Posted: Sep 08 2007 3:39 pm Post subject: Are Cartoons Irrelevant?
As an aspiring cartoonist hoping to break into animation, and comics, It's frustrating to see animation get kicked to the curb these days. Here's a depressing post i found at Gamefaqs.com about the current state of animation in the eyes of network execs.
Quote:
think the problem is that when these networks began and had their peaks, they were all essentially "specialty channels". Each had their own niche (Nick: kids; Disney: Disney toons; Cartoon Network: cartoons from all over), but as each is now generally part of basic cable in most places, they are all attempting to grab up the youth market. Even their spin-off networks are trying to become more "mainstream".
Animation is being more phased out now due to its lowering marketability: cartoons just cannot fully shake that stigma of being "kid's stuff" unless loaded with crude humor censors won't let pass (almost anything on Comedy Central). I can tell from experience, kids tend to stop seeing most non-idiotic cartoons as cool at fairly young ages (11-to-13). It takes incredible writing and characters/setting to make a cartoon that can be respected for its greatness, while a sitcom can be based on absolute garbage like 'Hanna Montana' and still get a large fanbase of kids who think they can relate to something that bizarre or cliche.
Expense also becomes an issue: it takes hundreds of animators months to create one cartoon, but a few actors can bang out a low-budget sitcom in less than a week. Merchandising is also a factor: creating a doll based on a cartoon character takes bit of design work and special production, but live-action show merchandise can be made as easy as slapping a new label on a bottle of shampoo and a bracelet.
It's a combination of factors that makes these.
This guy hit the nail right on the head! No wonder network execs hate cartoons. They're so expensive in their eyes that they'd rather take the easy way out with crappy sitcoms than try to make a good cartoon. _________________ If it's got wings, i can crash it!
It is a shame that Cartoons are ending up like this. Why are some of those stupid ass disney sitcoms still on the air?? _________________ John R. Gibson
Host/Writer/Creator Video Masters TV
"The whole planet Houston?" -General Zod
"Am I supposed to conduct with my penis?" -Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
"What does God need with a starship?" - Star Trek V
Another problem is also that almost every animated cartoon out there has to have a co-existing toy line.
I once aired the idea of what would happen, if a guy where to buy of the rights to make a TF series from Hasbro and then make a show that isnīt based on an existing toyline.
The answer to that theory was simple no company would air it, they simply wouldnīt be interested.
That is also in my mind a great problem, a cartoon canīt be aired on todays network unless it got some sort of a toyline attached to it.
And usually it is the company who owns the toys who has the rights to the cartoon and can say what can happen in it or what canīt.
A great ekssample is Transformers the movie (the old one not the new one, i wouldnīt even wipe my ass whit that piece of shit) now as most of you remember many of the old G1 Transformers died in that movie including optimus prime and starscream amongst others.
Why did they do that, simple because Hasbro wanted to make way for a new toyline in Transformers, and so they needed to get rid of the ones from the old G1 universe they didnīt make toys for anymore.
If you ask well can it be done differently, and the answer is simple yes it can japan is already doing it, few animes down there have a toyline and although they have a manga(and their creator) they often need to answer to.
Japanese cartoons oftne has much more freedom in the way they are made.
Another thing is how are anime viewed down there as an entertaining media for children and young people/teenagers, all ready there are they ahead of us.
So I would say in order for American cartoons to be saved the toylines need to lose a lot of their power over the cartoons, and gain much more freedom to tell different stories the way there creators like to and not what some toy company says they have to.
Another problem is that network management thinks that they know what kids want:
Shows starring kids. No kid would want to watch a show starring adults, right guys?
School. Kids go to school, and they can relate to school, so kids love school and want to watch shows about kids going to school!
Talking, talking, and more talking.
Nothing TOO funny. We wouldn't want to get a laugh every second, right? And forget about some inside reference only adults will get. Kids are dumb and will be left confused. _________________ If it's got wings, i can crash it!
Sometimes I wish I was a Necromancer, i would use all my powers to bring Walt disney back or at least his genius.
See here was a guy who knew how to make cartoons and shows, that talked on the kids and not down to them.
As a good friend of mine said to me when i told him my grandfather was dying of cancer in the stomach(the memory can still bring a tear to my eye) anyways this is what he said: It is always the assholes that remains and never the good guys you really care for.
Same could be said of the guys who makes cartoons, it is always the jerks and idiots who donīt know the first thing about making good cartoons that remains, and all the guys who knows how to make a kick ass cartoon always either get fired, quits, retire or just simply dies.
And who is left to suffer for it? All us guys who likes great cartoons.
Sometimes I wish I was a Necromancer, i would use all my powers to bring Walt disney back or at least his genius.
See here was a guy who knew how to make cartoons and shows, that talked on the kids and not down to them.
Let's also not forget Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampet, Tex Avery, Robert McKimson, Walter Lantz, Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera, Carl Barks, and of course, The Nine Old Men. I'm sure there are many others that i probably left out, but i've said more than enough.
Erikjust wrote:
As a good friend of mine said to me when i told him my grandfather was dying of cancer in the stomach(the memory can still bring a tear to my eye) anyways this is what he said: It is always the assholes that remains and never the good guys you really care for.
Same could be said of the guys who makes cartoons, it is always the jerks and idiots who donīt know the first thing about making good cartoons that remains, and all the guys who knows how to make a kick ass cartoon always either get fired, quits, retire or just simply dies.
And who is left to suffer for it? All us guys who likes great cartoons.
I guess that explains why i feel so cynical towards the animation industry right now. That also explains why i don't listen to top 40 radio as much, either. But that's another topic for another time. _________________ If it's got wings, i can crash it!
Last edited by launchpad25 on Dec 04 2008 6:31 pm; edited 1 time in total
Animation is a great artform that is dreadfully underappreciated in very much the same way comic books are. It's changing but very slowly. One show on television that has a very large audience and is animated and quite honestly brought a network to some prosperity would be the Simpsons. It might not help in this arguement but it's a start. There's also the Boondocks, Spawn and others that don't really have ties to the toy market and aren't directly designed with children in mind. Doesn't it say something that artforms directed to children are looked down upon ? People don't understand how difficult it can be to entertain children.
Networks, Film production companies are about business, the bottom line, and they have been and will always be that way. In order for animation to make it they need to figure out how to make it cost efficient and worth the investment. It's unfortunate but that is the reality. The wider the audience the greater the chance of profitability the better the chance it will be made and likely sequels will follow.
The Transformers film involved animation of the computer variety. While the movie isn't what the G1 fans would necessarily be happy with, it is an accomplishment in a sense. It was successful and it will lead to sequels that will lead to more income and people will look for more animated series to recreate.
Animation isn't a dying form by any means, but it does have problems it must overcome. The art form is slowly adapting with technology and will make waves towards profitability and then respectability will hopefully follow.
Animation isn't a dying form by any means, but it does have problems it must overcome. The art form is slowly adapting with technology and will make waves towards profitability and then respectability will hopefully follow.
Well, it would help if companies didn't rely on Flash as cost cutting crutch, or make it so that it comes close looking like traditional animation.
_________________ If it's got wings, i can crash it!
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