"Classic" 'toons, nostalgia, "revivals" and Boomers...

From: chance <chance_at_unix.infoserve.net>
Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 22:27:26 -0700

>"7-zark-7"? You mean there's actually someone out there who
>remembers that show? "Five...acting as one. Always together....."
>There's more but I can't quite remember it.
>
>Erin

Oh yeah, lots! In fact, the nostalgia market for animated stuff is huge - one of
the things that Ted actually *did* get right (okay, and some see a lot of talent
present in many of the newer WPT's too) when he came up with TCN. That's
what they're counting on for the Fall release of "JQ"; obvious attraction to the kiddie
ac/adv market, but close enough to the spirit of the original (WRT intent, anyway)
to sate the appetites of the Boomers who watched the original. "Recognition of
non-traditional markets", I think is the current euphemism for "Golly. Adults watch
these things too". Problem is, not that much (IMO) of H-B's back-catalogue
is suitable for anything save the occasional nostalgic trip down memory lane, and
much of the current "revival" talk concerning "Jetsons" etc. fails to take this into
consideration. We might want to see the occasional "Smurfs", "Scooby" or
"Jetsons" special, but could we really watch another 65 of either? I'm going to
muff the quote, but here goes anyway (Fred Seibert, I think, but I could be
horribly mistaken):

"The idea of reviving these series is that they already have a name out there.
  Parents watched them, their kids watched them, and now, in many cases,
  the kids' kids are watching them."

Eyaah, yes and no. There's a fine line between "classic" and "weary", and if
I were the potentates contemplating where to spend the next helping of
Atlanta's cash, I think I wouldn't be looking down ancient, tired paths, but
opt for something that represents a change of scenery and a breath of fresh air.
I mean, they've got 166 eps of "Flintstones" to air in perpetuity - a like number
of "Scooby Doo" - so why spend more money to "revive" something that
already has enough on-air presence to satisfy the "nostalgia" cravings of the TCN audience?
"Jonny" had comparitively few eps (like another cartoon we all know which suffered
a similar fate), and would've been the *only* extant property pre-Kats that
could inspire new episodes which didn't merely retread the originals.

Funny how they have money for revivals ("Jonny Quest") and life-support ("Captain
Planet"), but "no budget" for finishing those katseps, huh?


 
_____________________________________________________
"Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed
 antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters,
 through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in
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Received on Thu May 23 1996 - 02:41:02 PDT