Kids Deserve Better

[poliphilo]

Yesterday afternoon I sat with Zhayam next door while his mother attended a funeral. We watched superhero cartoons, generously interspersed with ads for plastic toys.  I don't know what Channel this was-  Disney perhaps. Some of the superheroes were out of the Marvel stable.

The animation was as basic as it gets- nothing moved unless it absolutely had to- and the stories were all the same story- told without charm.  Bad guy does or plans something bad- like kidnapping an heiress. Heroes with necks wider than their heads challenge bad guy. Bad guy gains advantage. Thick-necked hero bounces back through use of super-power or handy gadget or the timely arrival of thick-necked reinforcements.

Apparently writers are paid to extrude this drool. I saw their names. If I were one of them I'd use an alias.

Comments

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

This is what I grew up with:



They don't make them like this anymore.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

I grew up with plot-free half-hour toy commercials masquerading as entertainment. At least that has changed.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Captain Pugwash may have been simple animation, but it was a work of genius!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm not so sure. What I was watching was pretty much a long commercial for the Marvel brand.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I won't quarrel with that.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

The old Mighty Mouse, the old Tom and Jerry, even the old Popeye and Mickey Mouse cartoons were a joy to watch. The animation was so very much better.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The rot set in with the cheap, made for TV Hana-Barbera cartoons in the '60s. I know people wax nostalgic about the Flintstones (for example) but they represent a real dip in quality from the earlier stuff.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

compared to what's on today even the Flintstones (and the Jetsons) look good.

We sound like our parents....

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

How d'you know the names you saw weren't aliases? ;-)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That is quite extraordinarily creepy.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We do. :)

And we need to remember that high-end animation- Pixar, Wallace and Gromit- is as good as it's ever been.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'd like to believe they were...

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

oh yes, I totally agree.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Yes!

I've watched 'Flushed Away' a number of times and I still find more visual jokes and references each time.

Le Frog still makes me cry with laughter.

'Of course I laugh at your pain! I'm French.'

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

And then there's Studio Ghibli...

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

And they are all so LOUD now.

[w. lotus (from livejournal.com)]

I CAN. NOT. STAND. today's cartoons. I grew up on hand-drawn classic Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry gems. Today's stuff doesn't deserve to be broadcast.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid they were still showing the old toons in the cinemas. Wonderful stuff!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

One of the toons I watched had a villain who actually- in all seriousness- went "Mwa-ha-ha-ha!"