what is wrong with mordern day cartoons
- Thread starter Hamish Durie
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Retuuuuurn the Slaaaaaaaaaaaaab..........The Stonker said:
Orrrr suffer my currrrrrrse......
The man in gauze!
The man in gauze!
The man in gauze!
KING RAAAAMASEEEEEES!!!
Absolutely nothing. People are just blinded by nostalgia. Sure there were plenty of good shows back in the day but there are some great shows today.
From the Western animation industry we have Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, Phineas and Ferb, Chowder, Flapjack, Pixar's stuff etc.
From the Eastern side we're getting great shows like Tiger and Bunny, The Tatami Galaxy, Katanagatari, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood just for a few examples.
Plus have you SEEN the cartoons that the French have been making lately? Incredible.
I'm of the opinion that the animation industry is flourishing with awesome shows right now. Older shows were indeed good but that does not mean that newer shows are shit under any circumstances.
From the Western animation industry we have Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, Phineas and Ferb, Chowder, Flapjack, Pixar's stuff etc.
From the Eastern side we're getting great shows like Tiger and Bunny, The Tatami Galaxy, Katanagatari, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood just for a few examples.
Plus have you SEEN the cartoons that the French have been making lately? Incredible.
I'm of the opinion that the animation industry is flourishing with awesome shows right now. Older shows were indeed good but that does not mean that newer shows are shit under any circumstances.
I can only speak for MLP:FiM but I think it VALIDATES the nostalgic bias. It is a very similar cartoon to shows that had aired during the time that many of its adult fans were kids.dubblem said:
It is a same thing in new clothes. Is that the only reason it has a such a prominent popularity? Probably not, but it is certainly a contributing factor.
Its the same reason BG2 fans enjoyed DA:O even though it was blatantly less in-depth and more flawed--but it was similar in enough was to scratch our nostalgic itch.
Nostalgia, mainly. There's some great recent cartoons, though. Fosters Home for Imaginary friends was running until two years ago, and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy ran until three years ago. Granted, these and other series are done now, but they count as modern day, I think. Then of course, there's The Simpsons, South Park, and other cartoons for older people.
i have a fairly unique perspective. As a kid, i went outside and played in the sun instead of watching cartoons. I started watching cartoons when i got to college, sticking them in one large pool, instead of separate classes determined by decade and nostalgia.
There is a general notion in this country that cartoons are for children, and children are stupid. This means that most cartoons are either simple or just plain idiotic. Simple can be done well, as in the case of Looney toons, where it is predominantly just amusing antics, or it can just be bad. Many 80s cartoons fall into this category, focusing more on action and situation than overall plot or intelligence (although arguably many just cross the stupid line and keep on going). Modern cartoons seem to be dominated by a simple animation style, which makes characters look 2D, like they are cut out of paper (there are definitely exceptions though. I personally hate this style, but often the content is a little bit smarter than the 80s cartoons. OR just stupid to the point where it should die in fire. Usually these are good to tolerable.
The 90's cartoons had better animation than both modern and 80s, and a decent amount of intelligence behind its shows. I tend to enjoy this decade the most, since the content is not hidden behind simple animation. My two overall favorites are the Tick and Conan the adventurer (animaniacs be awesome too). Modern is next, with my favorites being invader Zim (it cuts the mold with its own unique style though, not sure if it can really be compared to the others)and the grim adventures of bill and mandy. 80s cartoons fall more into the "So bad its funny category", as do many of the hanna barbera age. They are watchable, but none of them really make it into the favorites category.
There is a general notion in this country that cartoons are for children, and children are stupid. This means that most cartoons are either simple or just plain idiotic. Simple can be done well, as in the case of Looney toons, where it is predominantly just amusing antics, or it can just be bad. Many 80s cartoons fall into this category, focusing more on action and situation than overall plot or intelligence (although arguably many just cross the stupid line and keep on going). Modern cartoons seem to be dominated by a simple animation style, which makes characters look 2D, like they are cut out of paper (there are definitely exceptions though. I personally hate this style, but often the content is a little bit smarter than the 80s cartoons. OR just stupid to the point where it should die in fire. Usually these are good to tolerable.
The 90's cartoons had better animation than both modern and 80s, and a decent amount of intelligence behind its shows. I tend to enjoy this decade the most, since the content is not hidden behind simple animation. My two overall favorites are the Tick and Conan the adventurer (animaniacs be awesome too). Modern is next, with my favorites being invader Zim (it cuts the mold with its own unique style though, not sure if it can really be compared to the others)and the grim adventures of bill and mandy. 80s cartoons fall more into the "So bad its funny category", as do many of the hanna barbera age. They are watchable, but none of them really make it into the favorites category.
I kid but my fav show as a kid is commonly ranked quite high the 90's batman animated seriesI used to think that the problem with modern cartoons is the idea that their creators just don't have the ability. But lately I've been having a different theory.
In the old days, children's cartoons were allowed to have violent or sexual themes in them. There were big ideas and mature concepts. The way things have been going recently, if cartoon makers were to put those things in shows intended for children, there'd be riots over it.
Over-protective parents or government officials who looks down on children and think them incapable of handling older material. THEY are the real problem with modern cartoons.
In the old days, children's cartoons were allowed to have violent or sexual themes in them. There were big ideas and mature concepts. The way things have been going recently, if cartoon makers were to put those things in shows intended for children, there'd be riots over it.
Over-protective parents or government officials who looks down on children and think them incapable of handling older material. THEY are the real problem with modern cartoons.
There were the good, there were the bad, and there were the ugly.
Every generation has them, and every generation suffers from them. The real complaint is not necessarily what happened to cartoons of this age. It is "What has happened to them IN ADDITION to the usual?". You who enjoy animation will find something good in all sorts of places.
THE PROBLEM, as I see it, is that the ratio between what is good and bad and ugly has become skewed more towards the second two and doesn't have ENOUGH of the good. People will always defend stuff, but how much of it is actually GOOD and timeless? Will anyone EVER dislike Megas XLR, Samurai Jack, and many others as we head farther back in time? I dunno.
The point is that...I believe artists and such are getting lazy, sloppy... They're catering to a lower and lower standard, and not really anyone wants to stick out anymore. It is a sad thing to see.
Every generation has them, and every generation suffers from them. The real complaint is not necessarily what happened to cartoons of this age. It is "What has happened to them IN ADDITION to the usual?". You who enjoy animation will find something good in all sorts of places.
THE PROBLEM, as I see it, is that the ratio between what is good and bad and ugly has become skewed more towards the second two and doesn't have ENOUGH of the good. People will always defend stuff, but how much of it is actually GOOD and timeless? Will anyone EVER dislike Megas XLR, Samurai Jack, and many others as we head farther back in time? I dunno.
The point is that...I believe artists and such are getting lazy, sloppy... They're catering to a lower and lower standard, and not really anyone wants to stick out anymore. It is a sad thing to see.
It takes more than that now. Stupid idiots running around doing stupid, weird things only worked for so long; any cartoon that tries to be Ren and Stimpy now would fail pretty spectacularly because the idea wasn't that great to begin with, it was just fresh. What is needed now is cleverness and creativity. There are some notable exceptions to the rule of modern cartoons sucking: Invader Zim was clever and delightfully bizarre, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a fantasy epic that is enjoyed my more adults than children (my personal favorite show of all time), and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a surprisingly clever and hilarious show that manages to rise above even its target audience. Other than that, we need to look fondly back to shows before the fall of One Saturday Morning, from cartoons as old as Ducktales to ones as recent as Recess and Fillmore.
Hold on...I'm a 70s kid and Ren & Stimpy were excellent. Samurai Jack was ok, one of the better ones, and the Looney Tunes are from the Golden Age of Cartoons.Hobo Steve said:
Basically, what kids cartoons miss are the sense of wonder, treating your viewers like adults and pushing the occasional boundaries.
Case in point:
So, we have a cartoon about a famished carnivore ordering dodgy mail order stuff to catch hold of a bird that can run faster than sound, and you want to put Latin in?
Equally, logic and real world DO NOT INTRUDE.
Unless it's funny.
or just plain bizzare
But the main reason is that you care for them.
No matter how much they're trying to sell you on the sly.
The problem for starters is that you're using a few legends and trying to justify an entire era. X-Men the Animated Series really isn't that good once you take off the nostalgia glasses. And even if it was I'd raise you a Spectactular Spiderman and say we've got better today.Maxtro said:
TMNT: Is a matter of tone, I should start there. If you like wacky hijinks better than deep and dark story that's a matter of opinion. That said 87 turtles don't have shit on 2k3 turtles. Again We could make a similar argument about Batman the Animated Series vs Batman the Brave and the Bold. The fact is both are excelent but they aren't really the same animal.
