Why are modern kids TV cartoons so rubbish?

[jrandom]

Seriously. It's as though over the last 20 years, all the good shit's been sucked out and nothing but hollow, under-drawn husks of cartoons remains.

My kids (five and six) are currently sitting absolutely riveted to Tom and Jerry.

When I compare the quality of the hand-drawn animation and the obvious care that went into every minute of the old short cartoons with the slapped-together budget look of modern half-hour-episode style kids programmes on the likes of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, it's obvious that somewhere along the line, people stopped caring.

I mean, fer chrissakes, there's a Bugs Bunny cartoon ('What's Opera, Doc') in the USA's National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.

Now that's storytelling for you. Can you imagine an episode of the 'Powerpuff Girls' or 'My Gym Partner's a Monkey' in the Library of Congress? Fuxache.

Even Spongebob Squarepants, which sits at the top of the heap at the moment, doesn't approach the packed-together second-by-second awesomeness of the old Warner Bros shorts. But I do note that Spongebob episodes are still half the length of many other kids programmes. Could be something there. More of a focus on proper storytelling, perhaps?

Another point to note: Tom and Jerry is violent. One episode earlier on the DVD was a nonstop sword fight between a cat and two mice, complete with multiple injuries received, culminating in the mice succeeding in destroying a banquet the cat was guarding, at which point they escape and the cat is beheaded by his angry masters. (You see the guillotine drop from a distance.) Really.

And the kids love it.

So why have childrens' cartoons stopped being awesome?

Anyone have any ideas?

Is it the namby-pamby-ness of society removing the fun violent elements?

The laziness of writers and animators who work on tight budgets and don't care any more, bloating their work out to half-hour blobs of nothing with no artistic merit in any of the frames?

I dunno.

But here's 'What's Opera, Doc' for y'all. This shit is art. Enjoy!

VDwDo_hTs2Q

[Swoop]

Very valid points!

I perused the "childrens" dvd's a while back and picked up a Road Runner compliation.
Fuggin brilliant!
Loaned it to a mate and he has just returned it after a year! There is something about the older cartoons, which I doubt the pansy-boy PC poofters will allow to be broadcast on TV again.

[toebug]

Totally agree! Whats up with that bullshit teletubbies!! And there are other like it. Todays cartoons are shit! Bring back all the quality old stuff1

Beep beep!!

[James Deuce]

Watch "Chowder" Dude. It is one of the best cartoons ever, period.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bCASiT1ud4I&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bCASiT1ud4I&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

"Have a sip of my......juice."

[James Deuce]

Totally agree! Whats up with that bullshit teletubbies!! And there are other like it. !

Who aren't cartoons and are aimed at under the under threes and haven't been on telly for years. Yeah that's a bad "cartoon".

[jrandom]

Who aren't cartoons and are aimed at under the under threes and haven't been on telly for years. Yeah that's a bad "cartoon".

And, in any case, Teletubbies are awesome, and are not covered by this thread. I used to sit watching them for entirely inappropriate lengths of time.

Sometimes on my own.

It's better when you're stoned, too.

I wonder if being two years old is like being constantly stoned?

I never thought of that before.

[James Deuce]

And, in any case, Teletubbies are awesome, and are not covered by this thread. I used to sit watching them for entirely inappropriate lengths of time.

Sometimes on my own.

It's better when you're stoned, too.

I wonder if being two years old is like being constantly stoned?

I never thought of that before.

Boobah is better for that.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mm9HYtKrkdg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mm9HYtKrkdg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[Quasievil]

"Kill the Rabbit" those words would not be allowed in todays cartoons, we now bring up PC corrected children dont we, we fail our children in this issue as well as most others thanks to the twat head liberals of this world who mostly reside in our schools, and our censorship offices.

[Mully Clown]

Boobah is better for that.

Their website can be bloody good for that as well.

http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html

[Jiminy]

There are still the Happy Tree Friends, though :whistle:

Ahem, Bugs Bunny is a bit older than 20 years, too ;)

[peasea]

Bring back the Ant Hill Mob!
Penelope Pistop, oohh.
Dick dastardly etc. Those Whacky Races were just tops and did anyone ever get a speeding ticket? No.

[PirateJafa]

Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner, Tom'n Jerry, Scoobby Doo, Popeye - all gold, and sadly no longer on the telly.

Instead kids are left watching rubbish like Dragonball where two guys hover glaring and grunting at each other for thirty minutes with bulging muscles and throbbing veins.

No wonder there are so many queers these days, the poor kids don't stand a chance of turning out right.

[puddytat]

I reckon its because back in the day.....people actually tried to provide quality.They made stuff that would actually appeal to a child.Also there wasnt much in the way of competition, whereas today I reckon they are no longer made for the children, but to impress the network fuckwits who decide wots on. Plus theyve probably got so many fuckwits with degrees to advise them that they have forgotten what it should be about...THE KIDS. Not the network or the ratings.

