Post-8: Cartoons are for toddlers…not for teenagers
I grew up in the 90s and it was impossible to miss cartoons because they were everywhere. Today, I’ve only seen a few cartoons, and majority of those cartoons are for toddlers and not for teenagers. Why is that? Most of these cartoons are shown for educational purposes (which I’m not against) on networks, like Nick Jr, PBS Kids and Playhouse Disney. Cartoons for teenagers are miniscule. Why? Is it because teenagers are too old to watch cartoons and that is why they produce television shows, like Hannah Montana and Jonas.
It wasn’t too long ago, that Nickelodeon had a load of cartoons, like: Hey Arnold, Rugrats, Rocko’s Modern Life, and more. The same went for Disney, I remember there being cartoons in the afternoon, like Recess, Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers, Talespin, and so much more. But, now they all have disappeared and only appear in the special DVD collections.
Why have they disappeared? Is it due to political correctness? Or, were they out of date and they wanted to have shows that appealed to the teenaged crowd? Or, was it also do to ratings?
The reason for the disappearnce, I believe is due to the ratings. This is where Hannah Montana, Jonas and Zoey 101 make their appearances. These shows appeal to that specific audience; that are too old for cartoons and too young to watch shows that appeal to older teens. Some cartoons also focused on the pre-teen audience: As Told By Ginger and Rugrats: All Grown Up. These two shows did draw a crowd, but even they were canceled and have disappeared.
I disagree with my thesis, I believe cartoons are for everyone and there should be a variety of shows that attract different viewers and not a specific crowd.
Here are specific clips…ENJOY!!!
As Told By Ginger
Tale-Spin
Hey Arnold
Chip N Dale
I do not own these clips!!!
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I as a rather avid Japanese animation fan often come face to face with this issue. Many people assume that animation is just a medium meant only to appeal to little children. However the truth is much to the contrary. Animation can tailor to people of all ages and can be just as timeless as any other visual medium. I personally remember growing up with series such as Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ahh! Real Monsters, and Rocko’s Modern Life. These series are timeless to me and nothing can change the part they had in my life.
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I remember watching many of the shows that you mentioned when I was growing up, and I still enjoy some of them today, even buying the DVD box sets of a few of them. From the limited amount of modern cartoons that I’ve seen, it does not seem like the generation growing up with these materials are likely to have the same response. Shows like Animaniacs, Rocko’s Modern Life, and Pinkey and the Brain had an appeal to an adult audience while still being appropriate for kids. Shows today don’t seem to have that appeal, which is why I don’t think that people growing up today will endeavor to seek out and re-watch the shows they grew up with the way that so many people our age do today.
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I think that there must be some advanced sociological reason involved, but I’m sure it really comes down to ratings. Cartoons for those demographics must not be as profitable as they used to be. I’m no sociologist, but I’ll speculate that as our generation (who grew up in the 90s) aged, the kids younger than us imitated what we did, wanted to act older, and didn’t think watching cartoons was ‘cool’, and so the networks decided to change tactics and concentrate on younger children. Not 100% truth, by any means, but my initial reaction.
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Post #8 – Ren and Stimpy « David Dinnison's Blog said this on March 22, 2010 at 7:56 pm |
Yea I agree. I don’t really know why its like that now for cel animation. It’s interesting though that the CGI animation shows seem more geared towards teens and adults, whereas the cel animations are going the opposite way. On Nickelodean for example, I don’t think “Jimmy Neutron” is a show that is aimed at tiny toddlers. Also, the movies coming out now with CGI animations are getting rid of the songs that they had before, and usually have some jokes that are aimed at adults, as well as things that the children will understand, like in the movie “Shrek.” Maybe this change of audience aim is restricted to cel animations done on television and not CGI.
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I have seen all of these cartoons as well. Hey Arnold was my favorite out this list. Although I have not seen much of the old stuff on Nick except for SpongeBob. Do you another great Nick cartoon called Rocket Power?
Yes, I remember Rocket Power. I remember the terminology; that was used in that show. Its ashame; that Nick doesn’t show these cartoons, anymore.
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Final Exam-Blog Specimens « Bgw1088's Blog said this on May 5, 2010 at 12:55 pm |