Anti-gun cartoons (Yes, cartoons)

[Nightfall]

After a sleepless night (partly spent reading the Bear Coat thread ), I was drifting in and out of sleep at around 7, 7:30 AM. Well, I have a cartoon addiction, and thus Cartoon Network tends to be the default channel on my TV. So as I'm waking from my brief nap, what do I hear from the TV? "Every year, 4,000 kids are shot..." Judging by the character speaking on the screen, it was a show called Static Shock that I never watch because, well... it sucks. So apparently now they're feeding kids anti-gun propaganda through cartoons. What I heard was the very end of the show, but the satellite guide shows the same show coming on at 5:30 PM & 6 PM. Dunno if it'll be the same episode, but should be interesting if it is. Maybe a letter to Cartoon Network will be in order...

 

[Gordon Fink]

Sounds like the “very special” anti-gun episode. Didn’t every “family” show used to do one of those?

~G. Fink

 

[Nightfall]

Well I checked on the episodes today, and it didn't come on again. Probably for the better, no point in aggravating the heart more than needed. Hearing the last few seconds was enough as it is. 4,000 kids a year indeed.

 

[Justin]

I've seen 'Static Shock' before. It's one of those stupidly annoying cartoons that suffers from Ganine Garofalo Syndrome; it's so concerned about making some sort of social commentary that it ceases to have any entertainment value whatsoever.

Quite frankly, I've found that most kids' cartoons are that way these days. Gone are the heady days of Looney Tunes or even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where the main point was to entertain. No, now every show has to have some sort of lesson.

 

[yorec]

Oh, I don' know... I've sat and watched quite a few of 'em with my daughter - gotta review her intake ya know. I rather enjoy the X-men. Pretty true to the ol' comic books and has quite a few parallels with what gun owners potentially face.

 

[mbs357]

I miss the Swat Kats. What did they do in that show? Blow up crap and shoot monsters.
Pirates of Darkwater owned too.
Man, I miss the 80s...
It's true that things today try to be politically correct and therefor SUCK. It's no suprise people are trying to brainwash kids through cartoons.
Oh yea, Transformers rocked too.
I don't even watch American TV anymore. The shows suck, the news sucks, the movies suck...the commercials are funny sometimes. I can't help but watch Japanese animation exclusivly these days. It's sad.

 

[Nightfall]

I think you're dead on Justin. I miss the days of not having to worry if somebody's political agenda is going to be injected into my entertainment. I really get sick of the social commentary crap. There are still some good ones though. I like that new Foster's Home cartoon, just plain funny. Venture Brothers is a barrel of laughs as well. [adult swim]!

 

[GunnySkox]

I miss the Swat Kats. What did they do in that show? Blow up crap and shoot monsters.

I never got why T-Bone and Razor couldn't just mount a... y'know.. cannon on their freakin' plane! It had every thing else. Net launcher, "cement machinegun", incendiary missiles, "space mode", regular missiles, "octopus" missiles, but not one stinkin' bullet ever flew out of that thing. Same goes for their wrist things; I mean, yeah, grappling hooks and tiny missiles are cool, but they could've saved a lot of time just giving the occasional villain two to the head.

All that said, though, Swat KAts was the business.

~Slam_Fire

 

[EVIL5LITER]

I should have figured I'd find anothe Corraler here.

Adult Swim owns. I watch Cartoon Network Religiously. It's the only programming that I watch 5 days a week. I've even gotten into some of the action stuff like Fullmetal Alchemist and Inuyasha.

I'm still a big ATHF fan at heart though. Sealab has gone down hill since Harry Goz died.

About the "social commentary" thing, I much prefered the way that G.I. Joe did it way back in the day (I'm dating myself now), they did it without giving a political commentary to everything they did.

 

[mbs357]

Yea, GI Joe said, "Do this and you DIE" not "This is wrong because we say so"
...or something. Basically, GI Joe gave you tips to help you, like the "don't hold your head back to stop the bleeding" thing.
Slam_Fire, you just ruined my entire childhood by pointing out that flaw in Swat Cats, I hope you're happy! *cry* I suppose the reason for this was the exact thing we're talking about. The whole "Guns are evil! But missles with manipulator arms that tear things apart and guns that shoot cement (that clog up airways) are ok!"
A buddy of mine watches Fullmetal Alchemist, so I dunno about it. But Inuyasha is pretty cool, lots of explosions and action. Both of them are Japanese animations. Nothing political about Japanese animation, just straight up entertainment and kick rear.

 

[whoami]

I gave up US cartoons years ago, for much the same reason. They devolved into complete crap. Picked up anime back in 94, when it was maybe 1/2 of one row of one shelf in the local Suncoast, 39.99 for one-two eps, and never looked back.

Now of course it's about a gig a week (ok, well, about 25 gigs last week...picking up a few series) of anime, 90% of which is about 1 week off of the Japanese TV airings. Much more fun, much less preaching....except for the more 'kid' oriented shows that have the 'don't sit too close to the TV and watch in a well lit room' warnings at the beginning!

