In this essay I am going to focus on two main cartoons, South Park and The Simpson’s, and I am going to examine the ways in which they deal with a key issue, the idea of childhood.
The opening sequence in The Simpson’s Starts with clouds separating and the word “The Simpson’s” coming through in a bright yellow colour. This represents the sun. The sun represents happiness. Then you see each member of the family returning home, Marge (Mum) from the supermarket, Lisa and Bart (Children) from school and Homer (Dad) from work. On the way home they do certain things such as Bart takes the bus stop sign this gives you an impression of the character. Finally the family make it home and they all nearly run down Homer outside the house this shows signs of a dysfunctional family. They all end up on the sofa in front of the T.V (this changes every episode) this shows us signs of a functional family.
In the episode “Santa’s Little Helper” the family don’t have any money for Christmas gifts because Bart paid to have a tattoo done and as soon as his mother became aware of the tattoo she made him get it removed which took up all the Christmas money. Not having a lot of money is a regular occurrence for the Simpson family. Everybody is upset and they think its going to be the worst Christmas ever but Homer finds a greyhound that has just been kicked out of the dog tracks because it lost again and takes it home for the family. The dog just so happened to be the dog Homer had bet on earlier that day its name was Santa’s Little Helper so that’s what they called the dog, the family ended up having the best Christmas ever. The result of this episode is the family had a problem it was resolved because they now had a new family pet which made a happy ending. This happens in all of The Simpson’s programmes.
The opening Sequence of South Park is a lot more Chaotic compared with The Simpson’s. In the opening sequence you will see four boys on their way to school. On their journey they see crazy things like Jesus wrestling with Santa or thousands of rats running out of their school building. Unlike other cartoons South Park mainly revolves around friendship instead of family that’s what makes it so unique.
Families in South Park don’t have the same importance as they do in The Simpson’s. Adults in South Park often come across as dull or stupid, for example the mayor tries to resolve a problem but always makes it worst. None of the adults in South Park seem to give any good advice to the children. The children seem to try to act more mature by using swearword and violence. Really the children still come through as being childish but that is what makes the programme what it is. The drawings in South Park are less realistic than the Simpson’s because The Simpson’s is a more sophisticated programme.
In an episode of South Park the gang (Cartman, Kenny, Stan and Kyle) always get a problem and resolve it and there’s a happy ending. In South Park Kenny dies at some point, this becomes a funny point of the cartoon because Kenny always dies in every episode.
Most people would say they liked The Simpson’s more than South Park because they object to the amount of swearing and violence in South Park. The people who make the show South Park say that only adults should watch the show but the merchandising is aimed at children such as posters cuddly toys etc. I personally believe the show gets a younger audience because they think its naughty and they shouldn’t be watching it.
I like The Simpson’s better because it revolves more around real life and can target more of a wider audience. Different people can enjoy The Simpson’s for different reasons. Children have got Bart always doing something naughty. Older people can enjoy the way it uses old films to make jokes, like when Grounds Keeper Willy chases Santa’s Little Helper through the ventilation system as in the film Aliens. Also you can get famous people starring in the show such as the woman who wrote Bridget Jones’s Diary “Helen Fielding.”
There are other cartoons on T.V like The Cramp Twins, these cartoons also deal with childhood, but I do not find this to be of the same quality as The Simpson’s or South Park because it relates more to younger viewers only.
In conclusion, American cartoons use childhood to make the viewers laugh. In The Simpson’s they use role reversal, kids acting like adults and adults acting like kids. They do pretty much the same in South Park but I like The Simpson’s better because I can relate to it more.
