What happened to all the good cartoons?

Man, I remember when I was a kid we had the best cartoons on TV. That was back when Nickelodeon was great and Cartoon Network had worthy shows. Nowadays, all the good cartoons are gone and one or two good shows remain. You know what cartoons I was talking about.

• Animaniacs
  
• Catdog
• Dexter's Laboratory
• Flinstones
  
• Hey Arnold
• Jetsons
  
• Johnny Bravo
• Pinky and the Brain
• Powerpuff Girls
  
• Rocko's Modern Life
  
• Rugrats
• Scooby-Doo
• Tiny Toon Adventures
  
• Tom & Jerry
  
• Transformers

A lot of those are on CN's Boomerang network while the rest are available on DVD.  Networks don't have any motivation to keep airing older shows when they can get you to buy the seasons on DVD.  Now, if you are asking why aren't there as many good shows being made today as their used to be, well I think there has been a push by children-focused networks to increase the number of live-action programming they broadcast.  Live-action is cheaper than cartoons and faster to produce.  So, this summer expect to see even more reality based programs on Cartoon Network, in addition to the Disney teen crowd getting their fill of Selena Gomez and Miranda Crosgrove (yeah I know she's Nick).

There are a handful of good shows being made though.  Disney has a well produced gem in Phineas and Ferb, while Cartoon Network will soon start airing the next season of Total Drama Island.   I think Nick's latest outings, the Mighty B!, Wolverine & the X-Men and Iron Man Adventures were pretty thin.  I can't fathom who okayed the idea to make Tony Stark a teenager in the Iron Man cartoon, but whatever.

Even though, I wasn't as enamored by the Mighty B!, Chowder or The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, they are all original ideas that some people might like more.  Not every show is for everyone.  If there were more shows being created, there would be more shows that might appeal to me.  But, the networks want that Hannah Montana demographic more than they want the Toonami crowd, as has been evidenced in that programming blocks demise.

Cartoons are certainly not as inventive as they used to be...at least in my opinion.  Who thinks of  a cat and dog attached to eachother?  Geniuses, that's who.  BTW, spongebob sucks now..they changed the animation style, the voices sound different, the sound effects are overused now, and the plots are dumb.

There are still some great adult cartoons such as The Simpsons and Futurama.

There are still some great adult cartoons such as The Simpsons and Futurama.

Well, lots of things that were spawned in the 80's and rose to fame in the 90's are now dead in the 2000's because those ideas, animations, characters and concepts - once thought of as unique - are just classics now and they lost their groove, you know? humans move on in all aspects and fields, we cant stick to the same programs cuz they're outdated.

Im just waiting for when kids growing up now lament how crappy cartoons are 10 years from now. Its all subjective to what one grew up with at the time. Just talk to people who grew up with cartoons in the 70s. Its the "get off my lawn" constant. Everything is better when it was what you personally grew up with.

That said I do miss when every network had full Saturday Morning Cartoon blocks that all lasted like 10 hours. It was just an onslaught of cartoons and adverts and adverts disguised as cartoons. Some networks do have saturday cartoons but it was the EVENT that they were back in the 80s/90s. Now it just feels like lazy programming disguised as tradition.

Once we surpassed 1999 it all became crap.

You're old. That's the only explanation. The yound adults in the 80s were probably asking the same questions. Same thing ten years later. And now you.

You're old. You will become grumpy old men and everything new you will perceive as stupid and unnecessary.

Most of the creators of the cartoons from the 90's renaissance went on to do other things. Dexter and Powerpuff Girls creator went to do Samurai Jack, the old 2D Clone Wars, and is now making a movie.

I don't think they market to children like they did just 10 years ago.  Some major business mind shift must have taken place.

Also I hear kids these days are watching less TV and spending more time on the net and playing games (like everyone really)

The age of great cartoons has passed...all of my favorite Cartoon Network cartoons were all canceled a long time ago.

Spongebob, dude... It's awesome!

Invader Zim is still awesome and hilarious, and it didn't even get a second season!

Also WTF cartoon network showing non-cartoon shows

They either stopped making them or starting making "XTREME," "NEW" versions of them.

Personally I think kids are really lucky to have the shows they do because as the OP, I watched all of those shows as a kid... and some eighties stuff but still.

Now they have Fairly Odd Parents and Spongebob Squarepants... just these shows that attract the Children and well as the Adults, fantastic shows...

-- God Bless.

I agree that today's cartoons sure suck, glad I'm not a kid growing up nowadays. Don't forget Tom & Jerry!

We grew up.

Spielberg had the best cartoons. Animaniacs, Tiny Toon, Pinky and Brain, Freakazoid. They were actually funny, combining slapstick with pop culture worked great. Adult Swim had a couple of good shows a while back but most of them got cancelled after two or three seasons. Also am I the only one who got sobby when Freakazoid ended?

