On this day :
1884 Washington Monument completed, 1777 Whitemarsh skirmishes turn in Americans favor, 1976 Deaf stuntwoman Kitty ONeil sets womens landspeed record, 1865 13th Amendment ratified, 1987 Protests against Soviet treatment of Jews take place in Washington and Moscow, 1868 Train robbers reach the end of the line, 1917 Ships explode in Canadian harbor, 1907 The Monongah coal mine disaster, 1917 The Great Halifax Explosion, 1921 Irish Free State declared, 2005 Brokeback Mountain premieres, 1933 Ulysses is ruled not obscene, 1969 The Altamont Festival brings the 1960s to a violent end, 1749 FrenchCanadian explorer La Verendrye dies, 1884 Monument to Washington completed, 1992 Jerry Rice scores recordbreaking touchdown, 1961 Operation Farm Gate combat missions authorized, 1972 Fighting continues in South Vietnam while negotiators talk in Paris, 1917 Munitions ship explodes in Halifax, 1941 Roosevelt to Japanese emperor Prevent further death and destruction,

Essays

Adults and Cartoons

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Personally, I feel it is a very wrong notion that cartoons are only for children. In fact, I shall venture further to say that adults can enjoy cartoons much more than children. When Walt Disney made the first animated movie, he expected full – grown people to pay to watch it. The television show Looney Tunes was intended to be watched by adults. There are a large number of cartoons deemed inappropriate for children and if we were to include Japanese cartoons in our count, this would exceed the number of cartoons appropriate for children. Let me suggest a cartoon for adults.

Tom and Jerry and the Looney Tunes, if I may. Apart from the mindless violence which perhaps appeals to children, these shows were full of cultural references and a pun or two in the right place. As children, we do not understand many of these because of our limited knowledge of the world. Certainly, if one watches a “children’s” show or movie again, which one had seen years ago, they may find the dialogues greatly funnier because on growing older we understand hidden meanings, malapropisms, ironies and parodies.

The world of cartoons is full of gems and I should recommend everything that Hanna – Barbera ever produced for fear of missing out on anything. Then, of course, apart from these, there are cartoons with more mature content. I will mention Generator Rex as an example. The plot is very deep, the characters have shades of grey and are not invincible like those in Tom & Jerry. This is similar to the difference between a book by R.L. Stine and one by Sidney Sheldon.

However, we cannot truly find shows that appeal to adults only in America. For that we must travel westward from America, where cartoons are called ‘anime’. Resisting personal opinion, American and Japanese cartoons both have charms of their own and cannot be compared to one another. In Japan, cartoons are not moderated for children and adults can find content made specifically for them. To name a few, Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are popular anime.

All in all, I, one day would like to see that people shed this belief that cartoons are for children, because in the process they are losing on some great literature.

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