Modern cartoons - I was wrong

[thejboy88]

In spite of my age, animated TV shows have been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. But even son, I, like many people, have long been of the opinion that modern shows were in some way inferior to that of the shows I grew up with. I held this opinion for a long time as many of the shows I saw kids watch these days seemed to lack a lot of the intelligence I?d praised in cartoons of my era.

However, recently, it seems like there?s been a return to intelligently-written animated shows for kids. Shows like Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, Young Justice and the resurrected MLP franchise, to name a few, have completely debunked my opinion on modern cartoons. This is a concession on my part I?ve realised or a while now, but only now do I willingly and publically acknowledge it.

Modern cartoons can be just as great as the classics I grew up with.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Yep, Cartoons are actually pretty great right now... as long as you look in the right place. Gotta give big props to Gravity Falls, it's definitely more kid oriented than Adventure Time and Young Justice and has more "meat" to it than MLP (MLP is like Candy or Ice Cream whereas Gravity Falls is like a tasty meal).

 

[Timotei]

I'd beg to differ. The one thing a lot of shows used to have which modern day cartoons don't have is the an edge. Things now seem to be more spectacle-based with not nearly as much to challenge the audience as before.

Anyone remember all the jokes like this which cropped up all over Animaniacs?


How about Johnny Bravo where the main character not-so-subtlety spends quite a majority of the show attempting to get laid?

Or how about the challenging horror that was Courage the Cowardly Dog. I stand by my assertion this show wasn't made for kids, because SO much of the material is exceedingly dark, spooky and filled with moments which were perfectly crafted nightmare fuel.


Or how about Samurai Jack? A show about a man so consumed by revenge it was his only motivation for continuing, and spent a lot of its time wandering between a plethora of complicated adult-minded issues which no child could have hoped to understand.

Or how about Batman the Animated Series and Batman Beyond? These shows had a dark, shadowy aesthetic and dealt with a variety of dark themes ideas using its villains as a means to drag the story into theme after theme which probably was out of the understanding of a lot of children. Or how about the scene from the movie where the Joker fucking DIES? How many shows nowadays have the balls to do something like that?

​

 

[Lieju]

I'd beg to differ. The one thing a lot of shows used to have which modern day cartoons don't have is the an edge. Things now seem to be more spectacle-based with not nearly as much to challenge the audience as before.

Anyone remember all the jokes like this which cropped up all over Animaniacs?

How about Johnny Bravo where the main character not-so-subtlety spends quite a majority of the show attempting to get laid?
​

How do either of those challenge the audience in any way?​

 

[Timotei]

How do either of those challenge the audience in any way?

"Challenge" doesn't mean specifically thought-provoking, it could also mean testing an audience's knowledge, reactions, or ability to comprehend.

The "challenge" is whether or the audience comprehends it, or if it's too far above their heads to comprehend. Keep in mind these shows were made for older children and teenagers, a lot of the things which occurred in these shows had moments and themes which would otherwise go over their heads.

 

[josemlopes]

snip

The kind of people that spiced up those shows are basicly all doing more adult oriented content like Archer and Venture Bros. (just kidding though but to be honest I dont know if this kind of more adult focused cartoons existed as much back then as it does now)

 

[Hero of Lime]

I'm really loving Adventure Time at the moment, I heard it was good for a few years, yet never cared enough to watch. I got around to it and I have a blast watching it. The cartoons I watched as a kid were great, but I'm sure if I re-watched some of them, I would see more flaws and have a little nostalgia dust worn off. There are good shows in any time period of cartoons, we just like to latch onto the ones we grow up with naturally. That does not mean that you can say "everything sucks now compared to my cartoons" just because you aren't the target audience anymore.

 

[doggy go 7]

I suppose South Park, Family Guy (et spin offs), futurama or the Simpsons (yes I still think it's funny, shut up) don't count in this criteria? Or are we only talking about kids cartoons, which is a very differant beast that I can't comment on (for the record, I remember Ed Edd n Eddy as being brilliant, and I imagine that might be out of some of your lists as it only started in 2000)

 

[ninjaRiv]

How do either of those challenge the audience in any way?

"Challenge" doesn't mean specifically thought-provoking, it could also mean testing an audience's knowledge, reactions, or ability to comprehend.

The "challenge" is whether or the audience comprehends it, or if it's too far above their heads to comprehend. Keep in mind these shows were made for older children and teenagers, a lot of the things which occurred in these shows had moments and themes which would otherwise go over their heads.

I'd argue that Adventure Time does that just as well.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I think with the huge popularity of internet cartoons and culture, companies are starting to realize that there's actually a demographic OUTSIDE of children that's part of their potential audience. That's not to say that they're trying to make the cartoons more adult (though regular show definitely is,) but rather to make the quality up to a standard that adults will hold with some regard, since honestly most kids just need colorful movement on the screen to be satisfied.

Also I think during the early 2000s something probably happened with the FCC, because cartoons got REALLY tame and bland. Adventure Time can get legitimately violent and morbid at times and I'm pretty sure that wouldn't fly back then. Though maybe that's just a coincidence and it was a bad time for cartoons in general. I'm not sure if today's shows stand up to the likes of batman and animaniacs, but they're definitely better than they have been in a while.

