Cartoon Characters that inspire violence
Cartoons are meant to be light hearted pieces of fun aimed at kids. So why do I sometimes find my levels of rage building up when I see one? I am sure I am not the only person around who would occasionally like to punch out a cartoon character’s lights, so let’s see why some of them are more annoying than others.
Dora the Explorer
Photo Credit: Håkan Dahlström via Compfight cc
To start any critical appraisal of young Dora we need to consider how she is an extremely bad example of the regrettably inevitable outcome of bad parenting. What age is she anyway? 5? 12? I am really bad at putting an age on kids but either way she is far too young to be out doing so much exploring. Can you imagine if you saw your little one heading out with their pet monkey and asked them where they were going? “The Evil Cave, the Horrible Forest and the Lair of the Killer Giant”, she would reply. “Get to your bedroom”, you would say back to her, “and take those stupid boots off that monkey”. A special mention goes to the fox, who I have just discovered is called Swiper. He spends all day chasing Dora and trying to steal stuff. When we finally manage to grab her backpack you think, “Great, he’s going to rip that annoying map to pieces now”. However, all he does is throw it behind a tiny plant about 30 centimetres away from Dora, as though this would somehow ruin her adventure. A good slap and being grounded for a month is what Dora needs.
Angelina Ballerina
Credit: jen_rab via Compfight cc
I saw this cartoon for the first time the other day and realised that I had discovered a charming series which offers old fashioned values and reinforces the benefits of hard work and living out some gentle adventures. Actually, I didn’t. I realised that I had stumbled upon possibly the most pointless cartoon of all time. It is about a dancing mouse. Need I say more? Give her a thump and confiscate her leotard till she learns that there is more to being a mouse than dancing. For example, when do we ever see her steal cheese or annoy a cat?
Mickey Mouse
Photo Credit: Wikimedia.org
The Wikipedia entry for Mickey Mouse is wrong. I know that this isn’t exactly earth shattering news but I thought I would point it out anyway. It starts off “Mickey Mouse is a funny…”.No, he’s not. Have you ever seen anyone laugh at Mickey’s antics? How this rodent has managed to stay at the top of the cartoon game for about a century I will never know. My daughter has plenty of Mickey memorabilia in her room but I don’t remember her ever watching a cartoon of his. In fact, I can’t really remember seeing any of his comedic masterpieces either, so I guess it’s all about the marketing with this mouse. I think you would need to wait till Pluto turns his back before you gave him his deserved punch though, as you wouldn’t want that mutt after you. Having said all that, Minnie is quite attractive, isn’t she? Maybe I am just jealous of Mickey’s pulling power.
