Post by Deleted on May 12, 2012 9:32:09 GMT -7
This popped into my head earlier today, and I figured that it was worth writing a thread about.
One thing that I always liked about Teddy's stories is that they were relevant to kids (and their families) when I was growing up. Most of them still are, too, since they're all pretty timeless. Things like going on adventures with friends and family, helping each other out, not believing everything you hear, and using your imagination to solve problems never go out of fashion or become irrelevant, after all!
But then there were the ones that covered specific issues - such as home safety, water safety, and fire safety. I must admit to having had none of these, though, but I'm sure that they addressed their respective issues in the usual excellent fashion that the more fable-like stories (which is most of them, really) did.
This brings me neatly to what it was that popped into my head this morning: Whilst the majority of the other stories and their advice and morals remain relevant today, the world has changed since Teddy's first waves of fans were growing up. For example: There are technologies that are an influence from early on in life, now, which were *far* less prevalent back in the 1980s and 1990s, and the use of them requires responsibility and common sense that an unbelievable number of people (even many who have grown up with them both as they've evolved, and in more recent years) do not appear to have.
Accordingly, it strikes me that if the Teddy Ruxpin franchise were to make a comeback both in various media and in toy form, either Grundo's technology would have to catch up with ours to *some* degree, or - more sensibly - Gimmick would have to sharpen up his skills, and get inventing! I can actually imagine a scenario where he has become a prevalent enough inventor to sell certain useful inventions to a significant enough number of people to make a story such as, say, "Computer Safety with Teddy Ruxpin" work - after all, most of the important computing and internet safety and common sense advice* is operating system and device agnostic, and thus could easily be made to work in the context of a Grundo with Gimmick-made computing devices performing useful functions for a significant-enough number of people.
*By this, I mean all the sensible stuff such as: Guarding personal info; Being aware that people may not be who they claim they are (Quellor posing as King Nogburt as part of some sort of nefarious info-fishing plan, perhaps?); Not opening unsolicited things (and never strange programs) from strangers or even people you know whose accounts may have been compromised unless you're expecting something to be sent to you; Not giving people access to your accounts no matter what they claim as the reasons they need to do so; Being aware of common scam tactics and the old adage that if something's too good to be true it probably is (a chance for Tweeg to plot a scheme that might get him into MAVO, anyone?); As well as stuff like balancing your schedule and not letting computing/entertainment devices hog all of it (all things in moderation!); Good posture so that you don't hurt yourself whilst using a computer (I can imagine Grubby being made an example of for this, for some reason. Speaking factually, it's advised that the top of your monitor should be about the same as your eye-level, that you don't lean forward too much, and so on. Using equipment such as a trackball instead of a mouse is also much better for your joints, so perhaps this could be touched upon, too); And things like turning off the wireless modes on portable devices when in areas where wireless communications are not allowed due to causing interference; Making use of power-saving modes so that you don't waste tons of power; Not mishandling, losing, or damaging devices belonging to others (for example, portable devices in particular are very personal items, and treating your own and other people's property with respect is a good all-round lesson to learn); These are just a few, amongst other key points that would be good to cover.
I think that something along these lines would be essential for allowing today's children to find even more things to identify with within Teddy's stories, since the world and the things that they're exposed to from childhood have now changed quite a bit since Teddy's previous runs (yes, even since the 2006 version!). If handled right - which you know, coming from Alchemy II, it would be - it would have no impact on the rest of the world or the stories that take place in it. It would just be something that's there in the world to be aware of - the same as in real life.
What do you guys think? Do you have any other ideas for stories along these lines? Is one of the "[X] Safety with Teddy Ruxpin"-type tales the way to go with some of these issues, or would the fable-style approach be better for some of them? Are there other, newer, or better ways of covering topics that are relevant to today's children, which simply weren't a real issue when we (or possibly just some/most of us) were younger? What other sorts of topics do you think would warrant companion stories (just as fire, home, and water safety were) in a new line-up?
