Yeah, adult animation is rather same-y. The majority of it is comedy, usually dark comedy. Adult dramatic animation isn't really a thing here.
Modern cartoons - I was wrong
- Thread starter thejboy88
- Start date
I don't know how much of Adventure Time you've seen, but the Ice King's story is pretty tragic, especially given the show is in general much more lighthearted than Batman. I'll give it to you in this spoiler box, if you really want to know.Timotei said:
Turns out the Ice King was really a human antiquarian named Simon Petrikov who bought an old crown from a dock worker in Scandinavia. He put the crown on his head as a joke, but he kept going back to it, and began blacking out. After a while his skin began to turn blue, and his fiance left him. He called his fiance his "princess," which explains why he's always kidnapping the princess of the bubblegum kingdom.
And that was the Christmas special.
In another episode, it's discovered that Simon actually knew another character in the series named Marceline when she was a child. He took care of her because she was abandoned and alone, and they became great friends, but he realized his deteriorating mind was a danger to her, so he leaves her and leaves behind a note saying why he can't help her anymore, and apologizing for everything he did wrong while under the crown's influence. For a show pretty much dedicated to silliness and fun, it can get pretty tragic sometimes. I don't know about dark, but the word "real" comes to mind. The Ice King's situation is tragic, and they don't try to lessen any of the blows. At no point have they found a "cure" for him, and it's doubtful they ever will. His fiance is long gone, as well as anybody he ever knew before he had the crown.
And that was the Christmas special.
In another episode, it's discovered that Simon actually knew another character in the series named Marceline when she was a child. He took care of her because she was abandoned and alone, and they became great friends, but he realized his deteriorating mind was a danger to her, so he leaves her and leaves behind a note saying why he can't help her anymore, and apologizing for everything he did wrong while under the crown's influence. For a show pretty much dedicated to silliness and fun, it can get pretty tragic sometimes. I don't know about dark, but the word "real" comes to mind. The Ice King's situation is tragic, and they don't try to lessen any of the blows. At no point have they found a "cure" for him, and it's doubtful they ever will. His fiance is long gone, as well as anybody he ever knew before he had the crown.
I figured this out a while ago when I started to get nostalgia for cartoons of my youth; like Dino Riders. The most awesome concept ever, bogged down by the most awful production values possible. So shit.
If there was ever the cartoon I'd like to see get a modern treatment, I'd like to see if they could pull of something good. It's a show about Dinosaurs with Laser beams attached to their frickin' heads, and knowing the Internet it would probably develop a crazed fanbase of middle aged women.
On that note, whilst I cannot stand MLP (it's too "cute" for me to stand watching), I will conceed that it's got something in it that's a lot superior to the stuff I was subjected to during my childhood with 3 sisters. Although I have heard no mention of "shmooze", so I'm drastically disappointed.
If there was ever the cartoon I'd like to see get a modern treatment, I'd like to see if they could pull of something good. It's a show about Dinosaurs with Laser beams attached to their frickin' heads, and knowing the Internet it would probably develop a crazed fanbase of middle aged women.
On that note, whilst I cannot stand MLP (it's too "cute" for me to stand watching), I will conceed that it's got something in it that's a lot superior to the stuff I was subjected to during my childhood with 3 sisters. Although I have heard no mention of "shmooze", so I'm drastically disappointed.
I think that--so far--this is the best era for cartoons ever. And I don't mean just in the past few decades. I mean ever.
20s -- experimental and unfocused
30s -- yeah Popeye is fantastic, but only a minority of the episodes have actually interesting plots. Animation was still very much about spectacle over substance
40s and 50s -- again, Loony Tunes is eternal... but go watch some of them again. Same as before; only about 35% of the shows make up the 'classic roster' that we glorify today
60s and 70s -- while boasting an overwhelming roster of classics, I don't need to explain the flaws with Hannah Barbara, do I?
80s -- okay I'll be honest I'm not too familiar with this decade. I mean it was the golden age of Licensed toy shows, which brought about an unprecedented 'trans-media world' renaissance, but the writing and animation were still sub-par
90s -- Nicktoons were their own thing; crude and surreal. It was an interesting flavor, but still fairly limited. Powerpuff Girls and Dexters Lab were a more 'refined' brand of strange, and very appealing, but again, still kind of one note. Animaniacs I'd say is really great, but the animation is still really lacking (though not for the time). Batman... well okay Batman is unrepentant fantastic, but that's just one program.
