Parents' lobby groups like Action for Children's Television appeared in the late 1960s. They voiced concerns about the presentation of violence, anti-social attitudes and stereotypes in Saturday morning cartoons. By the 1970s, these groups exercised enough influence that the TV networks felt compelled to lay down more stringent content rules for the animation houses.
Critics have complained that this proceeded to the point where the very depiction of conflict and jeopardy and the basic elements of drama and suspense were severely restricted, and the artists were left with few avenues of expression. The prohibition against the depiction of anti-social elements often prompted conformist stories, such as in the Smurfs series, where almost any individual initiative often resulted in trouble for the group and therefore had to be avoided.
Saturday morning animation programming restricted itself to certain clearly-defined types of shows:
* non-violent superheroes (Super Friends, Spider-Man)
* touring musical groups (Josie and the Pussycats, The Jackson 5ive, Alvin and the Chipmunks; Hammerman, New Kids on the Block)
* secret fantasy folk (Smurfs, The Snorks, Gummi Bears)
* teen life (Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids);
* teen detective shows with funny sidekicks (Scooby-Doo, Jabberjaw, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels)
* animated children's versions of prime time shows (Emergency +4, Punky Brewster, ALF, Star Trek)
* cartoons based on movies (The Real Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Teen Wolf, The Karate Kid, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures, Star Wars: Droids, Star Wars: Ewoks, Return to the Planet of the Apes, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Fantastic Voyage, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beetlejuice, Lilo & Stitch, "Timon and Pumbaa", "MTV's Spider-Man", and "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command")
* animated adaptations of comics and video games (Batman: The Animated Series, The Archie Show, Pac-Man, Saturday Supercade, Captain N: The Game Master, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Swamp Thing, Garfield and Friends, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?)
* animated adaptations of actor in their childhood (Little Rosey); or actors given top billing in the show's title or starring in the top role (Wish Kid, Camp Candy, Mr. T)
* cartoon characters in their childhood (Muppet Babies, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Flintstone Kids, Jungle Cubs, Baby Looney Tunes, etc.)
* reruns (or sometimes, newly produced episodes) of older prime-time animated shows (The Jetsons, The Flintstones)
* classic theatrical animated shorts, for many years shown complete, but more recently censored for political correctness, and for content deemed inappropriate for young children. (Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry)
In a more constructive direction, the networks were encouraged to create educational spots that endeavored to use animation for enriching content. Far and away the most successful effort was the Schoolhouse Rock series on ABC, which became a television classic.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment