Adventure Time & Modern Cartoons In General.

[Unesh52]

I am 100% of the opinion that cartoons have begun to make a comeback with the likes of Flapjack, Adventure Time, and Chowder. It's definitely no second golden age but as long as the people behind these shows stick around I think CN's lineup will get much better.

This is exactly how I feel. Well, the first part. A lot of people tout the "golden age," but if they're talking about loony toons, I'm not really buying it. Yeah, they were good, but I almost never laugh at them. It's something I don't fully understand. I much prefer Johnny Bravo, Ed, Edd, & Eddy, the Power Puff girls, Dexter, and Samurai Jack (note that the last three are all by the same guy). At least, those are the ones I remember enjoying the most.

Now there's Johnny Test and Ben 10, which are awful, cliche, and poorly written. The reason Chowder and Adventure Time succeed in my mind is because they embrace the philosophy of the absurd. Why would you make a show where a little brother character foils his older sister's attempts win over some masculine stereotype? It's cliche and boring. "Yeah," they protest, "but he does it by turning them rainbow colored with something they built in their secret lab!" So what? I still know what's going to happen, almost down to the lines of dialog they're going to use. In Flapjack, they'd do stuff just to put you off guard. They employ verbal irony in visual or character themes, they set up a trope only to have a character go, "wait that's completely stupid. Why would anyone do that?" Speaking of, they break the forth wall. ("Chowder! You lit the kitchen on fire! Now the animators are gonna have to draw all this fire!") And most importantly, they're not afraid to ignore the thematic elements deemed "appropriate subject matter" by whatever amorphous blob spawned captain planet into existence.

Speaking of that, the worst cartoon on today is the cartoon teen drama "6teen." Or something like that. Fucking tripe.

 

[Thaius]

Most do suck. But you forgot to mention Avatar: The Last Airbender, the greatest show, let along cartoon, ever made.

 

[Verlander]

I'd watch cartoons if they weren't aimed at people about 5-15 years younger than I am. Japan makes good animation and comics for adults, why can't we? Oh yeah, 'cos it's for kids, apparently

 

[Leemaster777]

I'm afraid the pilot episode did not seem interesting enough for me to bother looking for the rest. It was... well, just not interesting, or fun, to me.

To be fair, the pilot sucks. I'm not sure why the TC put that up instead of a clip from the actual show. The animation, voice acting, and humor is MUCH better in the actual show.

I don't watch alot of TV anymore in general, but if I ever flip it on and Adventure Time is on, I'll always stick around and watch it.

I'm also not completely convinced that cartoons today are strictly WORSE than cartoons when I was a kid. I think the haze of time has dulled our memories. There was ALOT of shit back then, just like now. It's just that we don't remember the shitty cartoons, just the good ones.

Off the top of my head, I can think of some recent stuff that's just as good as the old days: Adventure Time, Chowder, Flapjack (kind of hit or miss, I'll admit), Ben 10 (the older series, not this new one where they're teenagers, that sucks), Batman Brave and the Bold, Billy and Mandy, the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc.

And I'm sure the current generation will be having conversations just like what we're having now, about how they shows in the future all suck, and everything in the 2000's was great.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Phineas and Ferb really might be the best cartoon since the golden age, in my opinion.

When exactly was the golden age?

1923-1957 is generally regarded as the Golden Age. (Warner Brothers and MGM)
Late 60's (Scooby Doo) - Late 80's (Death of the Broom Cupboard/Newsround) was regarded as the Silver Age.
90's had a Bronze Age with Cartoon Network/Nickleodeon bringing in some truly astoundingly non-kid cartoons (Duckman, Ren and Stimpy, Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Dexter's Lab) but that was killed off in 2002 when both decided to go with syndicated only.

The exact timing may differ from country to country but it's usually goes with the rise and fall of

Bugs Bunny/Tom and Jerry - Golden
Hanna Barbera/Cosgrove Hall - Silver
Cartoon Cartoons - Bronze (I know that was mainly HB, but it was with a whole new set of characters)

If there's gonna be a revival, they're gonna have to come better than Adventureland. South Park/Simpsons/Family Guy have put the bar really high, and although they're dying off, something new has to at least get that bar in sight.

