Were have all the good children's programs gone.

[Brushfire]

I was watching the local channels here on station in Misawa. I know that the Armed Forces Network isn't the pinnicle of channels, but I noticed that they were lacking the quality shows I remeber seeing as a kid watching the same channels. An epidemic has hit. While not nessisarily a bad one, it still kinda bugs me. There are no more American Cartoons in the afternoon lineup anymore. I come from the days when we had Ducktales, The Animainiacs, Doug, Rocko's Modern Life, Rescue Rangers, and so many other classics. It seems nowadays the only thing you can get is Anime or Anime-esque. While that is not a bad thing like I said, it still bothers me.

What is your thoughts on the matter?

I totally just realized that I spelled "where" wrong. Classic blunder.

[OverCoat]

pinnicle... nessisarily... just realized that I spelled "where" wrong. Classic blunder.

indeed

The stuff they make for children today are something you probably wouldn't enjoy. Anyway, anime has taken over the world, and most animation from America is pretty much copying it. Stuff like Airbender looks like a carbon copy of Naruto, to me.

Also, you're in the army, be a man. Watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes.:<

[Brushfire]

Also, you're in the army, be a man. Watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes.:<

Wow my spelling is terrible when I am forced to use Internet Explorer. Crappy workplace...
Sadly I am in the Air Force, not the Army. I did watch GI Joe however. That has gotta count for something.

Anyway back to the subject at hand, I do agree that some shows like Teen Titans try too hard to be anime but end up failing miserably. I was especially taken aback when I saw the Teen Titans movie. The amount of Japanese stereotypes was awful. It was made for kids but still they could at least pretend that the writers weren't complete weeaboos.

[CHIPP Damage]

Did you grow up in America or Japan? I'm from America and I was always into Darkwing Duck and The Tick (for the short while it lasted). Now I live in Japan so all I think about is Pokemon and Sazaesan and Doraemon. Oh yeah, and Conan! That's a great one!

[Schwaltzvald]

In the spirit of Nostalgia and Halloween...

The Real Ghostbusters - Knock, Knock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chBeYfzY4Zk (Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md3vU1S3g1o (Part 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPHtl_ZhBAo (Part 3)

[megadave]

^ Hell yeah. Apparently, all the good children's programs when to DVDs and youtube. If you don't want your kids watching shitty cartoons, you better go shopping.

[Fenrir]

I remember a lot of cartoons being shite before anime came along, so it's really just the same principle with a different look, as far as I'm concerned.

[Schwaltzvald]

The first half of the final animation sequence in Fantasia(1940) featuring "Night on Bald Mountain"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Ca_edg6RE

Is this shitty..? imo no :)!!

What was really prevalent during the 60's, 70's, and even partially the 80's cartoons is that there were alot of "Scooby-Doo" clones and vice versa...

Also there were shows that had awesome cover animation intros, but when it came to the actual shows themselves, they tend to be shit or poorly/lazily done...

[Harmony]

I come from the days when we had Ducktales, The Animainiacs, Doug, Rocko's Modern Life, Rescue Rangers, and so many other classics.

Spring cleaning! SPRING CLEANING! (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=3869314)

[Schwaltzvald]

One more as this will be the last one from me.

The Real Ghostbusters - Ragnarok & Roll

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1JANez8_I0 (Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15sJK6Fh_Ys (Part 2)

Somewhat of a personal favorite, a bit emo as I look back on it but still it point at the end is straight forward; as it actually has meaning but made so right in front of you instead of trying to be cryptic or incredibly profound like in other mediums.

[Fenrir]

The first half of the final animation sequence in Fantasia(1940) featuring "Night on Bald Mountain"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Ca_edg6RE

Is this shitty..? imo no :)!!



I don't remember saying Fantasia was shitty. And I wouldn't consider that to be a children's program, since it was a movie arguably geared towards all age groups.

[Schwaltzvald]

I don't remember saying Fantasia was shitty. And I wouldn't consider that to be a children's program, since it was a movie arguably geared towards all age groups.

1 - Yeah bad example and I wasn't trying to put words in your mouth.

2 - I actually do agree with you in respects that as I said on that same post, there were times that while an idea looked very good or at least interesting, when it was done the results were either very poor or lackluster/could-have-been-done-better.

[linkspast]

I think its not that there are less good shows, but it only seams that way.
Take SNES games for example. Growing up I thought there was not one single bad game for the SNES... well if you ever get a torrent with all the roms on it you soon realize that a ton of them are crap.
But you only remember the few amazing ones. I think the same holds true to some extent with kids shows these days.

[Oni-91]

This happens in the UK too. There's far too much dreck on TV. It's all 'kool stuff from the streetz' and crap. Apparently, UK TV bosses think that kids like urban, R&B filled dross with the depth of a spoon.

[DarkeSword]

Nostalgia is affecting your view a lot.

That said, Darkwing Duck was an amazing show.

[anosou]

Honestly only Duck Tales was worth watching :)
It's like Indiana Jones but with ducks. How can that possibly go wrong?

I agree with Darke, it's all about nostalgia but hey, we're involved in a freaking Video Game Music remix community.. I bet 70% of all remixers make remixes because of nostalgia and that's cool ;)

[Schwaltzvald]

...it's all about nostalgia but hey, we're involved in a freaking Video Game Music remix community.. I bet 70% of all remixers make remixes because of nostalgia and that's cool ;)...



http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b94/Schwaltzvald/toonsephiroth.jpg

REMEMBER ME CLOUD?!

WHEN I KILLED AERIS I TALKED... JUST... LIKE... THIS!!

[anosou]

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b94/Schwaltzvald/toonsephiroth.jpg

REMEMBER ME CLOUD?!

WHEN I KILLED AERIS I TALKED... JUST... LIKE... THIS!!

I think I love you! :O

[Azul v2]

One of the things I've wanted to do once I become a multi-millionaire was start up a cable tv network with these sorts of cartoons showing in the morning every day during the week and after midnight on Fri/Sat/Sun. Nothing like a midnight showing of Tiny Toon Adventures.

So yeah, I'm taking donations if anyone agrees with me. Or maybe if you know Bill Gates or something and he could fork over a couple hundred million or so.

[Avatar of Justice]

Most of these shows weren't exactly what I would call timeless. Let's just let the kids enjoy their derth of entertainment geared towards their generation and culture. I mean, making your kids watch old cartoons is no different from being an English teacher who thinks the only books worth reading are "the Classics." To be sure, some of the old TV shows you saw as a kid are worth watching, but they aren't really inherently superior just because they are old.

[Schwaltzvald]

...AoJ's post...

I won't use my meme again (there is a thing of too much of a good thing) but that is a thing most guys like me need to adapt. Cartoons these days are more often meant for a young audience. As we've noticed shows like Avatar: TLA can easily be compared to other shows like Pokemon or even in some cases Naruto. (elemental/mysticism based abilities, improvisations of said abilities etc). Hell, Captain Planet was BIG on teaching about preservation of earth and its natural resources

Also most of them repeat a lesson that's usually hidden or in-your-face. Such as not giving up too easily/strive for a higher goal etc.

Then you have shows that of course had no such intentions and merely created for entertainment purposes such as Bleach, Teen Titans (though I have this odd feeling its trying to tell us NOT to become weeaboess by showing what it can be exxagerated) Metalocalypse, Home Movies...

It's simply the advancement of remixing everything from Aesops Fables to drama/comedy for an audience where animation is the preferred medium.

Edit: shit I had a great idea in mind and it didn't exactly come out on the post as I liked... The point is, they (new generation) are seeing all the great things we've seen in our old shows remixed into shows of today... May not agree on design, but so long as they entertain, that's all that it should matter...

[Harmony]

Most of these shows weren't exactly what I would call timeless. Let's just let the kids enjoy their derth of entertainment geared towards their generation and culture. I mean, making your kids watch old cartoons is no different from being an English teacher who thinks the only books worth reading are "the Classics." To be sure, some of the old TV shows you saw as a kid are worth watching, but they aren't really inherently superior just because they are old.

