'By the power of Greyskull!’ Come on admit it! Most of us of my age have stood in a heroic pose, our toy swords held high above our puny selves and uttered these words almost as many times as He-man himself did! The only difference being that we didn’t transform into a super-hero with a six pack and bulging muscles! But that didn’t stop us from imagining that we did!
Man-at-arms, Skeletor, Orco, Evilyn, The warriors of ‘Eternia’ entertained and regaled my childhood years as I sat glued each Sunday morning to the television set! Today, there are numerous channels for kids, such as Cartoon Network, The Disney channel and Nickoledoen, but in those days, we had just Doordarshan to turn to for our staple diet of cartoons!
Today, when I look back at the ‘toons’ that made their way into my heart and brought about more than a smile on my face, the first name I recall is
Tom and Jerry
! The two most endearing, heart warming, hilarious and, not to forget, ‘indestructible’ pair that ever walked the face of this earth… or rather our television screens! Be it falling down the staircase, being bumped on the head by a hot
iron, having the house fall down on them, or, for that matter, being in the possession of a bomb that explodes in their hands, they just kept surviving episode after episode, and continuing their antics for our merriment!
iron, having the house fall down on them, or, for that matter, being in the possession of a bomb that explodes in their hands, they just kept surviving episode after episode, and continuing their antics for our merriment!
Then there was the ‘disney’ bunch of Mickey Mouse — the eternal do-gooder, Minnie — the love of Mickey’s life, Donald — the grumpy duck with a heart of gold and Goofy, who was well… just as his name suggested — goofy!
Sitting at home in my living room, I was transported to their magical, wonderful worlds where good always triumphed over evil, friendship always prevailed, and where love was always pure and unconditional!
Today, we call cartoons ‘animated features!’ Today, we use 3D computer graphics to draw them. But, the magic of those hand-drawn friends of mine, who never failed to bring a smile to my face or a stitch in my stomach due to laughing non-stop, will never fade or be forgotten. They are constant reminders that somewhere there is still a child in you.
So while you read these thoughts of mine, and hopefully relive your own memories of your favourite cartoons, don’t mind if I curl up on my sofa with a cup of hot chocolate, slip in a DVD and watch Jerry try to blast poor Tom into outer space!
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