old toons rock – post 39
The other day I had the urge to watch some Loony Toons/Merrie Melodies. So I wander over to You Tube and watch one of my favorite cartoons.
For those that haven’t seen Duck Amuck, it’s probably the best example of a deconstructed cartoon you’ll find. It strips away everything that makes up a short, even the character, and asks things like… is the character retain his personality even though he/she has nothing to interact with? What if they don’t look like them self or sound like them self. Are they still who we expect them to be? But what’s most fascinating is that these questions where being asked back in 1951. I think it’s awesome that Chuck Jones loved his medium so much that he fully enveloped himself in every aspect of it to the point where he could strip it apart and discus each element of it. My hero.
I love this cartoon and had to write a short paper on it back in our animation writing class. Man that was awesome ^_^ I really enjoyed doing that presentation too.
I finished watching the short and then I began to think. All this was done in the 1950’s… are more serious/thought provoking animations being done today? Sure you have the Persepolis’s (which I have yet to see but really, really want to…) but I’m talking about the stuff that kids watch. Bugs Bunny and Daffy are recognized by kids and that’s what makes Duck Amuck that much more special. Kids where watching this cartoon analyzing it’s self and but it was presented in a way that the whole audience could enjoy. Brilliant! Even others like Wilie Coyote and his constant struggle of something he couldn’t have can be stripped down and analyzed of wants and needs with in the character.
What do kids have today that they can watch? Dora, Little Bear, Franklin the Turtle, Timothy goes to school, Teen Titans, South Park. Maybe I’m just jaded but I just don’t think that these cartoons can hold a candle to what I grew up with. Now that’s not to say they’re not entertaining, but I think that they really do lack the depth of the older ones.
clink, clink… (2 cents)
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