True enough.

Actually, from the title I thought this thread was going to be about the loss of old school edutainment programs like Sesame Street, Mr Roger’s and Reading Rainbow. With that in mind, from what I've seen, the shows for today’s kids focus more on the 'tainment' and not as much on the 'edu.' Combine that with what I’m willing to bet is a greater % of kids watching primetime shows like “America’s Next Top Whatever” and “Family Guy,” as opposed to the few age appropriate educational shows that are out there, and you’ve got some pretty crappy programming for younger American kids (education-wise at least). Because of that, I'd probably rather show my kids old shows more so than newer ones because in that sense, I think the older shows actually are inherently better.

But that's not what the thread's about, so yeah.

[Brushfire]

Ahhh Captain Planet. I remember playing that on the playground as a kid. Everyone wanted to be "Wheeler with the power of Fire." I would usally arrive late and be stuck as Ma-Ti, who had the power of Animal Telepathy.

I recently obtained season 3 of the Animaniacs, and I gotta say there were alot of things I wouldn't have noticed as a kid. Alot of the jokes were really aimed towards adult pop-clulture. I was really immpressed. It was the same way with the Simpsons too.

[yangfeili]

The thing I've noticed about a lot of recent cartoons is that there seems to be less and less emphasis on having a coherent narrative in favor of just blasting kids with a half-hour of directionless zany antics.

[HalcyonSpirit]

Ahhh Captain Planet. I remember playing that on the playground as a kid. Everyone wanted to be "Wheeler with the power of Fire." I would usally arrive late and be stuck as Ma-Ti, who had the power of Animal Telepathy.

... On that note... (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3JeLcP7Xa5o)

From my own perspective, it seems like a lot of cartoons these days don't have a good direction from the beginning. They seem to be thrown out there haphazardly and hope that it catches on, and if they do, then they try to really take it somewhere. Not all are like this, though. Avatar is a good example of a good cartoon built on a good premise with a good writing staff. It isn't the greatest thing since swiss cheese, but it works for what it tries to do.

I do lament, however, the loss of a great many good shows that had great potential. I still can't figure out why those shows like Samurai Jack and Invader Zim were pulled off the air. Probably because their audience wasn't extensive enough.

I'm not sure if I can call this generation's cartoons "bad", but they do seem to go for either the lowest common denominator or least amount of effort for the most gain. Generally speaking, of course. EDIT: I'm not saying that "lowest common denominator" is a bad thing, but often, the LCD (haha) is a very generic premise or set of characters, which doesn't really deliver as well as something a little better written.

[Brushfire]

I will say that the zany antics were a staple of the old Looney Tunes, but I too have noticed the decline in coherent plot. I blame the internet on this one. If you notice that most web comics have no plot. They are just there doing random things that are usally forgotten just as fast as they are delivered. It's not necessarally a bad thing (see Homestar Runner).

[Schwaltzvald]

On Samurai Jack:

The plots of individual episodes range from dark and epic to light-hearted and comic, but typically follow Jack in his singular quest to find a method of traveling back in time. Many of the battle scenes in the series are reminiscent of samurai films, and since Jack's robotic enemies "bleed" oil or electricity and mutations/aliens bleed slime or goo, the series is able to exhibit the action of these films while avoiding censorship for violence.

Samurai Jack can currently be viewed by American residents via the Toonami Jetstream website,[1] and at 11:00pm on Cartoon Network too in the UK. Production on the show was halted in 2004, although it was never officially canceled. Tartakovsky has announced plans to direct a theatrical film, but whether or not this will be used to resolve the series has yet to be announced.
= = =
There had been plans for a Samurai Jack movie that were in development in 2002. This project was cancelled after the lackluster performance of The Powerpuff Girls Movie. In a September 28, 2006 interview with MTV.com, series creator Genndy Tartakovsky confirmed that "Jack will come back" and that "we will finish the story, and there will be an animated film."

It is also stated on the inside jacket of the Season 4 DVD that Genndy still thinks the best way to finish off the story is to do a feature-length movie, and goes on to state that this will hopefully be in the "near future".

