It's Saturday Morning!: Celebrating the Golden Era of Cartoons 1960s - 1990s

beautifully illustrated book which my son loves

Bugs Bunny got his name because he was first drawn by an illustrator whose nickname was Bugsy; when anyone referred to the unnamed character they called it "Bug's Bunny". If you think that's interesting or amusing, then this is the book for you. It's organized by decade. Each major cartoon show opens with a details factoid box, (date of airing, number of episodes, and so on), and then there are two to five pages of narrative text giving you the history of the show's development and run and syndication fate. I say this is browseable because the tidbits can vary in appeal. I was actually a living kid when "The Flintstones" first came out, so I don't need a detailed explanation about how it was modeled on the TV show "The Honeymooners". Everyone knew that. But then, again, it never occurred to me that "The Jetsons" was a variation on the TV sitcom "Blondie", and was even voiced by some of the actors from that show. So, depending on how old you are, what you knew, what you now remember, and what you care about, there are all sorts of odds and ends that will entertain and amuse. The book runs from "the 60's" through "the 90's", which makes it a sort of multi-generational journey. I'm all 60's, with a thorough knowledge of Bugs Bunny, Flintstones, Jetsons, Johnny Quest, and Underdog. The 70's, featuring Scooby-Doo, Josie, Tarzan, and Fat Albert, is a dark glass. By the 80's my kids started coming on-line, and so I'm back up to speed with Smurfs, Alvin, Transformers, Care Bears and He-Man. Then we go vague again and Darkwing Duck, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Bobby's World are all strangers. The grandkids are now all Paw Patrol, the second life of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and P.J. Masks, but their shows are beyond the reach of this book. (The author argues that the great Saturday morning blocks ended at the end of the 90's when the networks moved away from that model, but cable and Nickelodeon would probably beg to differ on that score.) The narrative style suits the material. It's chatty without being corny and informative without being academic. There are lots of stills from the shows and even more behind the scenes photos of the actors and illustrators. A nice touch is that each decade has a few ads for contemporary toys, (Slinky, Battleship, Transformers), that create some childhood context and prompt a few fond memories. So, either as a trip down memory lane, or as a surprising bit of cultural history, this was an entertaining, and surprisingly informative find. And I liked the illustrations. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Good product

Took me back to my youth in the 1960's.

So einige Zeichentricklieblinge meiner Kindheit, wie The Flintstones (Familie Feuerstein), Tarzan, Bugs Bunny und Pink Panther tummeln sich in diesem Buch. Einige Seiten pro Cartoon-Serie. Mit schönen farbigen Bildern und informativen Texten (englisch), dazu gibt es eine Einleitung. Einband (Hardcover), Papierqualität und Druck alles einwandfrei. Eines Bildbandes würdig. Hier geht es ausschließlich um amerikanische Zeichentrickserien der 60er - 90er Jahre, incl. The Jetsons, Underdog, The Smurfs, He-Man, Disneys Gummi Bears und Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Besonders schön für mich als "neuen" Animaniacs-Fan, die drei verrückten Zeichentrick-Geschwister Yakko, Wakko und Dot sind mit rein geploppt (Serie 1993-'98). Meiner Meinung nach sollte es noch mehr Bände geben, amerikanische Zeichentrickserien Band 2 mit "Tom & Jerry", japanische Zeichentrickserien usw.

I bought this book hoping that the chapter featuring the 1960s and the 1970s would be superb. I was born in the 1960's and wanted to know about my favourite cartoons. The 1960s hosted a plethora of great cartoons, but only the adventure cartoons Space Ghost and Jonny Quest are mentioned in this book. What happened to the coverage of Shazzan, The Impossibles, The Herculoids and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, Spiderman, Fantastic Four to name a few. YEs The Flintstones and Jetsons are covered, but in far too much detail and at the detriment of some show not being mentioned at all such as The Archies, Top Cat, Underdog, Wacky Races, Batfink and Karate, The Milton the Monster show, Magilla Gorilla and Marine Boy. The 1970s, 1980s and 1990s were adequately covered.

My son loves this so much it has went back and forth in his book bag it's now taped together that's how long he has had this book he's 15 and Autistic.

Awesome book.