My 2 year old daughter has be watching Snow White over and over and over. She must have watched it 100 times this past weekend. Anyway, it began to bother me that when the dwarves though Snow White was dead, they thought she was so beautiful that THEY DECIDED TO KEEP THE BODY! The is a term for this, but it alludes me right now. I kinda creeps me out now.
She also likes Blue Clues. Everything in the house talks. Though I haven't seen him lately, (Since Joe took over), Slippery Soap was a Talking Bar of Soap. STEVE WOULD NEED TO SHOWER SOME TIME and since Slippery Soap is the ONLY bar of soap in the house... It's too creepy to think about.
Now I know this last one is NOT a kids show but I had to mention it. I saw this commercial for a new drug to alieviate "Over active Bladder." But a side effect was diarrhea!!!! The commercial ran the saying, "Do you suffer from frequent urges to go to the bathroom." My thought was, "You won't need to Pee but you'll have the urge to do something else!!!!
Ewwwww!
This....is disturbing.
If your kid ever ask "Why did they put Snow White in a glass box, daddy", it shows your daughter is develouping critical thinking skills. Still glad i wont have to answer her........
Man, i hate those "personal problim" commercials. Do we realy have to see them? Telemarketers, and "Personal needs" commercials....two areas of life that need serious addressing...with lots and lots of firepower. Lets hope they go up aginst the wall when the revolution comes.
TELETUBBIES creep me out. They're like watching David Cronenberg's The Brood on a bad acid trip.
Well besides snow white being preserved dead, she was a sing woman living with 7 men. Not exactly "snow white" now was she.
I always had a problem with mr. rogers. You teach your kids about good touch bad touch and creepy people and strangers and here's a guy who enters your living room every day and changes clothes while singing "please won't you be my neighbor". Then he plays with puppets.
Beaty and the beast borders on the laws of beastiality (tho it may be legal in some states)
Ah, Teletubbies - living in an artificial environment that clearly hides something more. What sort of instruments, machinery and such exists beneath that astroturf? I mean, a speaker pops out of the ground and an unseen person orders them about. Objects are dropped in front of them to see how they react. They're rats in a maze, trapped in some experiment in which they are under constant observation. And why to they fear the big pinwheel? When it starts to spin, they all go "oh oh." Why?
What would happen if they ventured beyond their little confined area? Would they be steadily discouraged until they eventually find the door, like Truman Burbank? Would they be attacked by a weather balloon? Have they just been brainwashed into thinking there's nowhere to go, like THX 1138?
There is something really disturbing about Teletubbies when you think about what it teaches kids about personal freedom, independence and privacy.
Aside from that, I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that baby in the sun is really creepy.
Canadian kids had Mr. Dressup. This was a guy who had a "tickle trunk" full of weird costumes he'd dress up in every day. He also had a little boy and a dog living in a treehouse in his back yard. Their relationship was never explained.
I have to ask this but is anybody here from europe? I heard from someone awhile back who said there was a kids show where they had a character named Master Bates but they took it off after i guess somebody realized the pun.
I've always thought that Oswald on Nickelodeon is quite disturbing. In fact, I think that's what the world will look like when the stars are right and Cthulhu comes back. Think about it:
Oswald = Cthulhu - he's a big ol' octopus
Weenie (the dog) = Hound of Tindalos
Henry (the penguin) = Nyarlathotep - Come on...the man in black...a penguin!
There are lots of other freaky characters on the show too.
tyler
"Oh, no! Dead girl OFF the table!"
--Shrek
I've watched a few children's programs on Spanish language channels, end every one was hosted by a buxom, scantily-clad woman. Should little kids be seeing that?
Mr. Rogers always bothered me too. He always seemed like he took a hit of ether before walking through that door.
Even Sesame Street could be disturbing. The Count was a pimp. He wore a cape and a purple and green suit, and whenever a supermodel or attractive actress guest starred they were hanging out at the count's pad.
The way Cookie Monster's eyes bugged out I wonder what was in those baked treats. And he always binged and purged, never actually swallowing the cokies.
I guess it would be traumatizing to fin out the loveable seven dwarves you hugged at Disneyland turned out to be necrophiliacs... that is disturbing.
And lets not forget Capt. Kangaroo. The pingpong balls could have been some subtle reffrence to male fertility. Sheesh. And to think the Capt. and Mr. Greenjeans were once Marines.
Teletubbies : I think the purple one is gay!
Snow White : Would you eat food made by animals?
Oswald : Weenie (the dog) =Looks like a hotdog.
Henry (the penguin) = Hates water!
Doria : There is a talking monkey Boots who loves his boots and cannot speak Spanish like Doria.
Blue's Clues : Everthing in the house talks but the dogs!
