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ONCE upon a time, I used to be naive, innocent and even pure.

But then one day I watched a movie about a girl eating mushrooms and smoking a bong with a weird creature. From then I became addicted.

If I wasn't watching that blue movie about that town where one girl lived amongst hundreds of boys, I was watching those bears who used to drink a drug potion that left them rushing and bouncing off the walls, and even the one about the racist, apparently ?homosexual elf.

No clue what I am talking about?

Well, let's see: Alice in Wonderland, The Smurfs, The Gummy Bears and of course Noddy.

These might not sound like your average descriptions of these classic cartoons, but if we all had the minds of certain individuals in our society, that?s exactly what they would put on the warning labels.

When I watched The Smurfs, I saw cute little blue people with white hats and clothes having fun and adventures.

Later, as an adult, I used to laugh when the question was raised ? over a few drinks no doubt ? as to why there were so many boys and only one girl... And what did they do when the lights went out?

As a child, the thought never even crossed my mind. The child's mind doesn't think up these naughty ideas. No, that we can take credit for as adults!

If you watch a animated movie at the cinema, nine times out of 10 there will be certain jokes and scenes the adults will laugh at and the children just won't get.

Sometimes the film-makers did this on purpose so parents can also enjoy the movie, because lets face it: No parent wants to sit through a movie about a cute little kitten who sings for 55 minutes in a 60 minute film!

But  quite  often  its  because  we  recognise  things in a movie that could have a different meaning than what is intended.

There are millions of words and phrases that are ambiguous. Children will recognise these words as one thing and ? only if we wanted to, of course ? we will recognise them as something else.

Some examples:

? Green: Child thinks colour, adult thinks drugs; ? Grass: Child thinks the stuff fields are made of, adult thinks drugs; ? Smack: Child thinks I'd better run or I'm gonna get a hiding, adult thinks drugs; ? Blow: Child thinks what you do to birthday candles, adult thinks drugs.

The list goes on.

But the point I am trying to make, in a really roundabout, long-winded way, is that there is a rather thick line between recognising adult humour in a cartoon and labelling it as evil and causing a riot over it. That line is what separates rational people from the rest.

If you had the mind for it, you could most certainly find adult humour in just about everything you watch.

But why take it to the extreme? When Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings came out, some wanted to ban them. They saw wizardry and witchcraft, which to them spells "EVIL".

But in reality, if you gave them a chance, you would have seen stories about good triumphing over evil. About friendship and honour. About sacrifice over self.

Most cartoons have a moral; most cartoons make us laugh and forget our worries ? a rare commodity in some ?people's lives.

And if you see an adult joke in it, all you need to do is watch your child's reaction: If he continues to stare at the television, mouth agape, with that there-is-nothing-going-through-my-mind-but-wind-look on his face, you know the joke is safely hidden in your own naughty little mind.

Only when he starts to see the humour in the name Puss in boots, then perhaps its time to have a chat with your not-so-innocent little lamb!

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