Things in animation that haven't aged well

[Streaker Prower]

If The Berenestain Bears (2003) was made today I think Brother Bear would be more focused on instead of the rest of the familt. I don't know what Nelvana like humor is these days is like but Disney has been slowly fading out Homer strangling Bart stuff ( Which I'm glad about honesty) So maybe less mean humor???

 

[Luffyfan38]

If The Berenestain Bears (2003) was made today I think Brother Bear would be more focused on instead of the rest of the familt. I don't know what Nelvana like humor is these days is like but Disney has been slowly fading out Homer strangling Bart stuff ( Which I'm glad about honesty) So maybe less mean humor???

I could see that, like what's happening with Family Guy. Stewie used to be action genius killing type of character. Now switch to Disney and they start to focous more on him in his kindergarten days than any thing else, I assume to match the age group for Disney. Look at Meg from earlier episodes to now.

 

[Petran Markou]

Any cartoons that revolve around an intergenerational friendship between a child and an adult would certainly not fly by today's standards. I've never heard of any examples where the adult isn't a parental figure or mentor to the child, because that's what Chowder and Flapjack were, and those examples involved non-human characters and one non-human-looking character (Captain K'Nuckles). While this has worked in Gravity Falls with Soos, there was one episode I recall where a mother kept her kids away from him out of paranoia, implying him to be a predator.

Due to the stigma around adults - mainly man (sexist double standard) - being around non-family children for extensive durations of time, many people are quick to assume that the adult is a pedophile and child groomer. So unless the cartoon were about the adult being a mentor and parental figure to the kid, I can't imagine it would ever get the greenlight unless the adult mentor was a woman and most likely with a girl instead of a boy. Although overlooked, women can be pedophiles too and the ones that are more often prey on boys.

Regarding human characters, it was one reason that this Danish animated movie was very difficult to watch.

 

[HomokHarcos]

I noticed a lot of media from as recently as the 2000s would be seen as very homophobic today.

 

[KeldeoKitty]

Syncro-Vox:

An animation technique that’s so outdated it was never indated. It’s just realistic lips placed on a static drawing. It was used on a handful of cartoons in the 50’s and 60’s as a way to make cartoons with no money. These types of cartoons look centuries behind theatrical cartoons that came out in the 30’s and 40’s and are more suited for a grade school experiment than something shown on TV.

Syncro-Vox should have died out as soon as it emerged yet it was used as recently as the Annoying Orange web series and don’t forget Cartoon Network’s TV version of Annoying Orange that was just a cheesy web video copy and pasted on TV. Speaking of which just about any TV series or commercialization of a web show is bound to become outdated like Nick’s Fred: The Show which I think was really losing popularity by the time it came out.

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

Syncro-Vox:
View attachment 293871
An animation technique that’s so outdated it was never indated. It’s just realistic lips placed on a static drawing. It was used on a handful of cartoons in the 50’s and 60’s as a way to make cartoons with no money. These types of cartoons look centuries behind theatrical cartoons that came out in the 30’s and 40’s and are more suited for a grade school experiment than something shown on TV.

Syncro-Vox should have died out as soon as it emerged yet it was used as recently as the Annoying Orange web series and don’t forget Cartoon Network’s TV version of Annoying Orange that was just a cheesy web video copy and pasted on TV. Speaking of which just about any TV series or commercialization of a web show is bound to become outdated like Nick’s Fred: The Show which I think was really losing popularity by the time it came out.

A lot of early television animation (i.e. before Hanna-Barbera and Jay Ward went big with their shows, and even some after that) would be applicable for this thread. Back then, studios tried all sorts of things to cut corners for television cartoons since the budgets were nothing like what their theatrical counterparts were getting (and even those were starting to shrink). A few would not even count as animation (I've read about something called The Mummynappers that was "just silhouetted human beings prancing around drawn backgrounds").

Some of the shows from the mid-20th century have been compiled into The Worst Cartoons Ever! presentation (including one Cambria/Syncro-Vox show: Captain Fathom): The Worst Cartoons Ever Made! - Rembrandt Animation

One of the more interesting cartoons at the time (to me, at least) was Colonel Bleep, largely due to its emphasis on design. Said design (reflective of the Mid Century Modern aesthetics of the time) manages to stand out from the animation (which is often comparable to PowerPoint).

Regarding modern usage of Syncro-Vox: most of it seems to be funny/ironic/satirical, contra how it was used back then, even with Annoying Orange. Examples can be found in scenes/episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants and Courage the Cowardly Dog. There's also that brief scene with "Daffy" in Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers, a cartoon that lampooned cheap animation.

Sure, Syncro-Vox didn't last long in being taken seriously, but that doesn't mean there's no room for it nowadays (though it probably helps that it's used sporadically, in addition to what I wrote above).

 

[JoeMabbon]

Tobacco usage, particularly in cartoons aimed at children. It's kinda weird seeing Professor Utonium with a pipe in early Powerpuff Girls even though that visually fits his character so well.

 

[AnimatedFan01]

Tobacco usage, particularly in cartoons aimed at children. It's kinda weird seeing Professor Utonium with a pipe in early Powerpuff Girls even though that visually fits his character so well.

Rango is a children's animated movie which features prominent depictions of smoking and that movie is only 10 and a half years old.

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

And then there's Popeye.

 

[Sam the Cartoonist]

Rango is a children's animated movie which features prominent depictions of smoking and that movie is only 10 and a half years old.

Theatrical features can often get away with showing more 'adult' material than their television counterparts (remember the jackass muttering scene from the Spongebob movie).

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Tobacco usage, particularly in cartoons aimed at children. It's kinda weird seeing Professor Utonium with a pipe in early Powerpuff Girls even though that visually fits his character so well.

