If there is anything that unites people on a regular basis it is their shared love of Saturday morning cartoons. Waking up, rushing downstairs in a baggy t-shirt and shorts, grabbing the sugariest cereal from the highest shelf in the cupboard, overfilling the biggest bowl with ice cold milk and planking your butt down in front of the television and staring wide eyed at some of the greatest programmes ever made. Whether we still watch them today or it’s purely that nostalgic feeling, Saturday morning cartoons was the highlight of your week. Call it a tradition, ritual or paying homage to the TV gods all I know is that there was no one I knew who didn’t wake up early to watch cartoons.
There was a great variety out there, something for everyone, whether you were into super heros, troubled teens or the downright insane. A few Saturday morning cartoons had more subtle messages than others. Some were made for entertainment and some for educational purposes. I could rattle off numerous shows or even better sing all the theme songs but we all got what we needed and wanted from that Saturday morning ritual.
Captain Planet could easily be the reason behind an eco-friendly troop of young adults. Come on, who didn’t want to be a planeteer? I know I would have given my Tamagotchi away for one of those rings. Then there were cartoons like Dexter’s Lab, Cow and Chicken, Ren and Stimpy but for me it will always be The Powerpuff Girls who stand out. Though it was the late 90’s when the show was aired, it inspired many young girls to be their very own superheroes while learning valuable lessons; about giving people first chances, never judging books by covers and running away from boys with cooties. It also taught us that people can come in many shapes and sizes (though you only see a certain redhead only from the neck down).
The one cartoon that influenced my life greatly was X-Men. Words cannot describe how much I loved the programme, it was the reason I started reading the comics and have a love of stormy weather. Growing up in my native land and watching cartoons that never seemed to have anyone I could relate to would probably have caused me some confusion at a young age but Ororo Munroe changed that for me greatly. 
I know a lot of my friends watched the series or have started watching it recently (thanks Netflix) and to this day, almost 20 years after it first aired, it still stands strong as a fantastic show. The detail that went into developing the main characters was something I was guilty of taking advantage of. Recently, after watching it all again, it got me thinking; was the message in those cartoons so great that it helped mould us into the people we are today? For some yes and for others probably not but it was one of the first shows that made me understand the true meaning of discrimination, while also empowering my own creativity and imagination and not to mention the hours of entertainment I got from it.
In the time I have been alive there have been things I have experienced that could have easily been taken from an X-Men comic. Fighting, discrimination and general hate are pretty common these days but do they affect me that much? No they don’t because I grew up watching and knowing better than that. The stunts I used to pull trying to develop my mutant powers were ridiculous; though I am still convinced I can control the weather to some degree as it’s always cloudy when I am in a terrible mood.
Our generation are all grown up now, we’re in our early/mid twenties but it doesn’t matter, these shows have a fantastic ability to transport us back in time, to those rainy Saturday mornings, to soggy cereal and pretending to be the characters we loved so much. So I say to you, maybe not today take some time out next Saturday morning and relive your childhood, it will be the best thing you do all year!
What Saturday morning cartoon was your favourite? Do you think it made an impact on you as a person? Would you watch it again if you could? Saturday morning cartoons are not just a thing of the past for me and many others. I occasionally get up to watch something that only feels right to watch that early, oh the memories.
[Words, Tendai Muzwidzwa]
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
