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The opening scene is Link in a parapet above the princess. He comes out of the landing, gawking at the princess catcalling whistling, and then saying "Looking g

The opening scene is Link in a parapet above the princess. He comes out of the landing, gawking at the princess catcalling whistling, and then saying "Looking good princess, 'specially from this angle", with the direct implication he's able to see her breasts. A fairy shows up with some clothing to the princess, saying "i told you princess, you should have put on a robe". And this was sold as a kids show. (at least the bevis and butthead overdub was well, more on point, for both the content AND the target audience.)

peoplefromibiza 4y ago
a few observations on this topic, that recently have come up a lot. Sorry if it's gonna be a bit long. First of all, a bit of context. Maybe people forgot what the 80s where like, especially late 80s, especially in USA, maybe they forgot what being kids was like, maybe they were not even born when these things aired. At the times trends for people were not dictated by young girls half naked on tik tok, but by "the American dream" that in the 80s was to be a yuppie, that the "manual" said were like this https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71D2rGrfMBL.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71D2rGrfMBL.jpg but they were actually like this in reality https://e.snmc.io/i/300/w/18fff75069e5b3ecfc6d558e0c59acd0/5938834 https://e.snmc.io/i/300/w/18fff75069e5b3ecfc6d558e0c59acd0/5... "Lunch is for wimps." As you can see, yuppies were successful people who played tennis, yuppie women were blonde, of course, usually they stayed home anyway, because their husbands made a ton of money, thanks to cocaine. That was the culture US projected back then, that's why people of my generation reject the idea that USA are culturally relevant, except for punk, that was the last really interesting subculture that the US produced, but that's another story for another time. If you don't believe it, here it is "Das Yuppie handbuch", German edition. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cli3Z17VL.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cli3Z17VL.jpg Secondly, the shows were not for kids, the shows audience were kids parents, in this case their dads or older brothers, who represented almost entirely the demographic of people who knew what Zelda was and who she was and that no, Zelda's not the guy on the covert art of the videogame box. So it reflected an US centric male culture, like the fact that Mario is Italian because Japanese are (and were even more at the time) kinda obsessed with Italy, but in USA, being an Italian plumber, they made him sound like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eutK6k9D-Yk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eutK6k9D-Yk He starts saying "Hey paesano" which is an idiomatic phrase mainly used in the South of Italy, that nobody uses anymore since a long time ago and those who did where simply mocking very old ways. I haven't heard it since I was a kid, in the late 70s. Of course Mario being Italian with black moustache must be from Naples, right? and he obviously knows how to make a pizza, right? every Italian know how, even if they are plumbers. This basically to say that in USA those products were a reflection of the culture people were living in, men were assholes, Italians were Italo-Americans not real Italians, Chinese lived in Chinatowns and Japanese took pictures of everything. The good news is, kids don't get the references. As an example, my nephew she's 4 years old and she watches Masha and the Bear, which is a Russian product BTW. There's an episode where Bear encounters a female bear and wants to know her. He takes some flowers and a box of chocolates and goes to introduce himself. While he's going Masha realizes that Bear has chocolates and wants to eat them so she tries every trick on the book and in the end she eats them all and Bear is left with no more chocolates to bring to his romantic interest. Long story short: what my nephew got is that you don't ever eat all the chocolates, because before eating the last one you should ask if someone else wants it, because it's good manners. She did not understand that it's a metaphor of the difficulty of having a romantic life for parents with kids, especially single parents. That's something we get, because we are adult and have already gone through it or witnessed it in other's people lives.
- aflag 4y ago
  Why do you say the target audience were parents? Everyone I hear talking about the show were kids when it aired. At the time animation was always for kids. Before the Simpsons there was no adult animation and even when that came out it was actually even a bit confusing for some. I think it’s just that Link’s behaviour in the show was socially acceptable at the time, but it isn’t anymore.
  - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
    > Why do you say the target audience were parents? because they are the ones vetting what you could or could not watch. > At the time animation was always for kids I am not saying that they were made for the parents to watch them, but for the parents to accept them. I bet American kids never watched shows that slightly hinted at communism or socialism in the 80s. > I think it’s just that Link’s behaviour in the show was socially acceptable at the time, but it isn’t anymore. I wouldn't bet on that. This is the one of the most popular anime in USA right now https://i.redd.it/u3i0ue892i251.jpg https://i.redd.it/u3i0ue892i251.jpg I mean, only the slang has changed, not the actual content. I also believe those characterization were imitating this kind of comedic effect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ1UdYOrR3E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ1UdYOrR3E They made people smile because they were exaggerated, not because they were polite. I'm quite convinced that people understood that Link was being a moron and was not a role model, he had to learn how to behave. having said that, socially acceptable does not necessarily means better. also having cartoons specifically made for kids, especially very small children, made things worse, not better.
    - pcthrowaway 4y ago
      I disagree, this show aired on a block of Nintendo-related content. I would have been 4-7 when it was airing. My parents never watched it. FWIW I remember disliking the Zelda series at the time, went back and watched it when I was in my early 20s and remember liking it ironically (so-bad-it's-good), and watching scenes from it again now, I think maybe I was too generous in my 20s
ClassyJacket 4y ago
That is truly terrible. Not just from a "think of the children" perspective, but also from a "this doesn't fit the lore or the tone of the source material in the slightest" perspective. I get it. It's hard to adapt a silent protagonist. But did they have to overcompensate so badly and make him an obnoxious sounding pervert? I was furious about what Paramount did to Halo when they recently made that into a TV series (partly also for including the sexual desires and activities of the main character that were not accurate or relevant). But you know what?... at least I wasn't a Zelda fan in 1989. Sometimes tight control over IP is a good thing. That's what I remind myself every time I'm sad there's no Half-Life 3 -- it's a shame there isn't more, but on the other hand at least we're not suffering from two mediocre reboots and an awful unfaithful TV series complete with a gratuitous Alyx-Gordon sex scene. I haven't watched the Last of Us series yet but perhaps, considering the success of that and Sonic, the tide is turning on awful videogame adaptations. They'll never stop being mostly awful, but perhaps they'll stop being entirely awful.
- sircastor 4y ago
  > Sometimes tight control over IP is a good thing. Nintendo learned this the hard way in the early 90s with the Super Mario Bros movie. I guess The Legend of Zelda wasn't cartoon wasn't enough to cause a stir. If you're interested in a wild background story about IP, go watch Secret Galaxy's video on Captain N The Game master. It's fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-81eImgppDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-81eImgppDY

