This is a fascinating read for me, cause I'm a huge animation geek, I'm actually exposed to children's programming regularly (by way of having a 3-year old), and because I'm a generation older than most of the folks around here.
I don't think it's all that bad now, it's just different. You guys weren't around in the 80's. Oh dear Gott im Himmel there was some bad stuff on Saturday mornings. The Monchichis? The Snorks? Spaghetti & Meatballs? Q-Bert? Gary Coleman as The Littlest Angel? The Mr. T cartoon?
On the other hand, there were some series that are still dear to the heart:
Gummi Bears (don't laugh...the artwork was solid, and the storyline actually mattered over the long-term)
Mighty OrbotsThe Real Ghostbusters (again, another cartoon that fairly regularly referenced Lovecraft..I think they fought Cthulhu in one episode)
Dungeons and DragonsRobotixInhumanoidsVoltronDangermouseCount DuckulaRobotechStar Blazers - first exposure to what was called "Japanimation" back then. My jaw hung open for the whole show.
Now...is this because the 80's were some kind of animation golden era? Hardly. Like I said, for every great show, there were five godawful ones that everyone has tried to erase from their memory.
There's good stuff on now. I love Yo Gabba Gabba, because it makes me think of what Sesame Street would look like if it were written by Devo (and in fact, Mark Mothersbaugh is a regular guest). It's got Biz Markie teaching kids to beatbox, for God's sake! How is that not full of win? And, it still manages to encode the sort of socialization lessons that children's programming has traditionally had--sharing, taking turns, eating healthy, cleaning up, not biting your friends (and c'mon...any series that teaches kids a song called "Don't Bite Your Friends" is worth a go).
While I'm not a fan of most of the modern Disney programming (for one thing, they rely way too heavily on CGI), there are bright spots.
The Adventures of Phineas and Ferb is excellent--reminds me of some the early Dexter's Laboratory stuff.
One thing you have to remember is that there's a big distinction between children's programming and children's entertainment. The former has a lot of educational and socialization aspects to it. The latter is mostly brain candy. But the best of the entertainmnent is *clever* brain candy that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator. When I was growing up, there were a lot of painfully stupid cartoons. There are still a lot of painfully stupid cartoons, but one problem I see now is that with GenX'ers at the helm, a lot of shows are trying to basically make a cartoon for other GenX'ers.
You guys were complaining about the stuff on Adult Swim--that's NOT children's cartoons (hence the name ADULT Swim). While I love shows like Robot Chicken and Metalocalypse and Venture Brothers, there's no way in hell I'd let my daughter anywhere near them for several years.
For what it's worth though, I have massive torrents of Tex Avery, Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones cartoons, and I've been steadily introducing my daughter to them. She loves the old Tom and Jerry (and the new Tom and Jerry, which I think may actually be
more violent than the old ones, but less amusing) and Bugs Bunny (especially the
Barber of Seville parody, which may be one of the greatest things ever put to celluloid, IMHO). That said, there are some classic toons that will have to wait till she's a bit older. I'm okay with showing her Daffy Duck's beak getting blown into fifty different configurations, but it gets a little trickier dealing with some of the blackface gags or characters like Tex Avery's Red.
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Topic: What's with Children's Cartoons Nowadays? (Read 37290 times)