Jay Jay The Jet Plane : Planes have feelings, faces, allergies, and can talk!
Oh yes, those talking planes are creepy looking too. Funny, there are a few kids' shows that just have a creepy look to them. I always thought that about Rugrats.
How about the popular "Bob the Builder"? The Home and Garden channel on hallucinagins.
There are some shows that I refuse to let my daughters watch. There is so much I can take.
Like :
Barney
Rugrats
Dragon Tales
Little Bill
What is up with the shape of the Rugrats' heads? They must have been savagely beaten at some point.
Anyone ever watch Gigglesnort Hotel on local Chicago TV? My young mind couldn't handle gender-bending, so I was quite disturbed by Dirty Dragon's girlfriend who appeared to be a cross-dresser or transexual of some sort. Then there was the Martian monster with one eye who scared the crap outta me. Weird in his superhero mode was almost as frightening. BJ was a genius with puppets,it's too bad he's off in California teaching art to college students instead of disturbing new generations of kids.
And while I'm on the topic, what about the Muppets news segment where the furniture started eating people?? Who thought that would be a good thing for kids to watch? I already had issues with thinking the toilet was an angry homonculus who was inevitably going to devour my tush, I didn't need couch-o-phobia on top of that.
Ugh, Dragon Tales...my niece watches that sometimes. I just wanna beat that one clueless dragon to death.
I can't handle Teletubbies, but you have to remember it's designed for very young kids, so it's very repetitive. One time they found a ball and it took them 15 minutes to all find it and say, "A ball..."
J.R. wrote:
>
> What is up with the shape of the Rugrats' heads? They must
> have been savagely beaten at some point.
Either that, or their mothers were heavy drinkers during their pregnancy .
I was always wigged out by the Smurfs. One girl and like a hundred guys. Plus, according to my wife (she evidently watched it often), Smurfette was not even a real Smurf - she was some sort of construct made by Gargamel.
Not sure about the spelling on the bad guy's name, but you get the idea.
Re: Smurfs - somebody really explain where baby smurf came from? smurfette was a smurfy whore! Papa had his own set of problems. I never quite understood gargamels obsession with eating them - so what if they tasted good? I hear they stain your teeth blue.
Hmmm...a bunch of little blue people who speak gibberish and live in mushrooms. I wonder from wence the inspiration for that sprang? I have a firm belief that most cartoon creators are stoners. Check out Cartoon Network early Saturday mornings and check out the shows from the '70s and you'll see I'm right.
And of course there's the homo-erotic undertones in He-Man and Thundercats.
Take the subject title as you will. Could mean anything, couldn't it? : )
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Susan wrote:
"Somebody really explain where baby smurf came from?"
The Stork.
There was an episode where they gained the creatively named Baby Smurf. He came by Stork.
Now where the Stork got him, I don't know. Probably a factory of some sort. God knows sex wasn't involved.
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J.R. wrote:
"Hmmm...a bunch of little blue people who speak gibberish and live in mushrooms. I wonder from wence the inspiration for that sprang? I have a firm belief that most cartoon creators are stoners. "
The Smurfs were a popular comic strip before becoming cartoon. The strip was run in Spain, I believed.
(EDIT 8/15/02: From the IMDb - "The Smurfs made their debut in 1958 in a Belgian comic strip drawn by Pierre 'Peyo' Culliford." Now I feel dumb...)
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I watch The Smurfs constantly as a kid. I had a Papa Smurf and Smurfette dolls, read the comics when Marvel released them, even owned the Smurf video game.
Now that I'm an adult, I've found that I hate the Smurfs. Every last one of them
Go, go Gargamel!
Oh My God!!!
Someone who has actually seen Gigglesnort Hotel.
I had put a post in regards to this back on an earlier topic-silly movies that terrified us as kids. I never thought to mention that it was a Chicago area viewing pleasure only. But what others have missed out on will just amaze them if they ever get a chance to see it. Dirty Dragon was a cool character. His girlfriend -she was different. BJ was good with the puppets yes. Of course Blob was down right amazing himself. A pile of moldable clay that moaned and groaned and mumbled about anything including the times he was being shaped into something. Oh yes and the giggly little guy who was the bellhop. I have these on video and I cannot get enough of them.
I know the mileage of the movie DONNIE DARKO is going to very much vary from person to person, but I think anybody interested in what exactly was going on in the Smurf village should check it out at least once. For the smurf scene, of course.
Does anybody remember Sid and Marty Krofft.
