Cartoons – From Saturday Mornings To Prime Time.
Over the years, animated cartoons as a medium have changed a lot and continue to be used in new ways. Most of us have memories of the Saturday morning shows of our childhood—the talking animals and superheroes, the silly concepts and valuable, if clich, lessons. Western culture has generally seen animation as meant for children, not adults. In recent years, however, that has started to change, with cartoons taking up adult themes and with it, different airing times.
Some cartoons, like The Flintstones, already had a prime time slot decades ago, but the era of the adult cartoon is generally tied to The Simpsons’ 1989 premiere. It was both popular and controversial, as the assumption that cartoons were child-friendly naturally led to issues of children watching. Nevertheless prime time animation continued, with the mature (though child-friendly) Batman the Animated Series moving from Saturday morning for a short time.
The trend, of course, is still around today with shows like South Park and Family Guy. But cartoons are obviously still a child’s medium too; Saturday morning still features untold animated kids shows, and likely always will. As a medium cartoons have managed to serve both adults and kids, mornings and nights.
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