DC Media: TV Shows, Animated Movies and Video Games

[skyvolt2000]

The cartoons are terrible but i'm also older and look for different things in shows than I did when I was little, the landscape has also drastically different. There's a reason cartoons look like Steven Universe now instead of the action junkie series that came out in the 90's and early 2000's.

The cartoons we grew up with had one purpose for the most part SELL TOYS.

For those who had toy and merchadise linked to them.

Then when we came into the 2000s-those toys went away with most shows. While some like Static Shock tried to get toys, Young Justice & He-Man got sunk for a lack of toy sales.

Now most are targeting adult collectors.

[9th.]

The cartoons we grew up with had one purpose for the most part SELL TOYS.

For those who had toy and merchadise linked to them.

Then when we came into the 2000s-those toys went away with most shows. While some like Static Shock tried to get toys, Young Justice & He-Man got sunk for a lack of toy sales.

Now most are targeting adult collectors.

You lost me at He-Man I had no idea they had a toy issue like YJ and Static, I remember toys being in the stores as a kid. I guess they weren't popular.

You also hit a sore spot for me because I used to want a Static toy as a kid.

[Agent Z]

Modern cartoons aren't terrible just because they don't appeal to some people. Hell, I'm sure the generations before us were saying the same thing about the cartoons we grew up with.

[Frontier]

Modern cartoons aren't terrible just because they don't appeal to some people.

I think it depends what we're judging modern cartoons by.

Modern Marvel cartoons are, in my opinion, objectively nowhere near as good as they used to be, and a lot of the action-adventure cartoons I watched growing up would probably never have aired on cable unless they had made it fit into 15 minutes or upped the comedy. Not that there's anything wrong with fun and comedic cartoons but I think it's telling that something like Teen Titans Go! gets all the love it gets while something more conventional like Justice League Action was canned before it could even really get off the ground.

[Vakanai]

I think it depends what we're judging modern cartoons by.

Modern Marvel cartoons are, in my opinion, objectively nowhere near as good as they used to be, and a lot of the action-adventure cartoons I watched growing up would probably never have aired on cable unless they had made it fit into 15 minutes or upped the comedy. Not that there's anything wrong with fun and comedic cartoons but I think it's telling that something like Teen Titans Go! gets all the love it gets while something more conventional like Justice League Action was canned before it could even really get off the ground.

Why is that? I know kids still love action, so why are action cartoons dead largely?

[Vordan]

Why is that? I know kids still love action, so why are action cartoons dead largely?

Video games. Fortnite, Call of Duty, hell some people let their kids play GTA. The kids who used to watch cartoons are playing video games now, they’re more engaging since you’re not just passively watching. Stuff like Minecraft is the equivalent to kids playing LEGOs in ye olden days.

[9th.]

Video games. Fortnite, Call of Duty, hell some people let their kids play GTA. The kids who used to watch cartoons are playing video games now, they’re more engaging since you’re not just passively watching. Stuff like Minecraft is the equivalent to kids playing LEGOs in ye olden days.

Also this might just be me but they seem to be more interested in live action, my cousin (age 6) can watch Marvel movies and Power Rangers but when I tried to show him DBZ and Batman (TAS and Beyond, he LOVES Batman btw) he was unimpressed. He prefers comedy when watching anything animated like Boss Baby and Minions.

[Vakanai]

Video games. Fortnite, Call of Duty, hell some people let their kids play GTA. The kids who used to watch cartoons are playing video games now, they’re more engaging since you’re not just passively watching. Stuff like Minecraft is the equivalent to kids playing LEGOs in ye olden days.

So what, only the gamer kids like action now and the cartoon watching kids want none of it?

Also this might just be me but they seem to be more interested in live action, my cousin (age 6) can watch Marvel movies and Power Rangers but when I tried to show him DBZ and Batman (TAS and Beyond, he LOVES Batman btw) he was unimpressed. He prefers comedy when watching anything animated like Boss Baby and Minions.

What about non-CGI movie cartoons out now? He watch any of those?

[9th.]

So what, only the gamer kids like action now and the cartoon watching kids want none of it?


What about non-CGI movie cartoons out now? He watch any of those?

He loves SpongeBob but I'm drawing a blank on any other 2D animated series.

[Frontier]

So what, only the gamer kids like action now and the cartoon watching kids want none of it?

I guess it would explain how the cable networks have focused so much away from that stuff for their cartoons.