[davebullet]

Surely the good old stuff would be much cheaper to license / air than the "new" stuff. I suppose subtle story lines with adult overtones and humour as well as hand drawing = lots of people time = lost of $. Much cheaper having a computer bang out the same stick figure crap and 1 dimensional characters....

Kids these days do not know what they are missing.... must buy me some cartoon classics on DVD and help fight the recession at the same time.

[98tls]

Bugger the TV,buy an old shitter and put them out the garage with it,tell em to take it to bits and put it back together again,far more entertaining for all.

[Pussy]

I used to like, and still do! the Hillbilly Bears.
Paw Rug rocks!

[martybabe]

All the above posts are perfectly good reasons why these iconic animation masterpieces have left our screens but perhaps in the end they just went too far, this is the toon that sealed daffy's fate :whistle: It's only a few seconds long but worth a look.

NWS


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAIvCNh0FiI

[Gubb]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles FTW!

"Heroes in a half-shell. Turtle power!"

[coffeejunkie]

It's all about being PC, Donald duck was taken off tv because they wouldn't draw him with pants on and he was deemed to be seen as pornographic,

It's like WTF?

[SixPackBack]

WTF??? do you all live in a vaacum, has no one experienced the umitigated joy of.........SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS .......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1zY6GXgyMU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2_5lkW54Lk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxDY-hl-Z_g&feature=related

[Ocean1]

It's all about being PC

There was a local lady that used to make golliwogs, big, well detailed ones. My kids never had one, just never took fancy to them. But the really good bit is that the lady in question was the largest, blackest person you could ever hope to meet. If you'd suggested to her that there were racist overtones to the dolls she would have smacked you silly.

[Street Gerbil]

Good animated cartoons simply cannot be cost effective.
You want quality stuff, try some old russian cartoons.
Some of them are available on youtube with fairly decent translations.
<object width="660" height="525"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/FCvQaQ7xRN4&hl=en&fs=1&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/FCvQaQ7xRN4&hl=en&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="660" height="525"></embed></object>

[Street Gerbil]

And here is a slightly newer one.


<object width="660" height="525"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/cTxIp_pMOk4&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/cTxIp_pMOk4&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="660" height="525"></embed></object>

[Street Gerbil]

And this one is probably not very good for kids. I came across it by accident and laughed so hard I still have tears in my eyes
NSFW
Enjoy :-)



<object width="660" height="525"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/ul1BMc9pjjw&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/ul1BMc9pjjw&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="660" height="525"></embed></object>

[James Deuce]

It's all about being PC, Donald duck was taken off tv because they wouldn't draw him with pants on and he was deemed to be seen as pornographic,

It's like WTF?

Then why is he still on Telly sans pants, in 3D no less? Check out Saturday morning TV.

The Last Airbender is pretty freaking good. Nice and Violent with multiple story arcs.

Samurai Jack was awesome. The sound mixing and editing was out of this world.

I think, as with most things KB, "The Great Sweeping Generalisation" on the back of "I've never/done/seen/heard this but I think it's terrible" has now brought it's ignorant steam roller to bear on (FFS) Children's Entertainment. Chowder is vastly more subversive than say, South Park. The laughter alternates between adult and kids when I sit down and watch it with them. We all get something completely different out of it. Spongebob is great fun but a bit puerile next to Chowder. Still, the Hasslehoff cameo in the Spongebob movie is either a brilliant cameo or one of the funniest Hasselhoff piss takes ever, second only to the eating the cheeseburger on the floor incident.

The Wiggles live show is brilliant. They know darn well your kids are torturing you with multiple reruns between 3 years of age and 6 years old, and they do more than tip their hat to apologise.

I love the existentialist, LSD trip inspired programming for under 3s that comes out of the UK. The Night Garden is particularly hilarious with one character with a misshapen skull who can't take two steps without falling on his face, never goes to bed on time, and carries a "blankey" with him everywhere. Another character pushes a cleaning trolley around polishing the rocks in the night garden, displaying all the fervour of a fully engaged OCD sufferer. Their transport options are hilarious. The Ninky Nonk is a road train with two and three story buildings on chassis with no suspension. The interior shots of characters being hurled hither and yon give a good insight into why one of them has a misshapen skull. The Pinky Ponk is a freaking Dirigible, complete with it's own crew of aliens, who are constantly having to avoid a tribe of rabid Toucans.

Warner Brothers don't even get close to that sort of genius.

[Pussy]

Mmmmumblemmsully60clodhoppersentmethismmmlinkmmmto mostofthehillbillybearsepisodesnogoodvarmint heh heh heh heh

http://tv.blinkx.com/show/hillbilly-bears/fPVKnXUJxv1FJ5FQeF9IFfFo5B0