We all remember those days too well -- creeping out of bed early on a Saturday morning and sneaking downstairs, intent on getting to the television set before our siblings so we can switch on our favorite cartoon without elongated whining and parental intervention.
But the Saturday morning cartoons of our youth are long gone for most college students, and it's not just because it requires an increased effort to pull oneself out of bed at 8 a.m. after an all-hours toga party the night before. Sadly, these days, if you go the extra mile to wake up early in the morning in order to get your weekly animation fix, you're liable to be disappointed.
Cartoons used to dominate the airwaves on weekend mornings, but today, the number of networks that still show them could be counted on one hand. The Saturday morning tradition seems to have been a fad enjoyed by our generation in our youth; now that we're all but grown, it's gone the way of Popples and pogs, relegated to a back corner of the '90s psyche.
But where have the cartoons gone? Surprisingly enough, many animated shows seem to have developed with us, showing now during the college kid's prime awake hours: late hours of the evening. What's more, they've taken on a much more adult timbre and tone than the Saturday morning cartoons of our sentiment past. Thundercats and Transformers have given way to programs like Futurama and The Family Guy, both of which can be caught nightly at 11 p.m. on Cartoon Network.
Cartoon producers are also much more actively trying to ensnare the older crowd in a way they never did during our youth. Animated hits from the '80s and '90s, like Justice League and X-Men, are making a turn-of-the-century comeback with jazzed-up storylines and more adult jokes. Scooby-Doo has also been reanimated for the new millennium (although the villains have become, if possible, even more cheesy, and the technology jokes seem to be inserted every three lines to remind viewers just how up to date the show's writers are).
Even shows that are admittedly aimed at children find ways of sneaking in just enough humor to keep their adult viewers entertained (do you really think any eight year old is going to catch any of those inserted Beatles song lyrics in Powerpuff Girls?). Weekly afternoon fare, like Batman and Superman, have a much darker, grittier edge than similar shows did ten years ago.
The subject of cartoons have also drastically shifted as networks try to appeal to more adult viewers. Anime programs from Japan, restricted to the likes of Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon a few years ago, are now multiplying, giving fans a chance to get their fix without forking over hundreds of dollars for imported tapes. Also on the menu is the bastion of the '80s movie industry, including the sci-fi smash Star Wars.
As the latest official addition to the Star Wars universe, the new animated series Clone Wars represents creator George Lucas' collaborative effort with the artists at Cartoon Network, bringing the heavy-lined, angular style of Cow and Chicken and Dexter's Laboratory to the world of Yoda and Anakin Skywalker. The show is publicized as an "epic microseries" with short episodes averaging three to five minutes in length, and is being simultaneously broadcast on Cartoon Network itself (with new segments airing every night at 8 p.m. for the next week) as well as being made available to viewers over the show's website.
The story of Clone Wars is designed to cover a span of time in between the second and third Star Wars prequels, the latter of which is due out in theaters in 2005. The exciting plotline follows the Jedi Knights, allied with the Galactic Republic's army of cloned warriors, in their epic battle against the evil Darth Sidious and his robotic military fleet. Anakin Skywalker, in the meanwhile, inches closer and closer to becoming the villainous Darth Vader.
The most intriguing aspect about the microseries is the format in which George Lucas chose to bring his story to life. The animation style itself, made popular by director Genndy Tartarkovsky in his other shows like Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack, is fairly simple, but the sharp lines and bright colors allow cartoonists to add elaborate detail to the backgrounds where necessary. The fact that the entire show is animated also gives the production team much more leeway in coming up with intense battle scenes, which would have cost a fortune to produce in live action.
Currently, there seems to be no logical reason why well-done cartoons can't perform on level footing with live action shows. Some of the best aspects of Clone Wars lie more in what the cartoon represents than the fierce battles on screen; if deemed a success, it may pave the way for other storytellers to turn to the same animated dramatic format. And while the networks still need proof of this phenomenon, there is no question that cartoons allow much more freedom for elaborate action sequences and exotic characters. In the end, perhaps, it is simply the only adult direction for drama to take.
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