I am of the generation that brought cartoons to new levels(cartoons,videogames, sugary cereal with toys in the bottom. . .these are our REAL contributions to society thus far). What happened to Saturday mornings in front of the TV eating Lucky Charms? Today, you’ve got crappy teen comedyies with crappy teen “issues” and not a single freaking, robots in disguise to be found on network televison. Ugghh. Speaking of robots in disguise - even in disguise, they still look like robots - curious, No? Anyway, I want to watch animated animals living with human parents and causing mischeif on my days off - not saved by the bell, the 800th class.
You get up too late. Those don’t begin until the good stuff ends.
Starting at 6:30, we’ve got -
“Fighting Foodons”
“Yu-gi-oh”
“Pokemon”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Generation” (or something)
“Ultimate Muscle”
“What’s New, Scooby Doo?”
“Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?”
“Jackie Chan Adventures”
“Megaman: NT Warrior”
“The Wild Thornberrys”
“Hey Arnold”
“Cramp Twins”
“Kim Possible”
“The Mummy”
“Power Rangers Ninja Storm”
and “Static Shock”
Try Cartoon Network.
What became of:
Popeye
Roadrunner
Bugs Bunny
Rocky & Bullwinkle
Dudley Dooright
Fractured Fairy Tales
Aesop & Son
Quick Draw McGraw
Yogi Bear
Snagglepuss
Top Cat
Tobor, the 8th Man
Now [IB]those[/IB] were cartoons.
No props for the Smurfs??
~J
The Smurfs were lame.
Two things:
First, those were the original, hand-drawn, hand-painted, cel-based painstakingly-photographed animated movies. Cost killed 'em. Today you pay an artist $35 an hour to paint one cel, or you pay a roomful of Korean kids $35 a week, collectively, to paint enough cels for ten episodes of [iThe Simpsons*.
Also, the old 'toons used, literally, full orchestras for both music and sound effects, and probably two Foleys to boot. Now they’re lucky to have one guy with a synth, a mixer board and a CD of generic sound effects. Again, it’s a cost issue.
And second, one of the things that made the old 'toons truly great was, indeed, the mindless violence. People holding sticks of dynamite and watching, dumbfounded, as the fuse burns down. Blasting each other with shotguns. Packing enough explosives under a house so that the floorboards are bulging. Getting hit by trains. Jumping out in the street in front of trucks. Lighting the fuse then crawling into the barrel of a cannon.
It’s assumed- and, unfortunately, often proven, RE; the “Jackass” copycat stunts- that viewing such things will encourage kids to go out and try them, and get injured or killed. So violence is out.
Top that off with having various advocacy groups saying how awful cartoons are, so now most 'toons have some sort of “message”- promote diversity, don’t resort to violence to solve problems, etc.
Which, I suppose, is okay if it’s not overwhelming, and done well (RE Simpsons and not Captain Planet.)
Long story short, we’ll never see 'toons like the old Bugs Bunny and especially Road Runner ever again.
Not all toons are like that.
Ever seen Dexter’s Lab, or Spongebob Squarepants? I assure you both have mindless violence and completely lack any kind of message! 
Since the OP asked about it, I’m obligaed to point out that Transformers: Armada is currently running on Cartoon Network as part of their Toonami block.
Amen!!! Those were the BEST!!
And I’d like to add the Pink Panther, Auggie Doggie and Daddy Doggie, and HR Puffenstuff too!!! (though HR Puffenstuff wasn’t a cartoon).
And who besides me wants to go nuts in a mall with an Uzi upon hearing the “Powerpuff Girls” high pitched squeals?
Whatever happened to Crusader Rabbit?
Gawd, I’m so OLD!
I think what the OP was talking about is the rather depressing lack of Saturday morning cartoons on the regular broadcast channels. Last time I watched TV on a Saturday morning, it was nothing but morning news shows till about 10 or so, then a couple hours of stupid teen dramedies even worse than Saved By The Bell. No cartoons at all. We don’t have cable, nor do we intend to ever get it, so my weekends have been toon-free for several years now.
Kids can watch cartoons whenever they feel like it now; when I had digital cable, there were easily four networks of just cartoons. Why should Saturday morning be something special when it’s more of the same fare they get all week?
Well, if you’re blonde, 5’6"ish, cute, and most importantly female, then we can go nuts wherever you like.
See what they need to do is create cartoons like the movie ‘Heavy Metal’. That would have kept me glued to the TV all day long.
Haven’t you heard that if you want your kids to be smart you play classical music? The soundtracks to Bugs Bunny was mostly classical. See, some redeeming value was there.
Actually, The Simpsons does use a full orchestra, and Foley artist.
Help me out, here. The only definition of Foley that I’ve ever heard was when I worked in a hospital, and it was a urinary catheter. This requires an artist?
The Foley artist is the guy who gets paid to stomp on a bag of rice or punch a steak in order to produce sound effects. He Who Am addressed the topic in one of his stone tablets, right after the commandment about turkey bacon.
I dunno … I always thought Brainy Smurf was kinda cute.