Interesting discussion in Prog Music Soceity......

[Roger -Dot- Lee(Admin)]

Originally posted by kirk
the cost of animation production went
through the roof and killed cartoons.
by the late 60's, even chuck jones couldn't do
a decent feature (those tom and jerrys still
make me cringe).
popeye was in the hands of gene deitch..
bluto changed to brutus...
dark days indeed.

IMO- friz freleng did some decent 60's cartoons
given the limitations. the pink panther stuff
still holds up.

k

Very good points, Kirk.

The advent of computerized graphics (thanks in a large part to the work done at Silicon Graphics) has made cartoon production economically feasable -- much more so than even 30 years ago.

Now they just need to start putting out good stories instead of what's presented these days.

I think the biggest problem is that in the days of Bugs Bunny and company, the cartoon was geared much more toward an adult audience. During Tom and Jerry's day, including the later Road Runner dreck and on toward the later stuff of the 80s, it was all geared towards kids. They didn't bother putting in the high brow music or the complex humor since a significant portion of it would be lost on its main audience.

There is where the largest problem is. With the exception of the Simpsons, South Park, and some of the other more recent cartoons (Futurama, etc), the bulk of new cartoons are directed at the under 12 crowd.

Just my $.02, natch. Remember what you paid for it.

Roger -Dot- Lee, hell even Joe Camel's aimed at kids.