| That's Not All, Folks! |
31 March 2003
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This is the Golden Age of Cartoons
While the pretentious will call it animation, they really are just cartoons. However, this is one of the world's bright spots. Whether one has noticed or not, one is living in a golden age, not of philosophy, nor science, nor art, well, perhaps art, if cartooning (forgive the invention of a gerund) is an art. The cartoons made now surpass the Warner Brothers and Disney of old in both writing and drawing.
It is necessary that one defines one's terms, and arbitrarily, a cartoon is any animation, computer or human drawn that is funny. It must make one laugh, either with it or at it, otherwise, it is something else, something less. The reason is that the absurdity of life can only be illustrated (literally) when the laws of physics and society are suspended, and that is the definition of comedy.
Whether it is Cartoon Network's "Ed, Edd and Eddy," "Courage the Cowardly Dog," or Nickelodeon's already classic "Rugrats," present day cartoons satirize the human condition in ways "Saturday Night Live" never could because even then that show is good (a rarity now) the actors are live adults, and not, therefore, the people who should be pointing the finger at human folly.
As for the debate over computer v. human drawing, it is a non-starter. One could just as well argue over whether charcoal or pencil makes a better sketch. The tool is not the important thing, but rather what the artist makes it do. Pixar's films are no less cartoons for being computer-generated, no less artistic. The key is that they are well-written.
Best of all, cartoons are no longer restricted to Saturday mornings, when many have other things to do. Now, they are one all day, and all night, everyday, thanks to satellite/cable TV. They are making a comeback at the cinema, and someday, perhaps soon, after the ads, and the previews, one might just see an animated short before the feature film as a matter of course. There is a name for that sort of thing, "Progress."