Forums » Smalltalk » Cartoons back then to what they are now!

I remember back in the day I use to watch those shows you know, Hey Arnold, RugRats((RugsRats all grown up)), Ed Edd n' Eddy, Chowder and Courage the the Cowardly Dog. (which use to scare the crap out of me, some episodes!)Other shows that use to make Disney Chanel actually good like, Kim Possible and That's so Raven!

Those shows use to be my shows, watching tv was like one best things to do as little kid. But now... everything is so different and some shows, I can't even consider them even for kids! X(

For example:
Disney Channel today: All their shows now are repetitive garbage! Most girls in Disney shows, have no to little Intelligence at all! It's like there saying "girls are only into fashion, music and gossip and no real interests...

Cartoonetwork: Don't get me started... Almost Naked Animal's, this channel has crossed the line...

Nick: TWERKING BIRDS ARE YOU SERIOUS!?(it's a copy of Regular Show for crying ojt loud!) Legends of Kora has a way better plot than that!



What's your feelings about new cartoons compared to new cartoons?

Personally I liked the old TV show style better. Hell, I liked them even if sometimes as a kid spongebob made me cry (like on the episode where Gary runs away, Have You Seen This Snail (2005), I remember always going and crying to my mom when it showed spongebob crying with the sad music) any who! Enough with Sob stories!

Though some of the new TV shows I like, like The Amazing Word Of Gum ball, and Regular Show. But I don't like as many if them as I did as a kid. I liked watching Courage The Cowardly dog, despite the fact I always covered my eyes at the Black Box episode where that blonde haired girl is playing the violin then her eyes and hair start coming out..and I liked watching chowder and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, etc.



So, overall, majority vote . Past / New

Don't even get me started on the kiddy shows... this is Dora when she talks to you...

Dora: Count how many pick sandwiches I have, okay! Here we go~




uno.....




dos.....





tres.....





*50 years later*

...is this about how any given cartoon has changed, or about what cartoons as a whole used to be? 'Cause if it's the latter, except for the Power Rangers (wuh? That's not a cartoon...) you guys are making me feel old.

Kim possible was my FAVORATE show along with totally spy's... When the shows i liked stop coming on i stoped watching TV only thing i kinda watch now is Criminal minds or stuff i find on youtube,

Cartoons, tv shows, it does not matter. I was just showing that because it was something I used to watch. You don't need to point that out...

We all love the older stuff because that's what we grew up with. A kid today would be saying "Man, Breadwinners and Regular Show were the best shows! The kind that I grew up with." when they become adults.

I respect what you're saying but I have to disagree with you at the same time.

What are your grounds for disagreeing? Personally, I agree with Scribe, despite being pretty clueless about anything anyone's watching these days.

What I've noticed is that cartoons from the 80's and 90's touched upon some really controversial topics. A lot of adult themes were incorporated into them. Characters genuinely died a lot more often in Disney movies in the 90's than they do now. Everything seems to have been 'reduced' to all sunshine and rose petals as if exposing children to more adult themes is harmful to them.

A good example is a Dutch cartoon about a duck that I grew up with. The cartoon involved heavy political stuff and culture differences in a very mature way. It's one of the things it was so heavily praised for and I LOVED it. Nowadays you never see a cartoon like this anymore. (The cartoon's named Alfred. J. Kwak for those who wonder.)

It makes me sad because so many cartoons and shows are just downright dumb these days. Literally. There is nothing thought provoking, or challenging your imagination. There used to be so many arts and crafts shows, so many cartoons that addressed serious issues. They've all been reduced to stupid shit like Victorious and similar ultra cheesy good for nothing airhead shows that are about nothing. They're like filler descriptions in posts.

Our world has changed a lot. While we certainly remember our childhoods more fondly than they were, society has also become very wary and careful. We're banning silly things like dodgeball, a cartoon like Pokemon is threatened because it's 'too violent'. Games are banned or heavily censored even for adults because of some unproven claims that it triggers violence in people, and we're gradually just shielding our children more and more from real life. Cartoons reflect this change greatly, although they're not the only thing.

I think that's why so many of us feel that cartoons now just suck, because they do compared to what we grew up with. We were stimulated much more to use our imagination and think about real issues with the older cartoons because those topics were still acceptable in animations. This is no longer the case, and we feel it.

