The Real Problem With Modern Kid's Cartoons

[Mostezli]

Yeah, I know cliche.
It feels like PBS Kids Go! infected what the quentessential post-2014 ongoing cartoon is, particularly in the realm of moralizing slices of life.
There's always an aesop's fable for a character to experience in every single episode.
All I came for was the adventure or comedy no matter how mundane (even with all the encapsulating weirdness) most of them strive to be these days.

That's why I'm weary of Infinity Train after seeing what Victor & Valentino + Twelve Forever boil down to,
dropped a variety of other recent shows,
and went longer than I should have with Amphibia hoping it'd get to the big reveal.

PBS Kids Go! or Discovery Kids was counter-programming.

 

[Red Arrow]

If you like slice-of-life, but don't want any morals, then I recommend Clarence.
We Bare Bears went from slife-of-life ish to a wacky comedy with episodes like "Braces", "The Gym", "I am Ice Bear", "Hot Sauce" etc. Never any morals as far as I remember.

There are still lots of (hyper)active / wild cartoons: Unikitty, Teen Titans Go, OK KO, PPG, Star vs, Mr Magoo, Cupcake & Dinosaur, the DreamWorks cartoons, the current Mickey Mouse shorts...

 

[Dudley]

Cartoons have been putting moral lessons in their shows since the 80’s, some dedicated a few minutes addressing a lesson to the children.
Even adult cartoons have a moral lesson, albeit sometimes more subtly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JoeMabbon]

I think the problem is that alot shows are really on the nose. The PBS Kids and Discovery Family shows do this because their aimed at like 3-5 year olds who need things spelled out for them. But stuff like Amphibia, which is for an older audience doesn't need this. That was my biggest problem with the show was that the lessons are really simple, but the characters still flatly state them at the end. Hey Arnold didn't need to have Gerald and Arnold discuss what they learned at the end of the day. Why do Sprigg and Anne need to do this?

 

[Red Arrow]

Today I learned that I don't need to tell everyone what I learned today.

Oops, I did it again.

 

[Mostezli]

Even adult cartoons have a moral lesson, albeit sometimes more subtly.

And that must have been all the rage for kid's shows iirc.
My only guess on why the industry is going backwards (yet not quite the PSAs of the 20th century) is that they have to compensate for those types of shows not being as prevalent from the aforementioned networks. Even more experienced creators (ie Maxwell Atoms & CH Greenblatt) who still make content have been boxed into this transparent approach.

If you like slice-of-life, but don't want any morals, then I recommend Clarence.
We Bare Bears went from slife-of-life ish to a wacky comedy with episodes like "Braces", "The Gym", "I am Ice Bear", "Hot Sauce" etc. Never any morals as far as I remember.

There are still lots of (hyper)active / wild cartoons: Unikitty, Teen Titans Go, OK KO, PPG, Star vs, Mr Magoo, Cupcake & Dinosaur, the DreamWorks cartoons, the current Mickey Mouse shorts...

Last I saw half of those, that aspect was still kicking you in the face. If the shows evolved since then like Star Vs, I'll try another watch. I can get through Cupcake & Dino because they've got a good variety of jokes to offset the fact that the episode is still overtly preaching something.

I think the problem is that alot shows are really on the nose. The PBS Kids and Discovery Family shows do this because their aimed at like 3-5 year olds who need things spelled out for them. But stuff like Amphibia, which is for an older audience doesn't need this. That was my biggest problem with the show was that the lessons are really simple, but the characters still flatly state them at the end. Hey Arnold didn't need to have Gerald and Arnold discuss what they learned at the end of the day. Why do Sprigg and Anne need to do this?

Yeah, and to be clear I'm referring to the PBS/Disc Kids shows that targeted slightly older and almost the same demo.

 

[Red Arrow]

If the shows evolved since then like Star Vs, I'll try another watch.

In my opinion, it hasn't. I personally gave up on it.

 

[Zanneck]

If the shows evolved since then like Star Vs, I'll try another watch.

