Are Today's Children's Cartoons Lacking Depth and Meaning?

[slugcountry]

Holy crap these used to be so freaking depressing!

The other day I caught The Land Before Time on at a friends house and I swear I was holding back tears for the entire damn movie!

That kinda got me thinking about kid's cartoons these days.. they just don't seem to measure up to past offerings, especially in terms of depth

Take Ferngully for instance... it had a great environmentalist message... the villain in the film was an evil spirit (which resembled sludge) that grew stronger as more trees got chopped down, and more than that it was a great story with moving characters

Or how about An American Tail, the story of Fiefel the immigrant mouse... I never realized when I was a kid that these films had deeper meaning, and when I look at the newer films... cars... madagascar... they just don't even come close.. or at least that's my opinion.

The brilliance that is The Secret of NIMH??

thoughts??

We could also expand the discussion to movies... I mean what children's film these days can even come CLOSE to such classics as Labyrinth, Neverending Story, or The Witches??

 

[DaveC426913]

We could also expand the discussion to movies... I mean what children's film these days can even come CLOSE to such classics as Labyrinth, Neverending Story, or The Witches??

Tales of Narnia?

 

[Chi Meson]

I have been wathcing many childrens movies on DVD lately with my 5 year old daughter. You have picked a few great ones,("American Tail" and "Secret of NIMH" specifically), but I'm afraid I don't think that they are particuarly superior to all children's movies before or since.

Go ahead and disagree if you want, but in my opinion "Finding Nemo" is as good as the two mentioned above. One of the best animated films ever is "Iron Giant," but the studio did a horrible job promoting it.

So great children's movies will always be few and far between, but I don't see the early 80s as the golden age.

 

[arunbg]

Back when I wa s a kid (hey i still am ), my favourite animated film was Disney's Snow White and the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh . My, they were great classics .
Since you put in Chronicles of Narnia, why not the majestic LOTR trilogy.
It's very popular with children as well.

 

[DaveC426913]

One of the best animated films ever is "Iron Giant," but the studio did a horrible job promoting it.

I wholeheartedly agree! Iron Giant was an incredibly great film. Finding Nemo et al was cute and endearing, but Iron Giant actually put a lump in my throat.

It is a crime that it got so little attention.

 

[DaveC426913]

Since you put in Chronicles of Narnia, why not the majestic LOTR trilogy.
It's very popular with children as well.

I disqualified LotR as well as Harry Potter because they are more violent and graphic to fit the criteria asked for. Remember, we're talking the "NeverEnding Story" crowd here.