Decades before the anthropomorphic automobiles of Pixar’s ‘Cars‘ there was the 1952 Tex Avery car-toon classic “One Cab’s Family“. On the surface it looks like the story of a rebellious car who wanted to be a hot rod, but it’s really a reflection of American society at the time, and the conflict between generations.
Yellow taxi cab John and his wife Mary welcome the arrival of their son, Junior, who’s the spitting image of his pops. When mom asks Junior if he wants to be a taxi cab like his father, Junior points to a motor race on TV instead; he wants to be a race car!
Junior transitions into a hot rod and zooms around the house, infuriating his father. After a spanking (it was the 1950s) Junior is sent to his room to return to his ‘normal’ persona. Fed up with his dad’s intolerant attitude to his alternative lifestyle, Junior sneaks out of the house, guzzles some high-octane gas, and goes careening all over town.
John chases after Junior in anger, then out of concern, as he sees his progeny playing chicken with a freight train. Without completely spoiling plot and the emotional heart of the cartoon, Junior ends up in the hospital, with his father John weeping over his boys busted up body.
Realizing what a dick he’s been to his kid, stomping on his dream of being a racer, John accepts that Junior is old enough to make his own decisions and indicates he’s willing to accept Junior’s choice of being a hot rod. But watch to the end, because there’s a twist ending!
Cartoonist Tex Avery delivered a funny but heavy-handed message about accepting the decisions and values of the younger generation. Sure, the parents were scared of their kid’s need for speed. But this is just natural inquisitiveness and ‘pushing the limits’ that all youth experiment with. Youth culture, and for that matter hot rod culture, does not lead to the end of western civilization.
you do find the most esoteric and interesting things
This one wasn’t me…it was Daniel. Stumbled across the cartoon and found the parallels between the 50s and today startling.
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Plus, Junior keeps his HOT ROD engine at the end, which is fantastic.
it really is astounding how some media and literature written long ago can speak to current events
I guess cartoons (and probably comic books) allowed illustrators real freedom to make social commentary.
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They could use wild imagery to poke fun at people and society without seeming too spiteful, even if things changed by today’s standards (see our ‘Politically Incorrect’ article from 5 years ago https://demaras.com/2019/02/19/politically-incorrect/)
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This little taxicab wanting to choose his own path, and not follow in the ‘family business’ speaks to may of us 2nd generation immigrants.
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But no matter how many decades back we look, parent’s always worry about their kids, and go to great lengths to protect them..