Pop Culture references in cartoon movies

J

Joji.ak

New member
Yes, to most of us -and critics- they are the bane of every animated movies' existence. And to some, they're funny even years later.

What spurred this on was that I was reading a list of "great" animated movies, selected by Terry Gilliam (and someone else, I think) and sitting at #49 was 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'. One reason of it being listed was that it had 'no pop culture jokes/references'.

So it got me to thinking. Sure, every Pixar movie has next to none, Miyazaki movies don't at all and even 'Over the Hedge' from Dreamworks (a primary perpetrator of this) had barely any from what I could remember.

Yet some of the early 90's Disney movies -like Aladdin to some extent- had them and they're still funny even to today. And admittedly, I kinda liked Surf's Up, which -while not overly blatant- was more of a satire of reality shows in some parts.

So what I'm trying to say here is this: can pop culture references in a cartoon movie be good? Or is there such a thing as too much? Are they better off sticking with classic jokes (i.e. Citizen Kane's 'Rosebud', Casablanca) or can contemporary references -like reality shows- still be funny years from now without hurting the overall integrity of a cartoon movie?
 
Pop culture references are fine as long as the story isn't compromised. Some of the Looney Tunes cartoons (not a movie example, but still) are chock full of references, but they're still funny. In a way, references show that a movie is a product of its time, but too many references and the movie runs the risk of being dated.
 
I think the best way to do a pop culture reference is to have it relate to the characters in some way. "The Simpsons" in its golden age did this quite well. If it's just going to be a quick reference, have it tell us something about the character ("Homer, I don't think you should wear a short-sleeved shirt with a tie." "But Detective Sipowicz does it!" - that tells us that Homer looks up to Dennis Franz, which makes sense since he's also bald and pudgy). Or if it's going to be an extended parody of a scene or an entire show or movie, think a bit about how to put your characters into the scenario you're trying to emulate (the Pulp Fiction parody in "22 Short Films About Springfield" comes to mind - Herman the deranged military shop owner is perfect for that set-up).

Just doing random references out of nowhere is lazy writing. That shows that you're trying to get people to laugh based on their memory of something else, not based on what you've written.
 
The Toy Story movies have plenty of PCRs (Pop-Culture References, for short), from Jurassic Park to Star Wars. However, for the most part, Pixar does tend to keep these kids of jokes to a minimum.

J.B. Warner is correct in that the best PCRs tend to be the ones that are folded seamlessly into the storytelling, so that even if you don't get the reference, you won't be dragged out of the narrative. Family Guy is the worst offender in this regard. Far too often, there's no real joke being made...it's just an old TV/movie scene, with the FG characters substituted for the characters in the movie/TV show being "spoofed" (like that recent shot-for-shot Super Friends opening recreation). Anyone born after 1990 probably watched that scene while thinking "Huh?" whereas the glory days of The Simpsons would have PCRs that fit neatly into the overall storytelling.
 
I hate when a show makes a joke about some random celebrity, because I never get them. I go out of my way to avoid the tabloid buzz, so those kinds of jokes mean nothing to me. Family guy constantly does this.
 
I think that with feature films, PCR's should be kept to a minimum, since, back in the VHS days, it took 9 months or so for a movie to go from the theatre to video. In any case, features are bound to be re-issued at regular intervals (either theatrically or on video) so the PCR's would date the picture, especially if it is a "period piece" film.

With shorts and TV shows it's different. They say if you show lasts beyond one season, you're lucky; if it makes it beyond two seasons, you're even luckier. Even if your series becomes long-running, like Family Guy for example, you can generally assume that each episode would probably never have a shelf life beyond 2 years of its original airdate. So, the writers can and should take advantage of this by inserting PCR's, and have very little if anyi concern whether this joke would date or not.

On a side note, I am personally starting research for an online encyclopedia, in the tradition of the Warner Bros Cartoon Companion, to help anyone comprehend FG's 80's and contemporary humour better.
 
While pop-culture references can be funny on their own, it relies entirely on the execution to get them right.

That said, they're best when the reference adds to an underlying joke. For example, in Sgt. Frog, there's this bit where the frog aliens pull out these massive weapons. If you're not familiar with anime, it's funny because they're these simplistically drawn frogs holding ridiculously large and well-drawn weapons. If you catch the reference, it's also funny because these are all weapons from the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise.
 
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