I’ll admit up front that I’m not all that plugged into today’s cartoons – I’m well past the age of watching them myself, and I don’t have any kids or younger relatives who would expose me to them. I did, however, used to manage a video store, so I have some idea what they’re all about.
Anyways, I was reminiscing today about some of the cartoons I liked when I was growing up – shows like Duck Tales, Gummi Bears, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Chip ‘n’ Dale, etc. A lot of those shows went on adventures. The characters would go on long treks around the world, searching for the sacred relic of something-or-other, battling dragons and mummies and knights and wizards along the way. Just checkoutsome of the opening montages to see what I mean. It was like a mini-Indiana Jones. Lots of excitement and adventure, not much drama or “learning.” (Well, maybe a tacked on moral at the end about the need for teamwork or something.)
Do kids cartoons do that kind of thing anymore? I can’t remember the last time I went channel surfing and saw a cartoon of someone bashing an ogre on the head or swinging across a moat or duelling a pirate. I just turned on the Disney Channel, and there’s some cartoon soap opera about high school students getting ready for the prom. On Nickelodeon SpongeBob is doing stand-up. That seems to pretty much typify the cartoons I’ve run into: either suburban dramedies with some kind of twist (Jimmy Neutron is a normal kid who does wonderful science experiments), or wacky, surrealist stuff like SpongeBob. Am I missing something? Where do kids go these days for pure adventure stuff? Something not set in a Southern California suburb? Are any modern cartoons set in the era of knights and court jesters and princesses anymore, ala The Smurfs and Gummi Bears?
Classic European style castles and knights, fairy tale stuff has been replaced by ancient Asian castles and warriors stuff.
Makes sense since most the adventure cartoons kids are into come from Asia.
Shaolin Showdown is a pretty good example of a contemporary kid’s show done up like the ones you and I grew up with. It’s actually fairly witty and well-animated, with a decent premise.
…Not…that…I watch it or anything…well I don’t any more anyway
I recently randomly caught an episode of a series called Chaotic, and was pleasantly surprised by decent writing and some very nice animation work. It’s still based off of a game (a la Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon), but what the heck, I watched Dungeons and Dragons so I can’t complain too much.
And I watch reruns of Jackie Chan Adventures on… Cartoon Disney, I think?
Interesting. I wonder why this would be? Is it a simple matter of changing fads? Or has the US actually become less Eurocentric than it was even when I was a kid?
I think my second favorite line from a cartoon came from Shaolin Showdown.
The kids were all infiltrating some fancy party and were all dressed up except for Omi. When asked why he’s not wearing formal clothes he replies: “But this is my formal Gi! See, [holds up sleeve] the thread count is slightly higher!”
Per the OP, Jackie Chan Adventures had Jackie and crew globe-trotting to retrieve various magical trinkets. Jackie Chan gets my award for favorite line: “Healing? Immortality!? That’s redundant!”
Japan makes LOTS of cartoons for local consumption. That provides a huge pool for American importers to draw on for cheap content. All you have to do is dub the voices. After a while the anime style has diffused into American productions as well.
I’ve been watching kid cartoons for 40 years and I have to say that we’re in the middle of a Silver Age right now. They’re not as good as the classic studio shorts from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, but they’re far, far better than the crap that passed for kids’ television in the 70’s, 80’s, and yes, 90’s. The visual imagination of a show like Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends or the depth of characterization and story of a show like **Avatar: The Last Airbender ** blow shows like **Animaniacs ** & **Transformers ** out of the water.
No, it wasn’t. By the standards of its time it was far better than most other shows that were on the air. But kid’s programming today is much, much better on average and the best shows today are better than Animaniacs.
I think it’s a combination of changing trends, lessening dependency on Eurocentric storytelling motifs to come up with something children and young adults can relate to in fantasy.
I would agree. In fact, it won a John Foster Peabody Award in 1993 “for restoring quality to the daily animated television series” in the style of classic Warner Bros. cartoons. There aren’t that many TV cartoons on the air today that have the “feel” of an old-time cartoon- the closest I can think of is The Fairly Oddparents.
That was actually, I think, one of Animaniacs deficiencies. It was very self-conscious about trying to recapture that lost Golden Age of the Warner Brothers’ shorts. One of the exciting things about Foster’s or Fairly Oddparents or The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy or Ed, Edd, and Eddy or Spongebob Squarepants is that they’re not relying on nostalgia at all.
Again, I’m not saying that **Animaniacs ** was crap. Back in the 90’s, it (and, occasionally, **Freakazoid ** and Ren & Stimpy) was an oasis in a vast desert. Things are better now.
If you’re looking for contemporary adventure cartoons there’s also Kids Next Door, especially Numba Five’s adventures with Heinrich von Marzipan and Captain Stickybeard. The quest for the legendary fourth flavor of ice cream is particularly good … .
There’s also some good action/adventure stuff imported from Japan:
The Mysterious Cities of Gold was Canadian. Not that it has any weight on the subject at hand, but since we’ve already pointed out that Shaolin Showdown and Avatar aren’t Japanese…
Can’t forget it’s spin-off, Go Diego Go!. Hell, I think you could put Disney’s two Dora-style shows, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and My Friends Tigger and Pooh in that category, too. Of course, an adventure for Mickey and Pooh is somewhat different than one for Dora or Diego, but Mickey and his Mousekatools and the Super Sleuths- Pooh, Darby, and Tigger- get around as much as those two Spanish-speaking kids do.
