The thrill of waiting for our favorite cartoons to air on television will always remain as an indescribable feeling for the children who belong to the 90s. Unlike the present times, when we can watch whatever we want at any given time of the day; there was a time when people used to wait for an entire week to take a glimpse of their treasured TV shows.
Those simple animations with heart warming stories still live in the hearts of the people of the 90s. Let’s go on a journey of nostalgia by revisiting the famous cartoons of Bangladesh.
MEENA
“Meena” is undoubtedly one of the most popular Bangladeshi cartoons till now. By partnering with UNICEF, this cartoon was aired on BTV and soon received immense popularity among children and even adults.
The main theme of Meena cartoon was to raise social awareness and stand with the idea of providing education to girls, improve sanitation and hygiene practices and assuring equal opportunities for boys and girls. Parents admired the show as it taught these enlightening topics in a visually appealing way.
This cartoon was based in a rural area on a family of five. Meena was the elder daughter with Raju being the younger. They had a pet parrot named “Mithu”. The theme song ” Ami Baba Mayer Shoto adorer Meye” has transcended through many generations.
SISIMPUR
Sisimpur, a kid’s show loved by millions within and outside of Bangladesh was adopted by an English puppet based show “Sesame Street”. Cesemi workshop Bangladesh worked on television for a long time to bring quality tv shows for kids to make learning enjoyable for them.
Sisimpur was more of an educational learning programme for children of 3 to 8 years of age. This show discussed issues such as literacy, hygiene, numeracy and a lot of other topics delivered in a fun way. USAID later collaborated to make Sisimpur more popular through taking a multimedia approach.
Sisimpur consisted of many fun characters such as Halum, Ikri, Shiku and in their daily lives they faced issues which they solved through unity and teamwork.
Sisimpur can still be watched at YouTube in their YouTube channel with the same characters and a great nostalgia.
Thakurmar Jhuli
Thakurmar Jhuli is a collection of Bengali Folk tales which was published by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar under the name of “Thakurmar Jhuli”. The renowned world poet, Rabindranath Tagore himself wrote the introduction to the anthology.
The stories of the rural people based on valuable moral lessons soon grew popular among the kids and adults of West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Certain characters and stories like “Lalkamal-Nilkamal”, “Buddhu-Bhutum” and “Byangoma-Byangomi”, became so popular that they are now named as some of the legendary stories ever created. Hundreds of editions of this book have been published from Bangladesh and West Bengal since the original publication.
Thakurmar Jhuli was like a refreshment for Bengali Folk literature and even now the nostalgia attached with this publication is unparalleled.
The stories consisted of many different characters who used to face many difficulties in their way. The way they used to get past those difficulties with courage and bravery gave an amazing experience to the viewers during the time when animated shows were absolutely rare.
Many other shows of the 90s like Jumanji, Ghostbusters, Popeye also gained a lot of popularity. Aside from the joy and entertainment these shows used to give to the viewers, the nostalgia attached with the characters make these cartoons immortal.
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Writer,
Fatema Tuz Zohora
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE.