Why are modern cartoons getting negative attention?

[walter]

Over the years I've been on the internet and I've seen a lot of negative feedback from 90s kids and the like and it somehow got even worse in 2018. I know it's biased but if you go and type "Ink Lemonade Cosmodore" and go to the comments, one user just has a negative biased towards not just SpongeBob but all modern cartoons in general, and it has made me uncomfortable with watching modern cartoons. So I got a question.

Why are modern cartoons getting so much negative feedback from most people?

 

[Red Arrow]

You could have made this thread in literally any other year. Teenagers and adults always hate modern cartoons.

I think 2009 was by far the most hated year. 2009 had great cartoons for everyone: Phineas & Ferb, Chowder, Flapjack, Archer, Transformers: Animated, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, The Secret Saturdays, Grossology, 6teen, Shaun the Sheep, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Angelo Rules, Pixar's UP, Monsters vs Aliens, 9*, etc. but back then, people online were waaaayyy to busy hating CN REAL and the end of Toonami.

It isn't any different now. Many people are too busy hating CN's current schedule and Nickelodeon's lame animation output (besides The Loud House).

I have been on this forum since 2012 and I think I have seen this question at least every year.
Heck, if you visit threads from around 2003, you will also see lots of hate threads.

If anything, I feel like ToonZone has gotten a lot less "WHY DOES EVERYTHING SUCK NOW?" and a lot more "Why does everyone (except us) hate modern cartoons?" Isn't that a positive evolution I think it's because of social media. There are lots of nostalgic Facebook pages, so why bother joining ToonZone if you can complain there?

most people?

Don't confuse the loudest people with most people. Most people don't care about animation, but don't mind it either.

*Okay, I lied. No one remembers the movie "9".

 

[Fone Bone]

It's the nature of fandom. I'm old enough to remember the complaints during the Golden Years of The Simpsons that it went downhill after Season 1. You read that right. As they were happening, some Simpsons fans actually thought the Golden Years were sucky. That's the precise reason "The Itchy & Scratchy, & Poochie Show" was actually made. And once they were over those same fans acted like they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. Fans have ALWAYS complained about new content. It's nothing special.

 

[Zanneck]

OK, this is my kind of thing to let off steam for, as I know that feeling all too well. In fact - for specific examples, I remember everyone hating on shows like Littlest Pet Shop (2012, especially; barely anyone gives a darn about the 2018 version, save for myself) and Penn Zero: PTH. And for a more current examples: Summer Camp Island and Big City Greens.

What sucks about it is, yeah - I tend to feel like I'm of the few people who saw himself stood up for any of those examples. So yes, I actually know what it feels like to legit enjoy something that everyone hates. It ain't pleasant - and it's never gonna stop, either. Because that's what unpopular opinions are - it's about having the balls to stand by them (for example, I actually like those 5 shows plenty more than whatever is currently obsessed over/whined about on the internet, honestly. SImply for appealing to me and what I look for in my cartoons in a real way, despite any criticisms I might have with them. Nothing is perfect, after all.).

Heck, I'm kinda surprised Welcome to the Wayne, Final Space, and Disenchantment aren't more beloved, too - those are some definite recommendations from me, immediately, when I think of good current cartoons that aren't what everyone is watching right away.

Also, you might want to stay off places like 4/8/whatever-chan, because I'm sure that's where most of the negativity comes from that you're feeling here, from the sound of it. Just some friendly advice here.

 

[hobbyfan]

To Red Arrow's point, Chumptoon Network's schedule is in need of a major overhaul. Certain shows are being spammed into the ground. I don't have to tell you which ones, but doing marathon blocks every freakin' day does not do anyone any favors.

No matter who's in charge of CN, be it Christina Miller, or Stupid Snyder before her, they still are beholden to the marketing nerds who think certain shows are the cat's meow with the kiddo's, and don't give too many other shows the attention due them.

Same thing with Nick, which started the practice of spamming hit shows into the ground with Fairly OddParents and SpongeBob SquarePants years ago. What is wrong with a more traditional, diverse lineup?

 

[LinusFan303]

I think everything gets negative attention even in the past, I think we just more of it because the internet made it easier for people to give things negative attention and more people are aware of it. I think it's a majority , it's just easier to find now than before. There have always been people not liking the modern animation or live-action too. As mentioned above about the early Simpsons is a good example.

 

[dumbfoolkid5]

It's not just modern cartoons I'm not crazy about it's almost all cartoons that's not Japanese. Yes some anime i don't like. But i stll love the style. Everything else is well...blah..no matter what decade they're from except a few like Gargoyles.

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[AdrenalineRush1996]

CN, Nickelodeon and both Disney channels still have good shows as well as airing lackluster stuff.

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[Gatordragon]

It's not just modern cartoons I'm not crazy about it's almost all cartoons that's not Japanese. Yes some anime i don't like. But i stll love the style. Everything else is well...blah..no matter what decade they're from except a few like Gargoyles.

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I'm pretty sure this thread is about why there is a lot of negativity on the internet over modern cartoons, not why you personally don't like non-anime animation. Your post doesn't really add much to the topic at hand.

Back on topic, the negativity over modern cartoons can best be chalked up to what Red Arrow said in his post. Thanks to the internet and social media, people's voices can be amplified compared to back then and usually, the most vocal are minor groups. There have always been these kinds of people, sometimes nostalgic for the cartoons of their childhood, sometimes just wanting to get on a bandwagon.

