Topic: 'Suck it, Apple." - Judge Colin Birss

[Chozo Ghost]

Ah, the old "wrestling count-out" analogy. I don't know if anyone has watched the Disney Channel lately (**** you, I have 2 kids), but it's basically a 1/2 hour of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which is a clone of Dora the Explorer, just like every other kid's show), and then horse **** that you would never imagine had anything to do with Disney.

I remember when I was a kid they had some pretty decent cartoons on the Disney channel, such as Tailspin, Darkwing Duck, Duck Tales, Chip and Dales' Rescue Rangers, etc. Those were all pretty good cartoons (as I recall). I haven't watched the Disney channel in years, but it sounds like the quality of their programming has deteriorated a lot since then.

Is it just me or was the cartoons of the 80s/90s better than the cartoons of today?

[tendoboy1984]

Cartoons in the early to mid 1990s were much more imaginative than what we have today. Dexters Lab, Powerpuff Girls, 2 Stupid Dogs, Ren & Stimpy, Rugrats, Batman: The Animated Series, Bobby's World, Doug, Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life, Johnny Bravo, etc. were all imaginative and unique. Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network have somewhat deteriorated since 2000 (Rocket Power, ugh). The only decent cartoons on Nick are Fairly Oddparents and SpongeBob (I prefer the 2nd and 3rd seasons of SpongeBob).

What happened to cartoons being cartoony? Slapstick comedy, crazy facial expressions, witty humor, those were all hallmarks of the classic Looney Tunes and MGM cartoons of the 1940's and 1950's. The cartoons of the 1990's brought back that style, but then it all faded away. I miss the days when cartoons were cartoony...

[Morari]

Cartoons in the early to mid 1990s were much more imaginative than what we have today.

Ah, you whippersnappers crack me up!
Though I think we can all agree that children's programming has become absolutely dreadful over the past decade or two.

[Oblivion]

I'd like to say that it was always dreadful and you are all just nostalgic. Twenty (or thirty, this is 2012) years ago most cartoons were glorified commercials for the toys. We actually have a few good cartoons these days that would have been impossible twenty years ago due to social and cultural differences.

[BranDonk Kong]

tendoboy1984 really likes Ren & Stimpy.

[Chozo Ghost]

that would have been impossible twenty years ago due to social and cultural differences.

You mean like gay marriage and stuff like that?

[lolmonade]

I'd like to say that it was always dreadful and you are all just nostalgic. Twenty (or thirty, this is 2012) years ago most cartoons were glorified commercials for the toys. We actually have a few good cartoons these days that would have been impossible twenty years ago due to social and cultural differences.

I'm going to second this opinion.  We all have rose-tinted glasses regarding the cartoons we grew up with as kids.

[bustin98]

I'd take Spiderman and His Amazing Friends over any other version of Spiderman cartoon.

I still think M.A.S.K., GI Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Visionaries, Mighty Orbots, Super Friends, and any number of cartoons are worthy entertainment. Even more so now because they lack that commercial tie-in.

And speaking of cultural differences, there are a number of references in the old cartoons that wouldn't be seen in today's cartoons. The general public has been brainwashed into thinking that all cartoon's need to be accessible to children of any age, short of Family Guy and the like.

If you believe that public knowledge strengthens our country, you would be against unlimited copyrights and patents. If you believe corporations are people and they have the right to suppress their knowledge bank outside of their sphere of influence, then patents and copyright laws probably aren't strict enough.

[Ian Sane]

I've gone back and watched a lot of cartoons from my youth and they really really suck.  However the Disney afternoon and the Warner Bros. cartoons like Tiny Toons and Animaniacs are still very watchable today, but they're not nearly as good as I remember them.  Batman the Animated Series is probably the only show from my childhood that holds up as well as I remembered.  In some cases it's actually better watching it with an adult attention span.

Kid have no attention span and can't handle much complexity in plots.  So most kids shows are really dumbed down from an adult perspective.  That's just how it is and that is why you think today's cartoons suck.  Most kids shows are slapstick humour or very basic good guys vs. bad guys shows.

Hell as a kid my movie watching was basically suffering through boring "talking parts" to get to exciting action scenes.  I've gone back and watched films I thought were boring as a kid and I'm blown away by how good they are while some I loved as a kid are so ridiculously basic and straightforward that I'm utterly bored.

[broodwars]

I'd take Spiderman and His Amazing Friends over any other version of Spiderman cartoon.

You should really see Spectacular Spider-Man if you haven't already.  It's very good, even if it was canceled after its second season because Disney wanted a ****ty replacement a different direction in Ultimate Spider-Man.

[TJ Spyke]

I think Disney was trying to say "**** you" to Sony for the contract over the movie rights since they now got back the TV rights and could make their own show (which is essentially the same basic show).

[broodwars]

I think Disney was trying to say "**** you" to Sony for the contract over the movie rights since they now got back the TV rights and could make their own show (which is essentially the same basic show).

No, it really, really isn't.  On paper it might seem to be "essentially the same basic show", but calling the rather poorly-written & Teen Titans-esque Ultimate Spider-Man a similar show is an insult to the far superior Spectacular Spider-Man (which was written by Greg Weisman of Gargoyles fame).

[tendoboy1984]

I'd like to say that it was always dreadful and you are all just nostalgic. Twenty (or thirty, this is 2012) years ago most cartoons were glorified commercials for the toys. We actually have a few good cartoons these days that would have been impossible twenty years ago due to social and cultural differences.

I'm also referring to even before that. I'm talking 50 or so years ago, back when cartoons were full of adult-ish themes and crazy, wacky humor. The theatrical cartoons of the 1940's and 1950's are comparable to a modern episode of Family Guy or The Simpsons. Cartoons weren't thought of as "kids shows" back then, they were made for everyone.