There's some good cartoons around, but there's very few great ones.

 

[xdom125x]

I happen to think that there are a lot of bad cartoons out there but there are a few exceptions in my book like: Avatar: The Last Airbender,Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes(I am a sucker for loose adaptations of comic book characters), Phineas and Ferb.

 

[Samsont]

I sighed when Abraham Lincoln popped up. I like the art style of the show, but it's much to random to garner any laughs from me. You need to set a joke up, it doesn't just happen. But the art style, as I said, was nice!

Favorite cartoon? The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy! Fantastic cartoon! Creepy, hilarious, sweet art style, surreal... great! It really is a wonderful show. WONDERFUL!!

*Sigh* I loved that show. But most good cartoons are only in america (DAMN GREEDY AMERICANS HOLDIN BACK YOUR CARTOONS!) but I watch adventure time online (I really hope I don't get put on probation for that) and I love it. I don't know what you guys hate about it but I loved the old cartoons and I love the new ones. (Though I can't stand flapjack, boring a hell) chowder is ok I guess. But I absolutely LOVE adventure time, I never actually watched the pilot episode though, and the way you guys talk about it I'm not sure I want to.

 

[Ih8pkmn]

I really don't like any modern cartoons. I may give Adventure Time a try, but from what I've seen, it's pretty Lackluster.

...Actually, there is one cartoon I do like. Avatar: The Last Airbender. I refused to see the movie out of pure respect for the cartoon. I can't wait for the sequel.

as for which one I like the least:

The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.

Am I the only one getting Pedo-vibes off of this? A guy with metal hands promises to take a kid to an island made of candy. Yeah, if that happened in real life, the stupid kid wouldn't accept, they would fucking run to the cops. And yet, Flapjack solders on with his idiocy and creepy-ass animation. The only thing I like about that show is the setting. Some more intelligent characters and it could have been a great show.

 

[Terminate421]

Phineas and Ferb is brilliant.

Adventure Time... not so much. And this is coming from someone who was a huge Cartoon Network fan when he was younget.

I can go with that.

Unfortunatly, when they took off MegasXLR and Samurai Jack

They ripped off their own balls. Ed, Edd, N Eddy was still around for a bit, but one would begin to notice the quality of the cartoon deteriorate as soon as the animation seemed to become better ironically, it may be the writer who got swapped but when the animation got somewhat cleaner it just became less funny.

Cartoons nowadays suck. But I have have to admit Phineas and Ferb works.
And the only good episode of that Star Wars thing that they have was when it just focused on a squad of Clones at a fortress. Not only was it awesome, it was exactly what I wanted from a show about star wars, the fucking clones!

 

[AdamRBi]

It's not because I think it's immature to watch. It's because the last cartoon I watched or happened to "have" to watch as I wasn't the one holding the remote, those cartoons were absolutely horrible... It was all just the kind of humor that befits that of a 5 year old... Nothing I'm interested in.

Yes, a lot of shows are shit, but there's also a lot of great stuff out there. It's not different than any other era of animation. You have to keep an eye out for the rolling stones collecting the most moss, approach hype and acclaim with cautious optimism, and don't judge based on appearance or marketing. Throw away your biases and jump into the pool without testing the water. It should take at least three or four episodes to decide whether or not a show is for you.

After four episodes of the My Little Pony series, and I came to the conclusion that I liked it and freaked out for a few moments, then stopped giving a shit because I liked the writing, characters, art, animation, and humor, and that's all that matters. I also watched the same amount of episodes of MAD, and I think it's the worst thing that has ever been animated in the last 10 years because it's embarrassing for me to watch. It's like having a friend who finds out about memes 3 years too late made into a show and then fires them out in a machine gun fashion and the animation makes the average Newsgrounds cartoon look like The Secret of Kells.

Looks like someone beat me to the punch on this. I can't agree more. I can't say I watch 4 episodes before deciding, but I usually give it an episode or two. "My Little Pony" surprised me at how well it's written and animated, quickly becoming one of my top favorite cartoons on TV right now.

