If you’re of a certain (older) age, and American, you remember “Davey and Goliath.” It must have been one of the primary inspirations for “Calvin and Hobbes,” but I don’t know if Bill Watterson has ever acknowledged that.
“Davey and Goliath” really stuck with me as a kid. Later, I was thinking about the Protestant denomination that produced the series when, as a teenager, I walked into a Lutheran Church by myself one Sunday morning.
There are, of course, parodies of “Davey and Goliath,” but I’m uncomfortable with them, because I feel that although the cartoons are now dated, in their day they were sincere, positive and worthwhile. The “Davey and Goliath” Mountain Dew commercial is clever, and it does nothing to undermine the lessons or spirit of the series. Something that’s emphasized repeatedly, and still resonates with me, is that everybody has choices in life, and people have to take responsibility for themselves.
Here is one of my favorite episodes. Animator Art Clokey did some really psychedelic stuff in “Gumby and Pokey,” and “Davey and Goliath” is toned down by comparison, but there’s a brief, slightly surreal dream sequence in “The Winner.” The importance of a lowly cotter pin is something I’ve always remembered. “For want of a nail…”
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/SEP/DaveyGoliath.flv 480 360]
Isn’t that funny, but I didn’t notice that part of it, being a GIRL, of course. Yeah, where was Dad? I know, “be a man, figure it out yourself!” was the norm in the 50s and 60s. I know Tom’s dad let him do everything by himself (with some pretty nasty accidents as a result!). To be fair, Tom’s dad was well into his 40s by the time Tom was born, and had extremely bad hips from years of hard, physical labor as a carpenter. Tom got out of going to Vietnam because his mother secretly went down to the draft board and told them that since his father was disabled, he had to support the family. She didn’t tell Tom until the war ended!
I noticed that Davey’s friend Mike was allowed to handle a power drill without adult supervision. Also, a soap box derby is the sort of project that would promote father-son bonding, and at the very least his dad should have checked the racer for safety. Perhaps the fact the script was written by a woman had something to do with it.
A TOUCAN? Didn’t the producers know these birds were most likely illegally imported back then, and rife with germs? On top of that, they were (and still are) prohibitively expensive! However, Davey did show proper training techniques in showing Jake how to perch (remember, I owned three parrots when married to Bill).
Like just about every boomer, I loved Davey and Goliath for all the reasons you’ve listed above. It was not overbearing in its religious messages, and kids were allowed to make mistakes!