Have Cartoons gotten better or worse...

[Mynd Hed]

In my opinion, it's easy for twenty-somethings like myself to look back at the eighties and early nineties, when we grew up, as a golden age of cartoons. The thing is, we all have selective memory. We list off standout shows like Transformers G1 and Batman: TAS, but we forget that for every great show like that, there were five other shows that were mediocre at best and ten other shows that were, simply put, crap.
In the eighties, we didn't have two entire channels-- one basic cable and one premium-- dedicated entirely to cartoons. (Cartoon Network and Boomerang, respectively.) Batman: TAS opened the door for cartoons specifically catered to the teen demographic, and while very few of the superhero shows that followed even came close to matching it, it's still true that without it, they probably never would have had the chance to see any screen time at all. Similarly, the Simpsons opened the door for more adult-oriented animation in this country, and I doubt that shows that we treasure today like Futurama, Family Guy, King of the Hill, and South Park would exist today otherwise. It's a sure thing that back in the eighties, a raunchy adult animated comedy like South Park or Family Guy never would have gotten on the air.
We're also seeing animated shows get a lot more consistent and a lot better quality home-video releases, with the advent of DVD and relatively cheap season sets for shows like The Simpsons, Futurama, and Family Guy.
So personally, on the whole and with a few minor exceptions, I think that things have never been better for animation fans. The problems animation is currently having in this country that people have already pointed out are certainly real, but I don't think they're bad enough to outweigh all the great things animation has going for it these days.

 

[Chris Wood]

['Mynd Hed']In my opinion, it's easy for twenty-somethings like myself to look back at the eighties and early nineties, when we grew up, as a golden age of cartoons. The thing is, we all have selective memory. We list off standout shows like Transformers G1 and Batman: TAS, but we forget that for every great show like that, there were five other shows that were mediocre at best and ten other shows that were, simply put, crap.

It's true that nostalgia makes the heart grow fonder, but that doesn't change the fact that in the 80s and early 90s there were many more actions shows than there are today, and most of which were fairly interesting.

In the eighties, we didn't have two entire channels-- one basic cable and one premium-- dedicated entirely to cartoons. (Cartoon Network and Boomerang, respectively.)

But we didn't even need cable channels for cartoons in the 80s. Syndicated cartoons were on for about 4 - 5 hours every weekday, and network toons for 5 hours on Saturdays. Cartoon Network may be on for 24 hours, but it's unlikely that you're going to find 5 hours of cool new programming on any given day.

So personally, on the whole and with a few minor exceptions, I think that things have never been better for animation fans.

I can't agree here until serious action cartoons return to full force. He-Man and Justice League are not nearly enough.

 

[The Master Con]

Networks have become more kid friendly. They create easy to make kiddie cartoons that require very little money and don't tip the bar in censorship to avoid lawsuits, angry letters, ect. I find that this is a major downfall in animation. You can go so far with it since action scenes that would normally cost big money in live action cost nearly nothing in animation. It is a pity that shows like BTAS are a dying age and that many times shows that do try will often find themselves unable to bring tradgity elements like death. I find that JL and X-Men Evo are the only shows that are trying anymore.