peoplefromibiza 4y ago

a few observations on this topic, that recently have come up a lot. Sorry if it's gonna be a bit long. First of all, a bit of context. Maybe people forgot what the 80s where like, especially late 80s, especially in USA, maybe they forgot what being kids was like, maybe they were not even born when these things aired. At the times trends for people were not dictated by young girls half naked on tik tok, but by "the American dream" that in the 80s was to be a yuppie, that the "manual" said were like this https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71D2rGrfMBL.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71D2rGrfMBL.jpg but they were actually like this in reality https://e.snmc.io/i/300/w/18fff75069e5b3ecfc6d558e0c59acd0/5938834 https://e.snmc.io/i/300/w/18fff75069e5b3ecfc6d558e0c59acd0/5... "Lunch is for wimps." As you can see, yuppies were successful people who played tennis, yuppie women were blonde, of course, usually they stayed home anyway, because their husbands made a ton of money, thanks to cocaine. That was the culture US projected back then, that's why people of my generation reject the idea that USA are culturally relevant, except for punk, that was the last really interesting subculture that the US produced, but that's another story for another time. If you don't believe it, here it is "Das Yuppie handbuch", German edition. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cli3Z17VL.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cli3Z17VL.jpg Secondly, the shows were not for kids, the shows audience were kids parents, in this case their dads or older brothers, who represented almost entirely the demographic of people who knew what Zelda was and who she was and that no, Zelda's not the guy on the covert art of the videogame box. So it reflected an US centric male culture, like the fact that Mario is Italian because Japanese are (and were even more at the time) kinda obsessed with Italy, but in USA, being an Italian plumber, they made him sound like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eutK6k9D-Yk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eutK6k9D-Yk He starts saying "Hey paesano" which is an idiomatic phrase mainly used in the South of Italy, that nobody uses anymore since a long time ago and those who did where simply mocking very old ways. I haven't heard it since I was a kid, in the late 70s. Of course Mario being Italian with black moustache must be from Naples, right? and he obviously knows how to make a pizza, right? every Italian know how, even if they are plumbers. This basically to say that in USA those products were a reflection of the culture people were living in, men were assholes, Italians were Italo-Americans not real Italians, Chinese lived in Chinatowns and Japanese took pictures of everything. The good news is, kids don't get the references. As an example, my nephew she's 4 years old and she watches Masha and the Bear, which is a Russian product BTW. There's an episode where Bear encounters a female bear and wants to know her. He takes some flowers and a box of chocolates and goes to introduce himself. While he's going Masha realizes that Bear has chocolates and wants to eat them so she tries every trick on the book and in the end she eats them all and Bear is left with no more chocolates to bring to his romantic interest. Long story short: what my nephew got is that you don't ever eat all the chocolates, because before eating the last one you should ask if someone else wants it, because it's good manners. She did not understand that it's a metaphor of the difficulty of having a romantic life for parents with kids, especially single parents. That's something we get, because we are adult and have already gone through it or witnessed it in other's people lives.