 

[Tono Makt]

After watching Teletoon Retro (cartoons from the 80's and earlier), I'm convinced that today's cartoons are actually superior to cartoons of the past.

There's quite a few cartoons these days that are good. Adventure Time is one I'm late to the party on, but it has moments of utter genius that I was surprised at. (One of the histories of Simon and Marigold, for instance, and Finn being locked in an alternate world where he grew up, are two that I can think of straight off the top of my head) Avatar: The Last Airbender is another good one. Then you've got some crazy ones, like Invader Zim which has moments of insane brilliance and potential subtle social commentary tossed in well under the radar. (Zim's race follow "The Tallest", who are chosen by the basis of height. In today's world, there is a correlation between height and success. No idea if the creator meant it to be taken that way, but being a slightly short dude, it did occur to me right away) You've got some interesting ones which do happen to delve into deep, dark and complicated subjects unexpectedly - The Clone Wars CGI cartoon from season 2 onward, for example, and Samurai Jack. I'd also like to plug the new Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated show. It's surprisingly good, keeping with the tradition of Scooby Doo but adding depth to the characters, long term storylines and actually using the old formula (mysterious supernatural thing turns out to be a guy in a mask) in the show itself intentionally. (Mrs. Makt and I watched the first 5 min of one of the first episodes when we were searching for the lost remote and got sucked in.)

Really, I'd say that cartoons from the 90's onward are the best ever. They're made for an entire family to watch, not just kids - watching the Care Bears is cringe inducing to me, as is watching He-Man and the only thing keeping me from turning off the GI Joe and Transformers cartoons is pure nostalgia. It might be the Pixar effect - Pixar made cartoons for the entire family, not just for kids. So we have a higher expectation for cartoons today wherever we see them, including for TV shows.

 

[anthony87]

While we're talking about good cartoons, any of you seen Bee and Puppycat? It was created by the character designer and storyboard artist for Adventure Time.


Personally I love it. After I first saw it I watched it at least once a day for a week.

 

[Vladimir Stamenov]

Speaking of realtively new, weird cartoons, any fans of The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack? Now THAT's some weird artstyle.

 

[Strain42]

Some new shows are good and some new shows are bad.

Some old shows are good and some old shows are bad.

All have their ups and downs.

I remember when Netflix put up all the old cartoon network shows, I was watching all of them to try and see which ones held up and which ones didn't (I did with this old nicktoons as well)

Certain shows still hold up really well like Rocko's Modern Life, Hey Arnold, (most of) Dexter's Lab, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

Others like say...Cow and Chicken, Angry Beavers and the like don't really hold up that well (in my opinion) the former I actually found myself asking "I used to like this?"

I love quite a few recent cartoons like Regular Show (and while not exactly recent I'm gonna say Chowder and Misadventures of Flapjack) but then there are some like Johnny Test or Adventure Time* and Gumball (which does have its moments) which I just don't really care for.

Times have changed, cartoons have changed, that's just how it all works. But one thing that will never change is that every decade of cartoons is gonna have good cartoons and bad cartoons. There is no perfect decade for animated kid's shows.

*Oh god, I've said I don't like Adventure Time on the internet...if you find my body, don't believe the suicide note

 

[Supdupadog]

Speaking of realtively new, weird cartoons, any fans of The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack? Now THAT's some weird artstyle.

I really enjoyed it. Still waiting on that finale thing they said they where making.

I didn't want to see it cancelled, but cancelling it led to Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Gravity Falls getting their start. All three I would say surpass Flapjack in quality, so ultimately we are better off.

And has anyone seen Wander over Yonder? It's from Craig McKraken, I.E the guy behind the Powerpuff girls, and it is aweeeeesome.

 

[Worgen]

I'd beg to differ. The one thing a lot of shows used to have which modern day cartoons don't have is the an edge. Things now seem to be more spectacle-based with not nearly as much to challenge the audience as before.

Or how about Batman the Animated Series and Batman Beyond? These shows had a dark, shadowy aesthetic and dealt with a variety of dark themes ideas using its villains as a means to drag the story into theme after theme which probably was out of the understanding of a lot of children. Or how about the scene from the movie where the Joker fucking DIES? How many shows nowadays have the balls to do something like that?

[/center]

That was pretty good, but I'll take your Jokers death scene and raise you a killing King Sombra

The batman scene is great but its from a straight to dvd movie, in those you can get away with more. From what I hear Sombra's death was on tv and none of the characters shed the slightest tear over it, they were too busy being crystal and fabulous.

The tv version of the jokers death is still good and dark in its own way, but it lacks the impact of the dvd version.

 

[MrRaggaedeman]

I`m a bit suprised that no one mentioned The Venture Bros. or Archer before. Both great cartoons with a lot of great jokes and real good running jokes.

 

[Genocidicles]

I`m a bit suprised that no one mentioned The Venture Bros. or Archer before. Both great cartoons with a lot of great jokes and real good running jokes.

I think OP is talking about children's cartoons though. Both of those you mentioned (while very good) are for adults.