Rid.X

I first saw this nearly five years ago as a high school freshman, in health class. The experience was absolutely riveting, and as has already been pointed out, there's a brutal honesty in this film that simply doesn't come from a screenplay.

While this film is over two decades old, that in no way lessens its impact. With talk-shows now blindly bombarding us with images of indignant, lawless teenagers and trying to dispel the situation with pop psychologists and boot camps, the "Scared Straight!" program looks all the more effective.

This is definitely not one to miss.

Undoubtedly this is one of the more energetic and creative cartoons of the '80s, which isn't that surprising, given that it had the combined talents of Ralph Bakshi ("Fritz The Cat", "American Pop") and John Kricfalusi, who'd score another hit four years later with "Ren & Stimpy". The show, which lasted only one season on CBS, had a spark that's missing from most cartoons today.

One of the things that distinguished this cartoon is its deadpan sense of humor (see the Quotes section.) It goes without saying that this serves as the precursor to the likes of "The Simpsons", "King of the Hill", and many more sophisticated cartoons of the '90s.

For all the creativity throughout, there's a dark spot in the show's history, one that led to its demise. An episode that aired on April 23(?), 1988, drew the attention of Rev. Donald Wildmon. This particular episode contained a scene that showed Mighty Mouse snorting what looked like cocaine. In actuality, and in a brilliant piece of symbolism, Mighty Mouse was sniffing the dead, dried-up remains of a flower, given to him by the orphan Scrappy as a symbol of the good in the world. Despite this, Wildmon, along with other media watchdogs, instigated a strong campaign against the show. CBS brass then decided to move the show to a later timeslot; shortly thereafter, it was cancelled. Aside from a brief run on the FOX network in November-December of 1992, it hasn't been seen on television since.

Controversy aside, this still remains one of the finer pieces of animation ever seen on network television, and if there's any relic from the '80s worthy of resurrection, this would be it.

Undoubtedly this is one of the more innovative cartoons of the '80s, which is not particularly surprising, given it has the talents of both Ralph Bakshi (of "Fritz The Cat" fame) and John Kricfalusi, who would score another cult-favorite four years later with "Ren & Stimpy."

The show, which lasted only one season, added tongue-in-cheek humor to the proceedings (see the "Quotes" section.) It was this rapid-fire wit that was the precursor to the likes of "The Simpsons", among others. This is the same kind of wit that's missing in most cartoons nowadays, which are more concerned with product placement and commercial accessibility (how else to explain how a generation of youngsters embrace something as hollow as "Pokémon"?)

Sadly, there's a dark spot in the show's history, one that led to it's demise. An episode that aired on April 23(?), 1988, drew the attention of Rev. Donald Wildmon. This particular episode featured a scene that showed Mighty Mouse sniffing what appeared to be cocaine. In actuality, Mighty Mouse was sniffing a dead, dried-up flower that had been given to him by Scrappy, the orphan. (This was an incredible piece of symbolism: the flower represented good in a world of evil.) Even when confronted with this, Wildmon insisted that it was cocaine. This led to protest from media watchdogs, which prompted brass at CBS to move the show to a later timeslot, only to cancel it shortly thereafter. Aside from a brief reappearance on the Fox network in November 1992, the show hasn't been widely seen.

All in all, if there's one relic from the 80's worth bringing back, this is it. And you gotta love that a capella reworking of the theme. :-)