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!

[YOUTUBE]VDwDo_hTs2Q[/YOUTUBE]

[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.



"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.

[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

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.