This post originated roughly after the time I was found to be commemorating 'Care bears' on Facebook. How, one might ask? Oh by spreading the 'Care Bears' love. Makes me sound rather like a somewhat 'Care Bears' Angel, you know, like their own personal, loyal and dedicated messenger and all that but not one to lie or glorify, all I was really doing was randomly posting a picture of 'Care Bears' on the walls of others. Why, one might ask? Ah, a that question indicates that one does not know me well enough at all - you ask like I'm going to provide a sensible answer, c'mon dude, like there's ever any logic or reason behind anything I say or do.
'Care Bears', fo
r those that are unfamiliar all I got to say is that the title itself is pretty self-explanatory, nothing too complicated at play here, they are bears that er, care! They live amongst clouds and rainbows, and their sole purpose in life is to care - that is to bring about comfort and happiness to those that are found to be distressed. Doesn't it already just give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside? 'Care Bears' have a symbol on their belly which represents their character, a bit like the seven dwarfs, except they didn't have symbols on their tummies but what I mean is that they are similar in the sense that each is assigned a specific personality so each bear is therefore efficiently adapted for each situation. Apart from Grumpy Bear whom I didn't like very much, I felt he let the side down, and I know it's rather mean but he could well have been easily or accidentally omitted. Each episode these soft, cuddly bears would look down from the sky above and spot a troubled human, and make it their duty to unconditionally resolve the predicament that the individual was plagued with, and of course there would naturally be villains along the way to hinder the bears from achieving their mission. Simple formula really. And a simple message of love, good cheer and humanity. I remember the 'Care Bears' sticker album I had as a child, probably the only thing I have collected my whole lifetime, well, besides shoes and shotglasses. And the 'Care Bears' storybook that I read religiously, never once growing tired of it, always fresh and new. Ah, *sighs* memories.
♫ Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street? ♫ 'Sesame Street' was legendary. Puppets, music and educational material, what more seriously could a child desire? Or even an adult for that matter. 'Sesame Street' was genius. Every midday after nursery I would plonk myself in front of this utter brilliance whilst hungrily wolfing down my fish fingers, potato waffles, chicken nuggets and beans. And the characters were just fabulous - the cute, adorable Elmo who went on to become an A-list celeb, he has been missing from the circuit for a while now which makes me fear that perhaps fame went to his head, maybe there were a few kiss-and-tells, and that he is quite possibly currently booked into rehab for some terrible drug and alcohol addiction; roommates Bert and Ernie whom I hope have now stopped suppressing their feelings, have given in to the sexual tension and are residing as homosexual lovers in some remote country cottage; Cookie Monster and his mad obsession for the biscuity snack, I hope he has found solace as some sort of cookie baron on some cookie inspired island; and let's not forget Oscar the Grouch who lived in a trash can, no programme is complete without the token grumpy guy, I like to believe Oscar returned to Grouchland post 'Sesame Street', it's where his heart truly belonged. As I have grown from a preschooler to just two years short of the flirty thirties, I have noticed that the puppets I had plenty of lunch dates with have grown up too, many of them made guest-appearances on the funniest show ever, even funnier than 'Friends', tha
t's 'Scrubs' by the way folks, not too long ago and it was a reunion of some form, the faces were familiar but their innocence no longer remained. 'The Muppet Show' was another of my favourites, I include it here as it was similar to 'Sesame Street' to the extent where the puppeteers were shared, flitting between both programmes. And Kermit the Frog, the central character of 'The Muppet Show' was also a regular in 'Sesame Street'. It always confused me as a child, like how there were two identical Kermits in two different shows. Oh and 'The Muppet Show' also showered us with the immortal cuss that is 'Miss Piggy'.
