This series, I used to watch it in Spain on its debut, back in the years 79/80, when I was a small child. A few days ago I watched all 52 episodes again in YouTube, in a three-day marathon.
The story is far longer and complex than it is in the book, which I read a few years ago. Of course it had to be, in order to fill 52 episodes. There are a lot of invented characters and situations, some of them more interesting than others. But we learn that poor people are always suffering, and if they enjoy a little moment of happiness, is only to be spoilt by something unfair and nasty happening to them at the end of the day. Poor people can never win.
They couldn't make this series today, in this era of politically correct nanny culture. The associations of parents and of the protection of children would scream murder in capital letters. Nello gets beaten, the dog Patrash gets flogged, Nello is exploited by heartless adults now and again, then Granddad dies, Nello is falsely accused of arson, then he is evicted from his hut because he lost his job and can not pay the rent. And when you thought than nothing worse can happen now, we reach the disastrous ending. No, definitely this would be considered "unnaceptable" by today's crystal cannons.
But back then kids were shown the injustices of life, and even their cartoon heroes suffered the harshness and evil of this world, and even died because of it. Real life is hard, and bad things always happen to good people. We learnt this from a very early age, and perhaps it helped us to grow stronger for what we would have to face in the future.
The story is far longer and complex than it is in the book, which I read a few years ago. Of course it had to be, in order to fill 52 episodes. There are a lot of invented characters and situations, some of them more interesting than others. But we learn that poor people are always suffering, and if they enjoy a little moment of happiness, is only to be spoilt by something unfair and nasty happening to them at the end of the day. Poor people can never win.
They couldn't make this series today, in this era of politically correct nanny culture. The associations of parents and of the protection of children would scream murder in capital letters. Nello gets beaten, the dog Patrash gets flogged, Nello is exploited by heartless adults now and again, then Granddad dies, Nello is falsely accused of arson, then he is evicted from his hut because he lost his job and can not pay the rent. And when you thought than nothing worse can happen now, we reach the disastrous ending. No, definitely this would be considered "unnaceptable" by today's crystal cannons.
But back then kids were shown the injustices of life, and even their cartoon heroes suffered the harshness and evil of this world, and even died because of it. Real life is hard, and bad things always happen to good people. We learnt this from a very early age, and perhaps it helped us to grow stronger for what we would have to face in the future.