I grew up with mainly male cousin's so I ended up watching it a lot (I'm a tomboy and proud!)

Now I'm 24 and my 8 year old cousin watches the new one. I saw that the other day and I flopped on the couch and watched. Yes it was a bit cheesier then the first several seasons but it's alright. The main thing I like is the fact that they have pulled the old designs out for use. I mean really, all of the Ranger's together at once? So Much WINNING.

Mostly though I can't stand have the shows are today. Shows like Freakazoid, Batman Beyond. All the shows like that touched on things that creators are afraid of now. Our world in general has turned into a big pansy fest with parents afraid to actually discipline a child with a spanking, instead it's 'no ipad'. I played with lego's, hotwheels and other things of the like (And barbies...sometimes )

I've also noticed how alot of American parents (I can't say anywhere else because it's all I've ever been) have turned to medicating the kid instead of doing real parenting. That's reflected in these new cartoons by them being mind numbingly stupid so the drugged up kiddo's think it's awesome...

I the reason why I disagree is because there could be a kid from today that might say "geez BreadWinners and Regular Show are some stupid shows!" There could be a kid growing up with shows like BreadWinners and that. They might consider it dumb as well.

Power Rangers is for boys? *shrug* I've got two brothers, no sisters, so yeh.

I actually kinda like Batman Beyond; what little I've seen of it, anyway. Terry's got nothing on Bruce, of course, but eh.

And I don't think this is really the place to discuss child-rearing practices, but I will say I don't think a child has to be spanked to be good. It's a matter of what works. Personally, I remember getting in trouble a lot simply because no one ever bothered to tell me various things were wrong to do. Kinda pissed me off, actually. But anyway... cartoons and stuff! Right? x.x

Just as there are kids from every generation who think at least some of the shows from their time are stupid. There's never going to be a total consensus. It's simply majority.

I'll admit, I often ponder the quality many of today's cartoons; it's part of the burden of being a 90's child!

That besides though, cartoons inevitably have changed as society has! Ever sat down to watch reruns of the original Looney Tunes? Tom & Jerry? Tex Avery's works? *whistles* There were all sorts of material today that's outright offensive (and often edited out in today's airings) or would've gone right over children's heads while giving the parents a laugh. There's a trope for that!

Honestly I don't lament over what feels like quality decline these days, just because I don't watch cartoons as often as I did. I still wish I had things like Batman:TAS & Superman:TAS (my two favorite 90's cartoons), but that's what Netflix & Youtube are for.

And then there's Ren & Stimpy. I was allowed to watch that because 100% stuff flew right over my head. I was a naive, sheltered lass!

Also yes as a modly precaution, please do carefully tread the parenting end and respect each other's views on how society is taking care of its kiddos. Parenting & cartooning might fall hand-in-hand, but the primary topic is initially on cartoon quality!

Personally I DO think there has been a decline and I really do put it mostly down to shortcuts being taken with animation. Remember all those beautiful classic movies and how later movies became far more simplified? It was simply because animation technology was progressing and being discovered and if the artists could get something done quicker to a fairly good standard they would.

Not only shortcuts though, I really do think we mollycoddle todays children too much though in the wrong ways. They see all these real life disasters and they're shooting people in video games but when it comes to cartoons its all sunshine and rainbows and god forbid anyone gets upset by something they see. It just seems unbalanced.

Now, i'm not saying that violent media creates killers but what I'm saying is i learned many of my life lessons from cartoons growing up.

For example: Animals of Farthing Wood and Watership Down taught me about life and death and truly inspired me(Animals of Farthing Wood are on Youtube last i checked, please give it a watch if you ever get the chance) AoFW is a cartoon about a group of animals who lose their natural habitat and end up traveling together under an oath not to kill each other in search of a national park that the toad has seen before, Along the way many of them die in fairly different ways and although it was sad i wouldn't have had it any other way.

I feel like a cartoon needs to be well thought out, to tell a story and if possible, address real life topics without waving it on a banner spelling it out to the kids. A lot of the beauty I think was taking from it and then going back when i was older to really understand it properly.

With everything old cartoons were not ALL amazing, but I think a lot more love and care went into them in the past than does now (typically) but there are some today that shine among the others while others seem mind numbingly slow and pointless!

