Animation - Commonly known as cartoons

Animation

(Commonly known as cartoons)

By Andres Molina

At dictionary.com, it is stated that animation is “the art or process of preparing animated cartoons, an animated cartoon”. According to Collins dictionary, animation is a “technique of making cartoon films”. Cartoons are not only a way of entertaining us; they are a form of expression. They can express emotions, points of view and criticism. As some one once said: “it doesn’t matter what you say, but how you say it”.

Cartoons date back to the days of Benjamin Franklin, where they were mainly used to express political points of view. Their use as a daily commentary did not begin until the end of the nineteenth century, when advances in technology made it possible to reproduce drawings without the complicated process of creating woodblock engravings. Until the 1880s political cartoons were limited to weekly and monthly magazines.

All this was changed on October 30, 1884, when the New York World published a cartoon by Walt McDougall. The cartoon showed a dinner held the night before honouring Republican presidential candidate James G. Blaine. The cartoon was printed across the full width of the front page of the paper under the heading "The Royal Feast of Belshazzar Blaine and the Money Kings." The cartoon created an immediate sensation.

One can trace the history of political cartooning from the beginning of the nineteenth century. At the end of the century political cartoons were one of the most popular and influential features of the daily press. Cartoons were also used to portray political leaders, issues, and world events during the first decades of the twentieth century. More than a century after their introduction to the world, drawn cartoons have evolved into animations which cover a greater amount of audiences and have a plethora of themes.

There is no such thing as a general purpose for cartoons. What was once their original purpose, commenting on politics via the newspaper, is now one of its smallest uses, although it has not disappeared altogether. Examples of modern day political cartoons can be seen in the “Semana” magazine, where cartoons are used to criticize the Government and the Freedom Fighters, commonly known as Guerrillas. The modern purpose, or at least the most widely used, is entertainment, especially, but not only, for younger audiences ranging from 3 to 13 years of age.

One might think that all ...

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One might think that all modern day animations must be funny or comical in order for them to be categorized as cartoons but the truth is that there are various genres of animations. Some, targeted for the previously stated audiences, merely entertain (i.e. Disney’s Mickey Mouse, Warner’s Bugs Bunny, X-men, etc) whilst others, targeted on more mature audiences, handle a more adult humor and in some cases the themes are more philosophically developed (i.e. Evangelion, South Park, Bubblegum Crisis, etc). A characteristic which may separate child cartoons from more mature ones is the development of a plot line. Animations for three-year-olds, such as Mickey Mouse, consist only on episodes which have a random theme while on the other hand, more mature animations are in the form of a series, creating and following a plot throughout every episode.

Animations are not only divided into childish or mature themes. There are not only two, but various kinds of animations. They can be divided into the following categories:

Cutesy: Mainly for the younger crowd of 6 and below. The focus is on basic morals or fables. Examples: Care Bears, Smurfs, My Little Pony, etc.
All Around Fun: They make you laugh and make fun at people, politics and themselves. They can also be heart-warming and memorable. Examples: The Flintstones, Pokemon, Bugs Bunny, Tiny Toons, Freakazoid, Inspector Gadget.
Action Adventure: Usually explores mature themes even though their target audience consists of ten year olds. There is a plethora of explosions, puzzles and quests. Examples: He-man, Galaxy Rangers, GI-Joe, the original Transformers, Batman the Animated Series, Thunder cats, Reboot, Dragon Ball (Z, GT).
Adventure/mature: Targeted for more mature audiences, including more violence. Example: Spiderman, New Batman & Superman Adventures, Batman Beyond, the X-men, Robotech, Beast Wars, War Planets.
Mature Adult: Sexual themes, profanity and violence. Some series contain entangled plot lines. Truly adult centered but in some cases contains very comical scenarios. Example: Beavis & Butthead, Simpsons, Spawn, South Park, Cowboy Beebop.

Depending on the type, the targeted audience will consequently vary, becoming of greater age as the themes become deeper and more serious.

Even though their most noticeable feature is to entertain people, which they do with great success, animations are considered to have a serious drawback. This drawback, which is scarcely noticed in juvenile types of animation, makes people believe Action-Adventure and Adventure/mature animations are bad for children due to the amount of violence they contain. They believe that watching so much violence in animations will affect their children in some way.

A criticism to this issue is seen in practically every episode of “The Simpsons”, by Matt Groening, where Lisa, Bart and Maggie (the children) watch an animated series called Itchy and Scratchy, a show in which a mouse and a cat try to kill each other using various methods such as knives, saws, hammers and even dynamite. In one particular episode of “The Simpsons”, Maggie is allegedly influenced by this show and its violence and attacks his father, seeing as cartoon characters are never harmed. This issue may be true, hence making it of an utmost importance for parents to teach their children the difference between the animation world and reality, even if there is much more violence in every-day television, such as the news. It is also important that parents have some way of controlling what their children watch. This is not an issue in Mature Adult genres for they are specifically designed for mature viewers that understand the difference between what they are seeing and reality.

It is true that animations and cartoons have flaws, but so does everything in life. Because of these flaws we must not underestimate their importance. On simple terms, the main importance of animations, similar to that of most series on television, is to entertain us by making us laugh. In a social point of view, cartoons and animations are used to criticize society and people via comical means. This way, the reader is not offended as much if the comment is a direct criticism to a certain aspect of them.

Animations and cartoons are not as simple as one might think they are. Some spawn very profound themes whilst other criticize aspects of our lives. There is a variety of genres and themes for almost each type of audience, but their greatest importance is that of making us laugh. We live in a world full of stress, worries and despair, where laughing becomes harder every day. Laughing can temporarily take us away from these problems, giving us strength to continue living in this havoc we call life.

Sources:

Animated Dreams (www.animateddreams.com)

Collins Dictionary

Dcitionary.com (www.dictionary.com)

Google search engine (www.google.com)