Overrated Cartoons

Indeed, but personal opinions still come into play. After all, if somebody likes an animated program that receives a lot of praise, they are more inclined to believe that the animated program is overrated than somebody who likes that animated program. That is the essence of this discussion, as even though the decisions that we make should be based on facts, we can’t deny that our personal opinions have a role to play. That’s why I selected “Sonic The Hedgehog”. I enjoyed the series, but not as much as its staunch defenders say that I should. I have seen the websites. I have seen the discussions. It has been praised by numerous people who believe that it’s amongst the best animated programs of all time. If I had agreed with them, chances are I wouldn’t have selected it. However, I don’t agree with them and I believe that the series is overrated.
 
All I can think of is Samurai Jack. I'm not sure how popular it was in the ratings, but I do recall a lot of people praising it a lot. The plot went no where, the characters were uninteresting due to the little interaction they got, and the lack of any real continuity or development is totally uninteresting for an action show to me. I only like shows where the plot develops each episode, or almost every episode, and this wasn't one of them. It seemed like a typical kids' action show, just without the plot development or brilliant writing like you can find in other shows like Gargoyles or W.I.T.C.H.
 
Originally Posted by Style
*murmurs* Kim Possible

See, I get that it's a lighter take on the quasi Superhero genre, but Kim is just you know, privileged and popular and has no tragedy or driving motivation for what she does and the fights have no real stakes. I know the misfit hero is a cliche but darn it, there are reasons the hero is a misfit. It's just too much that the rich, popular, successful, good looking person should also find the moral rectitude to fight evil without something affecting their well being. honestly.


How are those shows anything like Kim Possible? Unless you're suggesting that they have similar drawing/animation styles, the comparison makes no sense.

Also, Style's opinions regarding Kim Possible are in no way reasons for it being overrated. He/she''s just stating what he/she doesn't like about KP. Once again, overrtaed is not a synonym for "I don't like it". Rather, overrated means that said show recieves more praise than one feels it deserves.

Anyways, I'm with Antiyonder regarding the hero factor: every super hero/crime fighter doesn't have to be a tortured underprivileged underdog. The world of heroes is big enough to support all kinds of heroes. If every hero were the same, the genre would be very boring because there would be no variety. One doesn't need to a misfit or an underdog to want to do the right thing. It's what one does that makes one a hero, not how they came up.
 
I think you're saying that it's the equivalent of a page-turner novel. The kind of thing that's tremendously engrossing when you're reading it, but utterly forgettable afterwards. You can't put it down until you're done, and then you never feel a need to pick it up again.

I think you're wrong, of course, but that's not the point :D.



I KNEW the Army had ninjas and hot babes in skintight suits doing special ops out there somewhere!

Actually, I don't think it's a coincidence that G.I. Joe was created about 15 years after mandatory conscription ended in the United States. By that time, you had a combination of a massive military buildup during the Reagan years and adults who did not have to face compulsory military service starting to make their own toys, TV shows, and comics. I think there's some societal statement you can tease out of that, but the thought just hit me now, so I'm not sure what it is just yet.

-- Ed
 
The Flintstones and The Jetsons-never did a thing for me, and never liked the closing credits-particularly where Fred is locked out of the house and where George is running on "that crazy thing".
 
Ah, this just feels like a compositional problem them. Let's amend to "I checked it out, I felt the show had these type of flaws, so there for I don't get why it's so beloved" type of thing.

hmm. I suppose what I'm getting at is that her heroics do not seem to require any sacrifice on her part. Kim can be a Highschool student AND have an extracurricular like cheer leading AND have a part time job AND have a boy friend AND be a crime fighter/spy AND still get a full night's sleep AND find free time besides. She has it all, nothing rough or challenging is ever asked of her, and it undercuts the nobility of her hero play.
 
I guess that makes sense. I liked the show a lot more before the third season aired because I had a lot of theories and expectations on what could happen after the second season. When it did air, I was really disappointed at the drop in quality in terms of writing and plot. With the series over, the disappointment is even more so, I guess, since there's no room for things to improve anymore since it's done and over with.

I guess I'll add I find the finale overrated. The third season in general seems to have more mixed reviews, but the finale seems praised well enough as the "best finale ever" (though that was back when it aired so that could just be the hype talking). It was pretty sub-standard to me; they rushed a lot of things to conclusion (typical Nickelodeon guy-gets-girl-ending-despite-no-real-romantic-development-at-all like Danny Phantom had, Zuko being perfectly accepted by everyone as the Fire Lord/no one has animosity for the Fire Nation anymore) and left quite a few things unresolved (some on purpose, apparently) and sidelined pretty much any characters who wasn't Aang, Zuko, or even Katara)
 
Perhaps because it's fun.



Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the serious hero show as much as the next fan, but I like to enjoy all types of the hero genre.

Again, the hero genre shouldn't be restricted to just the brooding heroes. Both kinds have their own purpose.

Serious heroes: Provide us with emotion thought provoking messages about society.

Lighthearted or Comedic heroes: Provide us with a smile, give us a more uplifting feeling.

But hey, not everyone likes diversity though. Don't understand why. Fact is the hero genre would be boring if every single hero had the same mindset.



I don't know about that. Sokka, Toph and Suki had pretty decent screentime. Heck, Toph got to provide the last dialogue for the series.
 
One Piece - Actually I used to love the 4Kids dub, it was so delightfully insane and nonsensical in its censorship glory that I couldn't help but enjoy it. But once Funimation took over the dub all that fun left, and it just seemed so bland and generic.

Justice League/Justice League Unlimited - now don't get me wrong, I loved it too, but some people talk about this fairly straight-forward superhero story as some kind of genre-changing epic that should've been allowed to run new episodes non-stop until doomsday. I find that opinion especially frustrating when its obvious at times that the writers and producers were having a lot of trouble juggling all these team members being in the story at the same time. It was what it was, a good superhero cartoon, not a landmark moment in American animation.
 
Well, I don't think GotJ is that bad, myself. Sure, it doesn't compare to Jay Ward's original series, but it you don't constantly compare GotJ to the original, it's OK.

But that's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. An opinion VS opinion debate would be quite pointless. In any case, we can agree that GotJ is not overrated by any stretch of the imagination.
 
Chowder - I've heard people rave about this show and I've watched it several times (while trying to keep an open mind) and I still see nothing funny or cute about this toon. It must be my age or a demographic thing because its just stupid to me.

South Park - A boring, poorly animated, potty-mouthed filth, without the slightest bit of humor. Again, I think I must be too old for this toon.

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - Even Blue couldn't save this show for me. :shrug:
 
Okay, I might as well add my two cents.
Family Guy. It's not enough that the show is almost entirely made up of offensive, disturbing "humor", but a lot of people I know act like it's the only animated show on television! When I ask someone if he/she watches cartoons, he/she replies "Yeah, I watch Family Guy." And when I tell people that I'm trying to write my own cartoon series, I get "Oh, like Family Guy?". It drives me crazy!

Now I'll be the first to say that I am somewhat of a hypocrite, as I tend to overpromote certain shows myself, but by no means have I ever pretended that favorite-show-of-the-year is the only animated program on television.
 
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