'Scooby-Doo' which thankfully later morphed into 'Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo' was probably where my vast interest in the paranormal and horror movies stemmed from. It revolved around a bunch of five characters who tried to resolve mysteries, mysteries cleverly manipulated by the villain of that episode - there was never anything remotely spooky in nature involved, it was just a smoke-screen created by the deceiver. I never really cared much for Scooby-Doo or Shaggy, their cowardly characters never appealed to me, and the latter had an tramp-like element to him, he was
in dire need of a makeover. It was cute yet fiery Scrappy-Doo that I adored, such personality, such bravery. And the lovely 'I would've got away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids' declaration from the villain upon being exposed. I should mention 'The Real Ghostbusters' here too, as it follows the paranormal theme, and has a similar setup to 'Scooby-Doo' in that it features a team of ghost investigators/exterminators.Captain Planet of 'Captain Planet and the Planeteers' fame was, is, and shall always be my favourite superhero. Superman doesn't hold a torch to him. It's fair to say that yes, I do have a bit of a crush on the mighty guy. Captain Planet, in my eyes, is most probably the pinnacle of the ideal man - have you seen his physique?! It doesn't just stop there though my friends, for Captain Planet is all about the planet - such a sensitive soul, so considerate and caring. 'Captain Planet and the Planeteers' educated its viewers on the environment, with each episode dealing with an environmental related disaster be it pollution or toxic waste. The Planete
ers were five peeps each gifted with an elemental ring - earth, fire, wind, water, and heart - yes, I know it sounds weird but bear with me please! Power from the five rings combined would summon my dream hunk, that was pretty much the general idea. There were, as expected, villains along the way that the Planeteers had to overcome in order to save the environment, villains who represented various ecological disasters. Okay, so it may come across as a lame-ass superhero show to you but watch it and you'll be hooked. I recently even signed an online petition to bring back Captain Planet, and I urge you to do the same, in a world forever hounded with natural disasters we need an underrated green-blue combination of a figure. And it helps that he's easy on the eye. Very much so. *drools*.'ThunderCats', not to
be mistakened with 'Thunderbirds' which my mother did one rainy occassion, which in turn led to a catastrophe of enormous proportions, something that is etched permanently in my memory, and must stay only there, it must never find release - 'ThunderCats', another childhood favourite, even though I must confess that I hardly remember much of it in terms of plot and such. I vaguely recall a bunch of cat-like creatures, and something about a magical sword, it was a bit 'He-Man'-esque really. Oh and loads of scary looking mutant monster things. And Mumm-Ra, the arch nemesis and decayed Egyptian mummy who was gifted in dark arts and was completely indestructible. 'Thundercats' was all about action sequences, lots of flying through the air fighting fun, all that was required to keep a youngster entertained really.
'Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles', who later evolved into 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', no idea how or why, were four crime-fighting er, turtles who were aided in their purpose by Splinter, the master or brains behind the entire operation, and April who was not of the mutated animal variety in that she was completely human, and the crush of many young boys no doubt. There was something about Splinter that I just didn't like, maybe it was the whole giant rat-like aspect but he made me very uneasy, and I would watch each episode eagerly waiting for him to somehow be exposed as the baddie, which never happened. I thought it was trickery perhaps, that he had taken the turtles under his wing as a means of deception to destroy them, that this would be unmasked any day soon but alas, to my disappointment it was Shredder that remained the main enemy. I still to this day believe my theory on Splinter. It's just a matter of time before it's unearthed. You'll see.'Rude Dog an
d the Dweebs' was a ghetto cartoon. I loved the little yellow dweeb, he was so sweet! Rude Dog himself was a bit of a gangster, and the dweebs were a bunch of awkward-looking dogs whom he had somewhat adopted, they were rather intelligently challenged, often tricked by Seymour the alleycat until Rude Dog came along with his street-savvy knowledge to save the day. Bless them, the gullible wimps. There were also some dog-catchers thrown in for good measure, out to capture the dweebs, not always cleverly evaded however Rude Dog was always on hand to rescue them. He had a good heart that one.And that's a brief insight into the visual entertainment that graced my television set as a child. Wow, it's been great fun reliving these classics, and it makes me realise that kids in this day and age are deprived really - they truly don't make them like they used to.
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