"Be vewwy, vewwy quiet . . ."

  I'd guess the words of wabbit hunter Elmer J. Fudd would be recognizable to anyone who whiled away years of their young lives watching Looney Tunes cartoons.

Considering they come from animated shorts their grandparents probably watched, I'm not so sure your average Disney Channel watcher would recognize the phrase - or the sentiment.

A quiet cartoon character? To borrow a line from my toddler nephew, "Whatidat?"

My wife and I just completed a tour of duty serving as extra eyes and ears for my siblings' seven kids on my family's annual beach trip.

We took in a lot of children's television at Mom and Dad's condo, where my brother's wee folk waited for my sister's tykes to arrive before heading out to play.

The din of a room full of kids aged 1 to 6 is raucous enough, but it wasn't until the last day cleaning out refrigerated leftovers and making breakfast that I noticed characters on these TV shows seem to use screaming as their normal speaking voice.

Doesn't anyone just talk anymore? Why does everyone need to emote to express themselves?

Bugs and Mickey used their "inside voices" as a matter of course, speaking conversationally, one-to-one, and raising them only when pushed - sometimes, as in the case of the meek mouse, not even then.

When did the volume start ratcheting up?

"Be vewwy, vewwy quiet . . ."

  I'd guess the words of wabbit hunter Elmer J. Fudd would be recognizable to anyone who whiled away years of their young lives watching Looney Tunes cartoons.

Considering they come from animated shorts their grandparents probably watched, I'm not so sure your average Disney Channel watcher would recognize the phrase - or the sentiment.

A quiet cartoon character? To borrow a line from my toddler nephew, "Whatidat?"

My wife and I just completed a tour of duty serving as extra eyes and ears for my siblings' seven kids on my family's annual beach trip.

We took in a lot of children's television at Mom and Dad's condo, where my brother's wee folk waited for my sister's tykes to arrive before heading out to play.

The din of a room full of kids aged 1 to 6 is raucous enough, but it wasn't until the last day cleaning out refrigerated leftovers and making breakfast that I noticed characters on these TV shows seem to use screaming as their normal speaking voice.

Doesn't anyone just talk anymore? Why does everyone need to emote to express themselves?

Bugs and Mickey used their "inside voices" as a matter of course, speaking conversationally, one-to-one, and raising them only when pushed - sometimes, as in the case of the meek mouse, not even then.

When did the volume start ratcheting up?

The cynical part of me says given that these cartoons usually have product tie-ins, they're less entertainment  than 30-minute commercials, hence the constant shouting. Buy the plush doll and push the button to hear the trademark catchphrase at the top of its microprocessor lungs!

Or maybe it's just a reflection of today's attention-starved "Look at me, everybody!" culture.

As grownup entertainment gets noisily cartoonish with the over-the-top antics and melodrama of reality shows peopled with celebrities famous for being famous, maybe it should follow that children's fare be equally as grating and vapid.

Watching the rise of a culture acclimated to constant stimulation, I wonder when the time for reflection will occur. Filling in empty, quiet space with noise makes "I can't hear myself think" more reality than hyperbole.

Ideas are already fed to us sound-bite style for those of us with short attention spans. Just watch your tube as the political campaign season gets in high gear after the major party conventions.

Negative ads paint opponents in tidy, six-word summations: "Automatic tax increases. More expensive gas."

Somewhere in the political afterlife, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas are speechless.

When the Lord spoke to the prophet Elijah, his voice was heard not in howling wind or rumbling earth or scorching fire, but in a tiny whisper. By attuning his ear to the divine word, the prophet went on to perform many great miracles.

Amid the cacophony of screaming cartoon animals and the incessant drone of pop culture's machinery, I can't imagine what miracles we stand to miss for want of making time to be very, very quiet.

Contact writer Philip Maramba at 348-1248 or phi...@dailymail.com.