I honestly find myself enjoying cartoons more as an adult now than I did as a child- Usually, I'd watch enough of a show to get the concept, then go playing with that as a basis for some ideas, when not in my own fantasy land. (being seven with pokemon in your brain was a truly epic time)
As I've grown in desire to want to produce childrens' media, I've been looking a lot at shows to better understand teaching values, presenting stories, and the likes in order to synthesize my own ideas in a way that it palatable to my audience.
Curiously, though, I've actually grown a fondness for a lot of fairly old animated shows; I enjoyed Rocky and Bullwinkle more in college than I ever did as a child, and slapstick means more to me now than it ever did to me as a kid. If you're enjoying a lot of the good contemporary animation around, I'd suggest going back and watching classic shows with an open mind.
As I've grown in desire to want to produce childrens' media, I've been looking a lot at shows to better understand teaching values, presenting stories, and the likes in order to synthesize my own ideas in a way that it palatable to my audience.
Curiously, though, I've actually grown a fondness for a lot of fairly old animated shows; I enjoyed Rocky and Bullwinkle more in college than I ever did as a child, and slapstick means more to me now than it ever did to me as a kid. If you're enjoying a lot of the good contemporary animation around, I'd suggest going back and watching classic shows with an open mind.