WHY I DON’T LIKE MY KIDS WATCHING MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE




File this one under gentle rant, people. I’m about to pick on someone who’s well short of my own size.

I’ve nothing against Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy, even big Pete has his moments. And I’ve really got a soft spot for Pluto. Have had since I was knee high to a teenybopper.

It’s the Toodles thing in this show that bugs me.

Whenever the characters get in a fix, they call on him/it to get them out of it using his unlimited collection of Mouskertools or whatever. (How big is this guy’s toolbox?)

But here’s the nub of this semi-serious rant (cos I need to take my kids to Disneyland some day and don’t want to be banned!)  What sort of lesson is this teaching our youngsters? 

Seems to me it’s that if you need a hand solving a problem, you don’t have to think your way to a solution. Oh no, instead, just wait for some magical all-powerful arm to pop out of the ground and give you the object you need. Easy.

As we oldsters all know, life ain’t like that. Or life isn’t like that, to get all grammatically correct on ya. You. 

I know it’s only kids’ telly, but I dunno if it’s sending out the right message. It certainly falls well short of Sheriff Callie’s Wild West in the ‘check out the moral of this story, kids’ stakes.


Shouldn’t we be encouraging kids to come up with their own solutions, or at least ask an adult, or maybe call on Pluto?