by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
Not that you need a history of cartoons, but have you seen any good ones lately? They’ve changed a great deal. First there was Betty Boop and Steamboat Willie, right? Then a bunch of time and characters came and went, and now there is The Simpsons. Right?
As a child, cartoons are the natural transition from storybook imagery to the less imaginative real life. As you got older, which cartoons stayed with you? Looney Tunes were infamous for being a great cartoon series for the average Saturday morning kids that just wanted to see Wile E. Coyote get his head smashed by a falling anvil, while still entertaining the kids that were old enough to pick up on Bugs Bunny’s cross-dressing antics or Porky Pig’s psychological disorders.
Nickelodeon was onto this trend early. They aired British cartoons such as Danger Mouse and Bananaman, which appealed to a wider age range, and eventually started producing original cartoons to throw in the mix. In the early 90s Ren & Stimpy and The Simpsons provided cartoons that were more bizarre and had adult concepts layered between site gags and The Itchy & Scratchy Show.
Just when I thought I was outgrowing animation, it outgrew me. In Japan, anime has been equally as accepted in movie theaters for action or science fiction, and a pinnacle movie, Akira brought its heady and gory science fiction to American audiences in 1988. MTV also jumped on the bandwagon with Liquid Television, a more avant-garde cartoon show that was never intended for children. Animation was growing with our generation, and now there are programs intended strictly for the 18 to 35 year olds.
In 1992 Ted Turner found himself owning a wealth of cartoons. He bought the entire Hanna-Barbera Company and an extensive library of Warner Brothers cartoons. Turner hired one of the creators of Ren & Stimpy as well as a big wig at Nicktoons, Nickelodeon’s cartoon company, and Cartoon Network was born. Before long they were creating their own original programming. The Hanna-Barbera people introduced Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which took a classic Hanna-Barbera superhero from the 80s and turned him into a talk show host. Great bands like Sonic Youth and Pavement were clamoring to be on Space Ghost, and the execs at Cartoon Network realized they were onto something.
Adult Swim started as a late night program on Cartoon Network, but in 2005 it split to become its own network that shares a channel with Cartoon Network. Since taking over the lineup on Sunday through Thursday nights, Adult Swim is the top rated network for its time slot (11p.m. until 4a.m.) on basic cable.
Since its introduction it has been the launching ground, and recovery ground, for programs that appeal to a cult audience. When Family Guy was canceled from the prime time Fox lineup for delivering poor numbers, it landed in Adult Swim, built up a loyal fan base, sold millions of DVDs, and was invited back to Fox to become one of their most successful programs. Mr. Show’s Bob Odenkirk and David Cross have both taken their unique comic voices to animated series. Cross is one of the creative forces behind Comedy Central’s new cartoon Freakshow. Odenkirk is the executive producer of Tom Goes to the Mayor, a peculiarly animated show about a small town named Jefferton, its quirky mayor, and the hopeful loser, Tom Peters. With appearances by David Cross, Jack Black, Michael Ian Black, and Sarah Silverman, to name just a few, these innovative animated programs have the ability to introduce a more bizarre sense of humor to an eager public. Other programs to launch through Adult Swim include Seth Green’s Robot Chicken and Matt Groening’s Futurama.
The alternate face of Adult Swim is the anime. If you don’t like “Japanimation,” you may have a hard time weeding through the Adult Swim lineup to get to those comedic gems. But if you like action-based anime, they have shows like Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, which are decidedly among the best this genre has to offer.
Headquartered in Atlanta, production company Williams Street is making all of this noise across the globe, as Adult Swim is now all over Europe, Australia, and even Japan. One of the network’s most popular original shows, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, even featured the art of Jacksonville’s own R. Land in the DVD release of the last season.
Even if you think cartoons aren’t for you, make sure you check out a few before you write Adult Swim off. Go to adultswim.com and watch an episode of any of them. I’ve outlined a few of my favorites to guide your viewing experience. Sunday is a great night for beginners, so even if you have to work early on Monday, you can fall asleep to a good laugh and maybe change your mind about cartoons.
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