 

[mbs357]

LOL, I hear that. One shining example of non-political correctness in Japanese media is Gunsmith Cats. The author is a huge fan of guns (sadly he's only able to own replicas). I swear it's almost like he took a bunch of us and stuffed them into a comic book. There's no "Guns kill 4,000 people" to be seen in it, in fact, there's actually a few good tips in it, and the gun safety the characters use is very dead on, as well as technical aspects. I love this comic.

 

[Kevlarman]

Gunsmith Cats is da bomb (just look at Minnie May)!

And so is Riding Bean!

 

[tcdrennen]

mbs357 -

If you like guns in anime, check out Cowboy Bebop; I too love Gunsmith Cats but it's getting a bit dated now (sigh.)

For those that get G4TV (formerly TechTV, formerly ZDTV) on yer satellite, the Anime Unleashed shows are excellent, though they tend to run as they're released on DVD, so some series 1st episodes get re-run over and over before you get the next set.

Gungrave rocks!

And Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex! Motoko Kusangai!

Anyone picked up GITS: Innocence or the new Appleseed yet? Ah, Deunan Knute - one of my role model for years

Oh, and FoxBox has been running One Piece on Saturday mornings! Hysterical, though not many guns other than pirate cannons.

 

[Gifted]

Lots of anime has accurate guns. One of my faves is Nior. Two chicks in France that are assasins. I'll have to watch again, now that I'm more aware, and see how they do with the safety, but excellent show all around.

Exo Squad, Mighty Max, Sonic SatAM, all the good ones are gone, I just have to wait to get them on DVD.

 

[HankB]

Quite frankly, I've found that most kids' cartoons are that way these days. Gone are the heady days of Looney Tunes or even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where the main point was to entertain.

Some of the cartoons produced during WWII (including Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck) raise hackles today for being un-PC when dealing with Japanese or Germans . . . even Walt Disney's Fantasia has been re-edited to remove "racist" messages.

WWII was a bit before my time, but I remember cartoons in the '60s which were fun, with good guys and bad guys and no lectures from the former. But of course, I also remember shows like Passage to Adventure and American Sportsman which included - gasp! - actual hunting stories.

TV has changed . . . and not for the better.

 

[mbs357]

It has changed, and it downright SUCKS now.
tcdrennen, I can't remember much from the comic of GSC that showed gun safety (Though it was there), but in the OAV there's one part that stands out is a part where the main characters' home gets broken into, Rally sets down the stairs, and you can see her holding her pistol. She doesn't put her finger into the trigger guard until she gets ready to shoot at them. She does that a few other times in the show too.

Oh yea, Cowboy Bebop rocks. Very good anime. Also, Riding Bean has characters designed by Kenichi Sonoda, the creator of Gunsmith Cats.

As for real guns in US cartoons these days. Watch Spider-Man...even kick rear Marvel shows don't have real guns. Spidey's dodgine lasers. But in one episode of Gargoyles, I remember seeing security guards firing what looked like normal guns.
I remember hearing a normal report explicitly...but I also seem to remember slide action and spent brass.

 

[DarkKnight01]

Television as a whole is getting worse and worse... I too miss the good stuff

at least X-men is still on tho..... I miss bugs bunny and the road runner and daffy duck and.... and.....

and I agree with the folks mentioning the stuff about G.I. Joe... that was a great cartoon.... and the commercials they used to play often as well... with little lessons about safety... you know the ones: "now we know" reply: "and knowing is half the battle !" hehe good stuff, and kids listen to that stuff i know i did.

 

[mbs357]

Exo Squad, Mighty Max, Sonic SatAM,

Ahhh!! I forgot Mighty Max until now!!! Man, that show rocked, I used to have some of the toys. I had some Exo Squad toys too, that show rocked as well.
Sonic SatAM...not sure what that one is. If that was the one that was an ongoing war-like story, then it was my favorite.

But so far, my favorite toy from a cartoon is my 1/48 scale Valkryie from Macross...it's awesome.

 

[Kevlarman]

Rally even wears earplugs when burglars are afoot!

 

[torpid]

Cartoons, eh?

May I second Justin's signature?

Go team Venture!

 

[mbs357]

Exactly! Those scenes were a trip. I love Gunsmith Cats. I'm going to read through the manga again soon, just finished for the second time. =p

 

[tcdrennen]

torpid-

Any word on when (if) we'll see some new Venture Brothers? I'm still laughing my posterior off every time I watch them, but they're just about memorized now.

And (bracing myself for the fusilade of rotten fruit) did you catch the Super Milk Chan where she gets a pistol in the mail and starts waving it around? She also has a tendency to shoot bazookas at a moments notice...

SMC is like watching a train wreck - I can't tear myself away...

 

[ZeroX]

I really need to watch/read Gunsmith Cats.

Also...GO TEAM VENTURE!

 

[Gifted]

Sonic SatAM...not sure what that one is.

For me, it was on on Saturday mornings, about six O'clock. I rarely managed to get up early enough to watch it, but it rocked.

There was also Botsmaster, another one I didn't get to see very often, and James Bond Jr. That was good, too.

Did I mention I enjoy Digimon?