Aesop's Fables and Pop Culture

So yeah...I'm a slacker. I could spend a few sentences describing how desperately I need a new computer, but I would rather just update the blog. The long and short of it is that I think too much.

I'm about halfway through the collection of Aesop's Fables I've been reading, and I can't believe how many of his little morality tales have survived into present times. They pop up everywhere that children are bound to look, especially in cartoons. I'm sure that most of us remember Bugs Bunny as the fool from The Tortoise and the Hare, or at least I hope so!

Then, there is this Disney-fied version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." (The video below has a running time of 00:09:22, but it is well worth it. Quite honestly, I am really hoping that the Wolf in Peep's clothing is an intentional pun, and not just a happy coincidence.)

I can't help but wonder if any of Aesop's fables have found their way into modern cartoons. Think Spongebob. I would love to see examples. I also noticed that so many of the classic cartoons emphasize simplicity in the same way that Aesop does. Foxes are always foxy; sheep are always sheepish -- with the exception of the "black sheep;" wolves are always dastardly. (These truths/assumptions are extremely effective, paired with snippets of appropriate classical music. Cartoons from the 30s and 40s always managed to sample from ALL of the classics. True, it might be derivative of everything and indicative of nothing, but WWII politics often creep into those cartoons, too. I can appreciate all of it.) There is an element of slapstick in Aesop's works, which might be why Aesop himself is so often depicted as a comic character by playwrights.

If you know of any other examples of Aesop's fables in books, cartoons, video games, songs...whatever...post them in the comments!