Let me know your thoughts, please!
One thing that I always liked about Teddy's stories is that they were relevant to kids (and their families) when I was growing up. Most of them still are, too, since they're all pretty timeless. Things like going on adventures with friends and family, helping each other out, not believing everything you hear, and using your imagination to solve problems never go out of fashion or become irrelevant, after all!
But then there were the ones that covered specific issues - such as home safety, water safety, and fire safety. I must admit to having had none of these, though, but I'm sure that they addressed their respective issues in the usual excellent fashion that the more fable-like stories (which is most of them, really) did.
This brings me neatly to what it was that popped into my head this morning: Whilst the majority of the other stories and their advice and morals remain relevant today, the world has changed since Teddy's first waves of fans were growing up. For example: There are technologies that are an influence from early on in life, now, which were *far* less prevalent back in the 1980s and 1990s, and the use of them requires responsibility and common sense that an unbelievable number of people (even many who have grown up with them both as they've evolved, and in more recent years) do not appear to have.
Accordingly, it strikes me that if the Teddy Ruxpin franchise were to make a comeback both in various media and in toy form, either Grundo's technology would have to catch up with ours to *some* degree, or - more sensibly - Gimmick would have to sharpen up his skills, and get inventing! I can actually imagine a scenario where he has become a prevalent enough inventor to sell certain useful inventions to a significant enough number of people to make a story such as, say, "Computer Safety with Teddy Ruxpin" work - after all, most of the important computing and internet safety and common sense advice* is operating system and device agnostic, and thus could easily be made to work in the context of a Grundo with Gimmick-made computing devices performing useful functions for a significant-enough number of people.
*By this, I mean all the sensible stuff such as: Guarding personal info; Being aware that people may not be who they claim they are (Quellor posing as King Nogburt as part of some sort of nefarious info-fishing plan, perhaps?); Not opening unsolicited things (and never strange programs) from strangers or even people you know whose accounts may have been compromised unless you're expecting something to be sent to you; Not giving people access to your accounts no matter what they claim as the reasons they need to do so; Being aware of common scam tactics and the old adage that if something's too good to be true it probably is (a chance for Tweeg to plot a scheme that might get him into MAVO, anyone?); As well as stuff like balancing your schedule and not letting computing/entertainment devices hog all of it (all things in moderation!); Good posture so that you don't hurt yourself whilst using a computer (I can imagine Grubby being made an example of for this, for some reason. Speaking factually, it's advised that the top of your monitor should be about the same as your eye-level, that you don't lean forward too much, and so on. Using equipment such as a trackball instead of a mouse is also much better for your joints, so perhaps this could be touched upon, too); And things like turning off the wireless modes on portable devices when in areas where wireless communications are not allowed due to causing interference; Making use of power-saving modes so that you don't waste tons of power; Not mishandling, losing, or damaging devices belonging to others (for example, portable devices in particular are very personal items, and treating your own and other people's property with respect is a good all-round lesson to learn); These are just a few, amongst other key points that would be good to cover.
I think that something along these lines would be essential for allowing today's children to find even more things to identify with within Teddy's stories, since the world and the things that they're exposed to from childhood have now changed quite a bit since Teddy's previous runs (yes, even since the 2006 version!). If handled right - which you know, coming from Alchemy II, it would be - it would have no impact on the rest of the world or the stories that take place in it. It would just be something that's there in the world to be aware of - the same as in real life.
What do you guys think? Do you have any other ideas for stories along these lines? Is one of the "[X] Safety with Teddy Ruxpin"-type tales the way to go with some of these issues, or would the fable-style approach be better for some of them? Are there other, newer, or better ways of covering topics that are relevant to today's children, which simply weren't a real issue when we (or possibly just some/most of us) were younger? What other sorts of topics do you think would warrant companion stories (just as fire, home, and water safety were) in a new line-up?
Let me know your thoughts, please!