Where is my Chuck Jones show?

I imagine it'll be involvement from things like the FCC and other agencies like that which are trying to 'protect' the children of America. I'm sure I read a few years ago that Johnny Bravo was being investigated for misogyny so I can imagine everything is trying to be as kid friendly as it can and that means everything has zero personality.

Hey Arnold was the shit

The animation world went down hill ever since 2000. The only exception is Pixar.

People grew up and became adults and stopped watching cartoons.

It is thanks to the new generation of children, of course. They need to see the old-school cartoons from 10 years ago, not this current crap.

I still can't believe they remade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The original animated series in the 1980's and 90's was definitive!

Nickelodeon studios had shut down, which was responsible for a lot of our childhood shows.

I agree that we grew up though. I'm certainly grumpier than as a kid.

All the kids are watching Gossip Girl and House now.

I miss DuckTales, He-Man, TMNT, and Scooby-Doo the most.  Can't really comment on cartoons today though, since I watch very few of them.  I do like South Park though, and strangely, I'm starting to come around to Family Guy which I used to dislike.  I guess since it's becoming more popular, they were permitted to hire better writers or something.

yeah we grew up and got grumpy but still this shit TV shows now adays is strait up gay... as in not funny..at all I mean its a constant barrage of preteens, teenagers and adults pretending to be preteens and teenagers, screaming at eachother, farting on eachother, and saying stupid shit which doesn't make any sense/isn't even funny along with the worst plots ever....then you've got these girls all dressed up in "to catch a predator gear" and its like wtf america?!  I give up on american society and I stopped watching my TV long ago.... mostly cause the navy seems to lack cable...and ever since I simply lost my need to watch it...

american societies youth can kick rocks... I mean even the older crowd of the 70s or whatever enjoyed our shows....  and the fact they're remaking my childhood favorites into this shit pisses me off.... good day to you lads

Your personal view of cartoons directly correlates with your age and the maturity of the content.  It's a scientific fact.

I think you start hating new traditional kid's cartoons as soon as you turn around 14.  That explains why I think Animaniacs is probably the last great children's cartoon ever made and Futurama is the last great adult cartoon of our time.

My guess is that crap sells. How do you think so many "Movie Movies" got made (Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie, Date Movie, etc.)?

Its nostalgic,  nobody would ever say things there generation experienced are worse than what is out now.  Just look at out grandparents, they call there generation the greatest one, and then call our parents generation a bunch of doped up hippies.

I have no idea what either of those 2 things are and am planning to keep it that way. Ya as stated above its nostalgia and thats really it. You love the things when you were a kid and you didn't have to worry about anything really. i'd guess if Doug came out in 2009 instead of in the 90s i'd probably hate it. It's just the way the brain works.

I'm a kid of the 00's and I agree with you, very much. Batman the animated and flintstones and all those old ones are great. It all makes me wish a little more that i was born in the 60's/70's

You grew up, thats what.

I honestly believe that after this current children generation grows to be our age they'll be saying exactly what we are only instead of mentioning Doug, Scooby Doo, and Rugrats they'll talk about Total Drama Island, Spongebob Squarepants, and Sixteen.

a few of my friends and me made a list of like 40 great cartoons that we remember from our childhood. my favorite is still rocko's modern life. its sad cause that show could never be shown on a kids program today because of how mature some of the material was in the show. im pretty sure it was in rocko or one of those nick shows, there was a super hero that like when you looked into his nipples he told you your future or something lol

Shit, I remember Cat Dog. Totally forgot about that show until now. I love that cartoon

Ya, Adult Swim has ATHF and other great shows. The oblongs were great but got cancelled. Futurama was cancelled but there has been 4 DVD (Blu-Ray) movies and the show is still being produced. You also forgot the old ren & Stimpy and Beavis and Butthead. 2 great cartoons!

There are still some good cartoons other than the ones on Adult Swim.  Cartoon Network has a new Batman series, The Brave and The Bold, that I think is pretty rad.  It's nowhere near as gritty as the 90s series, which is far superior, but it's fun and plays off older Batman tones, stuff from the old old old comics.  It also features more obscure DC characters like Green Arrow and Red Tornado.

Comedy's another story.  I miss the days of Rocko and Hey Arnold.  The only show I think is even remotely funny is the Chowder cartoon on Cartoon Network.  Very strange and goofy, but in a good and funny way.

If you remember at least half of these, you are a legend in my eyes......

Ah the 80's! When cartoons were so fast paced, you'd get a nose bleed just trying to keep up with them!

Brings a tear to my eye every time I see that.