Why do so many people always assume animation is for children? That's like assuming that inflatable toys are only for children ("Puncture repair kit on stand-by, sir"). These same people want their children to stay away from drugs and be nice to everyone (family values and what-not), but do they even think about what's really being presented on a typical Saturday morning?
Look at the old Warner Brother cartoons. You know: Bugs and all the gang
before they started copying Disney. I'm talking way back when Daffy really
was...well, Daffy (I wonder what happened to him. He started out so manic, then
just got mean. When he first appeared on the screen, I bet he could have kicked
Bugs' ass. I think that when Bugs won an Oscar, Daffy just gave up and became
bitter). Those are definitely not for children. So much of the humor depends on
adult experience (or maybe it depends on adults forgetting how to think
absurdly on their own, and so Warner Brothers does it for them).
Then again, Rocky and Bullwinkle didn't exactly aim for the 5-9 year old demographic either. Sure, if your kid had a handle on contemporary world issues, and had a smattering of world history, he could've enjoyed all the bad puns and the "Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam" episodes. Maybe, judging from all the studies around today telling us how stupid children are becoming (as a side note, Hell Inc.® is now proud to offer Fuck'n Lame™, the latest in the anti-theft products to protect your children. For more information, see Volume 1, issue 14), the kids of the 50's and 60's could handle it.
I think the moose and squirrel were the Ren and Stimpy of their day. They
both started out underground and had crappy animation. As they grew in
popularity, they kept the same material: Ren and Stimpy with abundant mucus
and exploding eyeballs; Rocky and Bullwinkle with implicit references to sex
and drugs.
I'm positive that Boris and Natasha didn't have a platonic relationship (we know they did it, we just haven't decided who's on top. We've seen the pictures, watched the restored footage, made the diagrams, done the physics, and still can't figure out HOW they did it). And do you think they didn't drop the animated acid? How do you miss 837 consecutive assassination attempts? At least the attitudes of this show made it easier for later cartoons to be more explicit, namely Scooby Doo.
Scooby-Doo. Oh. My. God. What a drug cartoon that was. Think about it.
Particularly Shaggy and Scooby. The two of them would do anything for a
"Scooby snack." And a few minutes after eating one, you could be sure to find
both of them in the kitchen with the munchies. Even the way they walked
made it look like they were stoned. That exaggerated leg thrust of Shaggy's...and how many people understand their dog when it talks to them, discounting David Berkowitz of course.
And the Mystery Machine? No mystery about that. Our beatnik friend Fred
was definitely driving more than the van. More specifically, he was wooing
Daphne. Daphne was the prep of the crew, you see, and helped support their drug habits, but since she was a nympho, her choice of payment was obvious. Hell, Daphne would pay for champagne to fill the six foot bong in the back of The Mystery Machine.
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