Sunday, April 14, 2013

THE HIGH FRUCTOSE ADVENTURES OF ANNOYING ORANGE: I MISS OLD CARTOONS

At some point in time there was a change in TV viewing for children. While a huge number of kids went through life watching things like SPACE GHOST, THE HERCULOIDS, HUCKLEBERRY HOUND, YOGI BEAR and JONNY QUEST we were apparently left uneducated by these shows. Do-gooders would have none of this and so made it their life's work to make sure that only educational, informative and mind altering shows would follow. All shows must have a message and that message must advance civilization. The result was that kids have grown up with the lamest of shows and most of us have increased the size of our personal DVD collections with collections of the classics that we share with our kids.

Once in a while something different comes along though in spite of the do-gooders. Such is the case with ANNOYING ORANGE. I'm not sure I can find a single socially redeeming moment of value in any of the episodes that I watched here. My guess is that those seeking that sort of thing will be sorely disappointed in the show and offer some blistering attacks on the stupidity that a piece of grade school mentality spewing fruit offers to kids.

But they're missing the point. These jokes are not aimed at adults. They're aimed at kids! I think far too many adults these days miss the fact that when you were a kid you were supposed to have fun. Instead we want all children to be math wizards and literary geniuses before they even begin going to school. So when do kids get that chance to have fun?

Annoying Orange is just what his title proclaims him to be, a piece of talking fruit that spews out annoying things to his friends, other fruits that have the ability to speak. Much like the old SPACE ANGEL program from way back, the show features fruits and vegetables with superimposed mouths that speak the lines. And trust me when I say the lines aren't Shakespeare. They're rather harmless jokes and youngsters will laugh at and probably repeat over and over again until and orange isn't the most annoying thing in the room. But that's all part of being a kid.

There are plenty of different ideas crammed into various episodes here that take us from knights of old to a pirate ship battle in a grocery store when the lights go out. Each offers a smidgen of talent and plenty of grade school laughs that kids will love. So I'll be one of the few that says as an adult I didn't enjoy the antics of Annoying Orange enough to want to visit him frequently but my guess is kids will watch this DVD over and over again.

Click here to order.

No comments:

Post a Comment