Which decade was better for animation, the 90's or the 2000's?

There shouldn't be a right or wrong answer to this question. Quality is purely a matter of opinion. And opinions are based someone's feeling toward something. How is nostalgia not valid?
 
Nothing wrong with enjoying your favorite childhood cartoons, but to say that they are good because you grew up watching them is rediculous.
 
I think it would be best forevery one if this thread was closed....you know before it gets violent. (Or before my squiddly spooch explodes.) wichever comes 1st.:sweat: :p :evil: :sweat:
 
Damn straight. Too many people let nostalgia taint their views on things. But nostalgia shouldn't be your only barometer of quality.

For instance, I like the original TMNT show purely on nostalgia. I wouldn't really care for it any other way. However, that doesn't mean EVERYONE who likes the old TMNT show only likes it for nostalgic purposes. That's just foolish to think.

As for the topic at hand, I'm not sure. I'll have to weigh the shows I like from each decade against each other, as well as the crap in order to get a good idea of which is truly better. The 00s may have a lot of bad stuff, but the 90s were no slouch in that department either.
 
I dont know whether the average caroon was better in the 90's than it is now, but i would still call the 90's a better time for animation based on the fact (or opinion, i guess) that the best stuff from the 90's was just better than the best stuff of today. Examples of this 90's cartoon greatness include:

The Disney renissance films (atleast the ones from The Little Mermaid to The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Epic, Emotional, and filled to the brim with simply MARVELOUS animation and music. Unky Walt would be proud of these films!

Ren and Stimpy. A, ahem, "childrens cartoon" unlike anything else. Probably the most insane thing ever shown on television.

Tiny Toons and Animaniacs. Probably the only post-golden age cartoons to truelly capture the essence of the best golden age short-film classics.

Cartoon Networks Cartoon Cartoons. Oh God, were do i begin to praise these masterpieces? The wacky premises, the original plots, the multi-layered jokes, the amazing direction, the great designs? Ah heck, let's just say the were flawless in every imaginable way.

Batman: TAS. The most clever and well-crafted american action cartoon of all time.

The Simpsons. Do you really need an explanation?

So yeah, 90's for me. I will admit however that with the exception of The Simpsons, the present-day Pixar films are as good as any of these things.
 
If only my signature could hold more quotes. Thank you fro saying that Antiyonder.



If everyone just stays civil the thread can survive just fine.
 
Hold on just a second here. I just want to make sure that I didn't mis-represent myself. I love the cartoons from my childhood. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to periodically go back and watch episodes of the original G.I.Joe, Transformers, and Thundercats. But when I put in an episode of the original He-Man or TMNT, I find myself getting bored very quickly. As an adult I just do not feel like either one was a very good cartoon, especially compared to their 2000's counterpart. There was a time, during the mid to late 90's where I would've easily said that the 80's cartoons were better than the 90's. But I still had the sense of nostalgia that was making my opinion biased. Now I can objectively look at both decades fairly.
 
Good point. G1 Transformers is one of my fav cartoons, and half of that IS nostalgia but i would never call eps like carnage in c-minor, face of the nijika, kremzeek, or triple takeover "good".
 
Great post indeed.

I don't think it's fair to assume that everyone is just being nostalgic, I mean in general I like a lot of things that were way before I was even born that I probably wouldn't have liked as a kid, but I like them for the quality and... well, I honestly think things in the past are intriguing. Animation in the 70's and 80's intrigues me (And the time period in general), but I was born in 1992. So obviously my opinion can't really be all on nostalgia, although I will admit I have that perspective of "past > present" simply because of my observations of events that happened in the past to situations of the now. But I digress.

I love the 90's, but I will agree however that there are some things in the 90's that I thought were hilarious but will look back on now and think "Ew that's just stupid." And a lot of people do hold on dearly to the memory of Invader Zim, and that was out in 2000. And Billy and Mandy was a pretty creepy, crude cartoon from the 00's, that's content is pretty comparable to the subtle refs they allowed on in the 90's. More of, I don't understand the argument of "people got away with more in the 90's" because that's not really true, at least not to a great extent. A better comparison would be now and the 50's. There was a time when you could use real guns and weapons in kid's cartoons... now they HAVE to be laser guns or something of that sort.
 
This is so easy! 90's by a huge landslide for kids cartoon both on broadcast TV and cable TV!


2000's for prime-time cartoons (Family Guy, Futurama, South Park, American Dad, The Boondocks, The Simpsons, King of the hill and etc.)
 
The 90's, of course, had better animation. There was just so much variety, as far as shows went. There weren't nearley as many middle/high school sitcoms disguised as animated shows, creators took more risks, and networks didn't air mainly just their number one show nearly as much compared to today. Also, animated movies were much better. We got movies that told a nice story, had beautiful animation that wasn't just CGI, and they didn't rely as much on celebrity voices. From Dreamworks especially for the past decade, has made more films that were full of pop culture comedy and at times seemed to care more about the celebrities of the film more than the story itself. A huge problem with the celebrity voices were that they were directed many times to merely play an animated version of themselves more than creating their own special character. As far as Disney goes, I have yet to see an animated movie from them this decade outside Pixar that is on par with their silver age 90's animated films such as Aladdin and The Lion King.
 
Anime: 2k-2k9 (except that Detictive Conan is one of the best and released in the 90s)
WB: 90s
Disney: 90s
Other: Varies, but in art I tend to appeal more to the 90s, animation varies too
 
I respectfully disagree with you here. I don't see how just because you didn't enjoy The Batman as much as you did enjoy B:TAS translate into that it was a bad show. It may have not worked out for you, but that doesn't mean that no one else likes it. There are plenty of people who enjoy both series, including myself. Besides that, I really don't see how comparing two series based on the same character accurately describes the quality of animation in both decades.

As for comparing the decades, I think that they both have their fair share of great shows and weaker shows. It all comes down to opinions and taste for different shows.
 
90's gave us more diverse programming.

We had a Mortal Kombat cartoon, for cripes sake! A show based on a (back then) very violent videogame.

In '00's we got a lot of anime wanna-be's, and a lot of cartoon tried to jump on the anime bandwagon. I bet these anime-inspired cartoons are going to look very dated a couple of years from now, people will view them as some odd attempt to cash-in on anime.

Makes me curious as to how the Teen Titans cartoon will be remembered, a comic book franchise drawn in anime style. Especially if they make a serious TT cartoon in the future, and they compare that to the original.
 
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