As someone who sadly dislikes this show and can tell you it hasn't gotten any better - it's just pretending to be smarter than it actually is... You can do better, IMHO. So much better.

 

[SourSweetGone]

The Problem With Modern Cartoons is that Grown Arse Men & Women complain about Modern cartoons despite the Majority of them being great to *Gasp* Decent at worst and a hella lot better then the less then stellar series from their romanticized childhoods.

Also the moral lessons are a heck of a lot more organic and subtle then the majority of cartoons from the 50's-80's *Or did we forget about the villain in Yogi's Arc Literally Named Mr. Bigot!?*

The only real problem with most things in society is most humans lack the ability to change for the better or evolve with the times and stubbornly hold on to a romanticized/fetishized past that was never truly as good as they think it was.

But hey, that's just my 2-cents.


*And now i'm not saying modern animation or media is above critique, just that i've personally seen very very little that is actually valid and most people just going whuahh my childhood, or things were better in my day or some other ridiculous variation there of. Then again sadly most people start acting this way in their teens and never grow out of such behaviors so I don't know why it still surprises me after seeing it online near every day since I was 13 myself (so 15 years now)*

 

[Red Arrow]

The Problem With Modern Cartoons is that Grown Arse Men & Women complain about Modern cartoons despite the Majority of them being great to *Gasp* Decent at worst and a hella lot better then the less then stellar series from their romanticized childhoods.

I think what you mean to say is:
The problem is that grown-up men and women compare a few bad modern cartoons with what the good things they remember from past cartoons, and then assume that all modern cartoons are bad.
That's the problem that I encounter the most.

But that's all not relevant to what Mostezli said. Animation comes in trends and if you don't like the current trend, that must suck...

Mostezli, I'm sure that the next trend will be more enjoyable for you. But that might take another 5 years or so.

 

[Dantheman]

Just as long as they don't ever go back to the "characters breaking the fourth wall to talk to the viewers to reiterate the moral of the day's episode" like Filmation shows used to do, I'm fine with whatever they do.

 

[Mostezli]

The Problem With Modern Cartoons is that Grown Arse Men & Women complain about Modern cartoons despite the Majority of them being great to *Gasp* Decent at worst and a hella lot better then the less then stellar series from their romanticized childhoods.

Also the moral lessons are a heck of a lot more organic and subtle then the majority of cartoons from the 50's-80's *Or did we forget about the villain in Yogi's Arc Literally Named Mr. Bigot!?*

The only real problem with most things in society is most humans lack the ability to change for the better or evolve with the times and stubbornly hold on to a romanticized/fetishized past that was never truly as good as they think it was.

But hey, that's just my 2-cents.


*And now i'm not saying modern animation or media is above critique, just that i've personally seen very very little that is actually valid and most people just going whuahh my childhood, or things were better in my day or some other ridiculous variation there of. Then again sadly most people start acting this way in their teens and never grow out of such behaviors so I don't know why it still surprises me after seeing it online near every day since I was 13 myself (so 15 years now)*

uhh...my childhood ended almost a decade prior to 2014 and I still attest to the best cartoons of any era from every network for any genre came out in the early 2010s. I'd probably attribute bolded to a good number of current creators if it's not just the networks demanding these reboots and references to their "childhood". Couldn't be more grateful Rise of the TMNT proceeded that nostalgia-prone reboot.

As someone who sadly dislikes this show and can tell you it hasn't gotten any better - it's just pretending to be smarter than it actually is... You can do better, IMHO. So much better.

If you mean Cupcake & Dino.
My biggest blindspot is those Regular Show-type shows. Can't resist the format...albeit Future-Worm and Sanjay & Craig weren't my cup o' tea.

Mostezli, I'm sure that the next trend will be more enjoyable for you. But that might take another 5 years or so.

It's been a slow crawl for streaming.
Figured at least more French & Canadian companies would jump at the opportunity.