Talk about disturbing kids shows, how about the 60's children show-- H R PUFNSTUF??? A dragon who was a mayor of the island, a boy and a magic flute, Witchiepoo. This is reaching I know. They even did a newer series called Pufnstuf based on the same characters. Or I have one better than that... Sigmund and The Sea Monsters. Sigmund- played by Billy Barty no less- a sea monster who is picked on by his family because he is not scary enough and befriends two boys. Of course if I reach this far, Sid and Marty Krofft even had their own variety show on TV as well.
I watched these all as a kid and still do in reruns, I even have some i recorded to watch. Since they are also on VHS I think I will be getting them soon - without commercials.
There is no way to describe these shows except for DISTURBING. If you get the chance and find it or see it , you will understand what I mean.
I've seen PuffnStuff. Let me see, a boy is transported to a colorful island by a narrow tube and the mayor of the land has puff in his name and billows of smoke poured out of Witchie Poo's lair. My firm belief applies to live action as well.
I watched Gigglesnort Hotel. I only remember bits and pieces though.
Hey Cullen, to my memory wasn't there only a couple of smurfs who actually wore clothes? Or pants at least. Obviously sex wasn't involved unless they got organs in places I don't know about. Still when kids grow up and realize there is no stork the questions will come about baby. I remember hearing that gargamel actually created smurfette as some scheme to get to them..i don't know if that's true but it might explain why she was the only female in a giant colony of presumably male smurfs. But if you can brew up a smurf that's some evil stuff.
As far as the commercials are concerned, my question is, why advertise for these types of medicine like propecia with so much side effects such as diarreah, dry mouth, insomnia, stomach aches, "frequent trips to the bathroom", etc.? Why buy these thing to make one part of you better and other parts like crap?
What about the Electric Company? Easy Reader was a bigger pimp than the Count (He had a girl named Mel Mounds for crying out loud! And about half a dozen other women too) And the bad guys in Spidey Super Stories, man alive. Kilofax Mango had to be my favorite writer of that old stuff. Read any of his issues of Spidey Super Stories, and your mind will melt.
"Hey Cullen, to my memory wasn't there only a couple of smurfs who actually wore clothes? Or pants at least."
With few exceptions, the Smurfs wore pants and a hat. The hats varied for job function/personality. Greedy Smurf, for instance, had a baker's cap, Vanity Smurf had a flower in his cap, and so on.
Of the Smurfs you regularly saw, only Papa Smurf had color in his wardrobe, and only Papa Smurf and Smurfette had hair.
(Side note: Later in the series, the creators added more new Smurfs that contradict what I've said, such as Grandpa Smurf and Sassette. These new characters started my gradual disenchantment with The Smurfs series. In other words, I'm pretending they don't exist to maintain what little fondness I have left for the show...)
"Still when kids grow up and realize there is no stork the questions will come about baby"
Except there was a Stork in Baby's case. Now, if you never caught episode where Baby was introduced, then there'd be questions...
(Side note: As kids, my middle brother and I never missed an episode of The Smurfs. It warped our fragile little minds, I tell you...)
"I remember hearing that gargamel actually created smurfette as some scheme to get to them..i don't know if that's true but it might explain why she was the only female in a giant colony of presumably male smurfs."
This is true. Gargamel did indeed make Smurfette. Which begs the question if he wanted to eat the Smurfs (or uses them to turn lead into gold - his reasons for catching Smurfs changed later in the series) why didn't he make them himself? Wouldn’t be easier (and less frustrating) than trying to catch them?
(Sidenote: When Smurfette was Gargamel's evil helper, she had black hair. When she was "turned good," as it were, she became a blonde. Never bothered me as a kid, but now I just shake my head...)
There was a parody of those commercials that I really enjoyed. It was for an online stock trading service, but looked like a dead serious advertisement for a medication to treat some common complaint, baldness or something.
"Side effects may include headache, nausea, dry mouth, complete loss of all body hair, gigantic eyeball, the condition known as hotdog fingers, children born with the head of a golden retreiver...." and so on. Cut to the guy rushing to sell his stock in the company. Hilarious.
There are a few questions I've had about the smurfs. All seem to be about the same age, except one really old guy. The only thing close to that I can think of is the Horta on Star Trek. Is the Smurf reproductive cycle like that?
Gargamel made smurfette to take advantage of the smurfs' natural urges, but they don't appear to have any females naturally. Why have the urges?
On the subject of the Thundercats, I found one thing puzzling. In the first episode, we see all of them naked, and they have no genitalia! Hidden by fur? It would have to be pretty small. I mean, every muscle shows through, but not the naughty bits. I know you can't show that in a kids' show, but wouldn't it be less bizarre to just dress the Thundercats from the beginning?
My husband thinks about the wal-mart commercials with that smiley face going around slashing prices. If he saw that happening he would never go back to wal-mart again. Also, some of the commercials have gotten so bad that they have disclaimer at the bottom of screen which nobody can read.
