Rolie Polie Olie

I replaced Dexter’s Lab with Rolie Polie Olie because I realized I hadn’t included any Disney Channel shows on this list, and since Pollit’s original study was of preschool cartoons, this seemed more relevant anyway.

I have to give Disney props for Rolie. Considering it comes from a studio famous for its negative portrayals of women, Rolie Polie Olie is surprisingly gender-inclusive. Most of the action takes place in the Rolie Polie family, which is split down the middle: Dad, Mom, son, daughter. The son, Olie, is the main character, which I was wary of at first (male-centric concerns and all), until I had time to take in a few shows. Olie may be the main character, but the show is careful to include the rest of his family in almost everything he does. His sister Zowie is a frequent plot staple; a dominant theme of the show is how to love and play nicely with your siblings. Zowie is certainly not the terrorizing younger sister we see in shows like Dexter’s Lab or Ed, Edd, & Eddy.  

Overall, Rolie Polie Olie is a sugary-sweet show with nothing but family values to teach preschool children. It’s not really pioneering, but it is certainly not regressive, either. Females are slightly outnumbered on the show (the family dog is male and Olie’s grandfather also lives with them), but female characters are featured so prominently in the storylines (and so unstereotypically) that I will definitively clear Rolie Polie Olie of any charges that it might be a Smurfette Principle offender.

Olie

 Olie is a highly active six year old robot. He and Zowie get into the usual preschool cartoon predicaments, but he always learns a lesson from either his parents or his friends at the end of the episode.
Zowie

 Zowie is Olie's two year old sister. She worships her big brother and loves exploring, both with him and on her own. We don't get any make-up, flowers or sparkles from Zowie; she is interested in the same things any toddler would be, which is basically whatever is shiny and mobile.

Polina

 Polina is Zowie and Olie's mom. She's kind and patient with her kids and husband, and she had Percey split the parenting and household decisions. She also works a full-time job.

(I apologize for the crazy wobble-dancing of Polina and Percey. It hurts me more than it hurts you, believe me.)
Percey

 Percey is the dad you would expect to find on a show as sugary as this one. Like his wife, he is kind and patient, and he always has some fatherly advice to dispense at the end of each episode.

 

Cartoons: 1950s -1990s Cartoons: present Discussion/Conclusions Home Works Cited