aflag 4y ago
Why do you say the target audience were parents? Everyone I hear talking about the show were kids when it aired. At the time animation was always for kids. Before the Simpsons there was no adult animation and even when that came out it was actually even a bit confusing for some. I think it’s just that Link’s behaviour in the show was socially acceptable at the time, but it isn’t anymore.
- peoplefromibiza 4y ago
  > Why do you say the target audience were parents? because they are the ones vetting what you could or could not watch. > At the time animation was always for kids I am not saying that they were made for the parents to watch them, but for the parents to accept them. I bet American kids never watched shows that slightly hinted at communism or socialism in the 80s. > I think it’s just that Link’s behaviour in the show was socially acceptable at the time, but it isn’t anymore. I wouldn't bet on that. This is the one of the most popular anime in USA right now https://i.redd.it/u3i0ue892i251.jpg https://i.redd.it/u3i0ue892i251.jpg I mean, only the slang has changed, not the actual content. I also believe those characterization were imitating this kind of comedic effect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ1UdYOrR3E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ1UdYOrR3E They made people smile because they were exaggerated, not because they were polite. I'm quite convinced that people understood that Link was being a moron and was not a role model, he had to learn how to behave. having said that, socially acceptable does not necessarily means better. also having cartoons specifically made for kids, especially very small children, made things worse, not better.
  - pcthrowaway 4y ago
    I disagree, this show aired on a block of Nintendo-related content. I would have been 4-7 when it was airing. My parents never watched it. FWIW I remember disliking the Zelda series at the time, went back and watched it when I was in my early 20s and remember liking it ironically (so-bad-it's-good), and watching scenes from it again now, I think maybe I was too generous in my 20s

ClassyJacket 4y ago

That is truly terrible. Not just from a "think of the children" perspective, but also from a "this doesn't fit the lore or the tone of the source material in the slightest" perspective. I get it. It's hard to adapt a silent protagonist. But did they have to overcompensate so badly and make him an obnoxious sounding pervert? I was furious about what Paramount did to Halo when they recently made that into a TV series (partly also for including the sexual desires and activities of the main character that were not accurate or relevant). But you know what?... at least I wasn't a Zelda fan in 1989. Sometimes tight control over IP is a good thing. That's what I remind myself every time I'm sad there's no Half-Life 3 -- it's a shame there isn't more, but on the other hand at least we're not suffering from two mediocre reboots and an awful unfaithful TV series complete with a gratuitous Alyx-Gordon sex scene. I haven't watched the Last of Us series yet but perhaps, considering the success of that and Sonic, the tide is turning on awful videogame adaptations. They'll never stop being mostly awful, but perhaps they'll stop being entirely awful.

sircastor 4y ago
> Sometimes tight control over IP is a good thing. Nintendo learned this the hard way in the early 90s with the Super Mario Bros movie. I guess The Legend of Zelda wasn't cartoon wasn't enough to cause a stir. If you're interested in a wild background story about IP, go watch Secret Galaxy's video on Captain N The Game master. It's fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-81eImgppDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-81eImgppDY