The Modern Cartoon Crisis

[DerLanghaarige]

No, this is not a rant about how much modern cartoons suck compared to the beloved ones of our childhood. (Face it: There are still some very good ones made today and the stuff that we watched as kids doesn't really hold up that well most of the time anyway.) I'm talking about a serious issue. There seem to be more and more kids every day who got no idea who classic cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny & Co. are!!!
Harry mentions this in today's DVD Column:

I [...] gave this to a friend with a 4 year old. And ya know what – that lil fella didn’t know who or what Bugs Bunny was!

But this wasn't the first time that I heard about this problem. Over the last few years I heard more and more people complaining about this. I think this is a serious crisis that we face here. Even bigger than the problem, that many people think that 'The Rock' is better than 'Die Hard'.
Feel free to come up with possible solutions or just cry with me.

[travis-dane]

The times are changing...
The kids today grow up with all the asian toons (at least on German TV).
Bunny, Tom&Jerry and the others are relicts, just like us...
We are gettin' old.
And dont forget Hannah Montanna.

[Spandau Belly]

I love being irrelevant. It's one step closer to being plucked from obscurity and put in a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Yeah, here in Canada there was a definite split sometime in the late 80s/early 90s when all the cartoons suddenly became Japanese. I was at the age that I was just outgrowing this stuff but I kinda saw the generational changeover from Looney Tunes or even Tiny Toons to Sailor Moon and Pokemon.

But seriously, getting old is so awesome. I love it.

[BuckyO'harre]

Boomerang should be included with basic cable/sattelite.
The bastiges.

[tapehead]

Boomerang should be included with basic cable/sattelite.
The bastiges.

Translation?

It's a matter of time - I bet some time, maybe back in a diner in the mid-fifties somewheres, some old coot was mumbling about how Kids today don't appreciate Dick Tracy, Felix the Cat or Betty Boop the way they used to 'when I was a boy...' It's irrelevant, move on - time has. If I was hung up on Bugs Bunny I might have missed out on Invader Zim or The Venture Bros - Times have changed and so should you. There's still a lot to admire about the work of Chuck Jones, Fritz Freling, Mel Blanc and all the rest, and their legacy is still going strong in modern animation ( without even considering the influence that Disney has had on anime or how early manga has defined so much current sci fi and action cinema). see here

[BuckyO'harre]

Boomerang is an offshoot of Cartoon Network that shows alot of older toons. Although it's mostly Hanna Barbera now.

I don't think anyone is "hung up" on this, tapes.
It's just a shame when classics are forgotten. Inevitable sure, but still sad.
I'm a fan of animation, period. From many eras and styles. Including anime.
DerLang is too I'm sure.(Haven't you ever noticed who floods the TBs with Kim Possible love?)

Just like with classic live action cinema, it would be nice if young people had more exposure.
Maybe crisis is too strong a word,and maybe this didn't need it's own thread, but...

at the very least this should encourage the parents of the zone to share their old favorites with the little ones.

[Nachokoolaid]

I knew things were over when I saw this:

[DerLanghaarige]

The times are changing...
The kids today grow up with all the asian toons (at least on German TV).

Yeah, I think Pokemon was a pretty huge first nail in the coffin. There have always been animes on children's TV (Speed Racer, Captain Tsubasa...) but Pokemon was such a massive hit and for any reason appareantly the first step to bring anime into the modern mainstream (Miyazaki's win at the Berlin Film Fest and the Oscars was the final one), that TV channels suddenly stopped showing anything that doesn't look like Anime!

It's a matter of time - I bet some time, maybe back in a diner in the mid-fifties somewheres, some old coot was mumbling about how Kids today don't appreciate Dick Tracy, Felix the Cat or Betty Boop the way they used to 'when I was a boy...' It's irrelevant, move on - time has.

Yes, there are always fictional characters that will be forgotten after some time, doesn't matter how big they once were. But Bugs Bunny? I mean, when I was a kid (I'm 27) they already didn't show Felix The Cat or Betty Boop anymore, but always Bugs Bunny. And then he already was some decades old. But suddenly...Poof, he was gone! Pretty much overnight.

Boomerang is an offshoot of Cartoon Network that shows alot of older toons. Although it's mostly Hanna Barbera now.

Yes, but watching Penelope Pitstop at 3 a.m. can be very entertaining!

I don't think anyone is "hung up" on this, tapes.
It's just a shame when classics are forgotten. Inevitable sure, but still sad.

Word!

I'm a fan of animation, period. From many eras and styles. Including anime.
DerLang is too I'm sure.(Haven't you ever noticed who floods the TBs with Kim Possible love?)

Sounds filthy, but you are right.

at the very least this should encourage the parents of the zone to share their old favorites with the little ones.

I seriously hope so! If I had kids, I would do this!

I knew things were over when I saw this:

GAH! Get them away from me! (But seriously, the idea of a more modern take on Looney Tunes worked much better with the Duck Dodgers series that they made a few years ago. They even had a scene where an animated Harry yelled at a Godzilla-ish Monster: "Man in suit! Man in suit!" [Which was the monster's name btw])

[papalazeru]

I don't think Modern day kids are missing out, apart from Tom and Jerry.

Revamps of the oldies have been shit so it's better they stay as oldies. Maybe they should start playing the oldies again. It would certainly save money in this current climate.

But, I don't think kids are short changed, they've got Pixar, Dreamworks, and at the same time the inventiveness of shows like Sponge bob, the maturity of Avatar: The last airbender and Skyland.

It's certainly different times.

[tapehead]

I guess I was fortunate; at different times as a kid I remember watching a lot of Looney Tunes (seriously, I think I've seen all of them several times), Disney, and Felix the Cat, among others - all on regional free-to-air, so it must be pretty cheap to run.
The stuff that is really good will be sought out, and I seriously consider that places like Youtube will keep a lot of old stuff alive for the discerning eyes of a new generation, who will discover it there and then get DVDs - isn't that the best we can hope for?

I knew things were over when I saw this:

WTF? talk bout some ugly shit.

[leonorax]

What is the website for making a cartoon character of myself? Kendra from Girls Next Door has a cartoon of herself. A lot of rappers have them too. What is the web site for that?
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[so sorry]

What is the website for making a cartoon character of myself? Kendra from Girls Next Door has a cartoon of herself. A lot of rappers have them too. What is the web site for that?

I don't know, but I do know that I've seen the banner ads for that company(companies?) all over facebook.