One of the inevitable side effects of having children is exposure to children’s entertainment. This can lead to a variety of reactions. Some of it may bore you (Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story. Yawn.), some of it may make you laugh (Disney/Pixar’s Up. Yay.), other examples might make you want to poke yourself in the eye with a sharp, pointy stick (Teletubbies, Barney the retarded dinosaur. Stab, stab, stab.).
Like most old people, Daddy has decided that everything was better when he was a kid. Particularly the cartoons. My not so humble opinion is that nothing will ever be better than Loony Tunes, Tom & Jerry, and stuff of that generation. This is an objective statement. Because I say so.
That being said, right now Baby Girl has developed a fondness for something called Wow Wow Wubbzy. It’s pretty easy to see why. The animation is simple, bright, no sharp edges, and has plenty of silly sounding noises, in short, everything kids like. I can see why it’s popular, and why Baby Girl has developed a liking for it. It is, like most cartoons these days, enjoyable on exactly one level. Which makes it almost as exciting as golf. Well, as exciting as golf before Tiger Woods decided to moonlight as a third rate Hugh Hefner.
Part of what made cartoons like Loony Tunes so awesome was that it had a certain depth to it. You could laugh at the surface level stuff (Daffy Duck getting his beak blown every which way in the classic Rabbit Fire episode), as well as some of the more adult asides that Bugs was apt to make. Plus, despite having no idea at the time, Loony Tunes also gave me a certain appreciation for classical music.
So what do I think of Wow Wow Wubbzy? Well, it is as these things go, not horrible. But there are a couple things I’m not sure I want Baby Girl picking up on. First off one of Wubbzy’s sidekicks is an enormous lesbian rabbit. Now, they never explicitly say that the rabbit is a lesbian, but the signs are there: she’s the biggest character in the show, and she spends her time building machines and carries an enormous tool box. The only reason we know she’s a female is that she’s pink. I’m not sure I appreciate a children’s show perpetuating these kinds of stereotypes. And she wears overalls and speaks with a southern accent.
Another of Wubbzy’s sidekicks is, well, I’m not sure what kind of animal he’s supposed to be, but he wears a collared shirt and tie, has glasses and speaks with what I’ll assume is supposed to be a British accent. He is, if you haven’t guessed already, the “smart” one. Why can’t smart people be cooler than this? I suppose the British thing is cool, but really, why is it that still today, glasses are what signifies smartness? I’m pretty sure if we all thought about it, we could name dozens of really stupid people who wear glasses. Sarah Palin. There. I win.
All of that aside, Wow Wow Wubbzy seems to amuse Baby Girl, and for that reason, I suppose I can’t argue with it too much.
