EDITOR’S CORNER
Ever hear of WhatDoWe-DoWithTheKids.com ? Me neither, but they sent me a press release purporting to list the “Top 10 Fictional Kids of All Time” from—quote—television movies and books.
Here’s their list:
10. Kevin McCallister, Home Alone; 9. George “Spanky” McFarland, Little Rascals; 8. Eric Forman, That 70s Show; 7. Richie Cunningham, Happy Days;
6. Alex Keaton, Family Ties.
5. J.J. Evans, Good Times;
4. Charlie Brown, Peanuts;
3. Kevin Arnold, The Wonder Years; 2. Arnold Jackson (the late Gary Coleman’s character), Different Strokes; 1. Bart Simpson, The Simpsons.
So that’s seven from television, two from movies and one from a comic strip. None from books unless you want to count the cross-media appeal of Charlie Brown. Those comic strips have certainly been reprinted in books.
Also, for an “all time” list it’s remarkably recent. Only one of the selections was created before 1950, only two before the 1970s.
So many of those picks seem to be more a salute to the actor in the role than to a character. With no original book character to draw on, imagine Arnold Jackson played by anyone besides Gary Coleman. Impossible.
Okay, I tried to come up with my own list and it was a lot harder than I thought. On any top 10 list, I tend to come up with three or four immediately and then struggle, but here goes:
10. Frank and Joe Hardy, multiple books. They weren’t great literature but, man, were they entertaining.
Almost broke my heart when I found out much later those beloved books were ground out by a corporation employing a committee of writers.
9. Dorothy Gale, The Wizard of Oz. Okay, you saw the name and started humming “Over the Rainbow” didn’t you?
Did you know Dorothy wasn’t a one-shot wonder? There were 14 Wizard of Oz books. And, of course, a magical movie which will outlive us all.
8. Harry Potter, books and movies of the same name.
Come on, when the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters come after you, who do you want to defend you, Bart Simpson?
(Bart to Voldemort: “Don’t have a cow, man.”)
7. Frodo Baggins, Lord of the Rings. This one stretches things a bit. Scholars who have studied the works of J.R.R. Tolkein say Fro-do was 33 when the events in Fellowship of the Ring occurred.
Frodo is a hobbit and, if you’re into things Tolkeinesque, you can make a case that a 33-year-old hobbit is actually little more than a teenager.
6. Charlie Brown. There’s no arguing with that pick from the WTDWTK list.
5. The kids from Lord of the Flies. There are no adults in this plot but it’s probably the least “children’s book” on either of our lists.
Are humans really like that? Well, are we?
4. Oliver Twist, from the book of the same name.
Has there ever been a more poignant, or more revolutionary, moment in fiction than young Mr. Twist asking “please sir, I want some more.”
3. Scout Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Harper Lee perfectly captured a young girl growing up in Depression-Era Alabama with all its child-like glories, and adult horrors. It’s never been done better and perhaps never will be.
2. Little Orphan Annie, comic strips, movies, hit Broadway show, radio, icon from the 1920s to the 1980s and beyond. (Collections of author Harold Gray’s work are still in print).
Want a portrait of American independence, resourcefulness and grit?
Leapin’ lizards, you’ve found it.
1. Huckleberry Finn, from the book of the same name, plus Tom Sawyer.
There’s a serious theory that American literature—in its own right, distinctive from its European roots—began with Huck.
But he’s not on the WTDWTK list and Richie Cunningham is?
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