Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Toons You Might've Missed: The Adventures of Pow Wow (1949)

Time to go back in time, when Native American characters were not always politically incorrect.

The Adventures of Pow Wow turns 65 this month, but most folks associate the series with its airings on CBS' Captain Kangaroo, beginning in 1956. However, after Screen Gems (then a TV arm of Columbia) pulled the cartoons from syndication, it was never seen again.

It was off the air as I was growing up, so I cannot rate it. Therefore, for your perusal, here's "The Magic Spigot":



Producer Sam Singer is better known for hits from the 60's, like Courageous Cat and the initial run of Sinbad, Jr..

6 comments:

magicdog said...

Politically Corect, schmittically correct! The theme song alone is a testament to the kind of character Pow Wow was. Even when I was a kid, we could safely play cowboys and Indians without people getting whiney over something that doesn't even offend the Indians!

Redskins anyone?

hobbyfan said...

Which begs to ask, how would the PC police reboot the Lone Ranger's partner, Tonto, in this day & age?

magicdog said...

Johnny Depp of course!

Seriously, they did it right the first time with Jay Silverheels. He was a loyal and trusted friend to The Lone Ranger and they saved each others loves many times over the years.

If it's because the name "Tonto" is the Spanish word for stupid - then just have it that Tonto's name is an Indian name (whichever tribe to which he belongs) which happens to coincide with the phonetic sound of the Spanish word. It's not like it's out of the range of possibility; many words look or sound like another between languages.

hobbyfan said...

Depp's still making movies (Into the Woods), still playing oddballs. Whatever happened to his being normal (the original 21 Jump Street)?

magicdog said...

Normal is for squares!

Seriously, I agree. He's been playing Jack Sparrow for most of his recent roles, and it's getting tiresome.

hobbyfan said...

His Tonto sucked. His attempt at rebooting Dark Shadows with an Addams Family flavor bombed. I haven't seen Into the Woods yet, probably will wait for the DVD.