Beginning to See the Light

Remember the cartoon character, Mr. Magoo?

The Mr. Magoo animated series debuted in 1949. Jim Backus (Mr. Howell of Gilligan’s Island fame) voiced Magoo, and I’ll bet you didn’t realize that three of the cartoons were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Animated Shorts. Later, Leslie Nielsen played Magoo in the movie version.

So, here’s the crux of the cartoon’s saga. J. Quncy Magoo, was a short, elderly, squinty-eyed, big-nosed retiree. He was Rutgers educated and a millionaire. But he had one big flaw. Mr. Magoo was extremely nearsighted, which, face it, happens to us all as we age. Not a big deal, right?

Wrong!

Magoo stubbornly refused to admit that he has any kind of problem, much less a vision one. This led to a series of comical, usually dangerous, situations. Bystanders in the cartoon segments thought him to be accident-prone, codgerly and basically a nut job. But Magoo always uncannily seemed to pull through each foible exclaiming at the end of each episode,

“Oh Magoo, you’ve done it again!”

Sigh! As a kid, I loved Mr. Magoo.

Gasp! Choke! Gulp! As an adult, until four months ago, I WAS Mr. Magoo!