To answer OP's question, I like "Adventure Time" as well as a lot of the other more modern cartoons on TV right now. Wether or not you like them is a matter of opinion, but the point of it is wether or not the show's well made, has good writing, and has good animation to match it. These shows give you the impression that the animators who worked hard to make the show actually may have enjoyed making it. I feel there's a lot of shows on TV now that fit that description. Still not enough to balance out the less-then-quality shows out there, but it's better then nothing.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

I do enjoy Adventure Time and Regular Show, but other then that, TV Cartooning is utter crap. All the good cartoons that are still on came back from when Most Cartoons were good. I've moved on from TV to the Internet, however, cause the Internet is just were it's at. You have things like Doraeleous And Associates, Apocalypse Lane, Homestar Runner, and Unforgotten Realms on the internet, which are all just awesome!

 

[HellspawnCandy]

The art style of Adventure Time reminds me of Superjail.....
OT:Since you didn't state adult or kid cartoons I'd say Superjail is one of mine, it's pretty hilarious and trippy. Needs more seasons and episodes though

 

[Broderick]

I liked quite a lot of the cartoons already mentioned, but imma add a few. Billy and mandy was awesome, has so many geek/nerd jokes and references(besides the obvious dnd episodes), also they had a blackula(drakula dont bite! drakula scrape and lick!), and the episodes with the spider were quite funny as well. Loved rugrats as a small child, same thing with rocko's modern life(sp?). I havent seen anyone mention The wild thornberries, so there you go. Loved it as a child, was kind of my family get together cartoon. Freakazoid and Animaniacs were classics.

As for modern cartoons...I dont watch tv much. Saw chowder, was alright, couple episodes downright hillarious but its hit and miss. Flapjack is also pretty hit and miss. Ben 10 was..ehh...other than those though, I havent seen too many modern cartoons, besides the ones on adult swim. LOOVE the Venture bro's, has a certain kind of humor that just sits oh so well with me, and Family guy is hit an miss, but mostly consistantly alright out of most of the modern cartoons I have seen. (thought the first season of Total drama island was alright, was full of cliche's but I think that was the point).

As for me recently, I mostly watch anime.

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

Cartoon Network has been doing pretty well lately. I'm really getting into Young Justice, even though it hasn't been around long. Considering it's made by Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, Spectacular Spider-Man), that's not too surprising.

The only cartoon-related thing that has made me angry recently was the cancellation of the aforementioned Spectacular Spider-Man. Damn you Disney/Sony/Marvel/whoever is really to blame!

 

[RazgrizInferno]

Adventure Time, Chowder, Flapjack, Regular Show, Johnny Test, etc. have their moments, but it just feels like there's something missing.

 

[Impluse_101]

Escapist:] we all okay? Looking forward to the weekend? Ugh, I sure as hell am.

Anyway, I've been watching the first season of the cartoon 'Adventure Time', and I just want to say...it's made me laugh out loud more times than I care to remember. It's amazing, it's brilliant...it's...just <3.

Spoiler: For all those who do not know what I'm talking about, here is the pilot episode

Which got me thinking...are modern cartoons really as bad as everyone says they are? Sure, maybe the 'Golden Age' has ended...but maybe we still have a glimmer of light? Things such as Adventure Time and The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack are real gems.

Also, what are your favourite 21st century cartoons? What are your least favourite?

Discusssss. Also, if you think there's anything else to add into the OP, just say.

I'll say that Adventure time is one of the most entertaining pieces of TV I've ever seen. When I was watching the commercials before it was coming up. I would litteratly get out of my seet and yell "AAAAADVENTURE TIME!" and do the little sound effect for the sword going into the wording. It envoked that spirit of adventure that was inside of me.

I would like to mention Generatior Rex if anyone has seen that. That show is done by Man of Action, same person who did Ben 10. But Rex is probably one of the best characters I've seen in a while, and ,not to be racist, one of the best Mexicans ever. I'm sorry, I've seen too many ghetto Mexicans and other unmentionable things. I was suprised myself when I found out he was Mexican. The show itself is pretty good and imaginative in my own mind set. A nuke explodes infecting all the people of the world with small machines that could seriously screw them over, but are dormant.

Batman the Animated series was nice as well, Blue Beetle FTW.
Also, I have to mention Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends. Best, freaking, thing, ever. It's a shame that it ended.

I also wanna say something about Flapjack and how that was THE MOST discusting thing I've ever watched.