A Modern Cartoon And Animation Rant

Animation has continued to be a dominant force in movies and television for decades. It's an art form that is understood by many people, but adored and appreciated at the same time. Whether you prefer computer generated imagery or hand drawn animation or whatever else, there is something in animation for everyone. However, I've been thinking a lot about current animation recently, and about how as the process of making animated media is getting better, the writing has become worse. It's been like that for years, but it's really been the last couple of decades where I think particular elements in animation have declined. What elements are these? It has to do with the writing and the humor that is often times utilized, and also it seems like animation has been dulled down to cater more to children than to a wide variety of people.

If you do a comparison of an animated movie from the 1990's and an animated movie from today, you'll see a bevvy of differences that take form. Of course, most animation is of the CGI variety now, so that's an obvious difference. But, also the tone seems to be a lot different.  A good animated movie, in my opinion, is supposed to cater to all people while also trying to be clever and creative and get an emotional response from the audience. Of course, there can also be humor involved, but back then the humor felt more consistent and didn't interfere with the tone, and on top of that, the humor was actually funny. Nowadays, it feels like people who make animated movies and children's entertainment disregard all of these elements in order to fill most of the runtime with jokes involving flatulence and bodily fluid humor, being uber-topical and catering to what's trendy in the world right now, and creating characters that are overtly hyperactive and loud and unrelatable. Every now and then you get something that looks like effort was put in like "Toy Story 4" or "Zootopia" or "Peter Rabbit" or "Spider Man: Into The Spider Verse". But, for every good animated movie like those, you get something like "Sherlock Gnomes" or "Trolls: World Tour" or "The Emoji Movie". Movies that appear to have zero creative elements whatsoever and are only made to cram as much potty humor, puns, and cringeworthy topical references in without context or focusing on the story.

In my honest opinion, I think that the personnel involved with modern animated movies believe that all kids think passing gas or going to the bathroom is funny. Therefore, these people put these awful jokes in these movies, when in reality they are taking the animation art form and ruining it. Yes, some of the imagery may be cool to look at. The animation might be good. But, there are too many examples of animated movies incessantly cutting to some absolutely terrible joke where a character passes gas or references defecation. One of the most prominent examples of this is most animated movies about animals or dogs that have come out recently, the guiltiest criminal being "The Secret Life Of Pets" franchise. There are tons of jokes about dogs' backsides, flatulence, and whatever else is bad about modern animation. "Sherlock Gnomes" in one of its trailers had an overextended scene with a character passing gas in a jacuzzi (that apparently wasn't featured in the movie). Go back several recent years, and you will see other examples of animated films with potty humor that sucks. "Despicable Me", "Hotel Transylvania", "The Nut Job", "Alvin And The Chipmunks", the list goes on and on. This also applies to adult animated films as well, where instead of actually presenting adults with a mature story, they just do a bunch of sexual jokes and overaccentuate violence. "Sausage Party" did this. "The Happytime Murders" did this, even though that was puppetry and not animation. And going to TV shows for a minute, "Family Guy", "American Dad", and a lot of Adult Swim cartoons are notorious for doing this. It's the same exact thing, just with blood and sex instead of excrement and flatulence.

Now, I understand if you like some of these movies for what they are. If you're a fan of "Despicable Me", then fine. Enjoy it. If you like "Sherlock Gnomes"... well, who would... then go ahead. But, at the bottom of it all, isn't a movie with a good story and a focused plot SO much better? Why are movies like "Zootopia" and "How To Train Your Dragon" and "Toy Story" so beloved by people? Why are classic Disney or Pixar movies as classic as they are? Because they were made by people that actually cared about what they were making. Not because they wanted to make money off of something that was nauseatingly colorful and cynical, but because they wanted to have kids actually pay attention to the messages that the films had, all the while entertaining them with something clever. Yes, there was potty humor in some of these, notably the skunk scene from "Zootopia", but this kind of humor was used VERY sparsely. The tone of the film wasn't sacrificed, and at the end of the day, the joke worked well. They didn't halt the films. They didn't stoop down to the same level of thought as a preschooler in order to complete a film. The same is true for animation aimed at adults as well, the prominent example for me being "Isle Of Dogs". That movie's style of humor was more dry, and flatulent/sexual humor was completely absent. So, it can be done. Good animated movies can be made, and they should. Movies that you wouldn't feel ashamed of liking if you're an adult. Movies that actually inspire you or make you feel something rather than anger or disappointment.

This also goes for animated series as well. "101 Dalmatian Street" is a great example of a show that has had high and low moments throughout its run. Yes, you get good episodes at times such as "Doggy Da Vinci" and "Fear Window", and overall I think "101 Dalmatian Street" is a step above other recent animated series in my own personal opinion. But at the same time, you're also getting episodes that could have been SO much better if they would have just cut out the potty humor and replaced it with actual focus and consistency. The episode "A Date With Destiny, Dallas, and Deja Vu" is the perfect example of this. Whether you like the episode or not, I think most people would agree that the final act of that episode would have been SO much better if they didn't stop to have one of the Triple D pass gas and then state that she isn't trained to be on a helicopter. Instead, we get an episode that is among one of my least favorites of the show all because bad writers could not step away from the bathroom humor. It's a plague in animated media that not a lot of people talk about, but I feel a lot of people should.

We need something that feels more genuine and heartfelt in animation. Something that caters to children, but also caters to a universal audience. It is not a matter of the medium that's being used. Hand drawn animation and CGI animation have been the medium used for excellent movies and TV shows since they were revolutionized, and I don't inherently prefer one over the other. It would be like picking a favorite band or picking a favorite sibling. I love both forms of animation just as much, and I also think some are criminally underrated and need some attention as well. But, then again, the hand drawn era did give us some of the most genuine and sincere productions in animation history, and the CGI era has had several more misfires. That's not a knock on the medium, because CGI can suck you into the world of whatever animated movie you're watching. The writing has to feel timeless and focused, though, and that's what's killing animation in general. Not the overprevalence on CGI over traditional cel animation, but the horrid writing and the durmbing down of children's entertainment to cater only to children and no one else. I honestly think that more cartoons should cater to an older audience, but with that, it should also be intelligent and smart without going over the top on certain elements. Same thing for all forms of animation and all demographics as well. I'd like to see more animated films and shows in the future that are devoid of the flaws that today's animated properties have. If we had a future where more creative and earnest productions were made, that would be excellent.

What do you think? Should there be more creativity in animation? Do you mind if these jokes are in these movies and cartoons? What would you want to see in the future in terms of animation as a whole? Please feel free to enjoy my content on the Scamp4553 Deviantart account as well, including other lists, reviews, and other series. Also, if you'd like to get a glimpse at all of the insanity that goes on outside of this site, check me out as Scamp4553 on Instagram and as SimbaKoda444 on YouTube. And of course, more content is coming your way soon. Take care.