The Disappearance of Saturday Morning

“Six key factors have led to children watching less Saturday morning cartoons: more recreational sports, the introduction of cable and satellite TV, the Internet and video games, a poorer quality of animation, and a greater emphasis on family time.” *Gerard Raiti* —The Disappearance of Saturday Morning (Animation World Magazine)

An excellent paper, written by an undergraduate student and published in a general-interest magazine.

This article makes a lot of sense to me. I recall one summer when my sister and I would get up at 6:30 am to watch “Star Blazers.” On a related note, I remember that great movies such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” would be aired on TV once a year. The promotions would start a week or more in advance, and the next day everyone in school would be singing the songs or role-playing the characters. Because I own copies of each of those movies, my son can watch them on demand. I’d much rather that he ask to watch a particular movie that he’s in the mood for, rather than have him sit in front of the TV and watch whatever happens to be on.