cartoons - an incomplete post

Someone I know once said that Sid and Marty Croft (of cartoon fame) were talentless hacks. This person has ranted on the crappiness of shows such as HR Pufnstuf, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and Land of the Lost – all of which are S&MC originals. I, for one, don’t know much about Sid and Marty or any their shows - although I vaguely remember seeing a few episodes of Land of the Lost as a child.  There is nothing really memorable about Land of the Lost (other than possibly the theme song – which I can’t recall at this time and the fact that they made a miserable failure of a movie based on that show).

The fact of the matter is that most children’s programming (we are talking TV here, not movies) is simply not good. Now, of course I realize this is a blanket statement and that it doesn’t apply to all children’s programming, but, for the most part, cartoons (and other kid’s shows) simply suck. But they suck for a reason. They suck, BECAUSE they are intended for kids. Think about that. Kid’s shows stink because they are intended for kids. If it was any good, they wouldn’t waste it on kids.

Now, just because a program is animated does not mean it is intended for children. Generally speaking, if the cartoon is funny to an adult, it is not meant for kid’s eyes. Take, for example, the Warner Brothers cartoons of yesteryear (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, etc). Many of those cartoons had references that would completely be lost on most kids. Sure, kids could get into a coyote chasing around a road runner and falling off cliffs holding a ‘help me’ sign, but a lot of those cartoons had all kinds of things kids didn’t (or shouldn’t) understand. War references, operas, senseless violence, gunplay were all mainstays is these WB cartoons.  I can recall many scenes of gunplay that would have many people (mostly parents) in an uproar if it were shown today (Rabbit Season/Duck Season anyone?).

Many of the cartoons of today are masking themselves as children’s programs while in actuality, they are made for adults (or at least young adults). My own kids watch cartoons on a daily basis. Spongebob, Tuff Puppy, Penguins of Madagascar, Planet Sheen, and Fanboy and Chum Chum (yes that is a real cartoon) are all kids’ shows - but they put things in there to make them accessible to adults. My kids love them because there are all kinds of physical type comedy (hitting, splatting, shooting, falling, slipping, flipping, tripping, etc), but these shows are written with adults in mind. My kids don’t get half of the jokes, but then laugh hysterically when Spongebob slips on his butt while walking to work at the Krusty Krab. I think my point is that cartoons aren’t necessarily for kids anymore. In fact, I may argue that most animated programming is NOT intended for kids. But, it’s hard to see the line when the creators make it so transparent.

I started this article intending to blast current TV shows; specifically the ones I put on for my kids. When I sit and watch cartoons with my kids, I feel like I am losing brain cells because the shows are just crap. But they are crap because they aren’t intended for me. They like the slop on TV just as I liked the slop on TV when I was a kid. But having 38 years under my belt has given me perspective. I just gotta live with the fact that kids will watch pretty much anything – even crappy TV shows (or should I say - ESPECIALLY crappy TV shows).