Are we entering a new age of animation?

This is of course a discussion/debate about if we've exited the millennium age or not?

Arguments for:

1. Western animation overall quality of shows has been beginning to improve. Even caustic critic types have begun to notice this increase, and it has begun around 2009-2010.

2. Animation Age Ghetto is declining with a rise in cartoons enjoyable for both kids and adults.

3. The overall increase in intelligent writing of more mature (as in thought provoking rather than vulgar) concepts in cartoons without treating the viewer like morons.

Of course this debate is me starting to see things with a glass half full. If we have exited, what should we call this new age of animation asides from neo-Renaissance age. Named for the caustic critics calling this new wave of cartoons and anime just as good as the stuff from the Renaissance Age of Animation. (The 80s and 90s)

I'd say we are at least in terms of Televised animation. Sure their are some outliers, but it's certainly better then the 2000's.

I don't think so.

The fact is, at best, this new age is a continuation of what had been started during the nineties.

The cartoons are supposedly more mature - supposedly - but does that really make them any better than the previous century of animation? I don't think so...

And the Animation Age Ghetto never really existed anyway. It died the minute adults started tuning in to The Simpsons and Ren And Stimpy without a hint of shame.

edited 11th Aug '15 8:25:57 PM by Aldo930

I'd say a lot of cartoons nowadays are just as good as the ones in the 90's, if not better.

I'm gonna agree with Doug Walker and say "yea."

I think it's a steady change that began years ago. New age? That is a bit too much.

I feel like what defines the current state of animation is quality over quantity. We sadly don't have the diversity we used to have. Many networks have scrapped their animation blocks and Nickeolodeon and Disney focus more on their live-action shows than their animated ones. At the same time, I think on average cartoons are of a higher quality than they were in the past. Modern cartoons have content that go beyond the usual ribald jokes, and are allowed to have more continuity and to tackle more serious subjects than they have in the past. Even some of the darker cartoons of the past weren't allowed to go as far as some of the cartoons now.

Are we in a new age of animation? Eh, I'm not sure I'd go that far. But then, I don't know what marked the transition between past ages of animation. I'm assuming it would be a gradual process, instead of cartoons changing style overnight.

Maybe it's the start of a new one. Either way, I'm liking the trend of quality over quantity. To be honest, I jumped ship to anime because the 2000's were so flooded with crap. There were some good things like Avatar to be sure.

If we're truly at the start of a new age, I'd say the transition was started by Avatar and Phineas And Ferb. Still, the fact that a change in approach to cartoons ( smaller numbers of better quality shows) means we might be at the start or may have been at the start recently.

[stereotypical william shatner parody voice] Is. This. TheDawnOfANewAge? The. Cusp. OfANew. Paradigm?

In all seriousness ye

edited 11th Aug '15 11:03:45 PM by DapperMammoth

Thought of another trend that's seeming to rise.

Characters seem to be nicer as a whole compared to the previous age. In the Millennium Age, it's not an uncommon site for either the setting to be full of Jerkass characters or for them to become unlike able assholes through flanderization. It was a trend I hated. You start seeing this in very late Rennisance age animation like Cat Dog (possible origin???).

IIRC, P&F was said to have been intended as a rebellion against this escalating Jerkass trend, with one of the creators not liking the trend.

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Age of Aquarius.

...Aquaaaaariuuuuuuus.

The dawn...of a million souls.

edited 12th Aug '15 12:05:00 AM by XJTordecai

Not really. Adults still treat this stuff like kid's stuff. Otherwise, Canada (and most of Europe) would have quit with this shit a long time ago... Or at least stop making so much damn cheap shit that appeals to NO ONE, for example.

When Canada (and most of Europe) stops giving computer-based tools for animation a bad name, outside of a few people that use it well, then I'll be inclined to agree with you.

Until then... No. Just No. Sorry.

edited 12th Aug '15 2:55:44 AM by Shokew

I am not sure. When we are talking about movies, we have entered a new age in the 1990s, an age in which multiple companies started to compete, enough that animated movies warrant their own award show now.

Concerning Television...I honestly don't see much of a difference. The only difference is that animation has embraced serialized storytelling instead of episodic one, but that is a process which TV in general made in the late 1990s/early 2000s, not a specific thing for animation. There are so called "adult shows" but they always were around.

I would say that we have the highest proportion of good animation on at the moment, but there are a lot fewer shows overall.

Cartoons may be more mature today but I still haven't seen anything with the maturity of, say, Ringing Bell.

A lot of children's cartoons back in the 90s and 00s had a clever, satirical sense of humor - and I can't think of any with that type of humor today. So that's one thing, when you think about it, that we're missing.

Saturday morning died gradually over the 00s, leaving the cable networks to rule.

edited 12th Aug '15 5:14:19 AM by Aldo930

The think we're missing is primarily action shows. Literally the only one on TV right now is TMNT.

The problem with the last wave of action shows was that they were expensive and didn't get enough ratings to sustain them. They'll make a comeback though. You wait and see.

Maybe? It'll probably be a few more years before we can say with any certainty. I do think that the current crop of cartoons feel more distinct from the ones that came before, but so far I think it's more of an evolutionary then revolutionary transition.

One thing that does stand out is seeing more serialized and dramatic story-lines in what are otherwise comedic shows. At least several of the current most popular shows seem to do that, to somewhat mixed effect.

So we are ignoring the Marvel cartoons Disney XD is presenting.

I know, the humor is annoying from time to time but how is that any different from the Turtle's humor.

Anyway besides those seven shows (counting the future Guardians of the Galaxy show and Batman Unlimited when it gets here) there is a less focus on action oriented shows. Take Transformers Robots in Disguise (yes, it exists) for example, that is one of the few Cartoon Network show to be dealing with action. Unfortunately, it is given a graveyard slot and isn't promoted like the other shows.

However, some of the recent comedy shows (like Steven Universe, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Penn Zero, etc) have feature some genuine action in their respective series showing that while not prominent there are some action oriented shows existing just in the format of typical comedic cartoons. So, yeah, action shows are still out there.

Indeed. CN may be out of their Dork Age, but I'd say one of their primary problems now is them screwing over their action shows. Hopefully we'll get more in the near future.

Well, styles in animation tend to go with the decade, so what's new there?

I'd say that it came at a point when they realized their comedies were getting the "SO DEEEEP" plaudits that mean adult bucks, plus the unprofitability of their last few action shows.

edited 12th Aug '15 7:36:27 AM by Aldo930

If you are going to be that stringent with what constitutes "new" then you're not really going to be contributing much to this discussion.

Let's be honest with ourselves. The only reason it's a new age is because styles are changing. They do this every decade. The half-hour toy commercials of the 80s went out of style by the nineties, and those in turn were responsible for the Scooby-Doo type mysteries of the 70s falling out of fashion.

It just so happens that at the moment our culture is hankering for "deep" shows, so that's what's in vogue now.

edited 12th Aug '15 8:15:52 AM by Aldo930

I know I'm not contributing too much here, but I think it bears bring it up, even if just once here.

Although we do seem to be trying new things, like, for example, being more respectful to the LGBTQ community, as at least 2 shows on CN are at least trying to do (namely Clarence and Steven Universe), we must remain vigilant and fight accordingly when it comes to people with money an power who dislike this stuff, despite the majority slowly but surely becoming more OK with it as long as it's not waved in their faces...

My example: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/warning-to-parents-pro-gay-cartoons-are-on-the-rise

Just one of many more hurdles for Western animation to hop over if we really want to believe we're in a new age more than we do now, if you ask me...

edited 12th Aug '15 8:38:08 AM by Shokew