Batman TAS: We really don't have anything truly on par with this today. But the series is a bloody legend. You may as well ask, what's up with action flicks today and then list off the late 80s early 90s Arnold, Stallone, Van Dam flicks.
Justice League is modern. And for the record Young Justice thus far looks to be just as good if not better than Justice League was.
Alladin was a good cartoon. But it wasn't life changing. If you just want a good cartoon with adventures Ben 10 is good, Yu-Gi-oh is good, the current scooby doo is the best scooby's ever been.
Thundercats...
Samurai Jack. Again this didn't get the love it deserved. It's a great series. But in a world that has Bleach and Naruto I'm not certain I want to say that it was better than what we have.
The reality is that cartoons by and large are better now than they were before. There is less crap floating about (go google up Dumb and Dumber, the cartoon, or the Magician. Your memory of the good things and ability to repress the frighteningly bad is part of what's blinding you) and we get neat new stuff. Total Drama is damn good and damned underrated.
The Spectacular Spider-Man was one of my favorite shows this generation. It sucks that it was canceled.
I don't remember X-Men having anything wrong with it. Granted there have been two other X-Men cartoons and they're probably all blending in my head.
Both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and TMNT were good for when I watched them. I watched the original as a child and TMNT as an adult. I got a real kick out of the crossover movie. Oldschool April being asked if she worked in a carwash lol. I do think the modern series is better and loved how the Shredder was presented. Him being an utron, not so much.
Justice League ended in 2004. So while it may be modern it still belongs in the past era. I also forget to mention Batman Beyond which turned out pretty good. Teen Titans wasn't bad either. Though it was often corny. But any show that has it's opening randomly air in Japanese can't lose.
Which leads me to the next point, I didn't list anime for a reason. I think anime is leaps and bounds better than the vast majority of Western cartoons. It's in it's own category.
Though the main problem with anime is that it's quality is inconsistent. One show can range from amazing to garbage and back again. All because of the need to use filler arcs. For some reason the shows just don't take a break after a season. Bleach is currently in a filler arc and Naruto is throwing back to back flashback episodes.
Still one of my favorite cartoons was Gargoyles. It wasn't afraid to be dark and have adult themes. Back then it was pretty much perfect. Heck it even has Jonathan Franks, Kate Mulgrew and Michael Dorn plus more as guest voice actors.
Avalon doesn't take you where you want to go, it sends you where you need to be..
I don't remember X-Men having anything wrong with it. Granted there have been two other X-Men cartoons and they're probably all blending in my head.
Both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and TMNT were good for when I watched them. I watched the original as a child and TMNT as an adult. I got a real kick out of the crossover movie. Oldschool April being asked if she worked in a carwash lol. I do think the modern series is better and loved how the Shredder was presented. Him being an utron, not so much.
Justice League ended in 2004. So while it may be modern it still belongs in the past era. I also forget to mention Batman Beyond which turned out pretty good. Teen Titans wasn't bad either. Though it was often corny. But any show that has it's opening randomly air in Japanese can't lose.
Which leads me to the next point, I didn't list anime for a reason. I think anime is leaps and bounds better than the vast majority of Western cartoons. It's in it's own category.
Though the main problem with anime is that it's quality is inconsistent. One show can range from amazing to garbage and back again. All because of the need to use filler arcs. For some reason the shows just don't take a break after a season. Bleach is currently in a filler arc and Naruto is throwing back to back flashback episodes.
Still one of my favorite cartoons was Gargoyles. It wasn't afraid to be dark and have adult themes. Back then it was pretty much perfect. Heck it even has Jonathan Franks, Kate Mulgrew and Michael Dorn plus more as guest voice actors.
Avalon doesn't take you where you want to go, it sends you where you need to be..
You remember the cream of the crop of the cartoons from your childhood, along with some nostalgia goggles and the fact that when you were growing up, those cartoons catered to you. You compare these to every last random POS from present day. A truly random selection of cartoons from ages past would likely be just as terrible as a random selection from today. You just forgot about the crappy ones, because you have an entire decade to pick and choose from. There was a time when Cartoon Network was shoveling out a new crappy cartoon every other week.
Basically, your looking at the tiny pile of gold as representative of the past, ignoring the mountain of mud and sand you took it from, and saying that that pile of gold is so much better then that mound of gold-speckled sand that you havn't sifted yet.
Basically, your looking at the tiny pile of gold as representative of the past, ignoring the mountain of mud and sand you took it from, and saying that that pile of gold is so much better then that mound of gold-speckled sand that you havn't sifted yet.