What’s up, Doc?

I got a chance to watch some of Cartoon Network's Looney Tunes marathon today and it made me realize how much I'd missed those classic Warner Brothers' cartoons.

I don't want to sound like a curmudgeon, but I've been treated to quite a few of the current cartoons via my nephews and — aside from maybe “Sponge Bob Squarepants” and “Total Drama Island” — there are few designed to hold the attention of kids and adults.

That was the genius of Bugs and Daffy and the crew, and a few others (“Underdog,” “Popeye,” “Scooby Doo,” “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” “The Flintstones” and “The Pink Panther” and later toons like “Danger Mouse” and early “Ren and Stimpy”). They weren't just for kids. Their jokes were tied to elements in the larger adult culture, while also working the baser, simpler physical stuff for laughs.

Having introduced my nephews to “Underdog” and “Tom and Jerry,” I knew they would appreciate the skewed, surreal landscape of Warner's toons.

Kids, after all, instinctively like the anti-establishment wiseguy (Bugs) and view the world through a surreal lens.

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Sent from my Verizon Wireless LGVX9900 device.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet