Cartoon Cliches You're Tired Of...

[Jack]

I agree with Darthgonzo about the design of current cartoons. I'm tired of everthing looking simple and flat (not that I don't like simple and flat design, it just seems like every current cartoon is simple and flat looking). Why can't someone come up with detailed rounded characters? Why must abstract backgrounds be simple and flat looking?

The cartoon cliche I hate the most is stomping/squashing a character for no reason. If you've seen one, you've seen them all.



Jack

 

[HellCat]

I agree with most of the points in this thread. Especially 'winners always win, losers always lose' (something which makes me dislike the first season of I.M Weasel and Wacky Races)and 'annoying life debt' (episodes of Hey Arnold! and PPG come to mind).
I hate it when characters mature mentally and not physically. Bart and Lisa act much older then they actually look. On a similar note, the cast never age but how many times have they celebrated Christmas and/or New Year?

 

[Christopher N. Denner]

Anime cliches: Badly dubbed, acted and translated anime. The name "koji". A obligatory, annoyingly whiny character (often voiced by a gal). Characters yelling for no reason. Characters always carrying around devices no one on earth would own (tracking devices, pocket computer devices)... "cards".

Regular cliches... evil genius builds a super robot to destroy main hero... main hero gives robot voice command to destroy evil genius... both give robot orders to destroy each other... robot explodes. Exactly how does a robot explode from taking orders? For a super robot, my brother's old Commadore 64 has more artificial intelligence.

 

[Mister Intensity]

Kids as the centerpiece of the show they have no business being in. While most American animation is aimed at kids that doesn't mean that all the main characters have to be kids. While there are a few cases where it works (I like Jade Chan) most of the time they are annoying. This was very apparent in Transformers Armada where I really wanted to shoot the kids before a Transformer made his first appearance twenty minutes into the premire.

I don't mind having kids in the plot as part of the team but today's shows are increasingly kid-centric. Most of the shows I grew up with had children as part of the cast but it was the adult heroes that drove the action along (see Super Friends, Transformers, He-Man, Thundercats, even Jonny Quest).

Mister Intensity

 

[TServo2049]

I hate these cliches:

-People stranded in a disaster and admitting all their secrets (they're all ripoff's of Hitchcock's "Lifeboat");

-When private moments between a couple are interrupted just when their lips are half an inch apart;

And my least favorite...

-The main character being better than everyone else and always succeeding just because he/she is the main character (Ash from "Pokemon" is the biggest offender).

 

[JohnCrichton]

Originally posted by Jack
I agree with Darthgonzo about the design of current cartoons. I'm tired of everthing looking simple and flat (not that I don't like simple and flat design, it just seems like every current cartoon is simple and flat looking). Why can't someone come up with detailed rounded characters? Why must abstract backgrounds be simple and flat looking?

Jack

That's one of the reasons I'm so in love with the new He-Man cartoon.

I was already taken by how well they recaptured the feel and love of the old cartoon, but another thing I noticed that made this one different from other cartoon series these days is the level of detail the cartoon had.... The kind I haven't seen since the 80's!

 

[StrangerAtaru]

Actually, about the Ash comment, I think that it is right most of the time except on two occasions. The first is in an episode which is just ripe to setting up a situation where Ash does lose. (see "The Grass Route" for a recent example) Another is when Ash really does lose, thus showing that the writers have a brain after all (like in some of the best Indigo League gym battles, like against Lt. Surge or Blaine, or even the final battle between Ash and Richie in the Indigo league)

 

[Anthonynotes]

My Two Cents On These Cliches....

>>
I can't believe no one has mentioned the "It was all a dream" cop-out ending! When things start seeming outlandish or unfixable, I can tell from a mile away what's really going on, and it is ANNOYING.
<<

Of course, the ultimate (though non-animated) use of this copout ending was in "Dallas", which apparently to most of its fans is when the show "jumped the shark" (the now-(in)famous "shower scene", parodied by Smithers and Burns on the Simpsons' "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" two-parter).

>>>I hate it when characters mature mentally and not physically. Bart and Lisa act much older then they actually look. On a similar note, the cast never age but how many times have they celebrated Christmas and/or New Year? <<<

Yeah, admit that the "10-year-olds acting like 40-year-olds" thing does get on my nerves oftentimes, too. I suppose the ultimate example of this cliche would be Stewie Griffin of "Family Guy."

As for the holidays, since the characters don't age, part of the deal would be that they get to celebrate the same holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, election days, etc. as much as they wish...a standard-issue rule for comic book superhero characters as well (who also generally don't age).

>>Anime cliches: Badly dubbed, acted and translated anime. The name "koji". A obligatory, annoyingly whiny character (often voiced by a gal). Characters yelling for no reason. Characters always carrying around devices no one on earth would own (tracking devices, pocket computer devices)... "cards".
<<

If it's a science-fantasy/science-fiction genre being dealt with, then it might not seem too far fetched to have such devices (esp. with GPS systems/wireless phones, laptop computers, and Palm Pilots getting more and more advanced..).

