Even though I complained about the downward spiral that current day animation and the channels that put them on seem to be going through, I do have to admit that, at the moment, it's not half bad if you happen to be a comic book fan as well (like myself). Along with old re-runs of shows like the classic Batman animated series and the Justice League, Marvel and DC both have two shows out that are, at least if you ask me, some of their strongest animated programming offers to date: Batman - Brave and the Bold, and The Spectacular Spider-Man. These two shows truly embrace their source material, having both the story lines and the characters adhere closely to the comics, yet also presenting them in a new, unique matter that is exclusive to their respective shows. Gone are the days of the X-Men and Spider-Man 90's cartoons and their stiff animations and plots that catered more toward the adults who read the comics, rather than the kids they were intended for.

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I've been thinking about animation since our last class trying to think of something to write about, which was a bit daunting at first. My thought process was that animation seems to be very similar to TV and film, so it might just be a re-hash of something that's already been said. I began thinking, "What makes animation unique?" I then remembered someone very iconic in our culture. Mickey Mouse.

Mickey Mouse first appeared in the cartoon where he's on a steamboat, which happened to be one of the earlier animations of our time. His whimsical adventures led him to do many a humorous trick for the viewers, and this placed him in the heart of children everywhere. I began thinking to myself that this seems to show a difference in the media types: animation seems to be very silly for the most part.

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With all the talk of animation we have been doing in class, I began to consider my youth, which seemed to be full of glorious animation. Yes, during the earlier stages of my life, it was as though animation was everywhere. Television shows on Nickelodeon, the beginning of Cartoon Network, as well as many fantastic animated films created by Disney were some of the highlights of my younger years. Lately, though, there seems to be a negative trend. Gone are the hand-drawn cartoon films of Disney, Nickelodeon seems to be attempting to appeal to the teenage (girl) demographic, and Cartoon Network appears to embrace computer-generated animation, japanese cartoons with only about 15 minutes of animation for a 30 minute show (with the rest replaced with flashy backgrounds), and even attempted to have live action shows. Let me repeat that, for those who don't understand - CARTOON NETWORK WAS THINKING OF NOT HAVING CARTOONS. Isn't that ridiculous?

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So the comment in class the other day piqued my interest, specifically the one about New Yorker cartoons being not only hard to understand but not exactly tickling the majority of our funny bones. I definitely have to agree on that one. Prime example by George Booth from 1987.

We see a wife cleaning dishes from the kitchen, saying to her husband "Basil, do you think the center is going to hold?" who is sitting in his armchair reading a paper, while a dog and a cat look away from each other............Look at it carefully. Are you roaring with laughter? Do you even get it? Because I sure don't. I reminds me of cisco104's blog about value judgements in determining the worth of cartoons. Apparently just because it's in the New Yorker, it is therefore high culture which takes an elevated sense of comical acumen to discern it. I guess it doesn't even matter that it's not funny, it's the New Yorker.

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So in our discussion last thursday, we were defining a cartoon as a story told thru multiple visual depictions, or something like that. I was workng on a project alter and found myself wondering about our definition, becuase couldnt it then include woodcarvings, some forms of masonry, and even maybe (just maybe) totem poles? If you think about it, some of these really are non textual, three dimensional, cartoons? some of them tell stories, and they really are artistic as well? I just wanted to throw this question out there and see if anyon had any thoughts

P.S. Real Men Whittle.