00s -- Now here's the one I'm the most familiar with; the one that I was a kid during most of. *ahem*
Spongebob had great jokes and great characters and a unique, classic design aesthetic... but never ultimately did anything dramatic or meaningful with those wonderful assets. And from season four onwards, its creativity and timing were drained from it and it lives in an embalmed state to this day.
Fairly Odd Parents was really good, continued being really good, and remains really good to this day. Every time I pop in an episode once and a while, I am completely blown away at how it continues to keep the EXACT same energy and wit it had from day one. But still, it's always mostly been about the jokes and gags; the characters are likable and there's some good drama, but the show still is mostly there to make you just laugh. This isn't bad; I wouldn't want it any other way, it's just, well, I'll explain later.
Jimmy Neutron is classic; the cruddy animation is very appealing. The simple-looking characters were shockingly three-dimensional. The stories were creative and engaging. So yeah, pretty dang good. Just not great.
Codename: Kids Next Door. I was a complete, psychotic fan of this show. It was a completely over the top immature fantasy that never stopped hitting you in the head with its own self-confident ridiculousness. However, on reflection, it also completely sucks. It's a stupid, stupid show, and not that charming or likable either.
Danny Phantom. Okay I couldn't actually watch this show because my parents were like Oh, it's a ghost, and he takes over peoples' bodies; that's a bit too demonic. So to those who watched it, if it's a heart-warming epic existential drama, I'll be sure to re-qualify my statements about this Era.
Let's see... what else...
Oh, Kim Possible. Eh, pretty well done 'spy/superheroin' parody, but nothing more than that really.
Fosters Home: cool and creative and interesting. Very memorable, but not really 'mind blowing' in any way except a few of the character interactions.
Teen Titans. I hear some seasons aren't as good; but I haven't seen them. Because from the amount that I did see, I'd never, ever seen such a perfect balance of whoop-tastic action, wonderful character drama, and uproarious comedy. I've never seen anything but gold.
In the latter half of the decade, I felt cartoons really went downhill. It was the plague of awful, ugly-as-satan Flash animation like Johnny Test, and the main era of sub-par Spongebob ripoffs like Camp Lazlo. In '07, Phineas and Ferb came about. I acknowledge that it's really good, (and given that it's still going strong, people may qualify it as a 'modern' show, but I still classify it under the 00s umbrella; it's got 00s animation and a 00s writing sense.)
All in all, by the time the decade ended, I honestly felt like western, family-friendly cartoons were dead. Dead and burried, and--as my naive presumptuous self self thought--never coming back.
~~~~
So yeah, while the 90's and early-to-mid 00's really raised the bar in countless respects, they were still ultimately "goofy, funny little distractions", to put it harshly. With the exception of Batman and Teen Titans (huh. Pattern.), I personally don't think any cartoon was a monumental achievement of visual storytelling, and NO show period attained a superlative level of animation quality.
But hey, who expects all that from cartoons, right? That's not a bad thing. It's an animated TV show; it's okay that it's not a touching, epic adventure, right? It's okay that it will never look as good as Disney movies, right?
10's
Given my younger siblings, I still saw brief snippets of Nickelodeon and Cartoon network every day. In the early months of 2010, I started seeing ads for a new cartoon that was coming out. It seemed interesting; the animation was clean and sharp and CG'd, but in a good way; small, smooth lines and weird, unique character designs.
The dialogue samples in the ads sounded strange and new as well; characters talking differently than how cartoon characters usually talk.
But despite all that, my cynicism for animation at its peak at the time, all I could think to myself was,
"Okay, at best, this will be decent."
And then after it came out, I watched the first three, fresh new episodes. I was blown away. The pacing and tone were unlike anything I'd ever seen; the dialogue was like a new sub-language of english. Every tired and stupid cliche you'd expect... was no where to be seen. The blend of action and comedy broke even the standards set by Teen Titans. It was all the fun fantasy action of KND, with the amazing jokes of Spongebob and FoP, with the inciting and likable characters that were the best anyone could possibly imagine.
And to this very day, three years and dozens of episodes later, whenever I see an episode, by the end, I'm quivering in my seat; awe-struck and dazed by the sheer, incomprehensible, overwhelming, angelic over-the-flippering-top fantastic creative brilliance of Adventure Time.
