Gotta catch 'em all!

Tommy let Faith and Eric start switching to the toy-ad cartoons on Saturday mornings rather than the preschool/educational channel I normally let them watch, and they've gotten hooked on "Sonic the Hedgehog."  In the interests of finding a different show I can semi-stand and avoid all the ads, I rented the first disk of the first season of "Pokemon."  Tommy and I used to watch it back before we had kids when the video and card games were all the rage.  We even went to see the first movie because I thought Pikachu was so cute. 

It's been a big hit with the kids.  It's interesting revisiting it, though.  For one, the "collecting" wild Pokemon aspect of it runs counter to everything they're being indoctrinated with in the newest (and therefore their favorite) of the PBS children's programs, "Wild Kratts"; in that show, it's the villains who capture wild animals and the heroes who have to rescue them to "live free and in the wild."  For another, it confirms my impression that it was an influence on "Avatar" (the Nickelodeon series, not the James Cameron movie): Ash, Brock and Misty are the original road-tripping heroes, and Jessie and James of Team Rocket definitely have a proto-Azula and Zuko vibe.

What really amazed me to learn, however, is that it's actually still being produced.  Every time I see a new video game come out, I'm mildly surprised that they're still making them, but it stuns me that Ash and Pikachu are in fact still trekking along after 14 years on Cartoon Network.  I thought it was a fad that had come and gone.  Is there anyone still collecting the cards?  I remember my nephew having an album full and being very proud of his Charizard.