Magic or Science?

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The age old question, which is better when used in cartoons, magic or science or technology?

Before we disguess there are gray areas of what is science and what is magic? Mutation, inter golatic cartoons, is that magic or science? I guess it depends.

Anyway I prefer magic, because it is more unlimited to what you can do, and it is more tradtional. Storylines involving magic can go back many centuries.
 
Usually most action cartoons have a character that's more into science than magic, or vice versa. Then an episode comes up where they discover they need to rely on the other in order to get out of the predicament they're in.
 
It depends.

If its a futuristic setting I don't mind sci-fi at all, in fact I like it. I however hate when a show set in the present time just randomly can also have this extreme technological device.

Magic usually works better if its a more mystic setting, its always odd to see magic in a more modern setting.
 
Seriously considering "science" in most show (live-action or animated) ignore little things like the most basic laws of thermodynamics it might as well be magic.

But then there's Science Fantasy like Star Wars and Warhammer 40k that blend both science and magic (of coarse Warhammer 40k hasn't been made into any animated series I know of); and there's "Steam Punk" and other "retro sci-fi" settings.
 
Science is better for a show that takes place in a more realistic setting, while magic is better for fantasy, but for the most part science and magic are used for the same thing.
 
Magic and super-science can both be equally effective and appealing, depending on which one is best suited for the setting or character(s) in question.

I don't have a preference; they're both good choices. Whatever floats your boat. :cool:
 
Ditto, depends on the story. Interesting example: Alchemy in FMA is treated as a science because it better serves Edward's storyline/agnosticism/etc. By the time the movie rolls around, the source of conflict has shifted bigtime. Because the new storyline pits alchemy against more 'real' technology, alchemy is treated more like a magic.
 
There are "hybrids," like FMA, and Naruto's chakra system, where you can do many impossible things yet there is a detailed explanation of how it works.

When a show relies on science for some time, and then suddenly brings magic into an episode, that's when it's most jarring. From that point, why do you need to explain anything that happens anymore?
 
wizard.jpg

A mechanic did it.
 
Indeed, sometimes one can crossover into being the other. A sentient robot is basically a magic machine, and a scientist who makes all kinds of crazy, improbable inventions is just a technological wizard, when you really think about it.
 
Magic is kind of a cheap way to doing things, and also easier. You don't have to explain anything or give anything a scientifically logical name. You can do whatever the heck ya want.
 
There is no science in American cartoons, because the vast majority of people who write for cartoons don't know squat about science. Most people who write for cartoons think technology is demonic. There is a tiny percentage of anime programs which have plots driven by hard science, like Planetes and Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
 
That's kinda to pick just one since both work well by themselves in cartoons. I like both though I feel it's really hard to think of a new cartoon that would have both magic and science.


Don't forget about ThunderCats and Thundarr the Barbarian. ;)

So far the only shows I know that used both magic and science are He-Man, ThunderCats, and Thundarr the Barbarian. But that was back in the 80s where you can mix magic and science together in some cartoons. ;)
 
"Technology, if advanced enough, is indistiguishable from magic."

There is no difference between technology and magic. And where there is technology, there is science.

Therefore, Science is better.
 
Also, it can easily wipe away a conflict with little explanation or effort.

"We can defeat them...if we just belieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve!"
 
These are the types of 'magic' I enjoy...anyways, these days it doesn't really matter to me. I mean sci-fi often takes its liberties and ends up being magic-like anyway. (dimensional portals, time machines, cloning, etc) I just say which ever fits the story's setting better.
 
I've always much preferred Sci-fi. If I here about a cartoon that has a main premise that revolves around science and technology (such as robots or genetic mutations), I'll be much more likely to tune in than I'd be if I hear about a new cartton that revolves around magic or mythology.
 
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