Cactus Game Design Message Boards

Theoretical Discussion: How did we get from shows like

Animaniacs

(Time)

Animaniacs - When You're Traveling [English Version With Uncut Audio]

(History)

Animaniacs - Ballad of Magellan

(Math)

Animaniacs - Multiplication [ENLGISH WITH VIDEO]

(Senses)

animaniacs senses

(World Geography)

Animaniacs - Nations Of The World

(Not to mention that Animaniacs' vocabulary was much larger than the child's and encouraged them to learn more word)

Pinky and the Brain

(Anatomy(Parts of the brain)
parts of the brain

etc(There are MANY more vids I could post I just chose a FEW). To such educational wonders as Hannah Montana (It's not okay to just be normal. You must be normal AND a superstar) SpongeBob (Its okay to be a bother to everyone around you as long as YOU are having fun, Greed is okay as long as you don't get hurt, etc), etc. I mean, does anyone know what happened to the animated shows quality? Maybe I got spoiled or something but... seems like its changed, including having parts of the show that ADULTS could actually laugh at.

Well what would consider the best of this era? (I went with the top rated shows I knew of, apologies if I missed better ones).

Yeah, "educational" cartoons today consist of Dora the Explorer and the like. I wish I had grown up with actual mind-challenging toons like the animaniacs, but sadly I did not.

...You poor thing. You poor poor thing. Btw Winnie the Pooh is epic, I shall not deny that.

Doug was amazing you bite your tongue.

If you watch Saturday morning "cartoons" nowadays, I think you'll feel better about your life than you do right now.  Saturday is a cartoon wasteland, and what they do run are syndicated packges from ten years ago.  In Canada.

Seriously the regulars are Busytown, where Richard Scarry characters solve minor mysteries about town (teach kids how to observe and deduce), Babar and some stupid CGI thing featuring undersea creatures of varying identifiability.  The latter two feature a rather cliched plot where one or more of the central characters has a problem, tries to deal with it in a suboptimal way, then learns a valuable lesson which he then shares with his cadre of incredibly forgiving friends.

And let's not be quick to pitch Animaniacs as an educational program.  The aforementioned shorts were all fantastic but this was also a show that promoted pratfalls, insult comedy and ogling nurses.  It wasn't a show of high morals, it was a cartoon - for kids - that was very clever and well-done, and had some wonderful educational pieces included.

I liken them more to the Muppets (although nobody can be the Muppets), a show that was equally enjoyable for all ages (I love them ten times more as an adult than I did as a child).  They know the difference between being family-friendly and putting water wings on a 12yo.  You can have age-appropriate content and still just treat kids like short versions of regular people.

I think the decline of the cartoon has more to do with it fading off broadcast TV onto Disney and Cartoon Network, than with the quality of the show itself.  I seem to recall having this discussion elsewhere on the boards - but maybe not - and each era has its ups and downs.

All the best shows of the 80s were awesome - He-Man, Thundercats, GI Joe, Robotech, Transformers, Ninja Turtles, etc - but nearly all of them were just 30-minute commercials to "buy all our playsets and toys".  The Transformers movie was partially intended to clear out the first gen toys and do a new line, so to keep their mythos consistent, characters very suddenly became vulnerable... and apparently completely unable to avoid laser fire.  Nearly every character you'd been asked to invest in emotionally was killed off in the first 20 minutes, culminating in Optimus Prime. (spoiler alert).

There are still shows on today that I drop what I'm doing to watch, like anything by Craig McCracken (e.g. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), or the superhero ones like Batman or Ben 10 (the teen one not the kid one).  But it's a mixed bag, and the era of 6 straight hours of Saturday morning cartoons is heart-breakingly over.

(e.g. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends)

Wow, how did I forget that? Maybe cuz I haven't seen it in a while.

And let's not be quick to pitch Animaniacs as an educational program.  The aforementioned shorts were all fantastic but this was also a show that promoted pratfalls, insult comedy and ogling nurses.  It wasn't a show of high morals, it was a cartoon - for kids - that was very clever and well-done, and had some wonderful educational pieces included.

And Mel Gibson. And I wouldn't call it "Educational" Television in as much as Entertainment television that worked education into it in a fun, entertaining, and remember-able way.

I think the decline of the cartoon has more to do with it fading off broadcast TV onto Disney and Cartoon Network,

That is most likely true. I can't think of the last time my Bro/Sis watched anything(Cartoons) off of (CTNetwork, Nick, or Disney.)

If you think pinky and the brain is educational RR you finally lost your mind.

O_o if you think this sentence is true, well then you don't know I never had my mind to begin with and secondly, watch Pinky and the Brain, you will learn something, even if you don't realize it. Now myself and Sancho Pinky are off to chase windmills.