Cartoon Characters

| Cartoon Characters

Cartoon Characters

Most people who grew up within the last couple of decades, if they are honest with themselves have had the existence pretty much defined by the cartoon characters of all temperaments in character types to the point that when they reference them as often as they do famous writers, actors or even in some cases historical figures. Cartoons are part of most people cultural identities and there are few people who would trade the way they feel about He-man and Skeletor for any sort of ancient wisdom, cause in our hearts we feel a deep abiding connection with these characters that is grown in us from childhood and honed from years of watching as the cartoonist innovate and create new personas.

Anyone who wants to relive their childhood is bound to find something they watched obsessively online and for the most part they will probably welcome the experience of watching the characters they knew and loved play out there stories from beginning to end and sometimes they might just laugh and wonder why they like the shows the show to begin with.

When it comes to the popularity of cartoon characters you have probably noticed that there are a lot of choices out there when it comes to finding new things to watch on network television as executives and producers looking for new ways to innovate with in the medium and create the type of lasting appeal that resonated with the 1980’s cartoon craze. Even though some fans of what can be called classic animation like to say that the real moment for animated series and features were around the 1960’s with Tom and Jerry representing the best there was at the time, most of us will acknowledge that the real water-shed moment for animation was around the 1980’s when toy makers would combine their products with fully developed series.

Ironically this completely direct attempt at commercialism led to some of the most important series around being made popular for example Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Thunder-Cats and Voltron just to name a few of the most notable ones, all of this ultimately led to a new rebirth in the way that people look at cartoons while at the same time influencing an entire generation of young fans.

Eventually these fans grew up and brought their enjoyment of all the great animated series and their favourite cartoon characters and went on to develop television series of their own many of which became more popular than anyone could of anticipated, for example the staggering popularity of the Simpsons, the later the palpable popularity of the much raunchier family guy.

All of this signified a shift in the way that adults and young people alike looked at the way an animated series could affect the entertainment industry and that certain types of cartoons were no longer meant to be watched by children, leading to another huge step in the evolution of where carton s would eventually end up. Next came the birth of that most popular and effective network named the cartoon network around the year 1992, which broke new ground in a being a network which was exclusive devoted to the airing nothing but cartoons 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

However the biggest step for cartoon characters came a little later in the cartoon networks existence when they began airing the adult swim segment which became an instant hit with the folks that grew up on cartoons.

Cartoon characters have captured the imaginations of generations. Cartoon characters run the whole gamut of entertainment. As technology has evolved so have the creation of cartoons and the characters that play roles in the storylines. We have seen the results of these developments mainly through television shows and great animated movies of the last twenty years. For well over a generation, the most recognized names in the cartoon business were Disney and Warner Brothers.

For Warner Brothers, they brought to the television screen the exploits of the Looney Tune characters like Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam and others. While Disney brought us classic cartoon characters such as Donald Duck and the legendary most recognized name in cartoon history, Mickey Mouse.

Cartoon characters and the storylines have changed with the times as well. Some of the early Warner Brothers cartoons contained controversial violence and themes which would be looked down upon today by modern society. To get an idea of the cartoon character storylines and their evolution, for example, consider “banned Looney Tunes cartoons”. You will be surprised to see some of these and you will no doubt figure out the reasons these were banned from modern television syndication runs.

Where the cartoon characters themselves have changed really can be noticed not just with technology but with the storylines. The best example of cartoon characters staying modern and dealing with modern issues would be the long running and most successful cartoon show in history, The Simpsons. The Simpsons in many episodes dealt with some real life issues surrounding families and relationships, most of the time with some sort of humorous twist in the tales. These great cartoon characters have never aged yet the serious stories have become more modern as the writers attempt to stay current with existing trends.

As the development of cartoons reached a significant level of popularity in the 1980’s, animators sharpened their imaginations and writers brought out their pens in full force to combat parental concerns that cartoons were destructive and contained no real learning value to their children. The creators of the cartoon characters in the show Marshall Bravestarr led the way by writing and producing a controversial cartoon episode called ”The Price” where a young kid actually dies in the cartoon of a drug overdose.

Many children with creative minds may still try to draw their favourite cartoon characters. If you are a parent or know a young one who has a favourite cartoon character they might like to draw, consider visiting your local stationery or office supply store to see if they have tracing paper. Good tracing paper will allow someone to place paper over a photo of that favourite cartoon character and trace it out. The internet also has a surprisingly large number of sites available where a person can get step by step directions on how to draw cartoon characters freehand.

The most popular cartoon characters of all times:

Spider Man

© Marvel Comics

Speed Racer

© Speed Racer Enterprises

Pink Panter
pink panther

Mermaid
mermaid

© Silver Screen Partners IV

Bender
bender

© Comedy Central
Bart Simpson

© FOX

Marge Simpson

© FOX

Liza Simpson

© FOX

Gummi Bears

© The Walt Disney Company

Eric Cartman

© Comedy Partners

Donald Duck

© Disney Studios

Bugs Bunny

© Warner broth.

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