Sometimes while looking for the examples of reception in children’s culture I tend to look too far away from the pretty obvious cases. My latest discovery was made by accident when I was googling ‘Cerberus Cartoon’. This discovery have opened the door not necessarily to Hades, but certainly to the world full of Antiquity: American cartoon series brimming with ancient concepts, heroes, beasts… In the next few posts I would like to present some of those examples, in my opinion worth recommendation: firstly, for wonderful examples of reception – as such, and as a lot of fun, according to the intention of the creators.
First example would be It’s All Greek to Scooby directed by Russell Calabrese, from the TV-series What’s New Scooby-Doo? (2002–2006). In this episode Mystery Inc. goes to Greece just for vacation, but unfortunately – the work follows them. As usual they have to solve a case of a disguised villain. This time it is the mythical centaur harassing an archaeologist who looks for the lost city of Atlantis. To defeat the monster, the members of Mystery Inc. dress up as mythical beasts: Minotaur, Medusa, hydra, Cyclops and – Cerberus. The concept of defeating a mythical monster, in a way – by its own weapon (fighting “monster with monster”), reminds me of the strategy of facing your own fears by making them less scary, making fun of them, deconstructing them, and uncovering their true nature. At the end, Cerberus is just a human in a costume. But it does not mean that Atlantis is not real.
See more:
- It’s All Greek to Scooby Preview:
Our Mythical Childhood Blog 
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