Channel Frederator Blog

Even animation’s past has a future. The Looney Tunes, Popeyes and Caspers we baby boomers rushed home from school to watch may no longer be filling the afternoons of independent local TV stations (which by and large don’t exist anymore), but they’re alive and well on both deluxe DVD compilations and cheapie public domain discs, not to mention the internet, free or low-cost podcasts and video-on-demand services.

In the 1990’s two cable channels (you know who you are) rescued TV cartoons from the nadir of cheapness and apathy that had been their hallmark for most of the previous two decades. Creators, aching to show their chops rushed in to fill the vacuum. They came up with character-driven, story-driven, and in particular, design-driven shows that made a virtue of the limited budgets they had to work with. Snappy dialog, sharp direction and eye-catching visuals made coming home from school (or staying home from work) and turning on the TV fun again.

We boomers remember when the only feature-length cartoons were increasingly creaky efforts from the Mouse House, parceled out once every three years or so. Boy, has that changed. In 2006, it seems like there’s a new one every week and two or three playing at the multiplex simultaneously.

Let us now take a moment to mourn the passing of ‘amazing moving pen pictures,’ as Winsor McCay once described his own work – drawn by hand cartoons that as much as his or her signature, are imbued with the artist’s personality. There’s a glimmer of hope however, that the 2D theatrical feature, while buried, may not be entirely dead. Even as we speak there are rumors it is preparing to rise from the grave to once again dazzle us with its illusion of life. Please, Mr. Lasseter – don’t fail us.

It may all be sliders, shaders and software today, but the smartest players know it’s still story and character that make you sit there and believe in the reality of talking mice, cars and sporting equipment. And while big studios throw top-dollar pixelfests at the screen in the hopes of earning even bigger bucks, it’s sort of pleasing (in a schadenfreude kind of way) to occasionally see those films fall by the wayside in favor of lower-budgeted but more entertaining efforts.

And then there’re those folks sitting home at their Macs and PC’s, their muse looking over their shoulder, making cartoons by and for themselves. They don’t need no stinkin’ distributors, not when YouTube or Fred are ready to share their work with the micro, mid-sized or mega audience out there looking for something new and different.

Enough excitement for the moment? Just wait ‘til you see what’s onscreen tonight. Maestro, if you please: “Overture/Curtain, lights….”

- Joe Strike