Modern Age

Recently, between watching Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Disney XD's Star Wars: Rebels, I've seen a TON of commercials for new/current cartoons such as Steven Universe and Harvey Beaks. Steven Universe isn't a huge offender, but every time I see the animation at play in Harvey Beaks or The Amazing World of Gumball or Sanjay and Craig I am highly offended. It looks like dogshit. Zero production value. And maybe that's the point.

These cartoons aren't for me and they seem easy enough to bang out at a quick pace before you lose kids' attention. Kids and stoners are the target audience. But so was Adventure Time before I gave it the time of day and wound up loving it. But I miss a more traditional animation.

I grew up on Transformers and G.I. Joe which came from the same studio... and even He-Man (which won't win many animation awards) had its own merit. Those were followed by Batman: The Animated Series and the Bruce Timm DC shows. Granted, Batman was made with a more sophisticated audience in mind, but I believe there's room for better animation.

Take the Craig MacCracken shows for example. Shows like Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Dexter's Laboratory had an interesting and higher quality design than the schlock rolled out currently by networks. Big eyes, tiny mouths and no noses are the themes of the day.

Maybe someday I'll appreciate Regular Show or some other contemporary cartoon, but for now, I still need a more sophisticated animation. Something that the current run of cartoon isn't providing.

-Gint