As I become ever more convinced all the grownups have left the room I’m presented with news that got my heart all a-flutter with excitement. It seems that the old kids favourite, Thomas The Tank Engine is getting a makeover for the new episodes. Never mind that the good Rev Wilbert Awdry will be rotating rapidly in his grave, about time says I...
After years of accusations of sexism, racism and classism, Thomas the Tank Engine has now been updated for 2018. That, right there, says it all. It’s a cartoon!! It’s a damn cartoon!!
And as Thomas leaves Sodor for the first time, he will encounter characters from around the world, many of which are female, such as a new African steam engine from Kenya called Nia, Ashima from India, Yong Bao from China and Shane from Australia. Thomas actually has to leave this country to do this?
In recent years, the TV show has come under fire from some parents who believe Thomas sets a bad example to children. “The engines are all very rude to each other most of the time,” wrote one parent in a review. Don’t laugh; these folk are deserving of our sympathy. And, I would suggest, in urgent need of treatment. It’s a cartoon!! It’s a damn cartoon!!
Some parents? Thousands? Hundreds? Tens? Two? Just the one then? However many, are they for real? Hay! It’s a cartoon! It’s a damn cartoon!! Anyhoo, I guess they’re extatically happy to see a tad more childhood innocence trampled by the boots of political correction.
Now I may well have been fast asleep at the TV remote and missed it, although I have to say I don’t usually venture further than Sponge Bob, but have ‘they’ missed out a most important step in ‘modernising’ this kids cartoon – I repeat, cartoon - to reflect ‘progressive’ education regarding modern life and the things kids are ‘exposed’ to at an increasingly early age? Of wot do I speak? I speak of this; did I miss the series featuring the adventures, trials and tribulations of Tomatina The Transitioning Environmentally Friendly Engine?
Quote; Robert Benchley.
“A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down.”
2 comments:
I suppose Ashima from India allows passengers to travel on the outside.
A K Haart,
Now that, my friend, is an idea well worth campaigning for. In the interests of 'reality' you understand; and an illustrators nightmare...
I ask, not for the first time, whatever happened to all the fun in the world?
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