[Old Professer]

More likely it's staying up late watching the parent's orgies.

[Gothmog]

Thanks for the article, brings back memories, but I've got a few problems with the author. Lets start with:

"Due to this precipice in viewers, network cartoons are left struggling to make money while advertisers remain befuddled without a mainstream channel to promote new toys and products to children."

This is completely false. I just bought a present for one of my nephews most likely because he saw it on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. And he was right, it was a very cool toy.

He says: "Six key factors have led to children watching less Saturday morning cartoons: more recreational sports, the introduction of cable and satellite TV, the Internet and video games, a poorer quality of animation, and a greater emphasis on family time."

Um, if kids are simply watching the same (or more) cartoons on "cable and satellite TV" it kind of defeats his argument. In fact, I would say that this is what is happening. Why does he have a problem with kids watching 3 hours of cartoons on Nickelodeon rather than 3 hours on NBC? Sounds like he has a problem w/ kids not watching 'mainstream' TV cartoon ads.

Also, a poorer quality of animation is ridiculous, given technological advancements, although there are some poorer choices of graphics made by some shows. But that is their choice, certainly not lack of technology.

And here's the big myth: "the divorce rate of Americans now stands at 49 percent."

I've seen that stat around for years and without even looking it up I can tell you it's false. Just look at Hollywood. If a small portion of the population gets divorced multiple times, you might reach that figure. But that means the majority of the married population stays married.

This whole article is filled with holes, straw men, fallacies and logical inconsistencies, but thanks for posting it. I still like some cartoons and its nice to reminisce with some who share the same memories.

[Stew Padasso]

[Junior_G]

One thing I really don't understand is the obsession with Anime. When I saw the movie "Akira" in 1988, I thought it was the most amazing example of animation I've ever seen in my life. Everything was so well-drawn and so fluid----it seemed like there were more individually drawn frames than there were frames-per-second.
But everything else I've seen out of Japan since then has been total crapimation, especially the awful Japanese cartoons showing up on television. It's like the various animators compete with each other to see who can get a half hour cartoon produced using the least number of individually drawn panels per minute. You'll see extended portions of the cartoon where nothing on the screen moves except for the mouth of the person talking. And then there are the action shots where an unmoving drawing of the character is stuck in front of a lame-o moving backdrop.
And how is it that an entire nation of people all draws their cartoon characters in exactly the same way? The same huge eyes, the same small mouths, the same funked-up hair...I know I must be missing something here...

[FeliciaCat]

being a little kid in the 70's my fav cartoons were Bugs Bunny, Speed Racer, Scooby Doo, Captain Caveman, Tom & Jerry and Josie,Fat Albert and the Pussycats.

[hispanarepublicana]

Saturday mornings at my childhood house consisted of all of us eating a big family breakfast, then we kids would go watch cartoons while Mom and Dad would continue to visit over coffee. Fave cartoons were:
Looney Tunes
Superfriends
Scooby Doo
and cheesy non-animated shows like Shazam, Electrawoman and Dynagirl, and Land of the Lost.

[YourAdHere]

Saturday mornings have sucked ever since they took off "Land of the Lost."

[GOPJ]

Cartoons? The animation sucks and the story lines aren't funny.