[godisawesome]

I think a bigger thing has been such an increase in content available to entertain kids that most networks want to focus on such specific demographic they try and cultivate shows that target *only* that demographic when it comes to kids.

Previously, there were fewer overall networks vying for kids attention, and having a property that had broader appeal and could have aging fans addictively watch reruns was a major asset. There was also a higher demand across demographics for shows that could support massive toy lines. Nowadays, yes, the proliferation of video games has had a major impact: it fuses the elements of play and the elements of entertainment that kids used to watch shows and have parents buy them action figures for. And as a result, many networks have gotten considerably more stingy and almost fanatical about shows that can’t grab ahold of the intended demographic *right now*, and who sometimes seem to regard a broader demographic appeal as bad, even if the total number of viewers is the same.

HOWEVER!...

That!s networks. Streaming services, on the other hand....

Streaming services don’t mind broader demographic appeal, as long as the production gets enough total viewers to count as an asset bringing people to the service or keeping them laying for it. Streaming lends itself far more to family or friend watching, and has an advantage of being able to attract older demographics that come with their own disposable income. And the reruns aspect becomes an asset again when someone can select an episode and rewatch it at a moment’s notice.

That’s why Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and DC Universe all have invested money in creating or acquiring more broad appeal action and adventure cartoons.

Now, an interesting aspect of this is that streaming services may not desire to flood its service with “redundant” cartoons - specialization or diversification become more valuable here, while there’s no longer anything like a need to fill out a three hour time slot with reliably similar shows anymore. A show will get green lit if the streaming service believes it will compel enough clicks and watches to justify it, which is a different formula than if it can win its time slot. That’s why Netflix has produced comparatively few new cartoons, even if those cartoons are high quality, and why DC Universe is relying mostly on just the sheer amount of old DCAU material it has, rather than trying to create more companion series to Young Justice.

...Of course I still want more companion series to Young Justice, so I’m hoping there’s some ambitious executive int he streaming service pondering if expansion of the lore and characters between and off-screen of seasons would have enough appeal and keep costs down enough to justify it, but I have no idea of that’s actually plausible.

[9th.]

YJ is ripe for spinoffs, I don't why we don't have at least a Batman Inc show. The set up is already there.

[Frontier]

YJ is ripe for spinoffs, I don't why we don't have at least a Batman Inc show. The set up is already there.

Especially considering how underdeveloped Batmnan Inc. was.

But I think spinoffs would probably drain more resources and time then the YJ crew actually has available.

[Vakanai]

He loves SpongeBob but I'm drawing a blank on any other 2D animated series.

Spongebob, how I loathe Spongebob...

I guess it would explain how the cable networks have focused so much away from that stuff for their cartoons.

Either that or the cable networks shifted away from that stuff first and kids therefore were raised on different cartoons so developed different tastes. Never rule out TV's ability to influence people. Are tastes don't always dictate what's on, sometimes what's on dictates our tastes.

[skyvolt2000]

You lost me at He-Man I had no idea they had a toy issue like YJ and Static, I remember toys being in the stores as a kid. I guess they weren't popular.

You also hit a sore spot for me because I used to want a Static toy as a kid.

The last He-Man series on Cartoon network-low toy sales helped get that show axed.
That is one of the main reasons they wouldn't reveal the stuff they had planned like Clap Champ and others showing. They held out hope to try again.

Static never got them. Aside from the Subway meal toys. McDuffie on his website said they tried every toy maker. And they were trying that back in 1994.

Ebay had protype drawings for sale once. Also an Icon action figure was seen in a failed ABC pilot-I want to say it's called the last day of Ernest Green. It was about a black boy trying to get said action figure back from either a bully or dog. I have to hunt for this because it was listed in the local tv guide.

It aired along either the unsold Kid N Play pilot-they were both playing cops and it was live action or Moe's World with Deon Richmond and Tisha Campbell. She met her future/former husband Duane Martin in that pilot. Think Heavenly Angel and Casper had a black son.

The figure looked 100% like Icon. Fully painted. I want to say the body mold was from Total Justice line (not Black Lighting one) or GI JOE Extreme.

Young Justice the main toys you could find were the crappy ones. The Deluxe one (MAINLY Aqualad) was hard to find. Half Price put 20 of those Aqualad ones out and in less than 1 hour every single one was sold. That is how rare that one was.