Speaking of that, I wonder what the last kids show to show someone smoking. I know Kids Next Door had a few villains with pipes/cigars, but off of the top of my head I cant think of anything more recent.

 

[Alph]

I'm sure to be tarred and feathered for this, but...(gulp)...Batman: The Animated Series. No one is saying that the writing is poor, Paul Dini and co wrote a terrific series with great stories. However the animation and artwork is so old and dated by today's standards as to make the show for all intents and purposes unwatchable. It even looks old and crusty next to a show like Justice League: the Animated Series, which was created only a decade later in 2001.

I understand that this show is going to have a devoted fanbase due to the great writing and superb stories. But the fact is the artwork and animation looks jurrassic at this point. Maybe they can come up with a remastered version of the series? It certainly deserves one.

The animation still looks fine to me. I think it's your brain that just doesn't jive with it anymore.

 

[Red Arrow]

I'm sure to be tarred and feathered for this, but...(gulp)...Batman: The Animated Series. No one is saying that the writing is poor, Paul Dini and co wrote a terrific series with great stories. However the animation and artwork is so old and dated by today's standards as to make the show for all intents and purposes unwatchable. It even looks old and crusty next to a show like Justice League: the Animated Series, which was created only a decade later in 2001.

I understand that this show is going to have a devoted fanbase due to the great writing and superb stories. But the fact is the artwork and animation looks jurrassic at this point. Maybe they can come up with a remastered version of the series? It certainly deserves one.

I find the animation and music better than any other part of the show. (and I am from 1997 so I never grew up with the show)

Do you think all cel animation is dated? Because Batman's animation is really the best of the best.

Speaking of that, I wonder what the last kids show to show someone smoking. I know Kids Next Door had a few villains with pipes/cigars, but off of the top of my head I cant think of anything more recent.

K'nuckles had a pipe as a mayor in "Mayor May Not", a Flapjack episode from 2010. I think some other characters also had pipes. So my guess would be 2010.

When was the last time a cigarette was shown in American cartoons for children? Probably Braceface in 2003? And if we only count cartoons from the USA, maybe Rocko's Modern Life?

It was always so weird seeing Detective Conan / Case Closed on TV because the characters were constantly smoking

 

[Sam the Cartoonist]

I find the animation and music better than any other part of the show. (and I am from 1997 so I never grew up with the show)

Do you think all cel animation is dated? Because Batman's animation is really the best of the best.

K'nuckles had a pipe as a mayor in "Mayor May Not", a Flapjack episode from 2010. I think some other characters also had pipes. So my guess would be 2010.

When was the last time a cigarette was shown in American cartoons for children? Probably Braceface in 2003? And if we only count cartoons from the USA, maybe Rocko's Modern Life?

It was always so weird seeing Detective Conan / Case Closed on TV because the characters were constantly smoking

From my observations, pipes are generally more acceptable to depict in children's media, especially when using the Sherlock-esque detective trope. However, even in most of those cases, bubbles will come out of the pipe instead of smoke.

 

[Pooky]

It doesn't bother me, but The Critic seems very "of its time now", not just that it has more gay jokes than would fly know (and I guess weight jokes and other stuff that might cause a bit more of a stir), not just the very late 20th Century frame of reference for all the pop culture humour, not even just that Jay Sherman has the kind of prominent film review TV show that I think hasn't existed for a decade, to me its chiefly that the archetype of the film critic who is only interested in high-brow fare and sneers at the latest blockbuster, while it remains a boogeyman to over-sensitive artists and overly-defensive fans, it doesn't ring true in the age of Rotten Tomatoes. If it were to be made now I think it would be about an ambitious YouTuber or blogger who worries about giving negative reviews lest his access to press screenings be taken away.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I find the animation and music better than any other part of the show. (and I am from 1997 so I never grew up with the show)

Do you think all cel animation is dated? Because Batman's animation is really the best of the best.

K'nuckles had a pipe as a mayor in "Mayor May Not", a Flapjack episode from 2010. I think some other characters also had pipes. So my guess would be 2010.

When was the last time a cigarette was shown in American cartoons for children? Probably Braceface in 2003? And if we only count cartoons from the USA, maybe Rocko's Modern Life?

It was always so weird seeing Detective Conan / Case Closed on TV because the characters were constantly smoking

I know Ozzy and Drix had an episode where the kid started smoking and became addicted. That would have been like 2003-ish (I’m too lazy to look it up).

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

I know Ozzy and Drix had an episode where the kid started smoking and became addicted. That would have been like 2003-ish (I’m too lazy to look it up).

I seem to remember seeing part of that episode. Or at least one dealing with drugs.

 

[Alph]

I know Ozzy and Drix had an episode where the kid started smoking and became addicted. That would have been like 2003-ish (I’m too lazy to look it up).

That sounds to me like a PSA style episode. Those tend to have a different standard when it comes to censorship. For instance, Gargoyles and Static Shock both had episodes where someone gets shot by accident when someone was handling a gun. Normally bullets never manage to hit anyone in those shows, but an exception was made because the episode was about gun safety.


Similarity, you can't just show someone casually smoking or doing drugs in a kids' show. But if you want to have a special episode that shows the negative effects of smoking or drugs, suddenly smoking and drugs will materialize in that world so kids can see their negative effects.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Tobacco usage, particularly in cartoons aimed at children. It's kinda weird seeing Professor Utonium with a pipe in early Powerpuff Girls even though that visually fits his character so well.

Heck, there was the truck stop waitress Midge in Dexter's Laboratory, who was always seen with a cigarette on her mouth.

 

[Dantheman]

This scene from The Simpsons- Transphobic or not?: