I watched a lot of cartoons/animations as a kid. A lot. And I watched them over and over again, thanks to my dad's studious VHS recordings of the good stuff. Though I don't plan to let my own future children spend quite so many hours in front of the tube, there are a lot of magical, beautiful, surreal, and mysterious occurrences that left long-reaching impressions on me (alongside some recurring childhood nightmares, not to mention THIS), and I'm often surprised at the frequency with which certain scenes from animations surface in my mind still today. It's hard to say how often, maybe because the frequency isn't as high as it seems. But I think it's more likely that it's hard to say because these images are part of a deeply-ingrained, visceral image bank that, decades later, still influences what I find interesting, frightening, and beautiful.
Of course cartoons don't make up the majority of my strong childhood memories (I think) - I also played outside and read a lot of books! That said, I've noticed the influence of some cartoons starting to creep their way into my curriculums, and I will say that I'll always find this Rupert Bear adventure magical, the death of Azlan sickening and potently corporeal (seriously, how intense is this for kids?), and the idea of being swallowed by a giant whale terrifying but still totally livable for at least a short amount of time.
Had I been raised more religiously, it might have been Jonah who I first saw being swallowed by a whale (and I might have had more complex feelings about Azlan). Instead of Jonah, though, I had Mickey Mouse and in particular, Disney's Pinnochio. I watched Pinnochio almost every single day after school for about a year when I was in pre-school, and needless to say, I did not forget Monstro. Impressions of Pinnochio's time spent in the belly of Monstro was the main inspiration for the kindergARTen Brains' (much less terrifying) final project - Belly of a Whale, which I'll post about next, all self-indulgent reminiscing aside! Working creatively with kids has been a fun opportunity for me to think constructively about childhood impressions like this that I think are neat, and the Belly of a Whale project, with the awe-inspiring notion of being inside a giant creature's stomach combined with the unrivaled fun of just being in a secret-feeling tent, turned out to be one of my favorites.
Up next on make/believe: Belly of a Whale. For the moment, take it away, Monstro!
Up next on make/believe: Belly of a Whale. For the moment, take it away, Monstro!
p.s. one last YouTube link down whale-animation-memory-lane...very 1986, the same year the former crew of the USS Enterprise traveled to earth to help save humpback whales!