I'm sure the children of today will look back in 20 years and maybe feel the same as we do now, though, about their own era of childrens entertainment.

And finally i end with this AWESOME intro and theme tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWcCYu8glNo

From an animation-based perspective, most things have improved quite a bit. It's always nice to go back and see the way things used to be done - for example, in Batman: The Animated Series, they drew dark, Gothic themes on black paper to really get a downtrodden noir feel going on - but now we have stuff that's mostly down in flash or toonboom. It's... nice to a point, but there is only so many ways you can digitally sketch a spoon.

Content wise, I'm going yo agree with GeniusScribe. I generally enjoy shows from my childhood more than what's on the air now, save for a few like Adventure Time, FiM, Bravest Warriors and jazz like that. Some of it is I genuinely think that some things are dumbed down, but it's catered to young kids of a brand new generation, I'm sure the generation that grew up on Thundercats probably thought exactly the same thing about us. ...there is a point, however, where it starts to get excessive. Twerking Birds? Come on guys, we can do better than this.

In my own opinion, I agree that we all think the cartoons we grew up with were the best and that everything has gone down hill. Now that doesn't mean all the cartoons have gone down. There are still good ones, and heck, even the ones I grew up with and loved were not all that great. I re-watched a few of them and wondered what I thought was so great about them because I think they are quite stupid or inappropriate.

Though, as an adult now, I would never let my child watch cartoon network anymore because everything on there now like Adventure time, Regular Show, uncle grandpa... are definitely NOT meant for young children. It seems that being more random and creepy is more popular than being thought provoking or having a compelling storyline with lessons. While I enjoy Regular show as a 22 year old, I wouldn't want a little kid watch it, especially because words like "I'm pissed" show up on it. Maybe I'm being over sensitive, but I don't think that young children should say that... But then again, it's my opinion and I have no right to say what people can and cannot do. But shows like Adventure time and uncle grandpa I am severely not a fan of and I just find cartoon network annoying these days. As for nickeloadeon, kind of the same thing is going on, except less cartoons more live action shows that are still geared towards teenagers.

As for quality, sure, the lines are crisper, and animation smoother but at the same time, the characters themselves are not really all that creative. But that's my opinions, I grew up with anime as a kid, so maybe I have more appreciation for complex over simplistic. Who knows? There's my two cents!

Of course I will say the shows I watched when I was growing up were better. But as far as thinking today is much worse than back then.. I don't really agree. Humor has changed. What makes people laugh today is not the same as what made them laugh twenty years ago. That is painful to say, I don't like to think about being this old! But Angry Beavers, Cow and Chicken and Ren and Stimpy.. holy moly sometimes I am surprised my parents let me watch it. And quality, from what I have seen, can be horrible. But also, we are going from a time where there were only a few hours of cartoons on a day to a time where there are multiple stations that play them twenty four hours. You are going to get some completely ridiculous shows. But then you are going to get some awesome ones too. While I do not watch cartoons anymore, it seems like the new My Little Pony was a hit. Same with Adventure Time. At any given time, there is probably at least one cartoon out there that is fantastic. That makes the kids laugh and that is what they enjoy. That someday they will look back on and say the rest was nothing compared to it. I agree, totally just what we grew up with. Young minds loving what is given. We have to keep in mind, part of why we think something is funny and awesome has to do with what we were shown.
So maybe you don't like modern shows.. but your humor was shaped by the early shows you watched so likely significantly different than the minds and opinions of the youth today! My grandmother would have flipped if she sat down to watch any of the shows I watched in the late 80's and early 90's. Change of the times, my friends! Change of the times!

We are all looking at the past with inch-thick nostalgia goggles. Yeah, there were amazing shows back when we were growing up. Those are the ones we remember fondly. There were also a BUTTLOAD of crappy ones. Heck, some of the crappy ones people love for some reason. I mean, honestly. Scooby Doo is badly animated, repetitive, and unimaginative (overall). Or any of the other Hanna Barbara cartoons of the same era. It's the same with modern day cartoons. There are good ones and bad ones. Personally I think Adventure Time deals with some deep issues, is funny and surreal, and doesn't have bad animation. Same with Steven Universe. Both of these shows also break stereotypes and have a lot of interesting characters. So personally, I think overall, kids' shows are getting better. o_o