When I looked at my blog, I realized that maybe me too, I did not stress on the positive examples of cartoon shows. Cartoons are not all bad or full of violence, or sexual hints. There are many good cartoons out there and that's what I will be talking to you about.
Let me tell you about four of the loveliest concepts that I found conveyed in cartoons:
1. The Tolerance Concept: it's very hard to accept those who are totally different than you. Yes, it's true, only few people can actually tolerate others who have a different look, religion, or ideology. It takes time to accept or admit that there may be others out there who may be different than you are but just because they're different, doesn't mean that they are any inferior or less than you are.
That's exactly what Happy Feet and Winnie the Pooh's Heffalump movie tries to say. In Happy Feet, Mumble is different from all other penguins because he CAN'T sing like them. Because he's different, he's being expelled from the place where penguins live. But later on, this penguin that has been underestimated and ridiculed just because he's different saves the whole penguin nation!
Winnie the Pooh's movie discusses a new creature that came into the Hundred Acre Wood, the forest where the Winnie Bear lives. This creature is a strange looking elephant like creature. Because he is physically strange looking, he has no friends and the elephant spends a hell of a time to prove that he's not a bad person. He's just different.
The fact that cartoons convey such a noble and wonderful concept means that there are still many cartoons who are very useful, and important for kids to watch. The beauty of cartoons is that they can teach many beautiful concepts in an indirect way that does not seem old fashioned or boring to the child.
2. The Beauty-lies-within concept: In one of my posts, I discussed the "Ideals of beauty" issue-cartoons enforcing certain standards of beauty. While there are many cartoons that kind of mock ugly characters, there are other cartoons that stress that it's not important how one looks from the outside as long as he is beautiful from the inside. For Example, the Shrek movie: Shrek is a very ugly looking ogre yet he is loved by the princess because he is kind. This is very important for kids to learn, because still many people judge others by the looks.
3. Brotherhood is also a very important and noble concept portrayed in Disney's Brother Bear cartoon movie. Few cartoons actually focus on the brother relationship. To see how lucky one is to have a brother or sister is definitely a thing that children need to learn-they have to see how God really gave them a very special gift-to have a brother or sister. In Brother Bear, a brother sacrifices his life for his brother to save him from a beast bear. The movie shows how brothers are supposed to support and love each other.
4. Related to Brother Bear is the lovely concept of sacrifice. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle, the heroine of the story, does a great sacrifice. Having been imprisoned by an ugly Beast, Belle's father is locked in a prison in the Beast's tower. Belle goes there and asks the beast to take her instead. When the beast's face comes into the light, Belle can see how ugly he is. The Beast tells her she can choose: either to leave her father there or to take her instead but then she'll have to stay in the Beast's castle forever. To save her father, Belle makes the hardest choice and frees her father and takes his place.
There are many great and worth-watching cartoons out there. What's needed is to highlight them, discuss them, and hopefully kids will watch them and remember the lovely and noble concepts conveyed in the, for the rest of their lives.
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