It's the most popular thing ever to be invented, and I honestly still don't think it's overrated. It's rated exactly as much as it deserves.
So that's good, okay, but why do I still call this the best era for cartoons ever? I mean I have to have more reason than that!
~~~~
Another year or two goes by, and I keep seeing ads for this show called 'Regular Show'. Oh nice, clever. Ha. You picked a generic title. Funny funny. =\ Hate to break it to you, show; but Adventure Time gets to have such a base, simple title because it's good and classic enough to earn such an accolade. You, by all probability, are another boilerplate, run-of-the-mill moderately engaging time waster. You don't get to be that pretentious.
Oh, and you have a gumball machine as a character? And a random guy with a big pink head? Randomness by itself isn't funny. Whatever, let's give this 'Regular Show' a watch.
~Later...~
*PUKES CHUNKS ONTO THE CARPET* GAAHHAHAHAH! *WRITHES ON GROUND* BAAAHHHHAHAHAAAAH!!!! MAKE IT STOOOPP!!! I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING!!! *CHOKES* *CURLS INTO FETAL POSITION*
*rolls out of the room and down multiple flights of stairs* HAAA HA HA HA *OOF* AA HA HA *OOF* AHHH AHA HA *OOF* GRAWWW I am in incredible pain HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!
*stands up and bangs fists and head against refrigerator* BLAHAHAHA HA HA! HE LIKE--HA--HE LIKE--HA HA HA HA, the four ducks turn into a giant man wearing jeans and BLAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA GAHHHHHH!!!!!!!
~Later...~
*goes back up to couch, holding guts in hand*
So yeah it was good.
~~~~
Great, Ultrahammer, that's all well and good; we have the most flamboyantly creative show ever put to air, and the funniest single entity to exist in human history. But is that really enough to justify your initial claims? What about a show that really has depth and a soul?
Well, for that, we go to the rebooted My Little Pony series.
When I saw the popularity, I thought it must have just ripped off Adventure Time or something... or thrown in a few random internet memes or something. But in April 2012 when I finally gave it a spin, about eight episodes in, I found my entire plane of existence completely consumed by it.
The world... is so illusive and inviting.
The animation... is the best ever to be made for television. Just, ever. Maybe some Anime is better; I don't know. But for western TV animation, this is the best ever. Ever.
The writing... while still pretty cliche and sometimes not it a good way, most of the time, it does its stories the RIGHT way and gives them the impact other shows fail to have.
And unquestionably most importantly; the characters are completely wonderful. The way they are realized and developed and interact is one hundred percent sublime, and the struggles and adventures they go through I've found deeply inspiring.
It has its flaws, but the things it does right are done SO right; the things that make it good are just so good, that I feel it is the best cartoon yet made. Or at least, the one with the biggest, warmest space in my heart; and the heart of millions of others.
~~~~
Oh, Gravity Falls. ...yeah it's good. Everything works. It's very entertaining. ...yep.
Sorry, but being anything less than golden masterpieces from Heaven in animation right now is just always going to be overshadowed. Sorry.
Oh and final word: Gumball is lame, pretentious and annoyingly uncreative.
Bye.
20s -- experimental and unfocused
30s -- yeah Popeye is fantastic, but only a minority of the episodes have actually interesting plots. Animation was still very much about spectacle over substance
40s and 50s -- again, Loony Tunes is eternal... but go watch some of them again. Same as before; only about 35% of the shows make up the 'classic roster' that we glorify today
60s and 70s -- while boasting an overwhelming roster of classics, I don't need to explain the flaws with Hannah Barbara, do I?
80s -- okay I'll be honest I'm not too familiar with this decade. I mean it was the golden age of Licensed toy shows, which brought about an unprecedented 'trans-media world' renaissance, but the writing and animation were still sub-par
90s -- Nicktoons were their own thing; crude and surreal. It was an interesting flavor, but still fairly limited. Powerpuff Girls and Dexters Lab were a more 'refined' brand of strange, and very appealing, but again, still kind of one note. Animaniacs I'd say is really great, but the animation is still really lacking (though not for the time). Batman... well okay Batman is unrepentant fantastic, but that's just one program.