This isn't exclusive to cartoons. There are people like this in plenty of mediums, especially video games. If you go to places like Reddit (particularly r/Gaming), YouTube, or Twitter, you'd probably think that the modern video game industry is dying and every new game that comes out is terrible. Nevermind that many current releases are well received and sell well and that the video game industry has grown to the point that it makes more revenue than the film industry and music industry combined.

 

[KeldeoKitty]

A lot of people who grew up in the 80s, 90s, or 2000s are biased. While people do bring up valid points they write off a modern cartoon for dumb reasons such as being lame, or not on par with old shows. They will hold up classic cartoons as perfect even though they have a lot of problems too. Much like in Pokémon where people bash any generation that isn’t the first. I’ve seen fans of classic Cartoon Network hate Adventure Time, Gumball and Steven Universe for not being like the old shows.

I’ve even seen fans of some modern cartoons that have written off some good shows such as Chowder, Flapjack, TUFF Puppy, Hero 108, Kick Buttowski, Randy Cunningham, Sanjay & Craig (Which got better after Season 1), Stone Quackers, Penn Zero, Mighty Magiswords, Welcome to the Wayne and Big City Greens often for arbitrary reasons.

I’m also nostalgic for shows I grew up but I find some of them such as Klasky-Csupos shows hard to watch now.

 

[dumbfoolkid5]

Me? Not sure and don't really care for them much anyway.

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[dumbfoolkid5]

Me? Not sure and don't really care for them much anyway.

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Except for a few exceptions, like Stella and Sam.

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[EdCNPowerpuffDrama]

People are always like this. They bash on everything that's modern and want the old stuff back. Back in the 90s a lot of people actually hated some of the cartoon cartoons and wanted Cartoon Network to air more Hannah Barbera cartoons. After a couple of years when all the cartoon cartoons ended, people wanted them back while complaining about the new shows CN aired at the time. People are like this on every single site, especially on Facebook. This is probably the only site where people like both the old and the new shows.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

It’s the cycle of nostalgia. When I first joined Toon Zone shows like Camp Lazlo and Gym Partner were recieving a ton of hate. Now it seems like whenever they are brought up it’s usually positive.

 

[AnotherRandomGuy]

There are a lot of factors to consider, some...less nice than others.

But it all boils down to one common factor; the times are changing, and people to an extent change with it.

And if there's one thing anyone from the entertainment industry can tell, it's that audiences are fickle and one always needs to one on their toes when trying to please them, and more often than not it's companies playing by the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule, which can lead to very safe decisions which might now be favorable for everyone.

 

[SourSweetGone]

Because apperantly middle aged men have nothing better to do then whine about how everything was better in the 80's and too many millenials feel the need to do the same for the 90's because too many people are obsessed with nostalgia and use it to romanticize their childhoods while demonizing modern media even though every decade has more then it's fair share of both gold & garbage and cartoons are arguably better from a writing perspective then they've ever been. I mean like/dislike whatever visual style you want but seriously so many cartoons from the previous 30-50 years prior have such bad writing they're almost unwatchable! I mean not everything was the DCAU or Gargoyles in terms of narrative quality back then, in fact most things weren't, and even those had their hiccups.

 

[Mostezli]

Give the people something to internalize & project:

Weekday after-school -> Saturday morning (no cable/satellite provider needed)​

Toonami​

Cartoon Network REAL​

Action cartoons​

timeslot​

11 minutes​

Discovery Family​

Marvel / DC​

WBA vs CN​

The "comedy" reboot​

ReBoot​

The big only 3...on their last legs​

from my end, it seems this industry has been chipped or stripped away

 

[Red Arrow]

Toonami

Got revived. What's your point?

Cartoon Network REAL

Doesn't exist anymore. What's your point?

Action cartoons

There's Transformers Cyberverse, Guardians of the Galaxy, Big Hero 6, Steven Universe and Young Justice: Outsiders. She-Ra looks promising, I haven't seen it yet. I love the current action cartoons.

the big only 3...on their last legs

Disney and CN are on their last legs? No way. Nickelodeon perhaps, with all their reboots and revivals.
The big three is also not alone. There's Netflix which acquires shows from many different companies.

 

[Mostezli]

Got revived. What's your point?
Doesn't exist anymore. What's your point?

Give the people something to internalize & project... this industry has been chipped or stripped away

This isn't even yet factoring in cheaper animation production or those various design complaints, which is about as platitudinous as nostalgia. I wanted to get to a sincere root of the matter.

There's Transformers Cyberverse, Guardians of the Galaxy, Big Hero 6, Steven Universe and Young Justice: Outsiders. She-Ra looks promising, I haven't seen it yet. I love the current action cartoons.

I love what we had at the start of the decade, easily the best era for action toons (which is unusual given how late into my life that happened) and then one-by-one a metaphorical guillotine kept swinging.
Do folks top-bottom enjoy Cyberverse? I gave up after 5 or 6 epiodes because it's so light on substance & presentation + barely has a decent budget. Rescue Bots is now the best ongoing TF series, at the moment, and that's by virtue of the acting and writing talent.

Disney and CN are on their last legs? No way. Nickelodeon perhaps, with all their reboots and revivals.
The big three is also not alone. There's Netflix which acquires shows from many different companies.

last legs in keeping the old standard alive as streaming or webisodes on video hosting platforms dominate, which we're still in the fledgling phase as far as the amount of ongoing, fresh licensed / studio made content.

 

[Cool_Cat]

It’s because many modern series are very cheaply done.

Look instead at the new Ducktales. That’s a new series done right.