Tuesday Morning Question of Monumental Importance

One of the channels I was most excited about when we finally got cable a few years back was Teletoon Retro.  When I lived with my parents, Retro had not existed yet, and so this was going to be my first chance to really check out the channel.  I was pumped because it offered up all the classic cartoons of my childhood like Thundercats, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Transformers, and GI Joe.  I knew that modern cartoons just didn't compare to the awesomeness of '80s cartoons.  This was just an indisputable fact in my mind.

Well, one of the first things I did was watch an episode of Transformers.  I'll just say that at least Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes have held up.  I still sometimes forget what a groin kick Teletoon Retro is to my childhood, and I'll turn to it to watch something that isn't Bugs Bunny and then usually crawl into a ball to cry after.

Sometimes fond memories can be a cruel practical joke.  You remember something being so majestic as a kid, but then as an adult, it is revealed to be a heaping pile of partly digested Brussels sprouts coated in Pepto-Bismol.  It is proof that some cherished things from our childhood need to remain in our childhood unless we want to vomit all over the things that were held sacred at 8 years old.

So, here is my question.  What beloved things from your childhood (book, comic, TV show, movie, play, etc.) are you afraid to ever see again, because you don't think it will turn out to be very good now?

My answer?

My cartoons have already proven to not be able to stand the test of time. I'm little scared to re-watch some of the action adventure films that I loved so much as a kid that I usually would play out my version of the stories (starring me of course) in my backyard or school playground.  The big one that stands out, and I would be most afraid to watch is a film called Cloak & Dagger.  I'm nervous about the film being as good as I believed it to be in my childhood, because you never hear about this film anymore and it never makes anyone's top films of the '80s.  It stars Henry Thomas who is best known as Elliott in ET and also stars Dabney Coleman who is famous for being "that guy" in several '80s films like WarGames, On Golden Pond, Tootsie, and The Muppets Take Manhattan.  I also thought he was the guy from Major Dad, but apparently, that is an entirely different actor named Gerald McRaney who has mostly done TV shows.  This also means both guys have done less work than I've attributed to them in the past.  

Anyway, I loved this movie as a kid.  I remember wishing that one day the adventures this kid experienced would happen to me.  It is about a boy who falls in love with a role playing and video game called Cloak & Dagger, and he wishes he would go on adventures with the hero from the game.  I instantly could relate to a kid like that, because I always wanted to head off on adventures with Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones.  Anyway, the boy witnesses a murder, but before the person dies, he gives Thomas's character a Cloak & Dagger cartridge (remember those?) that contains secret military plans that an evil group is after.  So, this boy is thrown into a marvelous adventure where he must help take down a dangerous group bent on global domination.  I thought this film was amazing back in 1984, and I played so many different versions of it where I was thrust into adventures where I needed to save the world.  I've always been a sucker for average person stumbles upon major danger and must become a hero plots.

But I have a feeling this film will deliver one giant eyeball punch to my childhood if I watch it again.  I really do want to see it again.  But I'm afraid.  I'm afraid of discovering yet another childhood gem is actually a rusty can opener dipped in red paint.

So, what about you?