Is it wrong (or disturbing) to have a crush on an animated character? Not knowing everyone's opinion on this--though I can guess--I have to take the risk and make a confession: I was enamored with the cartoon character, Johnny Quest in the late 70s to early 80s. It was in syndication by then of course. The original series only ran from 64 to 65. I watched the cartoon on Saturday mornings during my pre-teen years and I desperately wanted Johnny Q to be my boyfriend (I didn't have a real boyfriend back then). He was cute and smart and always in and out of danger. He was the perfect "fake" boyfriend. The animation was actually advanced for the early 1960s, so Johnny seemed real, not like the typical cartoonish cartoon characters that Gen Xers were used to seeing. He had real-looking hair and facial features, and the slightest hint of pre-teen muscles!
I know Johnny Quest was a cartoon, and I didn't (and hopefully still don't) have issues between reality and being "somewhere over the rainbow" but he was cooler than any boy I knew andhe had the great fortune of traveling to exotic lands (perhaps that is when my love of traveling to countries with cultures completely different from my own was first awakened) with his dad, Dr. Benton Quest, Race Bannon (spy, action hero?), and Hadji, Johnny's friend and adopted brother. Oh, and I can't forget Bandit, the dog!
If only Johnny Quest knew I existed back then. He was much too busy for a girlfriend, chasing down mysterious goings-on with his father and team in faraway lands. I used to love the music in the episodes. The pounding beats of drums made my enchantment only that much stronger, hoping against hope that Johnny would survive the mummy chase, or the cannibal-like tribe members from some undisclosed country chasing him across dark waters. Oh Johnny, you will always be my first love...I've got to get a job soon.
Here is a link to the original opening credits of Johnny Quest (1964): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fYTA7bxqP4
--Fortuitous Observer
