Mandi Livingston

Just a thought and a commentary on our times, perhaps. As a parent, I notice that every holiday, NickJr, Disney, Noggin, they all show holiday-appropriate episodes. Dora saves Santa, Dora celebrates Three Kings Day, Diego helps the animals celebrate Halloween, Max & Ruby have Thanksgiving dinner, Wow Wow Wubbzy helps the Easter Bunny, Tigger & Pooh deliver Valentines, even Ni Hao, Kai-Lan celebrates Chinese New Year. Curious George even has his own version of Ground Hound Day for crying out loud!

Sadly, I noticed this year, that I don't think any of the current cartoon giants celebrate Independence Day. You may say this is because they don't cater to just an American audience, or even some of them aren't American (Dora, Diego, Kai-Lan). But, it's okay to do an entire Kai-Lan on the Chinese New Year? But, that's CULTURAL! How dare I question that?

Honestly, I think this cuts to the core of what is wrong with the entertainment elites who drive our entertainment choices and determine what is culture and what is worthy of educating our young minds about. They don't see July 4th as an important holiday. Teaching patriotism to our youngsters is too right-wing for them. Why should we ask our children to grow up being proud of their country? Why should we even teach them about the importance of the Independence Day holiday? These entertainment elites probably would've sides with George III and thought it was wrong that a group of citizens wanted to throw off the chains of tyranny.

I think I want to stock up more and more on these type of cartoons - Looney Tunes celebrating American Values. And didn't Snoopy serve as a World War I fighter ace against the Germans? There was a "This is America, Charlie Brown" cartoon, but Charles Schultz was one-of-a-kind. Even Mickey Mouse at one time was pretty patriotic. And I think at one time Schoolhouse Rock had a series of American-themed shows.

If I'm wrong and you've seen an example of a current kids cartoon that has celebrated America, let me know. Otherwise, just a small rant on what appears to be a missing holiday on our current cartoon networks.