Now-a-days, cartoons are seen as a type of program just for children. That may even be true of most cartoons on TV these days. They usually are dumbed down to the most basic level in order to cater to children. In doing this, the production companies make these cartoons absolutely boring and sometimes even unbearable to watch for adults. That has not always been the case and old Disney cartoons prove that point.
Back in the 1920’s, when Mickey Mouse made his debut, a short cartoon was shown at the beginning of every movie shown at the theater. Because of this, cartoons had to be enjoyable for everyone, and they truly were. If one watches early Mickey Moue cartoons, they will find fun and humor that both adults and children can enjoy.
For instance, in Steamboat Willie, there are a lot of inanimate objects coming to life. This is a very classic cartoon technique and appeals mostly to children. Children like silly things that wouldn’t happen in real life. For the adults, there’s a reference to music that most children wouldn’t understand. A goat finds a piece of sheet music with the words “Turkey in the Straw” on the front. He eats the sheet music and, for the rest o the cartoon, spouts out the melody to this tune. Most children would not even be phased by this, but it is humorous and entertaining for adults.
Another thing that is different about old Disney cartoons as compared to children’s programming today is the difference in standards. Mickey is not as sweet and dear in the early cartoons. In fact, he’s kind of a jerk. In Steamboat Willie, he makes music by harassing the different animals around him so that they produce certain noises (e.g. he picks up a cat by its tail and swings it around over his head). In Plane Crazy, Mickey threatens Minnie when she won’t give him a kiss. It’s very clear that these cartoons were meant purely to entertain, and not to teach children a lesson about society and propriety. If I may say so, I believe cartoon entertainment is better off without all of that moral nonsense. When a producer tries to shove so much “let’s learn a lesson material” into a cartoon, it soon loses it’s simple charm. Let it be what it is: just a fun little piece made to entertain.
I would also like to make the argument that the animation itself was better back in the old days, even though cartoons were mostly in black and white. Because the animators did not have voices and color to work with, they really had to pull through on the animation. The facial expressions and movements had to be absolutely perfect in order to tell the story that they wanted to tell. Now, animators can count on color and dialogue to help them tell the story, and I believe that the animation has suffered because of it.
Old Cartoons were different in another way, too. They defied physical laws more than cartoons now do. Sure, we still see things in cartoons today that could never happen in real life (like talking animals), but it’s all more feasible than what always happened in the early cartoons. In old cartoons, almost every inanimate object moves and has a personality. Also, characters freely remove body parts and reattach them at their convenience without a second thought.
Cartoons are definitely different now than they were back when the art form first started. Granted, they have improved in technical quality, but I think it’s arguable that they have gone downhill as far as pure storytelling goes.
