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Comment by Avshalom | Hacker News Reader

Saturday morning cartoons are the big one for me.

My mom took the approach of just reading out loud whatever she read, so I grew up with Lord of the Rings and other good solid books. I personally read Madliene L'engle's books in 3rd and 4th grade then skipped directly up the ladder to Dune (making me the only 9 year old I've ever met that managed to make it through Dune Messiah (and man did I ever manage to miss the subtext and analogy and etc)) .

But cartoons, man I loved em all. Tried to watch GI Joe and Transformers a couple years back and could barely last an episode.

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"Tried to watch GI Joe and Transformers a couple years back and could barely last an episode."

On the other hand, the Chuck Jones and Tex Avery cartoons have held up quite well, probably because the creators were doing them for themselves as well as younger kids.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Animaniacs has withstood the test of time for me. Actually I found it a little better than before, as some of the humor went over my head when I was a kid.

I was also read Dune aloud as a kid! Though I think I must've been older by then -- 12+. Definitely missed most of the subtext, though... Just like watching Forrest Gump.

No, I actually read Dune myself. I thought it was a book about political intrigue, crazy sci-fi and guerilla warfare, great stuff to a 9 year old. I was told later that it was in fact about US foreign policy with regards to the middle east.

Re: cartoons, I had a good time watching Reboot with some fellow interns a few years back. Lots of CS in-jokes, and the production issues / tropes are merely fodder for a drinking game.

I've never tried to rewatch childhood cartoons (somehow I imagine Scooby Doo may not quite hold up), however one thing that does stand the test of time: Police Squad... In color!

Scooby Doo holds up surprisingly well. I watch the early 1970s episodes with my kids now, and they're as good as I remember them. The only thing that seems dated (art aside) is the music. The first few seasons all has a musical interlude that is very early 70s.

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