00s -- Now here's the one I'm the most familiar with; the one that I was a kid during most of. *ahem*
Spongebob had great jokes and great characters and a unique, classic design aesthetic... but never ultimately did anything dramatic or meaningful with those wonderful assets. And from season four onwards, its creativity and timing were drained from it and it lives in an embalmed state to this day.
Fairly Odd Parents was really good, continued being really good, and remains really good to this day. Every time I pop in an episode once and a while, I am completely blown away at how it continues to keep the EXACT same energy and wit it had from day one. But still, it's always mostly been about the jokes and gags; the characters are likable and there's some good drama, but the show still is mostly there to make you just laugh. This isn't bad; I wouldn't want it any other way, it's just, well, I'll explain later.
Jimmy Neutron is classic; the cruddy animation is very appealing. The simple-looking characters were shockingly three-dimensional. The stories were creative and engaging. So yeah, pretty dang good. Just not great.
Codename: Kids Next Door. I was a complete, psychotic fan of this show. It was a completely over the top immature fantasy that never stopped hitting you in the head with its own self-confident ridiculousness. However, on reflection, it also completely sucks. It's a stupid, stupid show, and not that charming or likable either.
Danny Phantom. Okay I couldn't actually watch this show because my parents were like Oh, it's a ghost, and he takes over peoples' bodies; that's a bit too demonic. So to those who watched it, if it's a heart-warming epic existential drama, I'll be sure to re-qualify my statements about this Era.
Let's see... what else...
Oh, Kim Possible. Eh, pretty well done 'spy/superheroin' parody, but nothing more than that really.
Fosters Home: cool and creative and interesting. Very memorable, but not really 'mind blowing' in any way except a few of the character interactions.
Teen Titans. I hear some seasons aren't as good; but I haven't seen them. Because from the amount that I did see, I'd never, ever seen such a perfect balance of whoop-tastic action, wonderful character drama, and uproarious comedy. I've never seen anything but gold.
In the latter half of the decade, I felt cartoons really went downhill. It was the plague of awful, ugly-as-satan Flash animation like Johnny Test, and the main era of sub-par Spongebob ripoffs like Camp Lazlo. In '07, Phineas and Ferb came about. I acknowledge that it's really good, (and given that it's still going strong, people may qualify it as a 'modern' show, but I still classify it under the 00s umbrella; it's got 00s animation and a 00s writing sense.)
All in all, by the time the decade ended, I honestly felt like western, family-friendly cartoons were dead. Dead and burried, and--as my naive presumptuous self self thought--never coming back.
~~~~
So yeah, while the 90's and early-to-mid 00's really raised the bar in countless respects, they were still ultimately "goofy, funny little distractions", to put it harshly. With the exception of Batman and Teen Titans (huh. Pattern.), I personally don't think any cartoon was a monumental achievement of visual storytelling, and NO show period attained a superlative level of animation quality.
But hey, who expects all that from cartoons, right? That's not a bad thing. It's an animated TV show; it's okay that it's not a touching, epic adventure, right? It's okay that it will never look as good as Disney movies, right?
10's
Given my younger siblings, I still saw brief snippets of Nickelodeon and Cartoon network every day. In the early months of 2010, I started seeing ads for a new cartoon that was coming out. It seemed interesting; the animation was clean and sharp and CG'd, but in a good way; small, smooth lines and weird, unique character designs.
The dialogue samples in the ads sounded strange and new as well; characters talking differently than how cartoon characters usually talk.
But despite all that, my cynicism for animation at its peak at the time, all I could think to myself was,
"Okay, at best, this will be decent."
And then after it came out, I watched the first three, fresh new episodes. I was blown away. The pacing and tone were unlike anything I'd ever seen; the dialogue was like a new sub-language of english. Every tired and stupid cliche you'd expect... was no where to be seen. The blend of action and comedy broke even the standards set by Teen Titans. It was all the fun fantasy action of KND, with the amazing jokes of Spongebob and FoP, with the inciting and likable characters that were the best anyone could possibly imagine.
And to this very day, three years and dozens of episodes later, whenever I see an episode, by the end, I'm quivering in my seat; awe-struck and dazed by the sheer, incomprehensible, overwhelming, angelic over-the-flippering-top fantastic creative brilliance of Adventure Time.
It's the most popular thing ever to be invented, and I honestly still don't think it's overrated. It's rated exactly as much as it deserves.
So that's good, okay, but why do I still call this the best era for cartoons ever? I mean I have to have more reason than that!
