI found something on worldstart.com that will transfer videos to DVD’s…haven’t tried it yet, but I have it.
Mik said:
on December 2, 2009 at 12:22 AMDanger Mouse! dang haven’t seen that in a long while.
Metalmom said:
on December 2, 2009 at 7:18 AMTug-That sounds like something that I’ll need to check out! Thanks!
Metalmom said:
on December 2, 2009 at 7:19 AMMik-Hubs and I were big fans of DM. We were just watching it not too long ago.
Finn said:
on December 2, 2009 at 9:59 AMI actually like both of the Grinches. The old one for nostalgia (and because it’s true to the book) and the new one because I think Jim Carrey was an excellent choice for that role.
My son loves to watch the old Rudolph and the other Christmas specials. We do it every Christmas Eve. I can’t help but wish these things would only be on once a season so it could be an “event.”
Grant said:
on December 2, 2009 at 10:42 AMI agree that the Grinch didn’t need to be remade, but to me the real problem with it was that they felt the need to add back-story (the Grinch’s childhood) and that they changed him from being mean for no reason to being a victim of prejudice and abuse. That made me cheer for the Grinch in the hopes he would draw Who-blood.
Metalmom said:
on December 2, 2009 at 10:44 AMFinn-I found the later Grinch to be overly dark, for a movie that,even though it was PG and aimed at an older audience,far too many younger kids saw it.
I loved all the holiday shows and my parents made them an event by buying JiffyPop, turning off the lights and sitting down to watch them with us.
Robin said:
on December 2, 2009 at 11:26 AMCan you guess which is my favorite xmas movie?
Metalmom said:
on December 2, 2009 at 12:35 PMGrant-That is exactly it. Why the need for that? Why not just have him go postal and take out Martha Mae?
Metalmom said:
on December 2, 2009 at 12:37 PMRobin-You are a huge fan of Heat Miser and Snow Miser.I just know it!!