Bebo’s retro site

It is so cute when people put animal jewelry on their animals. I would do this too if my dog was not big and doofy, she likes to wreck and chew on stuff too much to have things like jewelry. She cannot even keep a collar for very long without destroying it. I think this type of thing is better off left with the smaller dogs, or at least dogs that are not unruly.

It sure seems like the DVD industry is going retro these days! First there was Gerald McBoing! Boing!, then Mr. Magoo. Now here come’s Casper, the Friendly Ghost. It’s so great to see how many of these old cartoon shows hold up in today’s world and with today’s kids. I wonder if we’ll be able to say the same about Spongebob and Jimmy Neutron?

I remember watching “Fat Albert” on Saturdays – Hey, Hey, Hey! It’s funny, it was billed as a show for the kiddies, but Bill Cosby and crew dealt with some pretty grown up topics. Drug use, gangs, family problems. The show used cartoons and comedy to deal with some of the same issues we were seeing on those after school specials.

“Ducktales” is another cartoon that is finding new fans, thanks to Toon Disney. I remember it being on after school when I was in high school, and now my kids are enjoying it. I have to admit, I’d much rather they watch that than some of the incredibly stupid shows that are on nowadays.

Do you remember lovable, near-sighted Mr. Magoo? I do. He’s been around on television since the 1960s - and appeared in movie cartoons long before that. My kids have been on a Mr. Magoo binge since The Mr. Magoo Show: Complete DVD Collection was brought by the FedEx man on Friday.

This DVD collection includes all 26 episodes of the Mr. Magoo show, all digitally remastered. The gift box set also includes a Mr. Magoo comic book.

Watching some of these episodes with my kids has been a walk down memory lane - my husband and I both remember watching these cartoons as children. I can’t help wondering if this cartoon would have been produced if it originated in today’s ultra-PC society. Mr. Magoo is visually impaired; his houseboy Charlie is a stereotype of a Chinaman. What do you think? Is it offensive? I don’t think so, but I can understand how some people would.