Current Events > Why do people still say that 80's/90's cartoons are better than

(+) Yeah! (+)

today's cartoons? Or any cartoon that aired after 2008.
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16-BITTER posted...

The hand drawn animation looks better

I don't think they're referring to the plots or characters or anything

This.

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Cartoons are still hand drawn on paper then transferred digitally. Or at least hand drawn on tablets.
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There was arguably a higher bar for skill as an animator or artist decades ago, as the cost to produce would be higher and the materials more limited. Digital tools made producing animation more efficient, less costly, easier to access for a greater variety of artists.
Unfortunately this also lowered the skill ceiling as there was now less risk involved, with the side effect of making animation less about passion and more about product. This isn't to say that modern creators are soulless or whatever, but bean mouth/CalArts and 00s+ moe is clearly more homogenized and commercialized than 60s/70s/80s/90s animation.

More about product?

Classic cartoons pushed toy sales constantly.
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Yeah they were 22 minute toy commercials.

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Ren & Stimpy, Rugrats, Rockos Modern Life, Hey Arnold etc etc etc

Nothing today even compares

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early 90s to mid-late 90s were a Renaissance before falling off in the early 2000s. yah there was the animation homogenization in the mid-late 2000s but that saved us from the dip in content quality that happened in the early-mid 2000s. late 2000s-mid 2010s was a renewal of high quality cartoons.

idk who says 80s cartoons are good, they've been a huge target of parody and satire for decades because of how often they werent.

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Beveren_Rabbit posted...

More about product?

Classic cartoons pushed toy sales constantly.

As in, the animation itself became the product. Classic animation is good despite wanting to sell you a toy, because oftentimes the people on staff were trying to buck their corporate backers and make a good story vs now, when the people on staff are either suits themselves or complicit to their demands.

Because they were the cartoons they grew up with.

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Juhanor posted...

As in, the animation itself became the product. Classic animation is good despite wanting to sell you a toy

This is true of a few things, and absolute bullshit on so many others. Truer in the 80s and 90s, But how many shows can you name that had exceptional quality?

The 60s, specifically, is the most bullshit decade to bring up. That was mostly naked bipedal funny animals that always had collars.

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It's pretty simple. Hindsight is always better and gets more glorified. And second, you're not supposed to hang onto cartoons deep into adulthood. So in general, you'd be a big weirdo if you praised a current show versus something from your childhood.

Of course I'd make exceptions for stuff that is geared towards adults. F is For Family (aka the Bill Burr cartoon) is funny as f***. Dudes watching that pony cartoon are lol.

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Those people are referring exclusively to disney and DCAU (or mistakenly thinking Xmen and spider-man TAS were good)

You tell me

https://i.imgur.com/zF93ERT.jpg
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art style.

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voldothegr8 posted...

You tell me

https://i.imgur.com/zF93ERT.jpg

If it were a comic, you'd have a great point.

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EnvoyOfTheLight posted...

This is true of a few things, and absolute bullshit on so many others. Truer in the 80s and 90s, But how many shows can you name that had exceptional quality?

The 60s, specifically, is the most bullshit decade to bring up. That was mostly naked bipedal funny animals that always had collars.

I can't speak much to stuff in the West but in the East, Toei and Tatsunoko were both doing solid work in the 70s despite being "toy commercials", and Sunrise predating the Bandai buyout was notorious for biting the hand of their sponsors.

I'll concede the 60s in the West as Tex was out by that point, but his work in the predating decades used the medium unlike anything I've seen since.

When the topic says "cartoons", it means western animation.

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EnvoyOfTheLight posted...

When the topic says "cartoons", it means western animation.

Animation is just animation to me, but that's alright. I'd hoped to see a compelling argument or enrich my experience from the "other" side, so to speak, but unsurprisingly nothing of value was found.
https://i.imgur.com/dTNT3X1.png

16-BITTER posted...

The hand drawn animation looks better

I don't think they're referring to the plots or characters or anything

A lot of 90s cartoons were ugly as shit though. Rug rags comes to mind

people have nostalgia

thats it

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