What happen to tell the truth? My husband told me that some of the kids shows were just 30 minutes commercials to sell the toys.
I don't know that Gargamel could make a genuine, usable smurf. As I recall, Smurfette was considered artificial until Papa Smurf worked his mojo on her and made her a real smurf (and a blonde). I could be wrong. It was a long time ago.
>>>Which begs the question if he wanted to eat the Smurfs (or uses them to turn lead into gold - his reasons for catching Smurfs changed later in the series) why didn't he make them himself? <<<
Exactly.
>>As kids, my middle brother and I never missed an episode of The Smurfs. It warped our fragile little minds, I tell you<<
Glutton for punishment? I only watched them I think back in 79 or 81..somewhere in that time frame when I owned my one and only smurf shirt when it was new and novel. Then I went back to my superfriends, I only strayed to the dark side a short while.
>>When Smurfette was Gargamel's evil helper, she had black hair. When she was "turned good," as it were, she became a blonde. <<
Shouldn't it have been the other way around? ;-) Well I guess only a blonde would live with a village of men. Oops..did I say that?
Didn't papa wear red? Hmm. I think I asked about the clothes because I have this memory of whie tight pants and a creepy little ball of a tail out the back end. Smurfette I remember was very flirtatious and wore a dress but I don't have a memory of underwear, brainy always got kicked for being smart (can't have that in smurfville) You gotta wonder how they reproduce tho if the only females were genetically created. I mean the storks brings it sure..but let's get real.
Here's someone's take on the smurfs that's kind of interesting:
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Cinema/3117/sociosmurf2.htm
I remember that shows, most because I had a traumatic experience during one episode (revolving around the sudden inability of my body to properly dispose of some waste products - ouch!). I only saw half of the episode, but I remember it.
Hey where did you get Gigglesnort eps? I need those!
Apparently Blob's sound effects were on a tape loop and the engineers just played it randomly - don't know if BJ was improving to the random sounds or what. Also, I heard that the WGN props people wanted to operate Blob because to them, he wasn't really a puppet. Fortunately the puppetteers overruled them.
Electric Company - remember the episode where Morgan Freeman was dressed up like Dracula and running around with his tongue hanging out, after some little white guy in Lederhosen? Funniest - episode - ever. There was one with a ghost that scared me to death. Also Rita Moreno scared me in general. The kids on the show were total dorks though, even a little nerd like me could figure that out.
>brainy always got kicked for being smart.
No, as I recall, Brainy got kicked 50 yards for being annoying by babbling like he was a know-it-all. Which he was'nt.
Brainy was the embodiment of the Scarecrow's answer to Dorothy's question "If you don't have a brain, how can you talk?"
SC-"Well, I've heard that people with no brains tend to talk a lot. It makes them look like they have brains.
(Yeah, I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea)
I remember back on the old "Late Night with David Letterman" show they used to sometimes run over things with a steamroller. One of the things run over was a "cute loveable Smurf" doll. It was a very satisfying bit of television.
I'm an old guy who actually experienced the Smurfs as they came out in European comic books, hence I can clarify a few issues about Smurfette.
Indeed she was a creation of Gargamel. Alas, Gargamel's idea of a hot smurfette was off --he made her with black frizzy hair and short eyelashes. (Side-note: whenever cartoonists need a female version of a sexually undifferentiated cartoon-critter, they just add long eyelashes to the character).
Smurfette was ostracized by the smurfs, of course. She just came accross as a neurotic b***h, in the eyes of the male smurfs. Papa Smurf simply gave her a make-up do-over with a peroxyde 'doo and turned Smurfette into a sex symbol. So of all the smurfs, she would still be inedible to Gargamel, her metamorphosis being just cosmetic (though with Papa Smurf, one never knows).
***
Other clarifications:
The creator, Peyo, isn't Spanish, but Belgian. His name is Pierre Culliford and he invented the nom-de-plume Peyo based on his three year-old nephew 's mispronounciation of his first name.
Why are they blue?
This was a suggestion by Peyo's wife, who thought that the blue would look nice when set against the lushy green backdrop . Madame Culliford became the colourist for the comic books.
Origin of the name:
The original name is 'schtroumpf'. When Peyo asked for the saltshaker during a lunch with Franquin (creator of the Marsipulami), he asked "Please pass me the..." then sneezed out 'schtroumpf'.
My take:
The original comics were witty and inventive. A great read for kids, and quite OK for adults too. When they were Americanized, a lot of the charm was lost, and the whimsical humour demolished. Sad, sad, sad. Good Lord -- 'smurf ' doesn't at all sound like a sneeze :(
Oh shut the @#**! up. They are kids shows. damn dont take crap so seriously.
Death to the baby in the sky!