Do you think cartoons have gotten better?


G1prime's avatar
With shows like Steven Universe, Adventure Time, TMNT 2012 and Gravity Falls as well as Legend of Korra you think cartoons are starting to get good again
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SherbertTCat's avatar
In terms of plot development and flow. I think they've gotten better. A good example is that Steven Universe cartoon. 11 minute episodes, mostly comprised of self-contained stories, but sometimes they'll squeeze in a minute or two of plot development, that will advance the overall story surprisingly far.

In terms of animation technique they've gotten a lot better as well.
Case in point, the latest Transformers cartoon vs the original series.
Both are aimed at kids to sell toys, but the original series(G1) was rife with continuity errors, plot holes that Unicron could fit through, and more animation, coloring and off-model mistakes than you could shake a stick at. Its painfully bad at worst, and cheesy as hell at best. You'd even have cases of voice actors accidentally saying another character's lines.
G1prime's avatar
Taran13573794's avatar
"You'd even have cases of voice actors accidentally saying another character's lines."

In the original Jonny Quest series, that happened quite frequently. :XD: A sign of rushed development and poor quality control. Thankfully everything else about that show was good.
SherbertTCat's avatar
But those plot holes, holy shit! For instance: Early on in the series, the Constructicons were created by the Decepticons on Earth, under the direction of Megatron. Later it's revealed that the only way to give life to a transformer, is by going to Vector Sigma on Cybertron. Something Megatron was not able to do until much later in the series, because he didn't know where the key was. In another episode, via a flashback, the Constructicons are shown as former Autobots that Megatron turned evil via reprogramming. In an even later episode, the Constructicons, are already Decepticons, and there as Megatron is being created.

Size relation was another problem they had on that show. A transformer who is maybe twice Optimus Prime's size, could transform into an aircraft that could hold ALL of the Autobot's in it's cargo hold. Combiners, which were these gigantic robots, were sometimes as-tall-as a regular transformer in some scenes, or ridiculously huge in another scene in that same episode. I honestly don't think anyone involved in the animation and writing process had the slightest idea what the fuck they were doing, or where they were at any given point of the 1980s.
I still snicker every time I hear Astrotrain, while in-flight, in SPACE, complain about the weight of his passengers. Dude, you're in space, where weight is not a thing!
Taran13573794's avatar
I take it you're not a fan of the original series. Then what are your thoughts on the late 80s animated Transformers movie? That one seems to be a fan favorite.
SherbertTCat's avatar
I am a fan, but I can see the cartoon for what it was. A daily 22 minute toy commercial. Even the movie was done out of an ulterior motive "Okay, we need to find a believable way to make kids want the next phase of toy line! We'll kill off just about all of the characters from the old toy line, and shift the focus to the new one."
OctarinePegacorn's avatar
I think that a lot of people have their nostalgia goggles on. The reason there were more "good" shows back then is because there were more shows in general, so the "bad" ones didn't stand ou as much. Now networks have to compete with video games, apps, etc. I've been watching these shows out of order On Demand, but I prefer Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, and Steven Universe to quite a few shows I used to watch. I watched some episodes of SpongeBob and PPG recently and they didn't hold up quite as well, even though I used to watch them all the time. Another issue is that it's harder for adults to relate to shows made for little kids, anyway. As a generation, we were all raised on certain shows that were designed to appeal to us. There were bad shows back then, but they didn't seem as bad to us because we were little kids.
G1prime's avatar
True. Some People have their nostalgia goggles on for too long now
P0LITICALLYINC0RRECT's avatar
yes and no,

pros: better animation, 

cons: worser stories most of the time 

most of the current shows on cartoon network i don't like and all of the current cartoons on nick are garbage (except for the legend of korra) 

however, as much as a lot of the older cartoons on these channels are great a lot of praised ones that are considered good are bad and people do not want to say they are bad because they still remember how it was "good" when they watched it as a kid (i'm saying they are blinded by nostalgia). 
G1prime's avatar
Pulcella's avatar
A little bit. The animation got slightly better.
ToonEGuy's avatar
The animation for the characters is fluid more often now, there's no mistake about that, but as far as the kind of work that's going into how these characters are drawn, a lot of them still tend to look very cheap, ugly, and flat.
MahiyanaCarudla's avatar
I think that they are much more better. It is not only about the quality which is obviously better due to technology advances. And also they use some themes we've never seen before in kids shows, moral choices are more complex and less obvious, realations betwen characters became more difficult and it is not allways so bright and happy as it used to be. I believe it is way better, so much better that many adoults watch kids shows nowadays. As far as I know it wasn't so common 20 years ago ;)
ToonEGuy's avatar
I would beg to differ on the idea that better technology automatically makes today's cartoons look better artistically. For example, everyone believes that digital coloring was a much needed improvement over all the hard work that was put into painting in characters on cels, and it might be if the majority of these digital cartoons like MLP: FiM weren't plagued with extremely bright, oversaturated, and flat colors that almost make the cartoons an eyesore to look at, because they lack the subtle richness of a cel animated cartoon. If they think that it makes the work faster, easier, and cheaper, then it certainly shows in the way the cartoons come out looking.
MahiyanaCarudla's avatar
Yeah but we aren't so limited anymore. Like Micky Mouse have only 4 fingers because it took too much time to draw 5 ^^ Nowadays you can animate any idea you have in mind ;) And also you can't say anymore which item will be used next, which door will be opened next or even which character will move what was really common in older animations ;)
G1prime's avatar
Hell yeah that is soo true
Redfoxbennington's avatar
 >Steven Universe, Adventure Time, TMNT 2012 and Gravity Falls

Are the only good cartoons. Artisticly, cartoons have fallen in the same low budget trap as they did in the 70's. All they care about now is making it look as clean, sterile and babyish as possible. I mean, it hurts my fucking eyes watching how overly cleanly they look.  Storywise they are funny. But they are just stupid and unlikable.   You have to be kid to like this dribble I guess. 

Oh and I don't care about anime because those aren't very animated nor have good plots or characters unless you count attack on titan then it does. 
G1prime's avatar
K. I see what you are saying
ValiantBrawlerCF1994's avatar
Mainly yes, as we have shows that rightfully earned a cult following. Those would include Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Star Vs. the Forces of Evil, Over the Garden Wall (Yeah, it's a mini-series, but it counts!), Regular Show, Adventure Time, Clarance, and right now, We Bare Bears.
G1prime's avatar
I'm glad to see a cult following in cartoons
Tony-Antwonio's avatar