>Crossexamining The Rebuttal

Originally Posted 12/22/06 by Jeff Harris

Okay, I've given equal time to the prosecution, and since I already stated my case, let me say, I haven't been totally convinced in your argument, Jorge. Perhaps it's because you lost the argument right with your preface:

One of my problems with your article is that a lot of the good things that you say happened in the 80s didn’t happen until later in the decade and actually had more of an effect on the 90s. So when I insult, for example, animation in 80s cartoons, I’m insulting the PRE-RENAISSANCE 80s cartoons.

If you actually read the article, and I know that you did, you would have saw that the good things that did happen in the 80s in fact did have an effect and continues to have an effect on the animation industry. Here's the quote to say so (and the statement in question in bold):

Granted, the cartoons of the 1980s were the animation equivalent of yuppies compared to the shows that came before them, but that's not to say that they're bad. The cartoons of the 1980s are just as good and just as bad as anything that came before and after them. Still, they're seen as being responsible for everything bad that has ever happened to the animation industry to this day, which is not only an atrocious charge, but also an incorrect one. In fact, I think that today's animation industry is built up from the legacy the studios and shows left behind, whether its familiar brands introduced in that decade, veterans that worked on those shows, or the generation of animators that were children and teens of the '80s inspiring them to create and work on their own shows, either in traditional studios or own their own independently.

There it is in white and black. I also scratched my head over this statement in your preface:

I’m also only talking about AMERICAN animation here. Why? Because anime is not known for being bad in the 80s. So, henceforth, in most cases where I use the term “80s cartoons”, it shall only be pre-Renaissance American cartoons.

See, when you start to separate animation by country, you also lose the argument instantly. Animation is animation, regardless of where it comes from. Also, I didn't call the article "Defending Half of The 80s," because I recognized that the decade had ten years to work with. Some of the works were good. Some where bad. But that's the truth in just about every decade in animation. Every era had bad cartoons, even the so-called Golden Age. It's just that the bad cartoons in the Golden Age are always ignored and rarely talked about. Guess the fans feel that if they don't talk about them, they'll just be forgotten and go away. You take the roses with the thorns, and a lot of people feel that the 80s were all thorns.

The majority of (80s cartoons) sucked out loud. Nostalgia is the basis for a lot of unfair praise for things that weren't well put together. You have to look at things objectively. Nostalgia can be dangerous.

I wouldn't say that a majority of cartoons were bad. I feel that there's at least a 50/50 split between good and bad (okay, maybe 45/55 good to bad). I have a lot of nostalgia for the older shows that came on in the 80s as well as some of the newer shows that came on in that era. And yes, nostalgia can blind people and make people look at shows through "pleasantvision" glasses. It's the same idea that makes people believe that the 50s were "the good old days."

Going on that whole nostalgic blinders theory, The Flintstones was very similar to Rugrats. It goes down as one of the most important shows in television history and a milestone in animation. The animation was primative, but the writing, music, and vocal talents were outstanding. But you can tell that the show kind of lost that spark after Pebbles was born. Yeah, the animation got better, but the stories weren't the same since. Perhaps it jumped the sharkasaurus, I don't know. Though people don't realize it (or refuse to acknowledge it), the story is just as important as the animation.

Let's continue:

The point of this history is, that some childhood shows you watched hold up and some don't. I never noticed the decrease in quality in Rugrats as a kid until now. I never noticed how bad Doug was. Ren & Stimpy, the third of the first Nicktoons, is, in my opinion, the best of the three. And I wasn't allowed to watch it as a kid, but judging from the few episodes I've seen on Nicktoons TV and youtube clips, it is amazing. No nostalgia there. I can truly watch it objectively and judge it. You have to do that with 80s cartoons. It's OK for you to enjoy them, but when you're judging the quality of an entire decade, nostalgia must be set aside. If you're not willing to do that, don't critique animation. I contend that nostalgia is the only reason people like 80s cartoons.

Again, with the knocking of nostalgia. Nostalgia isn't a bad thing. Nostalgia is the reason why Nick at Nite and later TV Land were created by Nickelodeon. Half the shows were bad, and half the shows were good. Heck, before it became AmericanLife, there was actually a Nostalgia Channel. Nostalgia is why there's an animation fan community. Heck, every fanbase that's out there, from comics and toys to movies and television shows, is built out of nostalgia.

I'll admit that nostalgia is the reason I wrote the initial article, but I also wrote it from a historical perspective, and as good and bad as the shows and business of the industry were, the 80s was one of the most important periods in animation history and a turning point in the direction of the industry, whether people want to acknowledge it or not.

Continue the cross examination here