Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate

[Shawnster]

The granddaughter Loves The Wiggles, a children's show out of Australia.  One of the characters is Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate. 

 

When did pirates become cute children's characters?  I know it was before my lifetime because I remember watching cartoons that featured pirates.  Peter Pan has a pirate character.  Treasure Island features pirates. 

 

But when did they become kiddie fodder?  I'm hard pressed imagining that other scum would ever be featured in children's programming. I can't imagine Osama the Friendly Terrorist or Gambino the Friendly Mobster. 

[EccentricM]

I suppose the association with pirates changed over the years, from what they originally were, bands of criminals, pillagers, smugglers, rapists and mercenaries... to the more "romantic" association of piracy in fictional settings.

 

The fantasy pirate is about being free of the shackles of a government, being your own man, an adventurer, on the look out for hidden treasures, and sailing the high seas, whilst liberating yourself from the confines of being landlocked in a nation's bounds.

 

In these settings pirates are often the heroes, fighting the corrupt lawman, or.. facing off with "evil pirates". In fantasy, you could say pirates are sometimes seen as the "hippies" of the 1700s, rebelling against tyranny for freedom, even if the historical pirate was just a criminal.

 

So that lends itself to the child friendly pirate, who is all about "let's go treasure hunting kids!".

Edited March 22, 2021 by EccentricM

[Thesauron]

The granddaughter Loves The Wiggles, a children's show out of Australia.  One of the characters is Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate. 
 
When did pirates become cute children's characters?  I know it was before my lifetime because I remember watching cartoons that featured pirates.  Peter Pan has a pirate character.  Treasure Island features pirates. 
 
But when did they become kiddie fodder?  I'm hard pressed imagining that other scum would ever be featured in children's programming. I can't imagine Osama the Friendly Terrorist or Gambino the Friendly Mobster. 

The pirate in Peter Pan is not a friendly character. He is the stuff of J. M. Barrie’s nightmares, and is used because children, well, like to be scared. Good authors of children’s books and plays know this. Just look at Beatrix Potter’s “cute” stories.

[Thesauron]

The go from there to modern parents who are anxious and afraid of everything remotely dark, and you get a kind and boring pirate character, such as Captain Feathersword.

[Shawnster]

16 hours ago, Thesauron said:

The pirate in Peter Pan is not a friendly character

Yeah, I get that.  

 

Though I'm still struggling to imagine a gangster or terrorist character in children's programming 

[M.J.]

As @EccentricM
said, the classic depiction of a pirate is from a different time period, allowing the lines to blur and the image to morph.

 

Terrorists, on the other hand, are current, and hit to close to home. 

[EccentricM]

1 hour ago, Shawnster said:

Though I'm still struggling to imagine a gangster or terrorist character in children's programming 

Give it 500 years, and maybe the context will change.

 

Actually, the notion of being a child friendly gangster has already been set on that road. At one time there were child friendly hip-hop shows, ads and characters in children's shows. It was about the attitude and wearing the shades and the outfits, speaking the slang, rapping, but such culture goes back to US street gangs and hoods in many respects.

 

 

That right there is a "child friendly gangster". It's just taking "elements" out of something, but retaining the name or label of which it originally derived.

[Hope]

1 hour ago, Shawnster said:

Yeah, I get that.  

 

Though I'm still struggling to imagine a gangster or terrorist character in children's programming 

"Bugsy Malone" was a very popular gangster movie with an all child cast... 😕 

[Thesauron]

Yeah, I get that.  
 
Though I'm still struggling to imagine a gangster or terrorist character in children's programming 

True. But historically, thief’s have been used as well. Ghost, witches, magicians, trolls, kidnappers, hunters, anything that might put some chill down a kid’s spine. Terrorists are a modern concept, and using them today probably would not sell. The only successful “child-friendly” terrorist I can think of is Dunham’s “Achmed the Dead Terrorist,” although he’s not used in a fairytale concept.

[Shawnster]

8 hours ago, Thesauron said:

The only successful “child-friendly” terrorist I can think of is Dunham’s “Achmed the Dead Terrorist,” although he’s not used in a fairytale concept.

Nor is that aimed at a children's audience 

[Thesauron]

Nor is that aimed at a children's audience 

I am aware, but it was the closest I could think of.

[EccentricM]

[Mykyl]

On 6/5/2021 at 10:13 PM, EccentricM said:

Jake and the neverland pirates. I used to watch that with my kids when they were wee. 😉