Chowder and the End of the Golden Age of Child Animation
As a child, I was what one could call a connoisseur of cartoons. Being in this class, I recently revisited the show Chowder and one thing that stood out above the adolescent stupidity (which dont get me wrong, I love it) is the animation style.
Each character has a layer behind the screen that is only seen on their clothing, and as they move along that layer, their clothes change. It's almost like they are wearing green shirts and it was green screened to have a stationary full screen layer behind it. Yeah, I'll just attach a video here because i can't find the words to explain this style. Just pay attention to the clothing and Schnitzel's skin, if you even watch lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHD6NvsE3iY
Is there any current childrens animation being produced today that you would watch ?
No.. (if so please correct me)
But would you go back in a heartbeat to watch shows like Codename: Kids Next Door, Rocket Power, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?
These were just off the top of my head... there are so many animated television shows meant for children that I would watch today. It's just they aren't being made anymore.
Being the youngest of three, I feel like I was able to experience a good chunk of this 15+ year span of fantastic child animation. From Catdog to older Spongebob and Hey Arnold! to Avatar: The Last Airbender.
There was SO MUCH GOOD ANIMATION FOR KIDS TO ENJOY. A CHARACTER IN CHOWDER WENT FOUR SEASONS WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING OTHER THAN "RADDA."
Where is the joy in the children animation industry these days?
Will my children grow up on some trash like PAW Patrol?
Why must all good things come to an end?
Radda radda radda?
Each character has a layer behind the screen that is only seen on their clothing, and as they move along that layer, their clothes change. It's almost like they are wearing green shirts and it was green screened to have a stationary full screen layer behind it. Yeah, I'll just attach a video here because i can't find the words to explain this style. Just pay attention to the clothing and Schnitzel's skin, if you even watch lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHD6NvsE3iY
Is there any current childrens animation being produced today that you would watch ?
No.. (if so please correct me)
But would you go back in a heartbeat to watch shows like Codename: Kids Next Door, Rocket Power, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?
These were just off the top of my head... there are so many animated television shows meant for children that I would watch today. It's just they aren't being made anymore.
Being the youngest of three, I feel like I was able to experience a good chunk of this 15+ year span of fantastic child animation. From Catdog to older Spongebob and Hey Arnold! to Avatar: The Last Airbender.
There was SO MUCH GOOD ANIMATION FOR KIDS TO ENJOY. A CHARACTER IN CHOWDER WENT FOUR SEASONS WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING OTHER THAN "RADDA."
Where is the joy in the children animation industry these days?
Will my children grow up on some trash like PAW Patrol?
Why must all good things come to an end?
Radda radda radda?
Great Point, Will!
ReplyDeleteTo go along with this the style of writing in kids shows is changing. Shows like The Grimm Adventures of Bill and Mandy, Courage, Dexter, and Catdog are all so abstract in comparison to cartoon shows today. This unorthodox, more creative premise also allowed for more freedom in animation style. For example, Paw Patrol is set in the real world, meaning it confines itself to many "laws" of our world such as gravity and time. Where as Billy and Mandy was set in our world but had a character like Grimm who is able to bend the laws of the world like bringing ghosts and demons to life and opening portals into a different dimension. All of these characteristics allowed for the animators to be free while creating and not worry about "the rules".
In conclusion, new kids animated cartoons are trash.
Thanks.
I was always leaned more towards Nickelodeon back in the days, but I happened to discover Cartoon Network towards the end of its golden age. Chowder happened to be one of the shows that I enjoyed watching on the channel, seeing it as a CN counterpart to Spongebob Squarepants (which is my favorite childhood cartoon). The detail you mentioned in Chowder's clothing and Schnitzel's skin was one I always found cool as a kid, but never really thought much of it. Having more knowledge about how films are edited now, it's satisfying to know the technique behind the trick and makes you pay more attention to the overall style of animation. I see where you are coming from when you say how there are few children's animated shows that are good nowadays, and it is quite saddening. Shows like Teen Titans and The Powerpuff Girls are being remastered poorly, and are milking off the success of the once fantastic shows of old. I've seen glimpses of a show called Steven Universe, on Cartoon Network, which has likable characters and a story more mature viewers can connect with, but there aren't many others like it being currently aired. Creators today use the intended "child audience" as an excuse to make the animation lazy and poorly written, which I find toxic to the reputation of cartoons. If things don't turn up, the next generation may grow up consuming some absolutely vile pieces of cartoon waste.
ReplyDeleteI've never really noticed the animation details in the clothing before; very cool. Old Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon cartoons show how much more creative cartoons used to be. Not only in their animation style, but in the story as well. Older "kids" cartoons were shows for kids, but there was something in them that almost everyone could enjoy. There's much more of a defined line between kids cartoons and adult cartoons today. A lot of kids shows today don't have the animation supplement the story. Rather, it's animated for the reason that it'll cater more towards kids.
ReplyDelete