Even before I started school, Saturday mornings were something
to look forward to, because that is when the best shows premiered. I still remember the shows from preschool
through early elementary (many of which were watched long before the rest of
the family was up) that shaped my understanding of courage, loyalty, and the
importance of energy weapons in the fight between good and evil. My shows were the well-known Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles, Transformers, GI Joe, He-Man, and Thundercats. Also a few that are rarely recognized when I
discuss them now: Dinosaucers, C.O.P.S. and BraveStar. And one that I must have been the only one to
have ever seen: Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. But I know I didn’t
make that one up because I had the sandals!
Over the years, reboots and live action versions of some of
these have been attempted with results ranging from awesome (Ninja Turtles 1
& 2) to sad (GI Joe: Rise of Cobra) all the way down to the lowest possible
ranking of ‘Directed by Michael Bay’ (I walked out of the first Transformers
and never even tried to watch any of the sequels).
In college, my roommates and I had the brilliant idea to
institute Saturday Morning Cartoons, and we downloaded some of those programs
mentioned above and got our cereal and blankets together one morning to watch a
few. This turned out to be a mistake, in
our memories the animation was graphic and intense, but now all we saw when re-watching
the Hannah Barbara creations were static pictures with moving mouths. We remembered intricate plots and gripping
suspense, but were met with cheesy dialogue unwatchable looping of the same
pictures. We made it through 15 minutes before switching
over to Arrested Development.
All that said, hope springs eternal in the heart of man, and
this weekend I will go see the new GI Joe movie, hoping that their recasting will
result in a more watchable product and let me relive the thrill of those Saturday
mornings. But now I know to keep my expectations low, and knowing is half the
battle.
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