kids cartoons - part 2

Based on what I see on television when my children are watching cartoons, I would guess that people will look back on this era and claim it as a Golden Age for chidlren's cartoons.

First of all, the animation is superb. The attention to detail is what separates the good from the bad. The classic Looney Tunes and old MGM cartoons had animation that has never been equalled. Watch one sometime and take note of the movement -- the smallest things move, even things that weren't critical to the story. This quality animation carried through even to television, with the work of Hanna-Barbera. Their cartoons in the early to mid 1960's was excellent. Again, attention to detail was paid, even though on the tighter television budget. Some of their best work (and also some of the last of their good work) might be in the old Jonny Quest series.

Then came the 70's.

Whether it was strictly budget or the thought that cartoons were inferior and didn't need so much attention, the animation became stilted and jumpy. Movement was not smooth, and there was no more movement than absolutely necessary. There might be entire scenes with nothing at all moving in the frame, just a voice-over.

This might well have killed cartoons altogether. The 1980's are note-worthy only for the fact that there was little to no cartoon show on Saturday morning television. The only cartoon show that comes to mind during this era is He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and various spin-offs (i.e. She-Ra). Granted, I was no longer a child of cartoon-watching age, but I was a hopeful Hollywood writer who wanted to work in children's television.

Today, however, the baby-boomers have come of age, and certainly they remember the quality cartoons of their youth and have brought that quality back to television. And with the advances in computer animation, made it easier to produce cartoons that are fun to watch again.

Compare the visual look of Speed Racer to Jimmy Neutron! In my opinion, Speed Racer is the epitome of bad animation. Just count how many times we see a close up of eyes so that we don't even have to have the animation of a mouth moving!

Spongebob is not so different than Top Cat or Yogi Bear (the good years). The characters move fluidly (pun slightly intended) and there's more than a one-color background.

But quality cartoons is more than just the animation. The story has been revived in children's programming. Perhaps I'll talk a little about that tomorrow.