~~~~
Another year or two goes by, and I keep seeing ads for this show called 'Regular Show'. Oh nice, clever. Ha. You picked a generic title. Funny funny. =\ Hate to break it to you, show; but Adventure Time gets to have such a base, simple title because it's good and classic enough to earn such an accolade. You, by all probability, are another boilerplate, run-of-the-mill moderately engaging time waster. You don't get to be that pretentious.
Oh, and you have a gumball machine as a character? And a random guy with a big pink head? Randomness by itself isn't funny. Whatever, let's give this 'Regular Show' a watch.
~Later...~
*PUKES CHUNKS ONTO THE CARPET* GAAHHAHAHAH! *WRITHES ON GROUND* BAAAHHHHAHAHAAAAH!!!! MAKE IT STOOOPP!!! I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING!!! *CHOKES* *CURLS INTO FETAL POSITION*
*rolls out of the room and down multiple flights of stairs* HAAA HA HA HA *OOF* AA HA HA *OOF* AHHH AHA HA *OOF* GRAWWW I am in incredible pain HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!
*stands up and bangs fists and head against refrigerator* BLAHAHAHA HA HA! HE LIKE--HA--HE LIKE--HA HA HA HA, the four ducks turn into a giant man wearing jeans and BLAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA GAHHHHHH!!!!!!!
~Later...~
*goes back up to couch, holding guts in hand*
So yeah it was good.
~~~~
Great, Ultrahammer, that's all well and good; we have the most flamboyantly creative show ever put to air, and the funniest single entity to exist in human history. But is that really enough to justify your initial claims? What about a show that really has depth and a soul?
Well, for that, we go to the rebooted My Little Pony series.
When I saw the popularity, I thought it must have just ripped off Adventure Time or something... or thrown in a few random internet memes or something. But in April 2012 when I finally gave it a spin, about eight episodes in, I found my entire plane of existence completely consumed by it.
The world... is so illusive and inviting.
The animation... is the best ever to be made for television. Just, ever. Maybe some Anime is better; I don't know. But for western TV animation, this is the best ever. Ever.
The writing... while still pretty cliche and sometimes not it a good way, most of the time, it does its stories the RIGHT way and gives them the impact other shows fail to have.
And unquestionably most importantly; the characters are completely wonderful. The way they are realized and developed and interact is one hundred percent sublime, and the struggles and adventures they go through I've found deeply inspiring.
It has its flaws, but the things it does right are done SO right; the things that make it good are just so good, that I feel it is the best cartoon yet made. Or at least, the one with the biggest, warmest space in my heart; and the heart of millions of others.
~~~~
Oh, Gravity Falls. ...yeah it's good. Everything works. It's very entertaining. ...yep.
Sorry, but being anything less than golden masterpieces from Heaven in animation right now is just always going to be overshadowed. Sorry.
Oh and final word: Gumball is lame, pretentious and annoyingly uncreative.
Bye.
I have to disagree, keeping in mind that the 90's had tons of animation from several decades (Dragon Ball Z). Gravity Falls is brilliant, but that's about it.
I remember Hey Arnold, which I rewatched on Netflix, and I forgot about how sophisticated and philosophical that show was. It dealt with poverty, darkness in human nature, parental neglect, alcoholism, addiction, peer pressure, unemployment, the plights of immigrants, marriage problems and divorce, and the affects of war on families and on the civilian population. In a kids show. It also handled all of this with extreme subtlety, because it WAS still a kids show (and a really funny one at that). Most adult programming isn't this brilliant.
I rewatched the third season of Digimon as well, and holy cow was it dark (but smart). Parental abuse and neglect, divorce, children dealing with grief after the death of a loved one, depression and despair, insanity, hints at attempted suicide, fundamental questions about the nature of human existence, sin and repentance, and a whole host of other themes. Not as subtle or as appropriate as Hey Arnold, and it was pretty freaky for its intended age group, but I loved that show as a little kid.
We also had DBZ, Samurai X, Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, and many others for action. Animaniacs was very clever.
Cartoons today are neutered in comparison, all fart jokes and bad humor. I don't watch that much television anymore, but I can tell my generation was spoiled when it came to our cartoons growing up. I think kids are much smarter and more mature than adults and censors give them credit for, which is sad. Just because something is intended for kids doesn't mean it has to be vain and stupid. The last good kids cartoon I can think of is Avatar.
