Quote:
Originally posted by Cynthetiq
The cartoons in the 70's and 80's were also crap, Smurfs, Snorks, My Pretty Pony? C'mon now PacMan Adventures???? Even the origianl TMNT was cutsey crap.
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Each and every one of those is from the 80s... The 70s had a whole other dynamic.
Quote:
Originally posted by Cynthetiq
For those that don't know Saturday morning cartoons was an invention from Saatchi and Saatchi in order to sell more targeted advertising to kids, just like they did with the Soap Operas of the early TV years. Now with alternate locations for cartoons, one can just turn on Cartoon Network, Nickolodeon (during the day) NickToons, DisneyToons, and soon The Anime Channel.
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While that may be true... the first attempt to make a show that both sold product and entertained the kids was in the 60s and had something to do with Hot Wheels toy cars. This resulted in a law being imposed that forbade programming that was created around a product being sold. The arguement was that children didn't have the critical faculties to differenciate between the commercials and the show.
(it is ironic that Sesame Street was created in such a way that it emulates commecials - ie short segments for short attention spans)
This law stayed in place until the early 80s when the Regan Admin struck it down and opened the flood gate for kids shows that hocked a product. The first out of the gate was Strawberry Shortcake and was soon followed by Smurfs, My Little Pony, etc.
The days of Kroft Superstars, Falcon and DynoMutt, Hong Kong Phooey, Captain Caveman, etc. were over.
While these show (or similar shows) could be made today, they would never be made without first having a line up of merchandising to sell to the kids (books, underware).