I wonder how many people reading this strip realize that the premise is based on a TV cartoon of the 1950s called “Winky Dink and You”. Kids were asked to draw things with crayons on a plastic transparency placed over the TV screen to help Winky Dink out of tight spots like this. (“Quick, kids, draw a soft fluffy mattress for Winky to land on!” and the smartass kids would draw a bed of nails instead, which still managed to save him.)
The show got in trouble with parents because a lot of kids were foregoing the transparent plastic cover and drawing directly on the TV screen instead.
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I wonder how many people reading this strip realize that the premise is based on a TV cartoon of the 1950s called “Winky Dink and You”. Kids were asked to draw things with crayons on a plastic transparency placed over the TV screen to help Winky Dink out of tight spots like this. (“Quick, kids, draw a soft fluffy mattress for Winky to land on!” and the smartass kids would draw a bed of nails instead, which still managed to save him.)
The show got in trouble with parents because a lot of kids were foregoing the transparent plastic cover and drawing directly on the TV screen instead.