I remember Hey Arnold, which I rewatched on Netflix, and I forgot about how sophisticated and philosophical that show was. It dealt with poverty, darkness in human nature, parental neglect, alcoholism, addiction, peer pressure, unemployment, the plights of immigrants, marriage problems and divorce, and the affects of war on families and on the civilian population. In a kids show. It also handled all of this with extreme subtlety, because it WAS still a kids show (and a really funny one at that). Most adult programming isn't this brilliant.
I rewatched the third season of Digimon as well, and holy cow was it dark (but smart). Parental abuse and neglect, divorce, children dealing with grief after the death of a loved one, depression and despair, insanity, hints at attempted suicide, fundamental questions about the nature of human existence, sin and repentance, and a whole host of other themes. Not as subtle or as appropriate as Hey Arnold, and it was pretty freaky for its intended age group, but I loved that show as a little kid.
We also had DBZ, Samurai X, Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, and many others for action. Animaniacs was very clever.
Cartoons today are neutered in comparison, all fart jokes and bad humor. I don't watch that much television anymore, but I can tell my generation was spoiled when it came to our cartoons growing up. I think kids are much smarter and more mature than adults and censors give them credit for, which is sad. Just because something is intended for kids doesn't mean it has to be vain and stupid. The last good kids cartoon I can think of is Avatar.
I like some cartoons. Gumball is probably my favorite of the current cartoons. But recently Fosters was good as was Billy and Mandy. A weird favorite for me was Chowder though. I have done a lot of professional level cooking and that show always made me laugh. Especially Schniztel.
Bah those two are nothing compared to the ending of legend of Korra. I would post the video, but sadly I don't know how to.Worgen said:
OT: Honestly very few of those 90's shows have aged well and i find my slef enjoying the more modern cartoons more thna I did a lot of the older ones.
I gravitate more to the adult themed cartoons now. Adult swim was were I turned as I got older. Nothing could compete with these three shows for awhile.
Venture Bros.
Morel Orel.
Frisky Dingo.
[http://photobucket.com/images/morel%20orel]
I think the alone episode of Morel Orel is some of the best story telling in disturbance, I have seen in awhile.
Venture Bros.
Morel Orel.
Frisky Dingo.
[http://photobucket.com/images/morel%20orel]
I think the alone episode of Morel Orel is some of the best story telling in disturbance, I have seen in awhile.
Gravity Falls is can get pretty edgy as well as kind of feely, especially for a Disney Channel show. It is also incredibly deep.Timotei said:
If you're looking for a show that REALLY pushes the envelope in edginess, watch Dan Vs. In Dan Vs. people have been mortally wounded, one guy was implied to have been killed by the antagonist, there are some incredibly hilarious sex references, mild cursing, and some fridge horror that is pretty terrifying.
The end of this episode is one of the more disturbingly hilarious implications this show gets away with:
Keep in mind that this show airs on the same channel as My Little Pony.
While I'll always miss my Courage the Cowardly Dog, Johnny Bravo, Grim Adventures, KND, Ed Eddn Eddy, and Invader Zim, theres something to be said when cartoons like Regular Show and Amazing World of Gumball end up being two of my mothers favorite cartoons, as well as my own. Regular Show goes straight for the "kids growing up in the 90's" demographic, while Gumball seems to make the "everyday situation" humor hilarious, as well as going over the top with it. Yeah, that's my opinion. You can stick it on the fridge if you want, next to my crude drawing of a firetruck.
I was a fan of MLP beforehand, but Gravity Falls is the one show that single-handedly convinced me there's hope in modern animation. I saw it as basically the reincarnation of the classic Simpsons mashed up with the X-Files, and considering that it's from Disney Channel, that's saying something about the risks TV networks can take when it comes to cartoons.
I have actually been kind of impressed with how well written the new TMNT series has been. I was not expecting it to be good at all, but it has a certain crispness of dialogue that competes with the original.
For more adult fair I strongly recomend Adult Swims The Venture Brothers. Which will take all of that good stuff you remember from the old days and turn it into... something else.
Good animated shows seem to come in waves that last about half of any given decade. So you can find a good block of engaging and edgy shows somewhere in every decade. Its just normally surrounded by a ton of dreck.
For more adult fair I strongly recomend Adult Swims The Venture Brothers. Which will take all of that good stuff you remember from the old days and turn it into... something else.
