Question

J

Jaadeen

New member
I've always wanted to get this off my chest.

I never knew why but if some could please explain the, why is it when cartoons make references to other cartoons or video games, they often change the name of the character and their appearances. Other times, the characters look like their original forms without changes at all.

Why is it that some cartoons can get away with making full blown references to other cartoon and video games and others can only go with minor references?
 
More often than not, it's about licensing and such as well as competitors talking about/criticizing their competition. When you see a cartoon or other show talk about a series from within the corporate ownership structure, they'll use the characters outright.

For example, The Joker can whistle the Looney Tunes theme on an episode of Batman: The Animated Series, references to It's A Small World was present in The Lion King, and the cast of Total Drama Island is seen performing the theme to 6Teen.

There's also fair use, which gives one the right to mention a character/franchise by name if you're criticizing/homaging them. At times, they use a panache, which has all the recognizable traits without using the actual character. And sometimes, producers simply ask permission from content creators to use/mention outside characters on other shows.

I'm still trying to figure out how South Park used so many licensed characters without permission in the Imaginationland special. There's fair use and then there's blatant use without permission, and South Park straddled that line and seemingly got away with it.
 
I think South Park gets away with it because nobody really wants to challenge them because they get away with alot things and if someone says something their lawyers and fans will cause a big enough fuss to get the company bad publicity.
But with Family guy I think they just don't care or they get their copyright payments out of the way, In one of his DVD commentaries he says it's murder asking for it every season.
 
I think part of the reason Family Guy gets away with Flintstones characters so much has to do with the fact that the series' rebirth has a lot to do with Cartoon Network, and Warner Bros. gave them permission to use elements from The Flintstones. Same deal with the Anchors Aweigh segment, which is also owned by Turner. And there has been at least one instance of a copyright notice for the Flintstones elements on an episode copyrighted to Hanna-Barbera Productions., a Time Warner Company.

Meanwhile, South Park used over 190 copyrighted characters in Imaginationland, mostly without permission. Heck, seven of the Council of Nine are copyrighted characters (Zeus and Jesus aren't).
 
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