Everything That's On My Mind

I didn't know all that about the Peanuts Christmas special. What strikes me as interesting is that I do recall hearing in the late 70s, as more holiday specials had been filmed, that there was a need to "update" the storylines and music. That assumes, of course, that the original seemed "dated" because it had fit the template of an earlier time. But as this column shows, that view is nonsense. It doesn't fit the template of any time; it's just good, and people respond to that.

I now hear that entertainment for children needs to be more edgy than it once was because "children are a lot more sophisticated than they used to be." If that's so, whose fault is that? It's not genetic! Kids are more "sophisticated" because they've been exposed to a lot that is inappropriate for them (much of our entertainment is inappropriate for anyone).

My own children recently told me of a wonderful cartoon they'd seen when their grandfather took them to a movie (Black Beauty) that was being shown at the Redford Theater. The opening cartoon showed something like a wolf that kept chasing after this fast-running bird, but all his schemes backfired hilariously. Yes, they were absolutely delighted at seeing for the first time--the old Road Runner cartoons. When I think of the difference between that era of children's entertainment (which, incidentally, my mom didn't like because she thought it was "too violent") and the present one, I want to cry.