 

[Toon4Thought]

Just as long as they don't ever go back to the "characters breaking the fourth wall to talk to the viewers to reiterate the moral of the day's episode" like Filmation shows used to do, I'm fine with whatever they do.

Thomas and Friends does that now... for some reason.

(Yeah, I watch that)

 

[Draco Dracul]

Yeah, I know cliche.
It feels like PBS Kids Go! infected what the quentessential post-2014 ongoing cartoon is, particularly in the realm of moralizing slices of life.
There's always an aesop's fable for a character to experience in every single episode.
All I came for was the adventure or comedy no matter how mundane (even with all the encapsulating weirdness) most of them strive to be these days.

That's not a modern issue, cartoons without some Aesop of the day tend to be the exception rather than the rule. Even serialized works like Avatar or Beast Wars tend to have a large number of lesson of the day episodes.

 

[TheCartoonRailfan]

I kind of feel that this is occurring with the long-running shows. I noticed that the old SpongeBob SquarePants episodes had quite a few moral lessons, but now, you really don't see those anymore in the new episodes.

 

[Dragnatek]

Weird I always saw today's cartoons as less likely to shoehorn in a moral then the cartoons from the eighties or nineties did.

 

[The Overlord]

Are we talking strictly about slice of life shows? I feel like a lot of the modern action related shows, like She-Ra or Steven Universe, have social commentary about acceptance and abusive relationships.

I prefer social commentary to just moralizing because social commentary gets woven into the story and makes it more meaningful. Many big franchises like Star Trek and X-Men have made social commentary their bread and butter, so it only makes sense to have cartoons follow suit.

 

[Zanneck]

Are we talking strictly about slice of life shows? I feel like a lot of the modern action related shows, like She-Ra or Steven Universe, have social commentary about acceptance and abusive relationships.

I prefer social commentary to just moralizing because social commentary gets woven into the story and makes it more meaningful. Many big franchises like Star Trek and X-Men have made social commentary their bread and butter, so it only makes sense to have cartoons follow suit.

That... I can tolerate or look forward to seeing more of in this medium, provided it (social commentary) is done well, of course.

However, the farther we continue to get away from moral grandstanding and ignore whoever's encouraging otherwise in this medium, the better off we'll be in the future.

Either way, shoehorning social statements, or forcing morals into anything/everything does not equal good showmanship. Ever.

 

[The Overlord]

That... I can tolerate or look forward to seeing more of in this medium, provided it (social commentary) is done well, of course.

However, the farther we continue to get away from moral grandstanding and ignore whoever's encouraging otherwise in this medium, the better off we'll be in the future.

Either way, shoehorning social statements, or forcing morals into anything/everything does not equal good showmanship. Ever.

But there has been social commentary in fiction forever and not just at stuff aimed kids, the original Robocop movie was rated R and full of social commentary. Anyone who thinks Robocop is just an action film, is missing a lot from the film.

Social commentary is a good way to make a work more engaging and not just come off as brainless.

If the new Nickelodeon Star Trek cartoon has no social commentary and is just Romulan ships blowing up for half an hour, that misses the point of Star Trek.

Can social commentary be done poorly? Sure, but so can anything, that is not a good reason for creators not put social commentary in their works, if they so choose.

 

[Zanneck]

But there has been social commentary in fiction forever and not just at stuff aimed kids, the original Robocop movie was rated R and full of social commentary. Anyone who thinks Robocop is just an action film, is missing a lot from the film.

Social commentary is a good way to make a work more engaging and not just come off as brainless.

If the new Nickelodeon Star Trek cartoon has no social commentary and is just Romulan ships blowing up for half an hour, that misses the point of Star Trek.

Can social commentary be done poorly? Sure, but so can anything, that is not a good reason for creators not put social commentary in their works, if they so choose.

Honestly, that's not a bad thing, even if I may have made it sound that way, too (excuse that.)... I hope you understand, because if I didn't say it earlier - as long as it's done well, who cares if it's there in the first place. As long as it's just one voice for the material and not everything about it that there is to it, there's nothing wrong here.