Kids react to retro TV

[Dragonrider1227]

There's this series on youtube where they sit kids down and watch various things like internet memes and old cartoon openings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y9qGngsyA4
I found this one to Ducktales and they say they take suggestions in the comments so I vote we all suggest they show kids the 60s Astro Boy. I doubt we'd make new fans but I'd love to see their reaction to it XD

[jeffbert]

Kids are too "in your face" these days to enjoy old animated cartoons, in which kid characters are polite & obedient.

My brother married a mother of 2 girls, & both were teens at that time. Neither recognizes his authority. But, I suppose that is nothing new.

[Windswept Cloak]

Kids are too "in your face" these days to enjoy old animated cartoons, in which kid characters are polite & obedient.

My brother married a mother of 2 girls, & both were teens at that time. Neither recognizes his authority. But, I suppose that is nothing new.

I don't except a bunch of American children nowadays to be enjoying the black-and-white, English Astroboy, to be honest. Kids nowadays like all sorts of weird shows and ignore the old stuff even if some of the older shows are good. Same with Taiwanese kids. There are only 5 Tezuka fans in my whole school.

[Dante69]

I don't except a bunch of American children nowadays to be enjoying the black-and-white, English Astroboy, to be honest. Kids nowadays like all sorts of weird shows and ignore the old stuff even if some of the older shows are good. Same with Taiwanese kids. There are only 5 Tezuka fans in my whole school.

Yeah. Good thing anime conventions exist, or I would not see anybody else who enjoys anime/ retro cartoons. I need a friend...

[Yushee]

Usually I show my 5-year old brother anything that I like to watch, and showed him both the 1963 anime and the 1980 anime. He absolutely loved them. ;u;

And now he asks me to watch Astro Boy with him every so often. I have taught my brother the way of anime, my mission is complete. *Explodes into confetti*

[Juanita]

I feel like the 1980s show would be a better recommendation. Retro 80s stuff is in right now, and the dubbing/animation is a lot better (and it's in color!) I feel like some might like that version considering a lot of them surprisingly said they would watch Duck Tales.

[Earthshine]

I agree with SoPika, unfortunately a lot of youth are attracted to color more than black and white anything, and I've had my own struggles with showcasing the 1960s version of Astro Boy with various anime clubs across my city. However the reception for the 1980s version is slightly better.

Heck I remember one of my own friends saying "ew" when she saw me watching a black and white Marlyn Monroe film for the sole reason of it being black and white No class!!

[Fauna]

Kids are too "in your face" these days to enjoy old animated cartoons, in which kid characters are polite & obedient.

My brother married a mother of 2 girls, & both were teens at that time. Neither recognizes his authority. But, I suppose that is nothing new.

Jeffbert, that's a little much of a sweeping generalization. When I was a kid, I showed the 1980 AB series to my brother, and we both saw Astro as a good role model. Assumptions like that are usually what make kids lose interest in certain things. (Though what relevance does your brother's stepdaughters have to old cartoons?)

Adding onto the main topic, I think kids just need to be more comfortable with looking at older media. Western culture churns out so much media at once that it's so easy to overload a kid's senses, or make them feel like anything older than them is "before their time". It doesn't help when really old stuff has now-outdated material (i.e. 1940s Bugs Bunny cartoons where he starts shooting Japanese or Aboriginal people. I'm totally serious.)

[Earthshine]

That is a very good point Fauna, a lot of older media does have some elements in them that older children can and will feel uncomfortable watching. I admit I have a large collection of vintage cartoons from the 1940s and older and I really must say with all fairness that an upper 75% have "uncomfortable" themes or downright "unacceptable" images for today (and even then).

A lot of older children can and will distance themselves from this kind of media regardless of having popular titles such as "Bugs Bunny" and they will literally not care about the social views of the time, nor will a lot of them appreciate the workmanship to bring those cartoons to life.

However, it also largely depends on the child themselves and what their interests are and their own "open-mindedness" to media that may be outdated for their age range. I myself have come across several children (of all ages) being receptive to cartoons from a decade (or two now) before them, and then sometimes I see children not being receptive AT ALL to ANYTHING they perceive as being older than them. I jokingly call these kids "snobs" because in a sense they are, but they can grow out of it.

It's like some teenagers and fashion or music... "that was so last year!" Many of them want NEW things to enjoy for many reasons, one of those reasons being social media and the ability it gives people to connect with others easily, and new media gives youth something to talk about more freely. There are more youth in our world talking about Adventure Time than there are those talking about Tailspin. And there is nothing wrong with keeping with your time, so to speak.

Maybe I got a wee bit off topic here but I think the main point of all this comes down to one clear point... It just depends on the person regardless of age if they will be receptive to older media or not, and it also largely depends on the media itself.

[jeffbert]

Kids are too "in your face" these days to enjoy old animated cartoons, in which kid characters are polite & obedient.

My brother married a mother of 2 girls, & both were teens at that time. Neither recognizes his authority. But, I suppose that is nothing new.

Jeffbert, that's a little much of a sweeping generalization. When I was a kid, I showed the 1980 AB series to my brother, and we both saw Astro as a good role model. Assumptions like that are usually what make kids lose interest in certain things. (Though what relevance does your brother's stepdaughters have to old cartoons?)

Adding onto the main topic, I think kids just need to be more comfortable with looking at older media. Western culture churns out so much media at once that it's so easy to overload a kid's senses, or make them feel like anything older than them is "before their time". It doesn't help when really old stuff has now-outdated material (i.e. 1940s Bugs Bunny cartoons where he starts shooting Japanese or Aboriginal people. I'm totally serious.)

What I meant is that, well, compare the dubbed versions of the v3 series. Only the 2003 series has Atom wisecracking, badmouthing, rude, and such. They cut out just about everything that has any cuteness, tenderness, etc. They tried to make Atom a smart ass punk. Obviously they thought that U.S. boys would not identify with him as he was depicted in the uncut version.