One more tidbit: When I was a kid, I liked "Inspector Gadget", but thought that the idea of Penny's "computer book" was one of the silliest parts of the show, since I figured "they'll never make computers *that* small, powerful, information-packed and *portable*!" ;-)


>>>Regular cliches... evil genius builds a super robot to destroy main hero... main hero gives robot voice command to destroy evil genius... both give robot orders to destroy each other... robot explodes. Exactly how does a robot explode from taking orders? For a super robot, my brother's old Commadore 64 has more artificial intelligence. <<<

Hmph... that first cliche summarized my just-written fan fiction story ("The Griffino Factor"). Though Brain didn't stop Griffino (Stewie Griffin's evil android creation, with all the powers/abilities of the A! cast & Powerpuff Girls) with voice-commands, so *there*! Erm...though he *did* build his own robot to stop Griffino with...which I guess might be another cartoon cliche... *ahem*...

-B.

 

[Yuss]

Re: My Two Cents On These Cliches....

Originally posted by Brainatra
Yeah, admit that the "10-year-olds acting like 40-year-olds" thing does get on my nerves oftentimes, too. I suppose the ultimate example of this cliche would be Stewie Griffin of "Family Guy."

I wouldn't say that... Stewie is like a 1-year-old acting like a 50-year-old, which is really funny. I think a better example is Bart and Lisa Simpson.

Genius kids = not funny.
Genius babies = funny.

~B+:

 

[Anthonynotes]

Re: Re: My Two Cents On These Cliches....

Originally posted by ~B+
I wouldn't say that... Stewie is like a 1-year-old acting like a 50-year-old, which is really funny. I think a better example is Bart and Lisa Simpson.

Genius kids = not funny.
Genius babies = funny.

~B+:

Well, I meant "ultimate" in terms of the age discrepancy (a one-year-old acting like a 50-year-old, vs. a 10-year-old acting as such). Though of course, I'd still consider Bart and Lisa as being funny characters. IN their case, however, they're saddled with the sitcom stereotype of the kids being smarter than the parents (in this case, Homer)...

The kids in "Peanuts" (Charlie Brown, Linus, etc.) often acted rather adult in speaking tone/intellectualism,yet were also pretty funny.

The "Muppet Babies" also often did stuff that toddlers wouldn't have done, but it also was still pretty funny...

Of course, to get back to "hated cartoon cliches", the "make your adult characters into children or babies" one is probably one of the more wretched cliches (Yo Yogi, James Bond Jr., etc. etc.). Only cases I can think of where this concept was done reasonably well: Muppet Babies; Tiny Toon Adventures; A Pup Named Scooby Doo; and (from the comics) Superboy (Superman's adventures as a kid.... Superboy was created in 1945, presumably to cash in on the success of the burgeoning Superman franchise/to go up against the competing "Captain Marvel"'s Captain Marvel Jr. character/for trademark reasons. Lasted for decades until disposed of in the mid-80's).

-B.

 

[Hitchhiker]

Here is some more that came up in my head:

A character becomes large or a gaint. If they did shrinking, they also did this one.

Non-human character becomes human for one episode. Why do it when everything is back to normal by the shows end?

Only one female in a group of heroes or villains. I hate when they just have a girl in the show just for the sake of having a girl in it.

And last, Fire. Why is it that when you have characters that use elements, the leader is always the fire user. Just because Fire mostly an offensive element doesn't mean it makes the leader.

 

[TServo2049]

Ah! Here's two more:

When you can only see a character from the legs down;

When a character gets mutated into some strange creature, and they immediately become hostile towards their friends, and speak only in growls and grunts.

 

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by TServo2049
Ah! Here's two more:

When you can only see a character from the legs down;

When a character gets mutated into some strange creature, and they immediately become hostile towards their friends, and speak only in growls and grunts.

Oooh, the "legs down" is a good one...

A few more:

- chase scenes through living rooms/hallways where the same stuff keeps repeating/getting passed in the background about 37 times (either they're running around in circles, or they have the world's longest, most reptitive hallway Liked how "Garfield and Friends" commented on this (Garfield's chasing a mouse down a hallway, with the usual repeating-stuff....Garfield notes to the audience "do you ever notice how long the hallways are in these cartoon chases?" Another episode has him criticizing cat-mouse chases for "passing that same lamp and table a million times" or somesuch). Of course, the real reason is that it's cheap to animate...(shrug)

- a mouse/insect/whatever moves into the lead character's home, forcing the character to spend the entire episode trying to get rid of it unsuccessfully, often destroying the house in the process.

- a character's on some sort of fast-moving rocket/vehicle/etc., sticks their head out the window/stands up on the vehicle innocently enough, then winds up slamming into a pole/wall/etc...


-B.

 

[HellCat]

Here's another-

When the plot revolves around the cast looking for something (object, person) and they do one of those episodes where they get VERY close but don't find said item in the end. They really make you want to see the ep where they do find it but at the same time are annoying. Jumanji did this alot.

 

[Thundercleese]

Rap imitations, regular people trying to act like rappers do, like in the Time Squad episode or the shrimp from sheep in the big city, it's NOT FUNNY!! I like rap and basicaly alls there doing is making fun of it. I wanna beat the crap outta each and every one of the animator's who have done that.

 

[David Lucas]

My 3 cents....err.....two

I personally hate it when every bad guy on every show wants to DESTROY the world, and then in later episodes they whine about not being able to take over it.

Take Mojo Jojo for example, in the episode where you find out he helped make the PPG's he says , "I dedicated my life to destroying you and the world that loved you." or even in that commercial with Anger Management when everyone wants to destroy the world.

What the hell is the point? Why would you not want to take over the world, if you destroy the world, you kill yourself unless you can live in outer space, but even if you could, it would be just you.
Kinda lonely.

Shredder and Krang used to talk about destroying earth and then in another episode they'll have Rock Soldiers from Dimension X come in and try to TAKE over.

I think all the villains just get really depressed with their life of crime sometimes so they want to destroy everyone at times, and for some reason there's a magical camera on them at that time showing us what they're saying.

Then they get laid or something (Shredder was a muscular 20-something year old with tons of power, do you honestly believe he never got laid) and theyre happy again and want to take over the world and they probably promise the girl she can be queen.

Then they probably drop her into boiling acid, and get all depressed that they killed the one person that liked them......

........sorry, it was a long night and I'm not runnin on a lot of sleep. I'll shut up now.

Jojo

 

[Lonestarr]

Originally posted by Hitchhiker
Here is some more that came up in my head:

A character becomes large or a gaint. If they did shrinking, they also did this one.

Yeah, the shrinking plot's been done to death.

Non-human character becomes human for one episode. Why do it when everything is back to normal by the shows end?

But, that made a pretty good Gargoyles episode ("The Mirror"), you must admit.

Also, I agree about the "legs down" one, although, IMHO, David Feiss took that gag and made it his own with the parents on Cow and Chicken; it helps if you've seen the original short, "No Smoking". Unfortunately, CN will probably never air it again.

 

[Anthonynotes]

Re: My 3 cents....err.....two

Originally posted by David Lucas
I personally hate it when every bad guy on every show wants to DESTROY the world, and then in later episodes they whine about not being able to take over it.

Take Mojo Jojo for example, in the episode where you find out he helped make the PPG's he says , "I dedicated my life to destroying you and the world that loved you." or even in that commercial with Anger Management when everyone wants to destroy the world.

What the hell is the point? Why would you not want to take over the world, if you destroy the world, you kill yourself unless you can live in outer space, but even if you could, it would be just you.
Kinda lonely.

Shredder and Krang used to talk about destroying earth and then in another episode they'll have Rock Soldiers from Dimension X come in and try to TAKE over.

I think all the villains just get really depressed with their life of crime sometimes so they want to destroy everyone at times, and for some reason there's a magical camera on them at that time showing us what they're saying.

Then they get laid or something (Shredder was a muscular 20-something year old with tons of power, do you honestly believe he never got laid) and theyre happy again and want to take over the world and they probably promise the girl she can be queen.

Then they probably drop her into boiling acid, and get all depressed that they killed the one person that liked them......

........sorry, it was a long night and I'm not runnin on a lot of sleep. I'll shut up now.

Jojo

Beats me... maybe they actually just want to destroy the world as *we know it*, by conquering humanity and making it their slaves/reforming the world to their whims/whatever.... see: Darkseid and Apocalypse, the Him-ruined future in PPG's "Speed Demons", etc....

In Mojo's case, his motivations seem to be similar to those of Lex Luthor: destroy his arch-foes and take over the world. As for what a Mojo-ruled or Luthor-ruled world would be like, not really sure...probably not as miserable as a Him-ruled or Darkseid-ruled one, but presumably a much-poorer place for all...

-B.

 

[Behonkiss]

There was an episode of Superman: TAS where Lois went into an alternate reality where Superman was allied with Lex and they ruled all. And yes, it was pretty miserable.

 

[Matthew Hunter]

a list:

anvils

established characters turned into babies

evil villains with british accents

witchcraft/magic/fantasy powers and legends

robots...hasn't EVERY cartoon series from Bosko to Dexter used these at least twice? Including Anime?

bulldogs...why not use a pit bull, boxer, german shepherd, doberman or some other fearsome dog for once? And why do the names "Spike" and "Butch" always show up? Chuck Jones at least named his character Marc Anthony and made him cute.

songs. Why do all the Disney movies, some Cartoon Cartoons, many old Disney and very early WB cartoons have to have someone sing? why can't they just go on with the plot instead of spontaniously bursting into song, knowing all the lyrics and tune before even singing it?

1990's Disney movie plots and subsequent ripoffs. Boy, girl, villain, past to confront, and funny animal sidekicks.

Dynamite. It's portrayed these days as the only weapon Wile E. Coyote ever used, and that has infected other 'slapstick' cartoons. Acme makes other things, you know.

-Matthew