Good animated shows seem to come in waves that last about half of any given decade. So you can find a good block of engaging and edgy shows somewhere in every decade. Its just normally surrounded by a ton of dreck.
Cartoons are doing just fine right now.
The thing is, when people think of cartoons from the 80's, 90's, and even the early 00's, they tend to lean towards remembering the good stuff. And the highs of these periods are VERY high.
But lest we forget how wretchedly low the lows were, as well. There were PLENTY of cartoons from our youth that were nothing less than garbage. It's just that most of us don't remember them, or remember them through rose-tinted nostalgia goggles.
You want examples? Look no further than MovieBob's Big Picture episode on video game cartoons. And that's just one aspect of how bad cartoons used to be.
So when people say that new cartoons suck, and old ones are better, I can just point to Captain Planet and go, "Really?".
(PS, I am not saying all old cartoons were bad, by any means. I'm just saying that it's important not to judge an entire generation of cartoons based on solely the good stuff)
The thing is, when people think of cartoons from the 80's, 90's, and even the early 00's, they tend to lean towards remembering the good stuff. And the highs of these periods are VERY high.
But lest we forget how wretchedly low the lows were, as well. There were PLENTY of cartoons from our youth that were nothing less than garbage. It's just that most of us don't remember them, or remember them through rose-tinted nostalgia goggles.
You want examples? Look no further than MovieBob's Big Picture episode on video game cartoons. And that's just one aspect of how bad cartoons used to be.
So when people say that new cartoons suck, and old ones are better, I can just point to Captain Planet and go, "Really?".
(PS, I am not saying all old cartoons were bad, by any means. I'm just saying that it's important not to judge an entire generation of cartoons based on solely the good stuff)
I don't think cartoons ever stopped being good after the 80's, except for a short period around the 00's where things were transitioning into a digital world. And even then, there were still good shows. I'm always going to have major nostalgia for Cybersix, The Tick, Rugrats, ReBoot, Recess and Animaniacs, but I actually didn't really *like* shows like Johnny Bravo, Ed, Edd, and Eddy or Rocko's Modern Life. I mean, Johnny Test is all kinds of bad and it only lasts as long as it does because it costs hardly anything to make, but (at least in Canada) we also put up with crappy shows like Caillou (which always straddled the timeslots between young children's programming and the good stuff) Super Duper Sumos (why), Megababies (whyyy) and Angela Anaconda (uggghhh). Recently on Netflix I watched Danny Phantom, which I was completely in love with back in high school, but the appeal has somewhat drained away aside from a few exceptional episodes.
Nowadays, I record all the episodes of Gravity Falls because it is legitimately great, and I sit down and enjoy the hell out of Tron: Uprising despite its cancelled status. Not to mention Regular Show, Wander over Yonder, Adventure Time, MLP, Teen Titans Go, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes/Assemble, TMNT 2012, and Rocket Monkeys, among others. Plus kids are enjoying shows like Slugterra and who are we to judge them for that?
Nowadays, I record all the episodes of Gravity Falls because it is legitimately great, and I sit down and enjoy the hell out of Tron: Uprising despite its cancelled status. Not to mention Regular Show, Wander over Yonder, Adventure Time, MLP, Teen Titans Go, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes/Assemble, TMNT 2012, and Rocket Monkeys, among others. Plus kids are enjoying shows like Slugterra and who are we to judge them for that?
I'm happy to see all the love for Gravity Falls in this thread. I'm loving the hell out of that show and can't wait for the next season. I'm also digging Adventure Time and Regular Show. I'll also watch Teen Titans GO! and Gumball when they're on. I watched most of the first season of MLP and while I feel it was surprisingly well made and heartfelt it was still definitely not for me.
And while other people have covered some of the really great cartoons from my childhood (90's) the one that didn't age well for me was Freakazoid. Sorry Movie Bob but I recently rewatched a few episodes after getting a bit nostalgic from your Big Picture episode and man did that show suck. I just couldn't find much to keep me watching after the first few episodes.
And while other people have covered some of the really great cartoons from my childhood (90's) the one that didn't age well for me was Freakazoid. Sorry Movie Bob but I recently rewatched a few episodes after getting a bit nostalgic from your Big Picture episode and man did that show suck. I just couldn't find much to keep me watching after the first few episodes.