Newly formed production company Frederator Films has announced in Variety that one of their first projects will be a feature film adaptation of Samurai Jack, written and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. ~Wikipedia

As for Invader Zim, from what I've heard, parents complained alot as "it had alot of subversive content, including condemnation of humanity". I don't know what got them BAWWWWWWWING and whining about it to get it kicked off... Any one with a reliable source is welcomed to fill in the gaps

[yangfeili]

I will say that the zany antics were a staple of the old Looney Tunes, but I too have noticed the decline in coherent plot.

Yeah, I actually didn't like Looney Tunes much either as a kid. I always saw it as "the boring cartoons" when it came on.

One funny thing, a lot of people--myself included--rant against the excessive anime influence in modern cartoons, but one of the shows I would most like to see come to DVD is "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics" which used to be on Nickelodeon... and was all done by a Japanese animation company. (But it was that more subdued oldschool late 80s/early 90s variety of anime, which I tend to like a lot more than the all-out-eXtreme tone they aim for these days.)

[Broken]

Hey, I like Avatar and Teen Titans :< . I agree that lots of American animation steals from the Japanese animation scene now, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of the anime I've seen lately has had amazing production values (Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, Afro Samurai, etc.) However, I like it much more when a cartoon has its own individual quirkiness and ideas rather than trying to imitate other shows.

That said, Duck Tales and Swat Katz are still pretty good for how old they are.

[HalcyonSpirit]

Swat Katz

Yes. For the love of humanity, YES.

Thank you.

Also, I'm glad to hear that there's a good chance of getting a conclusion to Samurai Jack. It isn't a continuation of TV episodes, but it's better than nothing. I would love to have the TV episodes continued for a little while longer and THEN hit the movie.

[Brushfire]

Wow. See that is the kind of quaility I'm talking about. I thought to myself how radical it would be to have a jet that fought all kinds of super villians. The only thing that ever bugged bout that show was the name. I thought SWAT was a type of police force that stormed buildings on foot, not in a super top secret multi-billion dollar plane with an unlimited payload of missiles.

[FiremanJoe]

I'm a big fan of Rocko; managed to find a good torrent site with heaps of great kids shows available for download (Rocko included) I'm probably not allowed to post the link, so if you're interested just pm me.
I recently snagged the entire Wile E Coyote series off Demonoid too... now there's something that doesn't go out of style!

[Fenrir]

Yeah, I actually didn't like Looney Tunes much either as a kid. I always saw it as "the boring cartoons" when it came on.

One funny thing, a lot of people--myself included--rant against the excessive anime influence in modern cartoons, but one of the shows I would most like to see come to DVD is "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics" which used to be on Nickelodeon... and was all done by a Japanese animation company. (But it was that more subdued oldschool late 80s/early 90s variety of anime, which I tend to like a lot more than the all-out-eXtreme tone they aim for these days.)

Holy shit, I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers those! My grandmother had a video with a bunch of them, but I can't seem to find out anything about them, no matter how hard I look

[Schwaltzvald]

Holy shit, I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers those! My grandmother had a video with a bunch of them, but I can't seem to find out anything about them, no matter how hard I look

Watched them way back when I stayed home from being too sick to go to school to inbetween summer days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm's_Fairy_Tale_Classics
I don't suppose you've check this out..?

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics is the edition released by Saban of Gurimu Meisaku Gekijou (グリム名作劇場, Grimm Masterpiece Theatre?) an anime series produced by Nippon Animation. It was originally broadcast in Japan from 21 October 1987 to 30 March 1988. The cartoon was localized for a Western audience by Saban Entertainment and broadcast in the United States on the Nickelodeon TV channel from 1989 to 1995.

The second season of the series - titled Shin Gurimu Meisaku Gekijou (新グリム名作劇場, New Grimm Masterpiece Theatre?) in Japan - aired between 2 October 1988 and 26 March 1989. It was also localized under the series' English name.

Did you want to know the stories specifically rather than the show in general?