What initially inspired you to get into Fantasy or Science fiction??

[flygin]

No one saw He-Man as a kid ? Maybe you dont wanna admit that you did

I did! I still have Skeletor's castle and a few action figures around here somewhere. I also have Voltron.

My family is pretty awful about the SF&F. For them, it's something to mock. I stopped reading the genres entirely when I was in high school, and it was partly because of that. I didn't get back into it until recently.

[DeepThought]

The first movies that I actually felt passionate about: Conan the Barbarian, Dune (not the series but the original David Lynch movie) willow etc. Yeah, yeah I know they are no great films , but hey, I was just a eight year old kid then and the otherworldly and imaginative bits of the films (something I hadn't really discovered then) somehow struck a cord and the rest is history...

[Redtail]

When I was about 12 one of my great aunts gave me The Lion witch and wardrobe, and my sister Dragongsong, I read both, and havn't looked back since. I guess its partly her fault Im hooked, and not only of sf & f, generally if its a book, and Im hooked by the first page, I have to read it............ which is very hard when you have other things to do in life, and Ive just rediscovered the local library,hmmmm

[Interference]

Originally Posted by Redtail

generally if its a book, and Im hooked by the first page, I have to read it............ which is very hard when you have other things to do in life, and Ive just rediscovered the local library,hmmmm

Please be in my audience demographic. Pretty please??

[Redtail]

wot would that be then?????(no Im not blone my sister is)

[iratebeaver]

Originally Posted by flygin

I did! I still have Skeletor's castle and a few action figures around here somewhere. I also have Voltron.

My family is pretty awful about the SF&F. For them, it's something to mock. I stopped reading the genres entirely when I was in high school, and it was partly because of that. I didn't get back into it until recently.

I loved voltron, well to be honest i got the action figures before i found out what the show was. but i loved the action figures!!

[thaddeus6th]

Thundercats was (and is) vastly superior to He-man. Plus Mumm-ra was cooler than Skeletor (although Skeletor was pretty good).

I first got into fantasy probably when I read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time. I didn't realise the rather obvious Christian allegory at the time, but even now as a great big atheist it doesn't bother me.

[Talysia]

Ohh, I loved Thundercats! I think it was one of my favourite shows when I was young.

[thaddeus6th]

They just released the first season on two DVDs in the PAL regions, though I think they're only available from HMV. Not that I've bought either of them. Obviously, that would be ridiculous for a grown man to do.

*whistles innocently*

[Talysia]

I'm tempted to buy them myself. Actually, I think that's why they release these things on dvd now - for nostalgia value to the people who saw it the first time it came out. I can think of loads of cartoons from 'the good old days' that I'd love to see again.

[thaddeus6th]

Also, cartoons were probably better then than they are now. Quite often I watch a few cartoons on ITV on weekend mornings and generally they're watchable, but rubbish compared to Thundercats.

By the way, I probably missed it, but what's the forum policy on going OT? I don't want to end up being beaten by the admin for wandering off-topic all the time (which I have a tendency to do).

Back on-topic: I think both fantastical books and cartoons are more effective at childhood, because then the imagiantion is unfettered, whereas teenagers and adults are all too aware of things that are unrealistic (in a fantasy-based context). We suspend disbelief, whereas children have little if any disbelief to suspend, so they may be able to enjoy fantasy more.

Plus, childhood memories get a rosey tint when you look back on them. Well, except for memories about having your head shoved down toilets, obviously.

[Talysia]

I don't think you've gone off topic at all. Some of my earliest sci-fi or fantasy memories come from the cartoons I watched when I was a child. We're remembering the things that we enjoyed when we were younger, and since they were fantasy/sci-fi related we remembered them and continued following the genre.

As an aside, I've got that warm, nostalgic feeling from this thread now.

[ironvelvet]

Surely lots of us got into Fantasy before TV viewing became a staple? I was brought up on Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm. Witches, dwarfs, magic apples, talking bears, enchanted needles, 100 year sleeps etc. need I say more...

And Masters of the Universe was by far the best SF cartoon!

[Cipher]

Knightmare, Thundercats and Power Metal got me into Sci Fi/Fantasy. Oh and Farscape!

[Steve Jordan]

My influences list sounds a lot like Curt's, if you replace Tolkien with adventure cartoons like Johnny Qwest, Space Ghost, Speed Racer, Astroboy, etc, etc.