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Saturday Morning Fever: Growing up with Cartoon Culture
Customer Reviews
Rating:  - This is soooo funny with dead-on discriptions of many shows!
I LOVED this book.
It is snarky and has no shame when it comes to adressing the failings of many beloved 70's cartoons(and live-action kid-vid as well!)It brought back many happy(and mildly embarrasing) memories of shows I had all but forgotten.And the discriptions are dead-on perfect!!(it's section on FilmAtion's live-action shows were especially good)
It is good natured GenX nostalgia at its finest!!
Now if only I could watch all these shows again my life would be complete!!!
Rating:  - Authors couldn't get past themselves...
This book was fun in that it brought back a few memories about what was available on Saturday mornings in the 70's and 80's. However, the authors tended to dismiss the value of anything they didn't watch, or didn't understand.
Davey and Goliath, the Filmation live action shows, Schoolhouse Rock and even Mr. Rodgers took the brunt of the author's disdain.
The book contains some good show descriptions, but be warned, the authors may trash some of your favorite shows if they didn't like them. It really took a lot of the fun out of the book for me. I didn't finish reading the last chapters because the authors couldn't keep their slanted opinions (and politics) out of it.
Ok for a walk down memory lane, but if you want more of an unbiased reference, look elsewhere.
Rating: - Only fair...
This book was only fair at best. It had only a few pictures (mostly of board games and toys) and little worthwhile information. It's basically a collection of the authors' opinions, thoughts, and memories on the topic, which meant little to me since I value my own opinions and memories much more. It's almost like the authors didn't seek, want, and/or have permission to write this book from the people who created the shows they discuss. The authors give us their thoughts instead of the thoughts of the thoughts of those who really matter... the people who created or were involved with the shows. I was hoping for a trip down memory lane; this book took a detour very early on and never got back on track.
Rating:  - Great Memories But Dispointed.
I enjoyed the refreshing of warm memories through this book. But I was very disapointed with the lack of photos used. There's no way you cover a topic such as this and not include a sufficient amount of photos to go with the memories.
Rating: - Good for Fun, Bad for Facts
This book has many positive and negative points to it. Let's start off with what's good about it. The authors write with a clear understanding and love for animation. The book isn't a cold text book on Saturday Morning traditions or television shows. They commnet on obscure shows and remind the reader of the reasons why they watched some shows. In the book, there is a loose history of how cartoons migrated to Saturdays, with subtle mentions of struggles between advertisers, networks, and parental groups, also reflective looks on "Generation X" and their love of animation. They even post comments sent to them from internet newsgroups from people recalling their own love and rituals of Saturday mornings. Lots of inside information told in a real fun way.
Now on to the bad parts...First off, I will state there is a very clear bias in the writing. The authors make their opinions clear when they write about programs they didn't like. What's worse is that they don't give reasons for them. Their mentality sends the message: "you had to be there to know," which means there is a stark learning curve to this text. The only saving grace, is that the authors admit their bias on the first page. Right from the start you know its going to be an opinionated retrospective look back.
The lack of photos in the book is also annoying, especially considering their text on Sid and Marty Kroff's programs, describing the visuals as trippy. The medium of television is very visual, and not being able to make a cartoon character's face with its name, makes looking back 30 years a little tough. The book takes little time to break things into generas or eras. It covers the overall collective of Saturday morning and picks out the most memorible shows and comments on them.
This book is great for the casual reader, but serverly lacking for historic or animation enthusiasts. If you do pick it up, read it for fun, not for research.
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