Thoughtnami Opinion | Cartoon Is Not A Dirty Word

Originally Posted on 07/27/2010 by Jeff Harris

I'm a supporter of the animation industry. I grew up watching Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Scooby-Doo, and The Flintstones every day on local television. I looked at Hanna-Barbera shorts on USA and the typical 80s fare on weekday afternoons after school and Saturday mornings. Sunday mornings too. I still watch and enjoy The Simpsons every afternoon and Sunday evenings. I'm a fan of cartoons.

Say it with me now.

Cartoons.

Cartoons.

Call it toons. Call it anime. Call it animation. Call it cartoons. I still watch it and support it.

The ultimate celebration of animation occurred on October 1, 1992 when Turner Broadcasting launched the world's first 24-hour all-animation channel, Cartoon Network. It was bright. It was colorful. It was fun. It was a cartoon, and audiences loved it. It even spawned imitators and dopplegangers worldwide. Canada got Teletoon. Mexico got Locomotion. Japan got Animax. America got Toon Disney, Nicktoons, and Cartoon Network's own spinoff, Boomerang. And it was good. But somehow, the word "cartoon" got corrupted by idiots that didn't like animation at all.

Cartoon Network launched numerous hybrid spinoff channels worldwide. Pogo was aimed towards the entire family and airing cartoons almost as an afterthought. CNX (*snickers*) was a more mature outlet that aired adult dramas like The Shield alongside animation like Dragon Ball Z, Batman, and Cowboy Bebop. Years after the channel became Toonami, the management transformed the all-action cartoon format into the embodiment of gray goo, airing everything from sitcoms, teen dramas, game shows, sports shows, music videos, and movies, with animation becoming very limited.

But the first kick to the throat of animation fans was when Toon Disney, which aired Disney cartoons from nearly every era of the studio, launched Jetix, an action brand that brought the live-action Power Rangers franchise to the animation channel. As time went on, Jetix completely consumed the Toon Disney brand and culture, added more live-action productions, including repeats of Disney Channel sitcoms and live-action movies, before transforming itself into Disney XD.

Nicktoons aired repeats of The Mr. Meaty Show, a live-action puppet show that has in the canon of shows considered Nicktoons. This should have been a sign that perhaps Nickelodeon really didn't understand why people actually loved their Nicktoons. Nicktoons embraced the creative side of animation more than any other American network, actually having an annual animation film fest with the latest shorts from many of the country's newest and brightest animators. Unfortunately, as Nicktoons entered its second decade, their love of the medium began to wane. They scheduled the live-action actioner The Troop, the live-action comedy Big Time Rush, and has big plans for reviving the dormant Power Rangers franchise nationwide by airing repeats of the original series daily.

The fact that the granddaddy of all animation channels, Cartoon Network, treats animation like a four-letter word is not only shocking, but also a tragic case of self-loathing. In November 2005, Cartoon Network began airing older live-action movies on their lineup. In 2006, the network revealed that they were pursuing live-action productions but done "the Cartoon Network way", whatever the hell that meant. They got rid of all animated titles that drew in adult viewers and limited adult viewership to the late-night, immature Adult Swim block. They aired live-action adaptations of their animated series and created new live-action brands that has mostly failed. If those shows didn't fail, there wouldn't be a Cartoon Network today (they threatened to take the name away).

Cartoon Network's attempts to bring live-action has not only been scorned in the animation community and television commentators everywhere, but it has also been emulated worldwide by the other major all-animation networks. Teletoon has added more original live-action series and movies. Animax's Latin American network (formerly Locomotion) has all but abandoned animation while its Asian networks air a mix of Japanese animation and J-Pop music concerts.

At the time of this writing, the lone all-animation channel in the US is Boomerang, a channel in need of attention and guidance that is largely on auto-pilot.

As long as the management and its moronic mandate exists, Cartoon Network will never be an all-animation channel ever again. Disney XD's name changed because they wanted nothing to do with animation. Nicktoons' direction and future plans are looking a lot less animated. There's this stagnant belief that animation won't bring in audiences despite evidence to the contrary over the decades. They believe that live-action could bring long term success if they continuously shove it down their viewers throats of an audience that actually expect to see cartoons on those networks. I have a feeling Nicktoons is going to rebrand in the near future because Nickelodeon has decided that they'd rather put male-oriented shows on their lesser-viewed digital channel rather than the main Nickelodeon channel (Dragon Ball Kai, Wolverine, Iron Man, TMNT, and even Power Rangers all should have been on Nickelodeon first, not on Nicktoons). The sad fact is that the creative community has been ignored for far too long. You rarely see the younger generation wanting to be cartoonists or animators, and that's tragic. Classic animation only airs in chunks on the internet and only available on DVD, not readily found on television unless it's on Boomerang, a channel that hardly anybody gets and doesn't have a lot of attention from its owners.

The creative community can create shows that can grab the attention of everybody, but the corporate mentality won't allow it despite the fact corporations would benefit from their efforts. They're ready to revitalize the animation industry. We're ready to revitalize the animation industry. The creators, the fans, we all don't want to see animation be limited to just selling useless pieces of cardboard, pixels, and plastic. We want animation everywhere, not just rotting in late-night obscurity, Sundays on Fox, and Wednesdays on Comedy Central. We no longer want to see "cartoon" as something beneath somebody, whether it's by an executive who feels kids will eventually accept live-action despite the fact that viewers have overwhelmingly rejected it, an executive that insults children by claiming they're idiotic individuals who don't read anymore, a director who looks down on the animation medium despite the fact that 2/3 of his biggest film ever is an animated feature, or an academy that feels that animated films are separate but equal to their live-action counterparts.

Cartoon is not a dirty word. We all need to stop acting like it is.

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
Creator/Webmaster, The X Bridge.