Little In-Betweens

"What good is growing up, if this is all it means,
I'm an in-between, a lonely little in-between~"
- Patty Duke, "Billie"

I saw something very interesting today. And it's all in this article right here.

Yep, it seems the Rugrats are growing up. The little ankle-biters came to us as infants 12 years ago, and by jiminy, their creators are starting up a new season of Rugrats where Tommy, Dill, and whoever the hell the other ones are are going to be 12 years old, entering the exciting world of acne and menstruation.

(May I just interrupt myself here for a moment to say I never really liked the little guys myself? They all sounded like they needed to blow their noses, they were whiny, and one of them was unnecessarily mean, and most of all, they never once made me laugh. Having said that, I know some people are gaga over them.)

Now, I guess quite a bit is going to be made of this 'growing up' phenomena, and rightly so. Do you know of any cartoon characters who have aged, especially in the right time frame? Think about it: Charlie Brown's a bald 50 year old boy, Bart Simpson's been in elementary school for about 15 years (although I guess that's not too hard to believe), Judy Jetson's been a virginal high-schooler since 1962, and in human years, Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, Astro, Heckyll, Jeckyll, and Donald Duck should have all been dead in the cold cold ground by now.

And what's really odd, though I'm not suggesting here that when one watches cartoons one should cling to reality, I mean, suspending reality is why we watch them - but it is odd that all these cartoon characters who never age or even change their clothes, for cryin' out loud, that these same characters have flashbacks to when they were babies and sometimes even flash forwards to when they are elderly. That last one makes my brain hurt. I try not to think about it too much.

So I guess it is a big deal that the Rugrats are all growing up.

However, I happen to know a little about the aging of cartoon characters, since I have two of the finest out there living with me at the moment. And so I'm going to turn it over to the dearest, sweetest boy on earth, my wonderful Sherman, for a little Q & A on the subject.

B: Hi, Sherman
S: Hiya!
B: So, Sherman, I guess you've heard all about the Rugrats thing. Is this possible? I mean, aging of cartoon characters....
S: Sure! One of the neato things about cartoon characters is that we get to choose the age we wanna be. As you know, I made a big leap on my birthday in July when I went from eight to nine. I like being nine. Nine is fun!
B: And you wear it well, sweetie.
S: The thing of it is, Bet, that most cartoons are famous and making the samolians and all when they're a certain age - you know, if they're kids like me, or in their prime like Bugs, or old like Mr Magoo. So they figure, you know, why change?
B: And so you think the Rugrats thing is good, it's healthy?
S: Well....[looking at his sneakers]
B: It's OK. What?
S: I'm just a little worried.
B: Worried?
S: Yeah. I mean, if they all wanted to become preteens at once, that's OK, I guess. But they all changed at one time. I'm not sure they all wanted to grow up 12 years overnight. I hope the creators weren't mean to them, or punished them into making them change their minds. I was just thinking about that old cartoon story, you know, about Dumby.
B: Dumbo?
S: No, Dumby. Dumby Dumbass. He was a teenager and his people forced him into deciding to be a little school boy. And he got real successful and couldn't handle it. Hurt some people. Real bad stuff.
B: Um, I don't think I know that story.
S: [rolling his eyes] Well of course you don't. Nobody knows Dumby now.
B: Ahhh. So what about you, Sherman? Do you think you'll want to stay nine, or stay a little boy? Or can you see yourself making the move to teenagerdom? Or even adulthood?
S: Oh, I don't know, Bet. I like being a boy. And you know, I have to think about someone other than myself in this....
B: Mr "You-Know-Who?"
S: Sure! I love being his boy. What if I grew up? He wouldn't be happy owning a grown-up man. I don't think I'd like it, either. I like nine. I'm happy at nine.
B: Well, good. You know Sherman, I like you at nine, too.
S: Bet?
B: Yeah?
S: You're inching your finger over towards my leg again.
B: Hmmm? Oh, no. I'm just moving that pen. Can't get ink on our boy, can we?
S: Uh huh. Sure. I may be nine, but I wasn't born yesterday, you know.
B: Thank you for talking to us, Sherman.
S: Anytime, ma'am!